Candidate for Region VI Student Leader
Rafael Martinez Z.
California State University–Bakersfield
Biography/Summary Resume
Rafael Martinez Z. initiated his journey in collegiate campus recreation at California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) where he earned his kinesiology B.S. degree with a concentration in physical activity leadership. Rafael joined the facilities and member services student staff and quickly gained the experiences and certifications that helped promote him to various leadership and management positions. In his first semester working in campus recreation, Rafael knew campus recreation was his true passion and where he could assist collegiate student communities through their higher education journey. Rafael stepped into an interim coordinator/graduate assistant-like role where he directly oversaw various program areas, student staff teams, and facilities at the California State University, Bakersfield Student Recreation Center. He is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree at CSUB.
Please provide a statement of your personal views on the role and contributions of collegiate recreation in higher education. In your response describe how collegiate recreation has influenced your development.
Collegiate recreation plays an extremely vital role in higher education. First, it services our students and Community with the opportunity to succeed in their personal and physical goals. It provides its students many tools to thrive in their educational journey. From a student staff perspective, it provided tremendous professional development opportunities, certifications, and skills that will help our students succeed in their desired careers. For me, campus recreation has helped me develop and find my true career passion. It has always been my home away from home and truly helped me succeed in my academic and professional careers.
Within the context of the NIRSA Strategic Plan, what area/item would you say is a major issue students face today? Please identify a student-driven issue that we are currently facing today and how you would like to address this during your term. How will you create solutions in your role on the Student Leadership Team to address it?
The area/item that is a major issue students face is diversity and inclusion. Creating programs and offers that are diverse and inclusive for everyone is extremely challenging because at the end of the day there are always individuals left unaccounted for. Universities have a very diverse population of students; therefore, it is crucial to ensure diversity and inclusivity for everyone. I will address diversity and inclusion by ensuring that we are communicating directly with the student community and addressing the feedback and recommendations provided to us. I will create solutions by gaining perspective and insight on the issue. Listening to my Leadership Team members and working efficiently to resolve the issues would be key.
In describing your contributions to NIRSA (i.e. presentations, volunteering, previous leadership roles, etc,), identify how your involvement and experiences meet the Regional Student Leader position criteria and qualify you to advocate for and serve the students of the Association?
Unfortunately, I do not have any direct contributions to NIRSA. Nonetheless, I have experiences with my current student recreation center such as presenting new solutions to our coordinator team to address major issues that we have faced. I have also volunteered and partnered up with the community to assist students in various ways.
As a Regional Student Leader within NIRSA, you have the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on the field of collegiate recreation. With a focus on Student Member Recruitment & Retention, and Student Development what skills, talents, and perspectives would you bring to the Student Leadership Team?
The skills, talents, and perspectives that I would bring to the Student Leadership Team are my experiences in various leadership and administrative positions with my student recreation center. I have served in various committees with a focus on fitness, wellbeing, and programming. Recently, having to step into an interim coordinator/graduate assistant-like role has provided me with great experience regarding various different program areas and facilities. Coming from a campus with rich diversity would help me bring a unique perspective.
