What is BRIGHT?
The BRIGHT framework was developed in 2023 in response to a NASPA conference prompt asking student affairs professionals, “How can we bring joy back to our work?” This prompt sparked a discussion between the authors centered on which specific facets of our jobs we felt robbed us of our joy. Throughout our discussion, two main themes emerged: stress and burnout.
Focusing on common stressors we encountered in our work and utilizing empirical literature on burnout, we developed the BRIGHT framework to assist those in the helping professions to:
- combat emotional fatigue
- mitigate burnout
- develop, both professionally and personally
The authors used their BRIGHT framework to develop the BRIGHT Advisor Toolkit specifically to address the emotional fatigue and burnout that academic advisors and other student support personnel in higher education experience in their profession. The Toolkit introduces each facet of BRIGHT, outlines the research behind the framework, and provides an application section to walk readers through using BRIGHT concepts in their work.
About the Authors
Stephanie R. Fahey, PhD, serves as Director of Advising in the Batten College of Engineering and Technology at Old Dominion University. Nettie Freshour, PhD, RDN, LDN, is a Teaching Professor in the Human Nutrition and Foods program in the Davis College of Agriculture at West Virginia University. Nettie is also the director of the graduate dietetic internship at WVU and serves as a faculty advisor.