Title: “Don’t Cost a Thing”… Except It Does: How Burnout, Compassion Fatigue & Emotional Loads Lead to Disengagement
Presenter(s):
Nikita Kimani (she/her)
Room: Charles Carroll 2203K
Session Block(s): Session II
Time: 11:35 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.
Duration: 45 minutes
Program Abstract:
This session explores the real costs of burnout, compassion fatigue, and emotional overload on staff engagement and the student experience especially considering how these loads have evolved and increased in the most recent years. Participants will examine how these challenges show up in motivation, team culture, and the quality of student services across all roles in student affairs. The session offers practical, human-centered strategies anyone can use to support well-being, strengthen engagement, and re-energize their work in sustainable ways.
Program Description:
Burnout isn’t just a feeling—over time, it changes how teams communicate, respond to students, and show up for each other. This interactive session breaks down how emotional overload, compassion fatigue, and hidden labor slowly shape disengagement in student affairs, regardless of job title or department. Together, participants will explore real-life scenarios showing how these patterns impact service delivery and student support.
Participants will engage in reflective and discussion based activities that help identify early signs of emotional strain, map where burnout is showing up on their teams, and name the “invisible work” that often goes unnoticed. The session introduces simple tools for recognizing emotional load, building realistic support structures, and creating small practices that help staff feel supported rather than stretched thin. The session will also highlight the unique mediation roles leaders can have on addressing disengagement to lower emotional and burnout costs.
The session is designed for staff at every career stage—front-line workers, supervisors, coordinators, grad students, and directors—because disengagement affects everyone. Attendees will walk away with a clearer understanding of how emotional strain impacts daily operations and with strategies they can use to strengthen energy and connection to impact the student experience.