Mission & Vision

Mission Statement: GCPA enhances the higher education community through advocacy and support for the holistic development of students.

Vision: We lead the state in the advancement and dissemination of knowledge for transformative practices that address emerging issues in higher education.

ACPA Strategic Imperative for Racial Justice and Decolonization

ACPA will direct resources, energy, and time toward addressing racial justice in student affairs and higher education around the world. Our lens is intersectional, intentional, and directed. The focus is on reducing the oppression of communities of color at the intersections of their identities, knowing that all oppressions are linked and that the work is ongoing. Our goal is to provide leading research and scholarship; tools for personal, professional, and career development; and innovative praxis opportunities for members that will actively inform and reshape higher education. We move toward this goal knowing that the roles and daily tasks of our jobs are important to the functioning of colleges and universities. We also know that racial justice and the tasks of our jobs do not sit as dichotomous poles. Racial justice is at our core; it underlies the work we each must do every day, in every way we can.

Read more about the ACPA Strategic Imperative for Racial Justice and Decolonization here.

Strategic Plan

Purpose of this Strategic Plan

The Georgia College Personnel Association (GCPA) has the strategic plan as a broad, long-term conceptual framework for planning and implementing next steps within the organization. The plan incorporates essential elements for strategic leadership within the Executive Board. Rooted in the mission and vision for GCPA, this plan also serves to provide benchmarks for the organization to meet based upon clearly identified goals within this plan and in alignment with our parent organization, the American College Personnel Association.

Goals of GCPA:

  • GCPA provides an inclusive environment for the critical engagement of ideas and practices that serve students and colleagues.
  • GCPA strives to create a sustainable organization through professional collaborations, resources, and the utilization of technologies.
  • GCPA fosters opportunities for professional growth of student affairs educators & administrators.
  • GCPA supports learning that creates synergies for student experiences within and outside of the classroom.

Diversity and Inclusion Statement

In support of the core values of ACPA – College Students Educators International, the Georgia College Personnel Association (GCPA) actively promotes, celebrates, and values the equity, inclusion, and diversity of the identities of all of our constituents. We recognize and value a multiplicity of identities that may have intersections of, race, age, color, faith, religion, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, social class, economic class, ethnicity, gender identity/expression, family status, disability, body type, marital status, veteran status, political orientation and others that may not be represented here.

Past Presidents

02-03: Ms. Katherine E. Alday (Kennesaw State Univ.)

01-02: Dr. Laurie Lankin (Mercer Univ.)

00-01: Dr. Charles E. Bowen (Dalton State College)

1999-2000: Ms. Stephanie L. Ray (Georgia Tech)

98-99: Dr. Lynnea J. Halberg (Brenau University)