Something Something Nonprofit Something

A week ago, I went to Chicago to attend a small conference put on by the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council, otherwise known as NACC by those who are familiar. It is a constituency of centers, colleges, and schools associated with institutes of higher education. Basically, these are the places that are connected to the community by educating future nonprofit professionals and by partnering with nonprofit organizations. Sounds boring, I know. But this was my former life before coming to Michigan and enrolling in the MSU HALE program. Over the last year while at MSU I have had to couch my conversations about what I am interested in researching within language used by those in higher education, so I say things like "the role of faculty in professional education programs" or "how the university is connected to civil society through its academic programming." All of these are more broad (and sometimes watered-down) versions of the very specific nature of what I am interested in. At the NACC conference, I was able to be surrounded by people who know exactly what I am interested in, know the lingo, and are all for more research about it. What we share is not just a common interest, but a shared experience in trying to communicate what it is exactly we study and research.

Needless to say, it was so refreshing! And reviving! I have been waffling a bit about staying connected to this community and area of research. I have been so steeped in my environment of higher ed in HALE, that at times it seemed too difficult to try to connect my interests to the slightly different world at MSU. But upon returning to Lansing, I knew that I must stay connected. Not just because this community gets what I am doing, but also because these are really good, smart people. And they ask a lot of really good questions and are not afraid to discuss their own legitimacy and whether or not what they do is relevant. These were the conversations that were happening at this conference, sometimes tense, sometimes funny, and always filled with respect for ideas and a deep interest in discourse.