The NASPA NOW Professional Recognition award is given to new professionals and graduate students who have had an impact on the student affairs profession. This past December, EWU’s associate director of campus recreation, Christopher Hoppe, received this recognition for his work with EPIC adventures on campus.

Hoppe received the award from NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators) in the area of Inquiry, which is based off of how the nominee contributed knowledge to the profession and uses information and assessment in their current position. He will be traveling to the NASPA National Conference in Philadelphia this March to receive the award.

Hoppe started working at EWU in September 2015 as the club sports coordinator, then started working at EPIC in July 2017. His main role as director is to support EPIC in providing outdoor adventures and activities to the EWU community. Hoppe works with partners who are eager to help EWU students find the right programs for them.

“Our team works incredibly hard to provide world class adventures for EWU students, academic programs, as well as clubs and orgs,” said Hoppe. “I’m pretty lucky to have a role that contributes toward that goal.”

According to Hoppe, his job involves many different things, from leading day trips or adventures to working in the equipment room prepping gear for rentals. Hoppe also does a lot of work in his office on reporting systems and budgeting. EPIC is a campus program that offers trips, events, classes and rentals. Their goal is to introduce students to new activities and is designed for any skill level.

“Our team does an incredible job of adapting and supporting each other no matter what the day brings,” said Hoppe.

Hoppe feels honored to receive this award on behalf of the Campus Recreation and EPIC Adventures teams, as well as the Division of Student Affairs.

“Everyone across the Division has worked really hard to improve the culture of assessment here at EWU,” said Hoppe. “I’ve had a really great group of people supporting the projects that I’ve been a part of. I am really glad to take advantage of the opportunity to showcase what we’ve done as a Division.”

Hoppe would like to further his work with EPIC and the EWU community. One step they would like to take to improve the program further is to acquire more technical outdoor skills certifications in climbing and wilderness medicine.

They would also like to start taking surveys and host focus groups to determine what EWU students would want to see from them and how to better help them find what they are looking for. Hoppe, in general, would like to become a better resource at EPIC and across campus for students.

As the EWU Associate Director of Campus Recreation receives this recognition from NAPSA, we can look at the success of the EPIC program and the opportunities it affords students who want to get out and have some epic adventures.