Celebrating 30 years of higher education at Canisius

By Andrew Nowel, Editor-In-Chief

The Higher Education Leadership and Administration (HELA) program will celebrate 30 years this Friday as a way to commemorate the hard work and dedication the program has maintained throughout its time at Canisius. With alumni returning to their old stomping grounds years later and current students ready to learn about the higher education profession, there will be a lot to celebrate on Friday.

Student success happens in a wide variety of ways at Canisius, and one of the ways is the HELA program. “We like to consider ourselves the educators outside the classroom, so all of the offices that support students on campus, but are not faculty is the simplest way of describing what a profession in higher education looks like,” said Amy Wilson, the advisor of the program.

Onyeka Osuji, the president of HELA and a second–year graduate student, came to the United States last year when she began graduate school at Canisius. Originally from Nigeria, Osuji’s path to Canisius wasn’t a straight one, but the higher education program has opened her eyes to the new country. “Cura Personalis is something that you don’t just see on the Canisius website; it’s something that is actually put into practice, and the HELA program is helping to train us to have that Cura Personalis dimension where we’re helping and supporting students,” said Osuji.

Canisius has a strong international connection, especially in the HELA program. Wilson described how important that connection is, as she has seen how impactful the international community has been in higher education at Canisius. It’s shown her how to teach in the classroom so that all perspectives are heard in a higher education setting, bringing a unique perspective into the classroom.

It’d be one thing to learn in the classroom about the theoretical ways to support students, but Osuji and her peers are putting them into practice in real ways everyday through graduate assistantships. Being able to understand how to support students has helped Osuji even understand herself better. In terms of supporting students, the Golisano Center for Student Success has been the way that the HELA program developed into a strong component of Canisius, and Osuji has seen that by working in the newly built space. “Now, you have all of the different services in one place, so that’s a huge advantage as it helps students if they need to talk to each service instead of all the services being all over the place,” said Osuji.

After 30 years of supporting students, HELA is ready for many more years of being the shoulder that students need. As alumni return to Canisius, Friday’s celebration will also be an opportunity for current students to hear the success stories of those alumni. From 1996 to 2026 and well beyond, higher education at Canisius is always moving forward, and student success will always be at the forefront of HELA.