Talking Stick - July/August 2017 - 36

ACUHO-I Award

Joan Schmidt

Central Michigan University (retired)
The ACUHO-I Award constitutes the highest recognition of an individual who,
during the course of their career, has made exemplary, extraordinary, and
outstanding contributions to ACUHO-I, the field of campus housing, or
higher education.

or almost 40 years, Joan
Schmidt served the students of Central Michigan
University. Now retired,
the former director of
residence life was a mainstay of
ACUHO-I since she first attended the
1981 ACUHO-I Apartments Conference. She would later serve as the
Association president as well as the
chair of the ACUHO-I Foundation. In
addition, she was host and chair of
the Millennium Magic Conference at
Walt Disney World in 2000 and was
a regular presenter at conferences
and writer for ACUHO-I publications.
Of her time with ACUHO-I she
says that it "gave me an opportunity
to share what was happening on
my campus while learning what
our colleagues around the world
were doing. It stamped my passport
and changed my life, and I will be
forever grateful for it supporting me
in my career aspirations as well as
providing me the opportunity to truly
save my career from burnout while
assisting in making me a better professional, person, and mother. I have
received ten-fold from ACUHO-I what
I have contributed."
Her long list of contributions is
all the more remarkable when considering that, as she says, her career
never should have happened. "My
degree and dream was to be a city
recreation director, but when I first
graduated from CMU, city budgets
were being cut, and those jobs were
not plentiful. Fortunately I was able
to utilize my resident assistant experience, and the rest is history."

When do you first remember being aware of ACUHO-I, and
why did you get involved with the Association?
My former boss, Lee Polley, told me I should attend the ACUHO-I Apartments
Conference in 1981 hosted by Colorado State University. The group was small
but lively and really spoke to what I did and what I wanted to do. I jumped
right in as newsletter chair, and before I knew it I was chair of the committee
and my leadership in ACUHO-I had begun.

Who were your mentors and influencers when you first got
started? How did they assist you?
I was so fortunate to have so many wonderful mentors. As chair of the Apartments Committee I was immediately tossed into meetings with the ACUHO-I
board members who quickly became my friends. I saw that they were just
like me, so I felt comfortable tossing my name into contention for leadership
opportunities on the board, culminating in my presidency.
One turning point for me was serving on an external review team with
three past presidents: Ken Stoner, Dan Hallenbeck, and Chuck Fredericksen. It
was one evening when we were discussing what we had experienced that day
that I floated up the idea of my running for ACUHO-I president. To a person,
they were supportive and excited for me. Those warm feelings and support
continue today.
It is because of their support and those of other board members - such
as Gary Schwartz, Ginny Arthur, Jack Collins, and Alan Hargrave and so many
other people I hesitate to name them as this missive might never end - that
I have worked intentionally in encouraging people to not only attend an
ACUHO-I educational event, but that it also is as important to be directly
involved in something that directly supports the organization.

How would you describe ACUHO-I while using only six words?
The boring-but-true version of this answer is, "The best resource for housing
professionals." My personal take, though, would be, "A life changing group
for me."

2017 ACUHO-I WALL of HONOR
36

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Talking Stick - July/August 2017

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