Journal of the Minnesota College Personnel Association
Interview with Daniel Macari, Editor
This fall marks the launching of the Journal of the Minnesota College Personnel Association. The journal states that its purpose is to “…provide opportunities for professional development through communication and sharing of ideas among practitioners within the state of Minnesota….” This is a celebratory occasion as the journal is one of the first among the ACPA state/international divisions. Developments took a moment to interview Dr. Daniel Macari, editor of the new journal. Daniel is a faculty member in the Department of Counselor Education and Educational Psychology at St. Cloud State University.
| Q: | What was the inspiration for the journal? |
| A: | As a new member to the MCPA board, and as the faculty liaison, I was looking for ways to have a larger impact on the organization. The journal seemed to be a wonderful publication opportunity for MCPA members, as well as statewide student affairs practitioners and faculty. It also seemed appropriate in my role as a faculty liaison that a faculty member lead this effort. The idea was vetted among the organization last fall and received tremendous support from MCPA. The goal was to have the first issue published by early fall 2005. T. Todd Masman, then-president of MCPA and current MCPA president, Lisa Mueller were key players in seeing that the publication became a reality for the organization. |
| Q: | Does the journal have a particular focus? |
| A: | Not right now. Presently, any topic that might be of interest to practitioners or faculty members working in Minnesota is considered for the journal. There might be in the future a theme or special focus for an issue. |
| Q: | Will it be readily available to ACPA members? |
| A: | Yes. The idea was first to have it be an online journal. A hard copy for MCPA members was produced as a way to introduce the journal at this year’s state conference. The journal is now available online for free, so anyone can download the first issue. I’m happy to report that the reception to the journal has so far been positive. Right now the plan is for the journal to be published twice a year and posted to our state division website where it can be viewed and downloaded by anyone. Because the journal was so well received at the conference, we are talking about making hard copies available to MCPA members on a regular basis. |
| Q: | What gap do you think this journal fills? |
| A: | That’s a good question. This journal provides a publication opportunity for student affairs practitioners, particularly those enrolled in master’s program. Also, the state is large and “frontier-like” so the journal enhances communication between folks in different parts of the state. |
| Q: | Does it focus solely on research? |
| A: | No, it doesn’t – it’s a real mix of research, book reviews, best practices, etc. |
| Q: | Can anyone submit articles and, if so, how? |
| A: | The submission guidelines are restricted to professionals currently working in the state. The guidelines are posted on the MCPA website. Again, this reflects our desire to make this a publishing opportunity for those in the state of Minnesota. |
| Q: | Any advice MCPA would like to give to other state CPA’s thinking of doing something similar? |
| A: | Yes, try to get faculty involved. The faculty connections are important particularly for motivating graduate students to publish. Oftentimes, faculty are not as closely connected to the state CPAs so an idea such as this works well for connecting both scholars and practitioners in the field. Give it a chance and it can be a success. |
For anyone interested in reading and/or downloading the Journal of the Minnesota College Personnel Association, please visit http://www.myacpa.org/sid/mn/