On February 18-19, 2018, the Higher Education & Student Affairs program held their Interview Days as the final portion of the application for the 2020 HESA cohort. 62 candidates were invited to the UConn Storrs campus, and 57 of them participated in the two-day interview process for available graduate assistantships. These candidates were selected from 245 applicants and were invited to participate for the opportunity to be placed at one of sixteen graduate assistantship sites including:

• The College of Liberal Arts and Science Alumni Relations Office
• The Center for Career Development
• Careers for the Common Good hosted by the Center for Career Development and the Community Outreach Office
• The Department of Residential Life
• The Dean of Students’ Office
• The Higher Education & Student Affairs (HESA) Program
• The Office of Early College Programs
• The Office of Global Affairs
• The Puerto Rican & Latin American Cultural Center
• The Rainbow Center
• Student Activities - The Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life
• Student Activities - The Student Union Board of Governors (SUBOG)
• The Student Union
• The Graduate School
• The Women’s Center

Upon conclusion of the interviews, candidates and graduate assistantship sites submit their respective preferences and assistantships are awarded based on this mutual selection process.

Not only does the HESA Interview Days give the incoming candidates an opportunity to interview with their potential graduate assistantship but it also offers a chance for the candidates to meet the program faculty, as well as current HESA students enrolled in the program. In addition to interviewing with the assistantship sites, seven HESA faculty participated in the Interview Days and interviewed students one-on-one. In total, the two days consisted of 250 interviews, and lots of fruitful conversation.