Nathan Kehoe ’24 is ready to bring UCF into national conversations on higher education through NASPA.
Driven by a passion for student success and institutional change, Nathan Kehoe ’24 is stepping into a national leadership role that launches his influence into the future of higher education.
Kehoe, a graduate student in the higher education/student personnel track in UCF’s educational leadership master’s program, was recently selected to be a member of the 2025 cohort of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Graduate Associate Program.
NASPA is an organization dedicated to advancing student affairs in higher education nationwide. Through various strategic initiatives and career-development opportunities, it provides essential resources and community engagement opportunities to support professionals and scholars in the field. Its Graduate Associate Program appoints graduate student volunteers as points of contact between their educational institutions and NASPA’s corporate office in Washington, D.C. The goal is to connect NASPA with scholars and higher-education institutions across the country.
Kehoe says he feels honored to have been selected and is eager to help strengthen ties between UCF and NASPA.
“NASPA accepts just 30 people from around the country into their Graduate Associate Program every year,” Kehoe says. “To be one of only 30 is a crazy feeling, and I feel very blessed to be able to serve UCF on a national scale. This opportunity reaffirms my position in student affairs and my desire to be in the field. I’m ready to hit the ground running and get some work done.”
During his undergraduate studies, Kehoe worked as a resident assistant for UCF Housing and Residence Life and now works as a graduate coordinator for residence life and education — a position that has prepared him well for his upcoming role.
“As a resident assistant, you never know what you're going to walk into on any given day or night when you’re on call,” Kehoe says. “Residence life prepared me for my involvement with NASPA because of the constant need to adapt, and to scale my programming from a community level to a campus level while making sure it aligns with state guidelines. I'm excited to take on those kinds of challenges at the national level.”
As a NASPA graduate associate, Kehoe will spend the next year fostering awareness of and involvement with NASPA by acting as the organization’s ambassador at UCF. Through July 2026, he will be coordinating multiple outreach efforts, promoting NASPA at campus events, helping students who seek information about the organization, and attending virtual meetings with other NASPA graduate associates to discuss goals and share ideas.
Kehoe says he sees the program as an opportunity to apply his classroom knowledge in the real world.
“I’ve learned about strategies for campus engagement and student retention in class, but this program lets me put them into practice — not only at UCF, but also at other higher-education institutions,” Kehoe says. “By meeting with my peers, I can learn how other institutions work and gather ideas for what we can bring to UCF. I’m always ready to discover how we can do things better.”
The program also complements his graduate studies, which are preparing him for his goal of securing an engaging, student-focused position at a higher-education institution. He envisions either continuing his work in residence life or branching into student activities, student government or student accessibility — all with the goal of helping to shape the student experience beyond graduation.
Looking ahead, Kehoe says he is interested in exploring the evolving landscape of higher education and better understanding the impact students affairs professionals can have both within NASPA and the field of higher education.
“No one from UCF has had a seat on the program since the 2018-19 academic year,” Kehoe says. “Most of the seats go to students from schools like North Carolina State University and Clemson University — big names within student affairs. Being able to bring UCF back into that light is a very cool opportunity.”