2026 ORSA ELECTION CANDIDATES

Student Representative Candidate

Quinn Willerton - University of Dayton

  • ORSA demonstrates the commitment to excellence of not only current recreational professionals but also those of the past. Being a current UD graduate student who has attended ORSA events in the past, the knowledge of my campus hosting the first state conference fills me with pride. The role of ORSA is to innovate recreation - not just at a local or state scale, but through changes that can be adopted nationwide. Anyone who has attended can attest to the environment of learning, excitement, and passion that has been fostered through years of community and excellence. ORSA, though, is not solely focused on innovation in the sphere of recreation; one of the key elements of collegiate recreation is the ability to build community amongst pro staff and student employees. ORSA not only needs to emphasize the professional side of recreation, but also the student development side as well. When these two things happen in tandem, ORSA will continue to set the standard for collegiate recreation. In short, the role of ORSA is two-parted, with both parts converging at the professional and personal development of all staff as well as an excellent and welcoming experience for patrons.

  • The role of the elected student representative is made up of three main parts. The first part is awareness - being able to promote and advertise ORSA to student staff at schools and programs across Ohio. While this might imply social media usage and constant outreach, which are crucial elements of the position, it also includes being knowledgeable of ORSA's offerings. From personal experience, one of the most common questions I have heard about ORSA is "What is going on this year?" Through my detail-oriented personality, I will be able to positively, accurately, and consistently give staff information regarding ORSA. The second part of the position is voice. Voice is being able to accurately understand and advocate for the student population. Voice is speaking out about issues and raising concerns in meetings. Voice is ensuring that the students are being heard, acknowledged, and respected. My confidence and experience will assist me through voicing concerns and pushing ORSA to be the best it can be. The final part of being the student representative is empathy. In my opinion, raising awareness and being a voice means little without empathy. Being able to relate to and understand students and professionals is a key part of being a representative. My time working with students and my personal development over the years has given me a strong sense of empathy that has guided me through my professional development. In all, awareness, voice, and empathy are critical components of being the elected student representative, and through them I can ensure that ORSA will become more diverse, more welcoming, more community-based, and more representative of recreation as a whole.

    • UDCR Summer Intern - May 2026 - August 2026

    • UDCR Lead Supervisor, Special Events - May 2025 -May 2026

    • ORSA 2024 Participant

    • October 2024 NIRSA, Region III Lead-On Participant

    • February 2026 Psi Chi Treasurer - January 2025 - January 2026

President Elect Candidate

Krista Talstein - The Ohio State University

  • I believe the role of ORSA is to help the field of collegiate recreation move forward, to support NIRSA’s vision and values, provide educational opportunities for colleagues across the state, and to highlight the people, programs, services and facilities that make ORSA strong. Through the ORSA State Workshop, the organization sets aside designated time for us to come together as an organization. This allows ORSA to relay information happening within NIRSA and how any new changes can affect our work. By offering professional development opportunities outside of each university, like conferences, it allows both students and professionals to build and refine skills, while helping us stay effective and relevant in the ever-changing landscape of higher education. Not only does ORSA provide us with the opportunity to learn and connect, but also to celebrate the success of the hard work and the phenomenal people within the field. ORSA allows us to bring our collegiate recreation family together and continues to fuel our fire for the student experience on our respective campus’.

  • The role of an ORSA Executive Office is to be a 'doer' for the organization. An ORSA Executive Officer should be someone who can maintain communication, create connections between people, while upholding initiatives and processes that keep the ORSA legacy and longevity alive. I want to be a doer for ORSA but more importantly in this role, I want to impact ORSA by being a storyteller. A storyteller share’s the important work being done on our campus’, that highlights the success of becoming involved within a professional organization and someone who works with industry colleagues to find continued opportunities to keep the organization moving forward. In this role, I would work to create resources and materials that support our member institutions to better articulate the goals, connections, and resources ORSA has to offer. I would also like to coordinate one virtual roundtable throughout the year for each functional area to come together and bounce ideas off each other, the way we love to do at the ORSA State Workshop. I believe by setting a time and inviting folks to drop in, by pre-placing an invitation on their calendar, it will elicit greater involvement, verses just communicating an opportunity via email. Taking the barrier of signing up. Whether it’s time to brainstorm ideas or truly just to check in on colleagues across the state, I believe this will offer greater connections across the state, especially those unable to travel to the ORSA State Workshop or the NIRSA Annual Conference.

  • The ORSA community is a strong one. I believe our organization is doing a stellar job coordinating the State Workshop, offering the Summer Outreach and pulling colleagues together at the NIRSA Annual Conference. We come from a long line of incredible professionals and active collegiate recreation partners/sponsors. In the current climate of higher education, I believe ORSA needs to return to more active grassroots efforts to educate new collegiate recreation professionals about the offerings ORSA has. In our department, many of our newer professionals have not had prior collegiate recreation experience. I see this as a gap in knowledge within our new pool of colleagues and ORSA’s ability to continue to grow. I believe the new professionals who have engaged with ORSA are because they have ORSA involved supervisors. As departments continue to experience turnover, it will be important for ORSA to continue to build a pipeline of involvement, and education, starting with our new professionals. This is the layer of professionals that also can help influence student involvement in ORSA. My hope would be by coordinating virtual roundtables and identifying people on each campus, that it would be a low stacks opportunity of getting involved with ORSA. Should timing make sense, it could also be a time for ORSA to connect with different functional areas and promote opportunities like applying to present at upcoming conferences, scholarships, or just generally having a better understanding of what specific programs are offering.

  • My very first commitment when moving to Ohio over 10 years ago was to attend the Region III Student Lead On planning committee retreat at Cleveland State University. Oh, the irony that ORSA is back at Cleveland State this year! I quickly jumped into a GA experience at Ohio State and attended my first ORSA Summer Outreach. I feel confident that my ORSA and NIRSA involvement has positively impacted and set up the groundwork for my experience as a collegiate recreation professional. Having experience at a variety of institution sizes, at various levels of involvement, I believe I can be a strong representative for ORSA in the coming years.

    • NIRSA J. Michael Dunn Student Track Presenter, Spring 2026

    • NIRSA Fitness Roundtable Facilitator, Spring 2026

    • Midwest Fit Fest, Host Committee, Spring 2025

    • ORSA Education Programs Committee Member, October 2024 - Present

    • ORSA Professional Development Committee Chair, October 2019 – October 2022

    • ORSA Social Committee Member, October 2017 – October 2019

    • 2017 Big 10 Collegiate Recreation Conference – Planning Committee Member

    • 2017 Region III Student Lead On – Registration Committee Chair

    • 2016 Region III Student Lead On – Community Service & Volunteer Committee Chair

  • Working in the field of collegiate recreation and being a part of ORSA has been one of the highlights in my professional experience. It has allowed me to make and maintain connections with people across the state throughout the last 10 years. Every time I see these people, it feels like a family friend you’re reconnecting with and truly no time has passed. Through serving on committees, I’ve been able to think strategically about projects for ORSA while working with people I might not have otherwise interacted with. I am excited about the opportunity to serve ORSA in a greater strategic capacity. I appreciate your time reviewing my application and your consideration.