This blog is for students enrolled in Student Affairs Administration, SDS7640, at the University of South Florida, as they engage four professionals who work in the student affairs field at institutions around the country.
1. My path to working in higher education was somewhat accidental as many are. I did not know that a career in higher education was a possibility until a friend introduced me to the profession and encouraged me to pursue a graduate assistant position in Residence Life at Arizona State University. My overall goal is to become a Dean of/for Students and my experience is somewhat founded on this goal and the goal to learn about the various types of institutions before ending up at my alma mater, the University of South Florida. I have worked in student and academic affairs at Arizona State University, University of California Santa Cruz, the University of North Florida and Saint Leo University and have taught at Pasco Hernando Community College and Hillsborough Community College. My goal was to move around to experience different parts of the country as well as get a better understanding of the various types of institutions. Some of the insight I would give is to experience a variety of institutions through direct employment or professional networking. I have always gone of the proverb that you can’t be a prophet in your own land. I think in higher education, regardless of the specific arena, there is always something you can learn and subsequently steal from colleagues at other institutions with varying issues/solutions.
2. One of my keys to success (if I have found any) are the same concepts that we teach our traditional undergraduates is involvement. I make every attempt to network and take part in committees/groups/organizations that my schedule will allow. Solutions to problems are often found through the advice of peers and through the collective efforts of individuals in various departments. I like to know people across campus and help to make student experiences that much better (e.g. avoid the “USF shuffle” or helping them access campus resources). For me this serves to become a more knowledgeable professional, but also more effective in my position and recommend it to everyone. It is easy to sit and stare at a never ending stream of emails every day, but getting out and interacting with individuals from all across campus is always beneficial in the long run and can help ease the workload too.
3. One tough situation I have faced was making the transition from secondary education to higher education. I went from teaching at a dropout prevention high school in downtown Miami to working with RA’s in residence life. Communicating and working with 20-year old gang member in a 9th grade math class is much different from a 20-year old high achieving RA in their senior year. My transition from a rigorous tightly scheduled day/9-weeks/high stakes test preparation to an open ended higher education schedule was also a challenge. I found that listening first and gaining an appreciation of an individual’s perspective is always important. The lesson was that slowing down and taking a moment to build relationships is very important…that and RA’s cry very easily.
1.) When I began classes as a freshmen at USF during the summer of 2009, I knew I needed to get a job. While taking Sex Health Decision Making over in the College of Public Health, I met an amazing professor. I asked her if she knew of any job postings. After she contacted the supervisor in Student Health Services I found myself with a job! From the beginning I loved the work – orientations, student contact, organizational and administrative opportunities, etc. etc. I have been at my job for four years know and continue to love it. I have been promoted to Graduate Assistant and have gained more administrative duties as the years past. I realized I wanted to be in Student Affairs right before I graduate last Spring. Since then I have continued to take classes and constantly educate myself about the ever changing waters of Student Affairs.
2.) a) Take care of yourself! I learned that in order for you to take care of the students you have to take care of yourself – mind, body, and soul. If you are sleep deprived, hungry, or even distracted, you will not be able to fulfill your duties fully. If you do not partake in this, you will eventually burnout and this is never a pretty sight for anyone. b) Communication really is the key. Working in Student Affairs you realize that everyone has projects, meetings, and deadlines that must be met. In order to efficiently manage all of the chaos all of the participating departments of people must keep open communication so no lines are crossed or voices forgotten.
3.) If you can think of a particularly tough situation you faced, it would be nice for you to share it. Describe the circumstances and the way you approached it and what you learned from it. I have only experienced one situation that I had a hard time managing but yet, I learned a lot of work place politics from it. There was once an advertisement that was placed around campus – by a fellow department – that I did not approve of. I found it offensive and expressed my concern to my supervisor since I was weary as to how the student population would react. During our conversation, my supervisor attempted to enlighten me to another aspect of the argument and we had an intense yet very civil discussion about our disagreement. Initially, I was regarded differently by my peers because they did not understand my perspective. However in the long run, it was said that the administration found the ad had a negative effect on our department and we had to refrain from disclosing certain services in order to maintain a certain acceptable demeanor. So while it was hard for me to experience the feeling of difference from my peers it was also a learning experience to see how something so minute can have a major effect on an institution.
1. I currently serve as the Senior MD Admission Counselor/Recruiter at USF Morsani College of Medicine in the Office of MD Admissions. I joined USF about three years ago after serving as the The Director of Marketing for The Princeton Review in Philadelphia and an Admission Counselor at Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Maryland. I had the opportunity to be very involved in my undergraduate education at Elizabethtown College with admissions and higher education administration. It was a perfect fit for my personality and desire to find and attain meaningful and significant employment. Starting in undergraduate admissions at MSM was great! I also was able to complete my MBA. After three years I had hit a glass ceiling and was approached about the job at The Princeton Review. TPR was one of the most grueling and toughest years as the for-profit expectations for the company were brutal and the pay (while a substantial increase) was still less than the hours and expectations to bring in revenue. I essentially "righted the ship" with help from great colleagues and started to move everything in the ideal direction. Unfortunately, the recession brought about an abrupt elimination of my position and I found myself unemployed. While I had to experience what it is like to lose everything it also was an opportunity to return to higher education which resulted in a national search and brought me to USF and I love it here.
2. Several keys to success I have found in my personal journey is to treat everyone the way you want to be treated and to do every job to the best of your ability. Great work gets noticed and leads to more opportunities and responsibilities. At Mount St. Mary's I learned how to separate myself from a student and as an administrator. This was essential as a young professional and taught me that people are always watching and that I am an ambassador for my employer. At TPR I was able to appreciate and value respect for one another on a deeper level. The staff at TPR and teachers are quite unique and eccentric. However, many of them are very talented and talented people deserve respect for what they know and how they do it. At USF I have the distinct pleasure of working with many great leaders. My Director has been very influential in my personal and professional development. His mentoring and coaching is preparing me for many great opportunities at a very high level. He has taught me to be balanced and the importance of best practices from his time at Stanford. I encourage anyone who finds great leaders that you admire and aspire to be someday to surround yourself with them as much as possible and be a "sponge." The development that comes from it will prepare you for the future opportunities and gifts you have earned.
3. A difficult situation I had to endure was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Instead of speaking up and saying I was uncomfortable I listened to a co-worker who later tried to "throw me under the bus" with them. It was a great example that not everyone I work with is going to be a friend nor do they have my best interest in mind. Instead of blaming the other individual and getting defensive I took responsibility for my actions, apologized, and said that it would never happen again. I feel I have a good sense of judgement and character, but I still try to be very mindful of what I say, where I am, what I am doing, and what I am representing because I never want to be in that situation again. It also reinforced the importance of speaking up if something makes me uncomfortable or I know is not right. It has helped me grow and be better with my professionalism in the workplace and how I am perceived.
1. The path to my current position has been both accidental and intentional in its development. In all honesty, I fell into my first role in student affairs. I was not even aware that such a career existed. While an undergraduate psychology major, I wanted to go into teaching. However, my school wanted to hire a coordinator and I was very involved in campus activities. I was hired while the school faced some significant financial challenges. During this time, many of the student affairs professionals left, and I advanced to the level of Dean of Students at the age of 24. In retrospect, my advancement was far too fast, as my responsibility outstripped my proficiency and knowledge of student affairs. At this point, I became very involved in NASPA, and the community provided a wonderful wealth of perspective regarding what I should have known. From here, I became much more intentional about developing my skills, expertise, and knowledge in the area of Student Affairs. I have been Vice President for Student Affairs at St. Mary-of-the-Woods in Indiana; Assistant Dean of Students at University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas; Dean of Students at the College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho; and the Director of Student Life at Semester at Sea, a floating university voyage of discovery – tending to approximately students around the world.
2. Key lessons I’ve learned along the way that contribute to my success:
I have had the honor and privilege of serving as the Vice President of Student Life for the past 32 years. One of the greatest aspects of my position is that it allowed me to relate to so many students. I am consistently in awe of how amazing they are. I have repeatedly boasted to others of what comprises a Gonzaga student: intelligence, creativity, discernment, hope, passion, skill, and most importantly, a holistic sense of responsibility to care for others and the world. Because of how valuable they were, I thought I would offer three things I have learned from them, the students I have attempted to serve.
A. Promise only what you can deliver. Follow up on your word. Be honest at all times. B. Never speak down to people; always speak up for them. C. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Leave your ego at the door. D. Listen more than talk. Give more than you receive.
Other keys to my success include:
A. The ability to care about people – truly care and not pretend. This has allowed me to view my position as one of responsibility to advocate for others. B. I believe I work hard. I strive for excellence, and continue to put forth a great deal of effort to ensure things work well. Hard work trumps intelligence. C. The willingness to move. Throughout my life, I have repeatedly made the effort to try new things. I sought a variety of experiences – working in large state schools, to smaller women’s colleges, to private religious institutions – to help me discover what I truly want in life regarding my vocation. D. I would never have been able to work to the extent I did without the support of those I trusted, who cared for my family and me.
3. I have experienced many challenges throughout my career. One particularly embarrassing event occurred while I was at a religious school, and by mistake, I had assigned men and women to the same rooms. In other words, one male and one female occupied each room across the entire campus. I did not realize my mistake until I had sent out all assignments to the families of the students. Suffice it to say, I became quite popular (and not necessarily in a good way). After fielding a few irate conversations, I decided on an approach to manage my mistake: I would take each phone call and thank the concerned parents for their involvement in a research project I was conducting that measured the level of response to issues that raise anxiety. I am not sure I would recommend my recovery attempt to others, but I was transparent with my president, who thought it clever.
That is a great recovery from the mistake of room assignment. I enjoy your post and what I take as an overall approach of caring about people and respecting their abilities. Along the lines with C of your other keys. I too have moved around a bit learning from various institutions in different roles. Is there a magic number for the amount of time in a position? I would imagine it is related to the level of the position and your previous history? Take care, Scott Burgess
It seems to be a common theme that many student affairs professionals did not begin their careers with the goal of ending up in student affairs. Do you think this is possibly because the majority of students don't realize that there are rewarding careers available in this field?
Thanks for sharing, Sue! I'm extremely curious about what it was like serving as a dean of students at the age of 24. Can you tell us a bit more about that experience including some of the challenges and lessons learned?
Hello! Could you please talk about how you went about getting so involved in NASPA? What did you do to initially begin that involvement on a more-than-just-a-member level? What would you differently in this process if you had to do it over again? Thanks!
Hello Sue! Thank you so much for your genuine insight. In your post you stated, "I would never have been able to work to the extent I did without the support of those I trusted, who cared for my family and me." I absolutely agree with your sentiment. Can you talk a little about how you, in all that you do as leader in student affairs, manage work/life balance?
Thank you all for your questions and comments. I appreciate that you are engaging with what it means to be a whole person while pursuing excellence in your career. Let’s see if I can address your thoughts one by one.
Tony – I think your assessment is spot on. In my experience, people look too narrowly at the field of Student Affairs. Generally, one’s experience with Student Affairs dictates what she or he understands to be the scope of the profession. For example, if your involvement during college is in housing, you tend to think that’s all there is. But there is so much more. I believe it would be to the advantage of Student Affairs professionals in all fields to continually relate their work to the bigger picture of how much is encompassed by our vocation. By doing this, young professionals and work-study students will gain a greater appreciation of the depth and width of career opportunities that all contribute to holistic student development in higher education.
Jessica – In all honesty, in my early years, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I have a proclivity to just do, do, do. And so I tended to just work through situations that were challenging, doing what I could in the manner that I thought best. Thankfully, I didn’t continue in this vein, and began to read quite a bit of the literature related to best practices in our field. I also began to build relationships with those I admired (in close proximity, and from a distance). I was challenged to expand my understanding and my philosophical underpinning, while gaining insight that helped me develop a wider skill set. I would not advise taking such a position at that age. I was too young for the role. My relationships were impacted greatly by my age: Students viewed me as a peer, which profoundly changed how they related to me. Older professionals viewed me as a pseudo-student, and this made it very difficult to be taken seriously at times. I had to work very hard to present myself as a professional (almost to the level of overcompensation) to demonstrate my intellect and capability.
Thanks so much for your response! I honestly could not imagine being the dean of students so young. I've been told that I often under sell myself and don't give myself credit for my professional accomplishments when considering applying for job postings. How do you suggest presenting your skill set when you aren't quite experienced in every area listed in a job description?
Kali – I got involved in NASPA at an earlier time, when things were organized a little differently. I began my involvement by attending a conference, and it became apparent that it was a bit of a “men’s only club.” I formed a coalition with some other women to promote higher levels of female involvement and input. This solidified some very strong relationships with some key women across the country. I took a great deal of initiative and was involved in some strong political movement and lobbying on the national level. From there, I became more involved regionally. Much has changed, and I would suggest starting your involvement locally, and then expanding your reach to a national scale. Don’t be afraid to ask people to nominate you to boards or other opportunities of influence.
Regarding your question of what, if anything, I would change: I was asked several times to run for president. I decided against it because I felt stretched in my professional and personal life. I continued to tell people to ask me later after my children were grown, and I could focus on the responsibilities of the office better. I am so very glad to have been involved in my kids’ lives, but I think there were some seasons I would have been able to do both well.
Thank you for your insight! I have often been encouraged to "get involved with your professional associations," but I was not really sure exactly how or where to start. Beginning locally sounds much less daunting and more feasible.
Amanda – Great question. As you can see by the last part of my response to Kali, my family is of great importance to me. Involvement in their lives is of highest priority. Therefore, I suggest that you watch whom you work for. I have seen many young professionals take any job available to them, often to the detriment of their personal health. Don’t just take the job. Some of us older professionals in Student Affairs have contributed to burn out in those younger who are eager to prove themselves. I strongly suggest that you have conversations about expectations, boundaries, and values up front in the hiring process, so you have a clear understanding of your context, and have set forth a plan that demonstrates how you can work with excellence while still adhering to your priorities. I believe that to date, there has been great imbalance in Student Affairs by professionals who have focused on their career advancement to the detriment of their families and personal health. This is easy to do in our line of work, because we are involved in a noble profession. To work towards the holistic development and betterment of the students entrusted to us is a calling of the highest order. Yet, my bias holds that we must be able to demonstrate at least this much passion and expertise to our family as well. Have they not also been entrusted to us for the most intimate of care?
Thank you all again for your questions. I look forward to continuing the conversation.
Sue, thank you so much for your response. I absolutely agree with you regarding the imbalance and reasons as to why it exists! As a young married woman in the profession, I struggle most with the choice of being a career woman and a mother. It is difficult to balance, especially when you love what you do and you are so influential in the lives of your students. But I have made an intentional effort to be more open about expectations and boundaries. Thanks again for your advice. You are cetainly an inspiration.
Sue, Thank you for your willingness to participate in our blog! I've enjoyed your post and responses. I have two questions.
The first question is in regard to your response to Amanda, above, about work/life balance. Are there signs you would recommend job-seekers specifically be on the look-out for during the pre-application and/or interviewing stage that might speak to the ability to maintain a healthy work/life balance at a particular institution or within a particular department?
Secondly, I'm very curious about your participation with Semester-at-Sea! How did you get involved? How does one work with Semester-at-Sea and keep their current position? I'd love to hear anything you could tell us about the experience.
Thanks for sharing your story and lessons learned. I loved your story about the housing assignment mishap. Having worked in a religious college with strict residence hall gender restrictions I can imagine how well that went over! :-) You noted that you have worked in a variety of institutions. Did you encounter any challenges in transitioning from one institutional type to another (eg. small to large, religious to secular)? Also, what advice would you give about how to transition from one type to another? It seems that sometimes search committees rule out candidates because they don't have the same institutional background (eg. a candidate who works at a university with 3,000 students applying to a university with 28,000 students). I would think that many of the professional skills would be transferable across institutional types?
First, as for signs and flags to look for regarding interviewing and finding the right fit, I strongly suggest that you do some solid research before you are too far into the process: you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you! Call the department you are interested in and ask about work hours, schedules, expectations, and seasons of stress. I would also encourage you to spend some time in reflection thinking over some of the other major decisions you have made: what clues or signs did you seek for confirmation of your decision? Reviewing these experiences could give you insight into how to adequately approach this new one. Things I sought to know where expectations for my family and my spouse in particular, the life stage of my potential colleagues (if they were at different points, their expectations might have been different than my own). Last, ask questions during the interview that will give you specific insight into expectations and the culture you may be joining. I have a list of 24 questions I have compiled to address in interviews to get a sense of those interviewing me. I don’t use them all every time, but here are some examples:
1. Seek to clarify definitions of important words: success, rest, and student development, for example. 2. Ask if you can observe natural function of the office. 3. What is a legitimate transition period for taking on a new role? 4. What is the expectation of my spouse/partner, and children? Be up front about what they can expect from these people. 5. Is there a support system for our family? 6. What is the typical workweek? What other annual requirements? 7. How does my position fit into the overall plan? 8. Why did previous person leave? 9. Who is your target? 10. What are characteristics of the rest of the staff? 11. How long has rest of staff been there? How long do you expect us to be here? 12. Do you support continuing education? 13. What do you measure & reward? 14. Is there a bias for action or study "why?" vs. "why not?" 15. Ask about management style: describe it & illustrate it.
Second, I’m glad that your interest in Semester-At-Sea was piqued! It is an incredible journey for those able to take the opportunity. If you want all the nitty-gritty details of my travels, please look for my upcoming book, Sailing Through Uncharted Waters: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know (And a Great Deal You Didn’t) About Semester At Sea, set to publish in fall of… oh I can’t continue the charade: I’m not writing a book, yet!
I truly love what Semester At Sea provided for me, and I would encourage any and all Student Affairs professional to pursue it. We often talk about creating a true learning community. But I believe such a situation can never happen on a standard college campus: people live in different locations, maintain jobs off campus, go home to families, etc. Being on ship together is dramatically different. We learn together, eat together, dance together, get sick together – do life together. You cannot simply leave. You are forced to find common ground and mutual appreciation of all people and rise to the challenge of developing relationships through challenge.
Someone approached me to take the position of Dean of Students after I cut a colleague’s tie on stage while chairing a National NASPA event in San Diego. You do hot have to go about it this way. It is very easy to get involved (follow this link: http://www.semesteratsea.org/). Be sure to apply 2-3 years in advance, however. Also one word of caution: know yourself well enough to assess whether you can weather the challenge of being in close proximity with others, with little to no personal space for a long period of time. To enter the experience without some self-knowledge in this area could be very detrimental. As for being able to keep your job, this is a big challenge. I was at Gonzaga University for 15 years before I first joined the program in 1996. I had a demonstrated proven track record that I could put systems and people in place to manage my absence. You may not have that opportunity, and you may have to make some difficult decisions. I wish you well!
Laurie-Ann, thank you for your question. This is another good one! I wholeheartedly believe that many of the skills and principles in Student Affairs are generalizable. The variety of institutions in which I worked all had distinctives in their culture. In my journey, I quickly realized I belonged in a smaller institution. It was a bit of a challenge to go from a small college to Gonzaga. I was not Catholic and was coming from a very small women’s college. Which leads to my main bit of advice: It is on you and me to read the institutional context and sell yourself. We must build bridges between the mission of the school and our expertise, experiences, skills, and strengths. This is similar to what you do in a cover letter. A cover letter begins the process and hopefully opens the window for you to shine a light on how you are a solid institutional fit. If you can anticipate and speak to concerns and issues that the hiring committee might have, you have already done a great deal to help give them the confidence to hire you.
It has been fun to connect with you all. Thank you for your interest in my life, and for the depth of your questions. I am honored for the opportunity to share this week with you. I wish you well in your endeavors, and encourage you to pursue excellence in this noble calling known as Student Development!
Good Morning Everyone, I apologize for the delay in posting but I was one tired daddy last night and fell asleep with my daughter (she will be 6 at the end of August) and woke up at 1am and decided I would post today. This is my second tour of duty in the blogosphere with Dr. Miller and I greatly enjoyed the experience back in 2011 so I am happy to be back and able to engage with you all.
Tom asked that we respond to the following questions:
1.)Describe your path to the work, how you got from your start to you present circumstance. If there are special factors in the decisions you made, it would give the students insight if you explained that. 2.)If you can share a few key lessons you’ve learned along the way, keys to your success, if you will, that would be nice. 3.)If you can think of a particularly tough situation you faced, it would be nice for you to share it. Describe the circumstances and the way you approached it and what you learned from it.
I will break my first post into 3 sections and have found that as you ask questions I will likely continue to expand on the initial questions.
Question #1 My career started out as most student affairs professionals – cutting my teeth in residence life and housing. Like many student affairs professionals today, my exposure to student affairs professionals during my undergraduate career influenced my career path greatly. I began studying Political Science at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1993. Unbeknownst to me, my residence director during my freshman and sophomore year would be one of the main influences on my post-undergraduate life. Fast forward to my junior year – I decided that I hated politics and decided to change majors to Sociology with a double minor in Political Science and Criminology. During my 4th year in school I decided that the student affairs profession was the direction for me. During my five years at Miami I have many stories I could share from being a: resident assistant; summer orientation leader; student worker in the judicial officer; nightclub bouncer, bartender; and even an undercover drug work (lots of stories from my criminology internship). However, it is the experiences from my roles in student affairs that really impacted me and helped navigate me toward student affairs.
I graduated and went to Virginia Tech in 1998 to pursue my M.A. Ed. degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. I worked in housing for two years as a graduate hall director with my internship in judicial affairs. I wrote a thesis and was lucky enough to be published in the Journal of College Student Development (feel free to Google me) on alcohol and student leaders. I graduated and became an international sensation. Ok, so maybe not an international sensation (haha) but I did become an international student affairs professional by accepting a job as the Director of Housing and Residence Life at Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland. It was an amazing and life-changing experience. However, (after my cup of coffee/espresso as Tom likes to call it) I decided to return to the states due to the departure of some of my colleagues and the failing health of my grandfather in Florida. I ended up accepting a housing position as Assistant Director of Housing at Eckerd College.
At Eckerd College I met my mentor, Dr. Tom Miller. Tom left a few months after I started to become Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students at USF. Due to philosophical differences with the Eckerd administration of the importance of alcohol in collegiate life, I and the other Assistant Director resigned our positions. While I only worked at Eckerd for 10 months, those 10 months were instrumental in shaping where I am now and the professional I am today.
Heading to USF was not a financially sound decision at the time, but it was a decision of the heart. My ex-wife was going to enter the CSA graduate program at USF in August and I knew that this was the woman I wanted to marry so when Tom said I have a temporary job in the student conduct office (60% time), I accepted it. A year later I was the interim director and in 2004 following a national search I became the Associate Dean of Students responsible for the management of the student conduct office. I remained in this position until my departure in July 2008 when I left sunny Florida for IUPUI where I currently serve as the Dean of Students. After six years as a conduct officer (that is double the tenure of many in the field) I decided it was time to move and gain more experience. This was a very tough decision because USF was my home and I was very proud of the program I had built and the relationships I had created. Regrets? No, it was time and ultimately it was a personal decision as well so that we could be closer to family.
Thanks so much for the interesting and detailed responses to the questions posed by Dr. Miller and the class. I have a slightly off topic question, but am curious about the movement between student and academic affairs. I started my higher education career in admissions and moved to alumni/parent relations and fundraising, so I'm trying to identify where I'd like to go next. I'm wondering is there mobility between the two areas or if you begin on one path, then will you likely continue on that path? If that makes sense!
This is a great question! There are so many great areas in higher education. I know personally that I too have always been curious about exploring other areas of higher education but sometimes question if I'd be considered for a move into another area.
I do believe mobility exists and the best way to explore that is through making connections with multiple areas/folks on campus. I have seen professionals go from enrollment services to student affairs and student affairs to academic affairs and vice versa. The key is showcasing your talents and making connections. If you only keep your head in your own shop you run the risk of pigeonholing yourself. Getting involved in committees and other meetings can be a good way to meet many folks across campus. Attending open forums - especially for candidates interviewing gives you a chance to meet people and ask questions where others notice you? So, it it a little bit like selling yourself across campus and as I mentioned to Amanda just getting out there and exploring what might interest you.
In regard to present day circumstances, it is hard to believe that I am starting my 6th year at IUPUI as the Dean of Students but in that time I have had the opportunity to supervise all of the most common units found in a Student Affairs Division. When I started I supervised the Office of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct (SRRC), Student Health, and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). Six months later Campus Recreation was moved from the School of Physical Education to my portfolio. About two years ago we switched some things up when the new Vice Chancellor started and we moved several of the units that were under the Assistant Vice Chancellor to my portfolio and vice versa. So, my current portfolio for the last two years has been SRRC, Housing and Residential Life, the Office of Student Involvement, and the Campus Center. I am also currently A.B.D. after passing my qualifying exams in July 2012 at Indiana State University for my PhD in Educational Leadership.
In the last 13 years as a professional I have been very lucky to have a wide breadth of experience from international, to private, to public institutions. I have learned that making an ethical decision may not make you popular, but it does provide personal resolve and builds character. I have learned that there will definitely be tough days no matter what the job, but the rewards – the impact you can have on students make those tough days pale in comparison the satisfaction you feel when you have truly made a difference in the life of a student. This is something that I think can be difficult for professionals in student conduct to remember from time to time because the job typically does not involve students expressing their “thanks” for being referred for an alleged violation of the student code of conduct. The rewards also change as one matures as a professional. One of my rewards now is the impact that family can have on the balance in your life. Before Mackenzie, my daughter, was born I might not leave the office until 7pm. Now, I leave at 5pm – I may still work in the evening after she is asleep, but that time with her is so important. So as priorities shift, rewards shift. I am rewarded when I see the staff reporting to me accomplish great things and receive accolades. My rewards are also the relationships that are created with colleagues – colleagues that can speak the student affairs language and appreciate the daily work. One thing I have definitely learned is that “politics” can be found at each and every institution and you can either drive yourself crazy trying to understand everything, or learn to work within the politics of a given institution. It is very important to pick and choose your battles.
From a student conduct perspective I have learned that it takes a special kind of person to do this work and I have the utmost respect and admiration for those that do it. No one teaches you how to be a specific type of student affairs professional while in graduate school. Graduate school provides you a basis, but you learn to be a professional through your graduate assistantships, your first jobs, and from the people around you. Sometimes describing someone as a sponge can carry a negative connotation, however, I think being a sponge is a great way for new student affairs professionals to grow and learn. The advice I provide to student conduct administrators is that when it becomes too easy for you to remove a student from school and you do not think about that decision and process it even after having made it, then it is probably time for you to move on to a new job. I was not at that point when I left USF, but burnout is a real issue in student conduct. A great article was published in About Campus in the January/February 2007 issue by Kate Linder titled “I’m Glad Someone Does It!” If you have time, this is a great article to read and really sums up what it means to be a conduct officer.
I will share more keys to success as we talk this week.
One of the most challenging situations I have faced occurred August 29, 2006. It was on this day that I experienced a very rare and challenging situation – I was attacked by a student during a disciplinary meeting. Long story short, I was placed in a choke-hold by a 6’7”, 285 pound 27 year old male and had to fight him for two minutes until the police arrived. Luckily I have a 17 ½ inch neck and even though he had me by almost 100 pounds I was not going to let follow through on his declaration of intent to kill me or harm my staff. Believe it or not, what went through my head for the first 10 seconds of being choked by this man was whether or not it was okay to punch a student. Once my brain started working and answered YES, then I entered the longest two minutes of my professional career. He went to jail and I went to the hospital to check out my neck and my sore ribs (I had to tackle him onto my couch at one point when he was heading toward my staff).
Following the incident I took three days off but I did make an appearance the next day at a student affairs function so that everyone would know that I was ok. Of course there were some knee-jerk reactions of suggestions of changing the process and that all meetings should be conducted by two individuals, but I held firm that this was a freak occurrence and that changes were not necessary and would only negatively impact the interaction between student and administrator. The hard part was handling the misinformation and rumors. It sounds crazy, but I actually protected the student that attacked me because I would not comment to the media about what happened because it occurred during a student conduct meeting and technically was protected. If people really wanted the story, they could always obtain a copy of the police report.
One thing I did learn was to trust my gut and not think of myself as invincible and able to help everyone. At one point I had picked up the phone to call the police but ended up putting it down thinking I could help him. I did up until a point where he “snapped” and there was no helping him anymore. What I have learned as a result of this incident I have passed along to other professionals through presentations about protecting oneself and thinking about what you might do in a life-threatening situation. I would be lying if I said I was not a little nervous the next time I had an upset student in my office, but I handled the situation as I had a thousand other times and redirected that anger and helped the student to calm down. As I said before, what happened to me was extraordinary and I have never met anyone else that has encountered a similar situation, but I have learned to be a little more cautious depending on the circumstances of the situation.
Hi Jason, thank you so much for your posts. I found them very sincere. I have two questions for you:
Response to Question #1: I was not heavily involved in undergrad. I came to learn about student affairs when I worked in student services at a community college in Jacksonville, FL. I have spent the last five years at USF (two in the CSA program and three in advising) trying to make up for that lack of experience. In my graduate assistantship, I worked with a group of scholarship students doing some programming and a lot of counseling. I have interned in an international student programs office for a summer, updating a pandemic communication and emergency action plan. Now an academic advisor, I also oversee the student organization for the Honors College and I teach leadership. However, I have never had any direct experience in Housing or Conduct. I know many Deans of Students (and other higher education administrators) have a lot of experience in these functional areas. Do you have any advice for how I might make up for this?
Response to Question #3: What a traumatic experience for you! I am so sorry you had to experience somehting like that, but I am very impressed by your reflection on it. My husband also works in Conduct. I have to say, after the events at Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and others, I am concerned. I think individuals in this functional area are particularly vulnerable to this type of violence. As you said, your experience was rare, but is there specific training regardng these circumstances for individuals in this functional area?
Thank you for sharing your responses with Jason. I think it is great that you want to learn more about housing and conduct. Any thoughts of why it would be beneficial to you?
Thank you for your questions. You are correct that a lot of Dean of Students have conduct experience before obtaining the role, but that certainly does not mean you shouldn't continue to works toward the goal of becoming one. :-) Ultimately, I believe that being a good DOS is about engagement. The way in which we engage students, parents, colleagues makes all the difference in the world. The DOS ends being the "catch all" for many issues in student affairs/collegiate life so being able to demonstrate flexibility, understanding, compassion, advocacy, and commitment are critically important to become a good DOS. I have met deans without those qualities and they are not approachable and are more of an administrator than a true student affairs professional. Continue to do what you are doing - reach out and get involved outside of your normal scope of duties. Attend the ASCA conference in February that will be in St. Pete (I am sure your husband will be there) and get a feel for the many types of professionals that are there and begin creating a network. Try to get involved with Student Government in some capacity as well because many times the DOS has direct involvement with student governance. Take advantage of professional development opportunities and don't be afraid to ask others for help - be up front and say you are looking for experience to help make you a well-rounded professional.
Yes, it was an interesting experience to say the least and quite unique. Yes, the events of VT, NIU, Sandy Hook and others do cause one to be concerned about safety on college campuses. Our world continues to change and I continue to be a proponent of gun control especially on college campuses. I think the big thing is to make sure that you have panic buttons even if you are not in a conduct office. Even you should not be meeting with students after 5pm if no one else is around. Sometimes we forget our own personal sense of safety because we are so focused on helping students. Trust your gut - if something doesn't feel right it probably isn't right. The buddy system applies to administrators as well so if you are going to meet with a student that raises some hairs on your neck - tell someone else so they are there as well in the office suite or area. One thing we do is if we are meeting with a student that has been involved in a violent incident we hold the meeting in the police station so that they know if they try anything - the police are going to be there. :-) For women, I recommend R.A.D. training through the police department. While the training Rape Aggression Defense, it is about protecting oneself even if it isn't about sexual assault. I always tell folks the bonus is at the end you get to take out your frustration for any speeding tickets you have ever received on a police officer in protective body gear at the end of the class! haha
All in all, trust your senses/gut and think about what type of news you intend to deliver (whether you are suspending a student or telling them they are academically dismissed for failing grades) and the best way to do that while protecting yourself and the dignity of the student.
Thank you for the very positive feedback and suggestions. Any student curious about DOS and learning more should strongly consider the ASCA in St. Pete. I also appreciated your suggestion regarding RAD. Your experience is valuable and sharing your story allows all of us to grown and learn how to best be prepared for the unexpected. Experience is invaluable and can make us all better leaders to handle the unique nuances of each individual student.
That certainly does help to clarify many things for me. I appreciate your advice and guidance. I will definitely look for those opportunities. Again, thank you for your time!
Thank you very much for your posts and authenticity with each point. I agree with so many things you wrote including the political aspect and "choosing your battles", trusting your gut, how we so often forget about or own safety because we are so focused on helping them.
I work in college athletics as an academic coordinator and the director of a "life skills" program covering career development, personal maturity, and community involvement. Although I've generally feel safe working with student-athletes at any of the three institutions I've at which I've worked, I can't help but think that I'm a 5'4", 120lb former gymnast and I am surrounded by very fit, strong, and large human beings all the time. So much so, that large doesn't really resonate with me anymore. I work directly with men's basketball and our largest student-athlete is from Nigeria and he's 7'3" and 330lbs! Luckily, he's a gental giant, but what if he wasn't? There are so many times that I have to come down on them or deliver news regarding eligibility concerns or reports that will go to coaches. When it comes down to it, they could snap me in half if they wanted to. I suppose a major difference is that we generally have the luxury of "knowing" our students and being able to build pretty strong relationships with them which makes it much easier to have these difficult conversations. Still, with the world the way it is, I suppose it's a thought that can haunt us all.
Once last summer, we had a former student-athlete who was a walk-on and not very involved with her team come into the athletic building. She was making her rounds and pushing her way into offices, conversations, etc. She made her way into the study area and was talking to student-athletes and visibly making them very uncomfortable (not to mention, disrupting their studying). I was the most senior member of our staff while this was occurring so I had to take action. I went in to calmly talk to her and it was clear to me that she was not mentally stable. Even with a female I did not feel comfortable asking her to leave by myseld. So, I chose to leave our academic center (with another staff member watching her from a distance) to go and find another male staff member to be there. I then took him with me and talked to her for a few minutes about what she wanted to talk about and then told her we needed her to leave. She did not want to, but with some encouragement she obliged.
I was really just sharing this story to share about my circumstances and experiences, but I think there are some questions that are applicable to all. We know the safety precautions that you've mentioned such as meeting in numbers and emergency buttons, which are so important to keep in mind. I think the part that resonated with me the most from your story was that you stopped to think if you could actually hit a student back to protect yourself. Could we always be protected if we were in a situation where a student is attempting to harm us and we have to defend back? I can't think of a worse situation than having to defend yourself and then being sued afterward... but I can definitely see it happening. If it's only you and the student present, it's your word against theirs. Can you comment further about your experiences or thoughts on this? Again, thank you so much for sharing!!
Thank you for sharing your story. I remember getting a tour from you and walking through athletics and seeing just how large some of these athletes are. It is impressive but also makes me stop and think how fortunate I am that I do not have to line up across from them on a field. Can you share with us what training you received in your professional career to know how to handle this situation with the young lady?
Interesting you should ask this, Billy. Unfortunately, I have never received any training in this area. In fact, I think that many other employees do not receive proper training for things like this. For me, I have always relied on my instincts, which I think have served me well so far, but I do think that sometimes instincts can throw you in the wrong direction. We did discuss similar topics in one of my classes in my Student Affairs masters program at Mizzou. This was only because of the what had just happened at Virginia Tech, though. So, maybe my instincts are a little better because of those conversations. I think that all staff who work regularly with students should receive some sort of training about this for sure. Otherwise, we are not putting them into a good place to make the best possible decisions should any problems arise.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I agree. I've heard of and received some training but for the most part have had to rely on my instincts. I also think it would be a good idea to have staff go every few years for a "refresher" since so much is constantly changing in higher education. Great comments!
Jodie, Thank you for sharing your story and thoughts concerning safety in the workplace.
To answer your question, yes, you can always protect yourself but one always has to be careful of going to far. I always say to students that if someone punches you or hits you it may not be cool to walk away or run away but that is an important "angle" in cases of self-defense - was there another option. So, if you and a student are in the middle of a room and you have the ability to get out - get out. But if a student has you backed into a corner or is blocking your escape then you have every right to defend yourself. I always tell male students that once they get the upper hand they need to stop defending and call the police/get away.
Unfortunately we live in a age of litigation and he said/she said but we can't live in fear of being sued. Yes, it can happen, but if we are doing our job, the university should be defending our behavior.
I am huge proponent of windows in office doors so that others can always see in. Whenever I meet with a student the blinds are always open. Harder to make a claim if others can see in the room. When I came to IUPUI I immediately had windows cut into all the wooden doors. Ultimately, you let your professionalism and record speak for itself and hopefully that is enough. A student tried to make an OCR claim against be back in 2007 while at USF and said all of these outrageous things and I told the University and the OCR that I had nothing to hide and to ask me any questions they had. Both the University and OCR found nothing to the claim and no wrong-doing. Not a fun situation, but you hold your head high and while his claim was full of just utter lies, the key was trusting that people know my integrity and who I am and that since I had nothing to hide I had nothing to worry about.
Times have changed though - I can remember 15 years ago as a graduate hall director giving a student a hug when they were crying about something but nowadays I don't hug any students and I think that should hold true for male or female administrators. You never know what someone could say. It is tough when you just want to show the compassion to a student and say it is all going to be okay, but you never know how a hug could be interpreted or all of a sudden someone has made a sexual harassment claim. So, our comfort and compassion has to be through our communication and our non-verbal body language.
It can seem a little overwhelming thinking about all of the scenarios, but I think the key is just using common sense, understanding that we live in a litigious society, and doing the best we can as professionals.
Thanks for your reply. I think you make excellent points and I'm very glad you shared all of this. I think I may try to talk to my boss about at least having discussions about this with our staff so that everyone is on the same page about the best ways to handle these kinds of situations.
That is a great point about the windows and ability for others to see in and make sure everything is above board. I was a high school teacher prior to working in Student Affairs and was a bit nervous in my first role as a student conduct officer. I had gone from a system where you should never be alone with a student to meeting with a dozen students alone behind a closed door. My mentality at the time was to make sure there was no appearance of impropriety, which a recorder always helps to document what was said/not said. I think the secondary education faculty at USF did a great job of instilling this me, which always stays in the back of my mind in student meetings. It does get tricky with privacy issues and open windows/doors however.
Thank you for the post Jason. I was on the other end of a similar scenario with a student once (verbal threats of violence, advancing, pre-contact disrobing), but he was about 100lbs and I am a smidgen larger. He decided it was not wise and scampered off, but there is alwasy the thought that those types of situations may happen.
Thank you for sharing your personal experiences with us. These examples are very helpful for many of us as we are looking to provide great service to students but also be careful and aware of our surroundings. How have you seen social media also influence your behavior personally and professionally in higher education?
Yes, social media does play a more significant role in our lives now than it did back in the 90s. As professionals we need to be cognizant of our image and how we brand ourselves. I have seen professionals put things on Facebook and Twitter that sometimes amaze me and could alienate students/colleagues if their profile is not private. Our actions and our words speak volumes and as professionals we have to remember that especially in the world of social media. Personally, I keep my Facebook private and never accept friend requests from students (sometimes I do from graduate assistants). My Twitter is public but I don't post much and I always think about what I am putting out there if I do post.
You always have to remember that you not only wear your personal hat, but your professional hat and the hat of your institution.
Thank you for your feedback. I try to be very cognizant of that as well. I know it will continue to be a struggle with younger professionals coming into higher education.
Thanks for all that you've shared with us about your professional journey and your advice. I was curious about how you balance empathy and holding students accountable when dealing with conduct issues?
This is a great question! It is important that at the end of the day we remember that we are working with people. Whether they be students, family, colleagues, or visitors at the end of the day we are all people. Your question is a great one for the class because it is very challenging to build this rapport from a textbook.
Balancing empathy and accountability is an important aspect of any type of conduct - whether it be student or having to deal with a colleague/subordinate. Billy is right in that it isn't something that can really be learned from a textbook. It is an acquired skill and one that for some it can be very difficult. Conduct is not a black and white issue and when professionals get into the field of student conduct they typically think that way at first. Rule broke = consequence - very black and white. If you are very dualistic in your thinking there is no gray area. I like to say that conduct is a rainbow and that every case is unique. Yes, there is a consistency to what we do and the decisions we have made in the past should not be so different from the decisions we make in the present or the future, but you have to look at each case without preconceived notions if possible. I believe that my success as a conduct officer was because I took the time to engage students and hear their stories. In my time at USF (6 years) I had less than 10 appeals. I don't think it is because I was some genius conduct officer, I think it was a result of engaging a student and speaking with them, not at them. The goal is to get the student to understand and respect the decision of the university, not necessarily agree with it. I believe that students just want to be heard and that the reason why many students appeal is because they don't feel like someone heard their story. Taking the time to engage a student and really listen can save conduct administrators a great deal of time later. Empathy can be displayed by listening and engaging a student while helping them to understand the accountability that they have for their own behavior and that ultimately they are in a conduct office because they drew attention to their behavior.
So, my advice would be to listen and to engage and help them to see the multiple perspectives.
I think it may be a slightly different system now, but when I was a conduct officer, the first five or more minutes were spent talking about their student experience. I wanted to find out how they were doing in school, if they were involved, if there were campus resources that may help them engage with the campus better (SDS, Tutoring, etc.), how they were fitting in, under the premise that they may be engaged in negative behaviors as a result of something that is fixable outside of the conduct process. It also helped (in my mind) to establish that rapport that Jason talks about) so the student does not feel that they are meeting with the executioner. I had always thought if a student is not engaged with their school and has no loyalty/tie to it, then why care about the place and "their rules". Maybe all they know about their school is that they show up to 200 person lectures that they don't understand and then sit in their tiny boring room by themselves, then why not write their tag in the bathroom of the Marshall Center or throw trash out front of their residence hall? I would imagine an Orientation Leader, RA or successful involved student would not do the same. If you are failing your classes and are going to end up back home in a few months anyway, why not drink to excess on a Tuesday? I think it is possible to have a well documented and followed due process conduct hearing that includes the opportunity to see how they are doing and how you can help their overall experience without coming off as "the man" or preachy, but it is definitely a practiced skill.
Thank you for your comments. I forgot you had experience as a conduct officer. Your contributions to the conversation are helpful and I agree that it is important that you make the student feel comfortable and not, as you said, feel like they are walking into a meeting with an executioner.
I hope I responded to everyone's questions - if I did not please repost below. I will continue to monitor this blog for a while so if you have more questions don't hesitate to ask. You can also email me at jtspratt@iupui.edu
I wish you all the best and I thank you for letting me share some of my thoughts with you.
Thank you for your time and contributions to the class blog. Your insight and experiences are valuable and we appreciate your time to allow us to connect with you. Have a wonderful holiday break as well.
Thanks for your post! Your experiences in Japan must have been really amazing! Could you please elaborate on your time there--how did you find your work to be different from work here in the US? In what ways was it particularly similar? What surprises or unique challenges did you encounter? What are the biggest lessons you learned from contributing to opening a campus?
Thanks again! You mentioned "provide opportunities for skill development." What have you found to be the most valuable skills in student affairs practice? What opportunities for skill development have you found to be the most helpful for student affairs staff?
You have a great amount of diverse experience. Can you comment further on which of these experiences was your favorite and why? I work in athletics and have only been at Division I schools, but two very large and well known programs and one much smaller FCS (non-bowl eligible) program. The longer at I'm at a big time program, the more I miss my days at a smaller school. However, a large reason I was ready to leave the smaller school was due to feeling "overworked" to the point that I had no life balance. Now, I'm at a bigger school again and feel even more that way! ;-) Part of it is our society's expectations, part of it is athletics in general, and part of it is my own personal desire and need to "succeed"... but one of these days I hope to find a place that provides a great work experience with a better balance with life as well.
Thank you so much for joining us this week. My background is not in student affairs; rather I come from the academic side and have spent most of my time in four-year privates. Your advice to be willing to explore different kinds of institutions resonated with me. I feel that such diversity of experience can be very beneficial so long as one understands and makes salient what type of institution (and the corresponding mission and philosophy) he/she is situated in at a given moment.
However, I've had several colleagues/mentors warn me and others of the pigeonholing that goes on regarding experience based on institutional type. For example, I've been cautioned against working/teaching in the community college setting or staying too long in a large public research institution if I want to return to the four-year private setting later. My mentors claim that when reviewing applications, many will bypass those who are coming from a different institution-type. I've also overheard conversations locally from some in advising who were discussing bypassing applicants coming from smaller institutions as they felt they wouldn't be able to handle the work at a large university.
Have you seen much of this "pigeon-holing" in student affairs? If so, how do you think you were so successful in moving through the various types of institutions? Is there any advice you could give about how to combat this (if it's real)? And, finally, do you think there are areas or situations in student affairs where consistency in institutional-type experience is actually better?
Wow--that sounds like a really valuable and challenging experience! I've worked at a campus that was originally just upper-level students, and very much used a student services approach, rather than focusing on student development. With some growth initiatives and new leadership, we were planning to add first- and second-year students and shift the approach toward true student development.
In doing this, I found myself often trying to explain that "what we do/why we do it" portion of student affairs you mentioned, to make the case for creating certain programs from scratch.
What did you find were the best (or worst, in a "what not to do" sense) ways of explaining what we do and why we do it? How did you change your message to different audiences (faculty colleagues, other student affairs professionals, students, families, etc) to achieve the buy-in you needed?
Thanks so much for sharing these experiences with us!
I too, will take a stab at three posts in hopes that I won't bore you.
I too, am in the Student Affairs field primarily because of Dr. Miller. I was an undergraduate at Canisius College in Buffalo, and met him when I was elected to the student government. I went on to be elected President, and met with him regularly thereafter. I was pretty much majoring in Student Government and activities at the time, and he introduced me to the possibility that you could actually get paid for that. He pretty much set me up on a track to pursue a Master's at Bloomington, however, I was 21 and in live, and couldn't think of leaving home. Several monthls later I graduated, no longer was dating, and was going door to door in search of employment. I worked in the private sector for a couple of years, worked in government and even tried (unsuccessfully) to recapture that electoral magic by running for public office. I remained close to Dr. Miller ( I admit that he likely cringes every time he reads "Dr. Miller" but it takes a whole lot for me to call him Tom in person, I could never refer to him that way) and it was 8 years after I had graduated from undergrad, and after two unsuccessful applications for Admissions positions that a job in Career Planning and Job Placement (yes that was the name in those days) came up and I applied. I got the job mostly I think because of my professed ability to sell recruiters on visiting Canisius. I started right in on a Master's Degree in Counseling, and directly upon completing that, entered the Doctoral Program at the University at Buffalo. Halfway through my Master's program, the college went through a number of layoffs, and while I survived, I was asked to take on the additional responsibility of coordinating Disability Services. This was just 16 years after the passage of the Rehabiltation Act of 1974 and months after the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The numbers began to grow exponentially until I was doing more and more DSS work, and much less career Services. I did my dissertation on Attitudes Toward and Interactions With Students with Visible Disabilities.
When I completed my degree, an opportunity came up to Direct the office of Career Planning and Placement and UB. I took that Job in 1997 and worked in that role until 2008 when I was asked to start an office to deal with Off-Campus Students. This past year I was asked to help start an office for Veteran Students. I hold those two positions currently.
Thanks for all you have shared with us so far! You mentioned being asked to start an office to deal with Off-Campus students. Can you share with us what that experience was like starting an office/department from scratch - challenges, opportunities, surprises, factors to be considered? Also, what factors lead to the decision to create this office (student needs, retention efforts etc.)? Does this office partner with other student affairs departments?
Any success I have enjoyed in my career has stemmed from some amalgam of love for the work, a desire to be challenged and flexibility. Almost any growth I have experienced came as the result of being nudged outside of my comfort zone. Sometimes those opportunities come in the form of new positions or responsibilities, and sometimes they come through volunteering for committees or within a professional association.
Thank you for sharing with us. I agree with you completely! Many times new opportunities arise and take out outside of our comfort zone. These opportunities are great learning experiences (both good and bad) and help us find more out about ourselves and the type of job/leader we want to become.
The most difficult moment in my career was when I went to the home of a student who had been murdered the night of his graduation. I met with his roommates and we just sort of grieved together. I am looking at opportunities to take the next step in my career and have applied for a few Dean/VP positions, but I will confess to all of you that the thing that worries me most about taking that step is the thought of dealing with parents and roommates after a student suicide. My current supervisor is extraordinarily well equipped by virtue of her personality and demeanor. She has a very empathetic presence, and unfortunately she has gotten a lot of experience dealing with that sort of thing. While I have a Master's in Counseling, and so, have what I think is a solid understanding of what is needed in those circumstances, I pray that I will have the stamina to truly be helpful in the event that I need to confront that sort of tragedy.
Wow - that was kind of a bummer. let me add that I have made plenty of mistakes along the way, but I have been blessed to have had great mentors and supervisors who helped me learn from all of them. (You would think I would be brilliant by now).
It sounds like you have really had to deal with some very difficult situations. I'm sure your counseling background has helped you significantly during these times, even in ways that you may not be aware of. I think we have to also rely on intuition in these situations and hope that it serves us well. What would be your recommendations for those who do not have a counseling background to best handle these kinds of challenges?
I am not saying that a graduate program in counseling wouldn't be helpful for a deeper understanding of theories and techniques, but the foundation for being a "good counselor" has more to do with the qualities of the counselor. If you can be a good listener who can remain in the moment with the student in a non-judgmental way you will be successful in helping students.
I am a little out of the mainstream in our profession. I don't really buy into much of the special interest politics that our professional associations and Master's programs espouse sometimes. I believe you will help a student most if you treat that student as an individual. Their gender, race, age, disability status, sexual preference, political party, religion are all part of who that student is, but it should not define them for you. I don't know that there really is a way you should treat students with disabilities international students, GLBTQ students, student athletes etc. That is not to say that membership in any of those groups aren't important factors in certain situations, but it is up to the student to raise those issues. The minute we ascribe tendencies, attributes or mindsets to students because of their membership in a category is the minute we devalue them as individuals. I would enjoy reading the reactions of the participants on this topic, because in my experience it is not often discussed in this manner.
I'll jump out on the limb with you. I find your perspective refreshing and generally agree with you. I'll admit I am not from a student affairs background, and won't go into too much detail on my thoughts here, but sometimes cringe when I hear about certain efforts or approaches, though I think all are well-intentioned. It just seems--and as you said--these can begin to devalue an individual's uniqueness and many facets via the application of label or assumptions/knowledge of group membership. I have seen some similar movements in the faculty development/teaching and learning arena, which is where I come from.
As you said, "[A student's] gender, race, age, disability status, sexual preference, political party, religion are all part of who that student is, but it should not define them for you." To clarify, I think there's value in efforts to help people identify practices or processes that marginalize certain populations, as well as bring a new perspective(s) that a professional may otherwise be unaware of, but I am very cautious against presupposing that any "learning" I may have done about "groups" of people applies to an individual student in front of me.
My background is in communication and I have taught intercultural communication (both with an international and within-the-U.S. slant) and cautioned my students against making the same mistake. Further, as a former faculty member and with having advising responsibilities for a significant number of students as part of my duties in that role, I feel I was well-served by my philosophy. I formed many great relationships (and sometimes unexpected ones) with students by making NO assumptions (or, for the same of argument very flexible assumptions) and engaging in deep listening with them; many of these students were very different from me in all kinds of ways. Yet, because of the relationship that was able to develop, I was able to help or refer them to the appropriate help. I attribute this almost entirely to the bond that was formed by their realization that I was someone who had a genuine interest in their well-being in my classroom, as a student at my institution, and in broader community/society.
I really don't want anyone to misconstrue what I am saying; I just think there is a fine line between raising consciousness about experiences/worldviews our students may have and the sometimes-subsequent (and unfortunate) reduction of their individuality to membership in a particular "category".
Hi, Dan! Thanks for sharing! Could you address in a little more detail the approach you have taken when you have been asked to assume two roles concurrently? We discussed this in our last class session to some extent, actually, in terms of how much can you take on realistically while still being successful.
Also, we discussed how sometimes those situations can be somewhat negative in a sense that once you take on several additional responsibilities, you can be seen as the go-to person. At that point, if you admit to being overworked ... well, that isn't necessarily something anyone wants to do!
I'd love to hear more about your experiences with taking on multiple roles and the successes and struggles you've had.
Well, I won't say it is easy. The first time I did it I had two supervisors. So on one hand I was a peer and on the other a subordinate to one of the supervisors. They were both very good to work for, but there were occasional awkward moments. In my current role I have the same supervisor for both assignments, so that is not an issue. It is tough to keep all the plates spinning, however, and I think September may be a real challenge. I think the key to success when juggling multiple roles is to be honest with yourself about your limitations, and then honest with your supervisor. It is sort of like strength training. If you take on a little more work, you may struggle a bit, but if you work through it you will be sore for a few days, but stronger in the long run. If you take on more than you can handle, however, you can hurt yourself, or in this case, the students you are serving. (Did I mention I am brutal with metaphors?)
Thanks, Dan! Interestingly enough, my director and I had a conversation yesterday about having several responsibilities that require you to report to different people - and how navigating that process can be tricky! I think that's great advice - and spreading yourself too thin is commonly done (by our students, too!). Ha, I like the metaphors.
I'm working on a project now for our incoming students that my supervisor assigned me earlier in the spring. As the project has progressed, I've had to find partnerships and seek assistance from others within my division, and they have other leadership. As we have begun to work together, the original goal and scope of the project has changed from what my supervisor had originally had in mind, and even though I frequently keep his thoughts in mind, its difficult to navigate the waters when others have their hand in the pot. Just a piggy-back...
I appreciate the investment in sharing your experiences with us. Could you touch more on your mentors and leaders you have worked with? How have they helped you through mistakes? How have they taught you to be a better leader? What has been some of the "gems" you have personally kept/remembered as you have progressed in your career? Thanks for sharing!
I have definitely given my mentors and leaders plenty of opportunities to help me through my mistakes. I have tried to use their approach when mentoring or supervising others. If I suspect that the course of action that someone is pursuing might not be successful I ask myself first if anyone will be harmed by it. If the answer is no, then I may ask questions that may help the person see the situation in a different light, but I will let them carry on. In the event I am wrong, then I have learned something. In the event that it doesn't work out, we regroup and talk through the process and chose another course of action. A good example of this was when I was doing a program. My mentor asked questions about the content of the program and agreed that the information would be valuable. He also asked about my plans to market it. He seemed less convinced about some of those ideas and asked me if I had considered other methods. Long story shorter, the program was a success in terms of outcomes, but not in terms of attendance. Clearly if I had used some of the other methods, the results might have differed. He explained to me later that he had expected that the turnout might be low, but felt certain that those who came could benefit from it. I have tried to use the same approach.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. I have worked with a mentor for a long time and developed a strong rapport, which turned into a friendship with him. Additionally, I see another individual at work, whom I respect and career I would like to emulate as a mentor. The first is a very proud and the the latter is always questioning the things I do. I guess I have a good balance. I suppose my question to you is, how were you able to consistently prove that you were learning and doing well without seeming threatened by disapproval from a mentor?
I appreciate you feedback and input with managing and mentoring others. Your sentence about asking if anyone will be harmed by this really resonated with me. It demonstrates a high level of integrity, professionalism, and desire to be self-aware of the entire situation.
I look forward I to getting to know all of you.
ReplyDelete1. My path to working in higher education was somewhat accidental as many are. I did not know that a career in higher education was a possibility until a friend introduced me to the profession and encouraged me to pursue a graduate assistant position in Residence Life at Arizona State University. My overall goal is to become a Dean of/for Students and my experience is somewhat founded on this goal and the goal to learn about the various types of institutions before ending up at my alma mater, the University of South Florida. I have worked in student and academic affairs at Arizona State University, University of California Santa Cruz, the University of North Florida and Saint Leo University and have taught at Pasco Hernando Community College and Hillsborough Community College. My goal was to move around to experience different parts of the country as well as get a better understanding of the various types of institutions. Some of the insight I would give is to experience a variety of institutions through direct employment or professional networking. I have always gone of the proverb that you can’t be a prophet in your own land. I think in higher education, regardless of the specific arena, there is always something you can learn and subsequently steal from colleagues at other institutions with varying issues/solutions.
ReplyDelete2. One of my keys to success (if I have found any) are the same concepts that we teach our traditional undergraduates is involvement. I make every attempt to network and take part in committees/groups/organizations that my schedule will allow. Solutions to problems are often found through the advice of peers and through the collective efforts of individuals in various departments. I like to know people across campus and help to make student experiences that much better (e.g. avoid the “USF shuffle” or helping them access campus resources). For me this serves to become a more knowledgeable professional, but also more effective in my position and recommend it to everyone. It is easy to sit and stare at a never ending stream of emails every day, but getting out and interacting with individuals from all across campus is always beneficial in the long run and can help ease the workload too.
3. One tough situation I have faced was making the transition from secondary education to higher education. I went from teaching at a dropout prevention high school in downtown Miami to working with RA’s in residence life. Communicating and working with 20-year old gang member in a 9th grade math class is much different from a 20-year old high achieving RA in their senior year. My transition from a rigorous tightly scheduled day/9-weeks/high stakes test preparation to an open ended higher education schedule was also a challenge. I found that listening first and gaining an appreciation of an individual’s perspective is always important. The lesson was that slowing down and taking a moment to build relationships is very important…that and RA’s cry very easily.
1.) When I began classes as a freshmen at USF during the summer of 2009, I knew I needed to get a job. While taking Sex Health Decision Making over in the College of Public Health, I met an amazing professor. I asked her if she knew of any job postings. After she contacted the supervisor in Student Health Services I found myself with a job! From the beginning I loved the work – orientations, student contact, organizational and administrative opportunities, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteI have been at my job for four years know and continue to love it. I have been promoted to Graduate Assistant and have gained more administrative duties as the years past. I realized I wanted to be in Student Affairs right before I graduate last Spring. Since then I have continued to take classes and constantly educate myself about the ever changing waters of Student Affairs.
2.)
a) Take care of yourself! I learned that in order for you to take care of the students you have to take care of yourself – mind, body, and soul. If you are sleep deprived, hungry, or even distracted, you will not be able to fulfill your duties fully. If you do not partake in this, you will eventually burnout and this is never a pretty sight for anyone.
b) Communication really is the key. Working in Student Affairs you realize that everyone has projects, meetings, and deadlines that must be met. In order to efficiently manage all of the chaos all of the participating departments of people must keep open communication so no lines are crossed or voices forgotten.
3.) If you can think of a particularly tough situation you faced, it would be nice for you to share it. Describe the circumstances and the way you approached it and what you learned from it.
I have only experienced one situation that I had a hard time managing but yet, I learned a lot of work place politics from it. There was once an advertisement that was placed around campus – by a fellow department – that I did not approve of. I found it offensive and expressed my concern to my supervisor since I was weary as to how the student population would react. During our conversation, my supervisor attempted to enlighten me to another aspect of the argument and we had an intense yet very civil discussion about our disagreement.
Initially, I was regarded differently by my peers because they did not understand my perspective. However in the long run, it was said that the administration found the ad had a negative effect on our department and we had to refrain from disclosing certain services in order to maintain a certain acceptable demeanor. So while it was hard for me to experience the feeling of difference from my peers it was also a learning experience to see how something so minute can have a major effect on an institution.
I am very excited for our conversations!
~Aubrey Hall
1. I currently serve as the Senior MD Admission Counselor/Recruiter at USF Morsani College of Medicine in the Office of MD Admissions. I joined USF about three years ago after serving as the The Director of Marketing for The Princeton Review in Philadelphia and an Admission Counselor at Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Maryland. I had the opportunity to be very involved in my undergraduate education at Elizabethtown College with admissions and higher education administration. It was a perfect fit for my personality and desire to find and attain meaningful and significant employment. Starting in undergraduate admissions at MSM was great! I also was able to complete my MBA. After three years I had hit a glass ceiling and was approached about the job at The Princeton Review. TPR was one of the most grueling and toughest years as the for-profit expectations for the company were brutal and the pay (while a substantial increase) was still less than the hours and expectations to bring in revenue. I essentially "righted the ship" with help from great colleagues and started to move everything in the ideal direction. Unfortunately, the recession brought about an abrupt elimination of my position and I found myself unemployed. While I had to experience what it is like to lose everything it also was an opportunity to return to higher education which resulted in a national search and brought me to USF and I love it here.
ReplyDelete2. Several keys to success I have found in my personal journey is to treat everyone the way you want to be treated and to do every job to the best of your ability. Great work gets noticed and leads to more opportunities and responsibilities. At Mount St. Mary's I learned how to separate myself from a student and as an administrator. This was essential as a young professional and taught me that people are always watching and that I am an ambassador for my employer. At TPR I was able to appreciate and value respect for one another on a deeper level. The staff at TPR and teachers are quite unique and eccentric. However, many of them are very talented and talented people deserve respect for what they know and how they do it. At USF I have the distinct pleasure of working with many great leaders. My Director has been very influential in my personal and professional development. His mentoring and coaching is preparing me for many great opportunities at a very high level. He has taught me to be balanced and the importance of best practices from his time at Stanford. I encourage anyone who finds great leaders that you admire and aspire to be someday to surround yourself with them as much as possible and be a "sponge." The development that comes from it will prepare you for the future opportunities and gifts you have earned.
3. A difficult situation I had to endure was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Instead of speaking up and saying I was uncomfortable I listened to a co-worker who later tried to "throw me under the bus" with them. It was a great example that not everyone I work with is going to be a friend nor do they have my best interest in mind. Instead of blaming the other individual and getting defensive I took responsibility for my actions, apologized, and said that it would never happen again. I feel I have a good sense of judgement and character, but I still try to be very mindful of what I say, where I am, what I am doing, and what I am representing because I never want to be in that situation again. It also reinforced the importance of speaking up if something makes me uncomfortable or I know is not right. It has helped me grow and be better with my professionalism in the workplace and how I am perceived.
I look forward to more insight from others.
Respectfully,
Billy Houder
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ReplyDelete1. The path to my current position has been both accidental and intentional in its development. In all honesty, I fell into my first role in student affairs. I was not even aware that such a career existed. While an undergraduate psychology major, I wanted to go into teaching. However, my school wanted to hire a coordinator and I was very involved in campus activities. I was hired while the school faced some significant financial challenges. During this time, many of the student affairs professionals left, and I advanced to the level of Dean of Students at the age of 24. In retrospect, my advancement was far too fast, as my responsibility outstripped my proficiency and knowledge of student affairs. At this point, I became very involved in NASPA, and the community provided a wonderful wealth of perspective regarding what I should have known. From here, I became much more intentional about developing my skills, expertise, and knowledge in the area of Student Affairs. I have been Vice President for Student Affairs at St. Mary-of-the-Woods in Indiana; Assistant Dean of Students at University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas; Dean of Students at the College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho; and the Director of Student Life at Semester at Sea, a floating university voyage of discovery – tending to approximately students around the world.
ReplyDelete2. Key lessons I’ve learned along the way that contribute to my success:
I have had the honor and privilege of serving as the Vice President of Student Life for the past 32 years. One of the greatest aspects of my position is that it allowed me to relate to so many students. I am consistently in awe of how amazing they are. I have repeatedly boasted to others of what comprises a Gonzaga student: intelligence, creativity, discernment, hope, passion, skill, and most importantly, a holistic sense of responsibility to care for others and the world. Because of how valuable they were, I thought I would offer three things I have learned from them, the students I have attempted to serve.
A. Promise only what you can deliver. Follow up on your word. Be honest at all times.
B. Never speak down to people; always speak up for them.
C. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Leave your ego at the door.
D. Listen more than talk. Give more than you receive.
Other keys to my success include:
A. The ability to care about people – truly care and not pretend. This has allowed me to view my position as one of responsibility to advocate for others.
B. I believe I work hard. I strive for excellence, and continue to put forth a great deal of effort to ensure things work well. Hard work trumps intelligence.
C. The willingness to move. Throughout my life, I have repeatedly made the effort to try new things. I sought a variety of experiences – working in large state schools, to smaller women’s colleges, to private religious institutions – to help me discover what I truly want in life regarding my vocation.
D. I would never have been able to work to the extent I did without the support of those I trusted, who cared for my family and me.
3. I have experienced many challenges throughout my career. One particularly embarrassing event occurred while I was at a religious school, and by mistake, I had assigned men and women to the same rooms. In other words, one male and one female occupied each room across the entire campus. I did not realize my mistake until I had sent out all assignments to the families of the students. Suffice it to say, I became quite popular (and not necessarily in a good way). After fielding a few irate conversations, I decided on an approach to manage my mistake: I would take each phone call and thank the concerned parents for their involvement in a research project I was conducting that measured the level of response to issues that raise anxiety. I am not sure I would recommend my recovery attempt to others, but I was transparent with my president, who thought it clever.
I anticipate an enlightening discussion!
Warmly, Sue Weitz
That is a great recovery from the mistake of room assignment. I enjoy your post and what I take as an overall approach of caring about people and respecting their abilities. Along the lines with C of your other keys. I too have moved around a bit learning from various institutions in different roles. Is there a magic number for the amount of time in a position? I would imagine it is related to the level of the position and your previous history?
DeleteTake care,
Scott Burgess
It seems to be a common theme that many student affairs professionals did not begin their careers with the goal of ending up in student affairs. Do you think this is possibly because the majority of students don't realize that there are rewarding careers available in this field?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Sue! I'm extremely curious about what it was like serving as a dean of students at the age of 24. Can you tell us a bit more about that experience including some of the challenges and lessons learned?
ReplyDeleteHello! Could you please talk about how you went about getting so involved in NASPA? What did you do to initially begin that involvement on a more-than-just-a-member level? What would you differently in this process if you had to do it over again? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHello Sue! Thank you so much for your genuine insight. In your post you stated, "I would never have been able to work to the extent I did without the support of those I trusted, who cared for my family and me." I absolutely agree with your sentiment. Can you talk a little about how you, in all that you do as leader in student affairs, manage work/life balance?
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your questions and comments. I appreciate that you are engaging with what it means to be a whole person while pursuing excellence in your career. Let’s see if I can address your thoughts one by one.
ReplyDeleteTony – I think your assessment is spot on. In my experience, people look too narrowly at the field of Student Affairs. Generally, one’s experience with Student Affairs dictates what she or he understands to be the scope of the profession. For example, if your involvement during college is in housing, you tend to think that’s all there is. But there is so much more. I believe it would be to the advantage of Student Affairs professionals in all fields to continually relate their work to the bigger picture of how much is encompassed by our vocation. By doing this, young professionals and work-study students will gain a greater appreciation of the depth and width of career opportunities that all contribute to holistic student development in higher education.
to be cont'd
Jessica – In all honesty, in my early years, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I have a proclivity to just do, do, do. And so I tended to just work through situations that were challenging, doing what I could in the manner that I thought best. Thankfully, I didn’t continue in this vein, and began to read quite a bit of the literature related to best practices in our field. I also began to build relationships with those I admired (in close proximity, and from a distance). I was challenged to expand my understanding and my philosophical underpinning, while gaining insight that helped me develop a wider skill set. I would not advise taking such a position at that age. I was too young for the role. My relationships were impacted greatly by my age: Students viewed me as a peer, which profoundly changed how they related to me. Older professionals viewed me as a pseudo-student, and this made it very difficult to be taken seriously at times. I had to work very hard to present myself as a professional (almost to the level of overcompensation) to demonstrate my intellect and capability.
ReplyDeleteto be cont'd
Thanks so much for your response! I honestly could not imagine being the dean of students so young. I've been told that I often under sell myself and don't give myself credit for my professional accomplishments when considering applying for job postings. How do you suggest presenting your skill set when you aren't quite experienced in every area listed in a job description?
DeleteKali – I got involved in NASPA at an earlier time, when things were organized a little differently. I began my involvement by attending a conference, and it became apparent that it was a bit of a “men’s only club.” I formed a coalition with some other women to promote higher levels of female involvement and input. This solidified some very strong relationships with some key women across the country. I took a great deal of initiative and was involved in some strong political movement and lobbying on the national level. From there, I became more involved regionally. Much has changed, and I would suggest starting your involvement locally, and then expanding your reach to a national scale. Don’t be afraid to ask people to nominate you to boards or other opportunities of influence.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your question of what, if anything, I would change: I was asked several times to run for president. I decided against it because I felt stretched in my professional and personal life. I continued to tell people to ask me later after my children were grown, and I could focus on the responsibilities of the office better. I am so very glad to have been involved in my kids’ lives, but I think there were some seasons I would have been able to do both well.
to be cont'd
Thank you for your insight! I have often been encouraged to "get involved with your professional associations," but I was not really sure exactly how or where to start. Beginning locally sounds much less daunting and more feasible.
DeleteThank you for participating in our blog!
Amanda – Great question. As you can see by the last part of my response to Kali, my family is of great importance to me. Involvement in their lives is of highest priority. Therefore, I suggest that you watch whom you work for. I have seen many young professionals take any job available to them, often to the detriment of their personal health. Don’t just take the job. Some of us older professionals in Student Affairs have contributed to burn out in those younger who are eager to prove themselves. I strongly suggest that you have conversations about expectations, boundaries, and values up front in the hiring process, so you have a clear understanding of your context, and have set forth a plan that demonstrates how you can work with excellence while still adhering to your priorities. I believe that to date, there has been great imbalance in Student Affairs by professionals who have focused on their career advancement to the detriment of their families and personal health. This is easy to do in our line of work, because we are involved in a noble profession. To work towards the holistic development and betterment of the students entrusted to us is a calling of the highest order. Yet, my bias holds that we must be able to demonstrate at least this much passion and expertise to our family as well. Have they not also been entrusted to us for the most intimate of care?
ReplyDeleteThank you all again for your questions. I look forward to continuing the conversation.
Warmly, Sue
Sue, thank you so much for your response. I absolutely agree with you regarding the imbalance and reasons as to why it exists! As a young married woman in the profession, I struggle most with the choice of being a career woman and a mother. It is difficult to balance, especially when you love what you do and you are so influential in the lives of your students. But I have made an intentional effort to be more open about expectations and boundaries. Thanks again for your advice. You are cetainly an inspiration.
DeleteSue, Thank you for your willingness to participate in our blog! I've enjoyed your post and responses. I have two questions.
ReplyDeleteThe first question is in regard to your response to Amanda, above, about work/life balance. Are there signs you would recommend job-seekers specifically be on the look-out for during the pre-application and/or interviewing stage that might speak to the ability to maintain a healthy work/life balance at a particular institution or within a particular department?
Secondly, I'm very curious about your participation with Semester-at-Sea! How did you get involved? How does one work with Semester-at-Sea and keep their current position? I'd love to hear anything you could tell us about the experience.
Hi Sue,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story and lessons learned. I loved your story about the housing assignment mishap. Having worked in a religious college with strict residence hall gender restrictions I can imagine how well that went over! :-) You noted that you have worked in a variety of institutions. Did you encounter any challenges in transitioning from one institutional type to another (eg. small to large, religious to secular)? Also, what advice would you give about how to transition from one type to another? It seems that sometimes search committees rule out candidates because they don't have the same institutional background (eg. a candidate who works at a university with 3,000 students applying to a university with 28,000 students). I would think that many of the professional skills would be transferable across institutional types?
Laurie-Ann
Erin, two great inquiries!
ReplyDeleteFirst, as for signs and flags to look for regarding interviewing and finding the right fit, I strongly suggest that you do some solid research before you are too far into the process: you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you! Call the department you are interested in and ask about work hours, schedules, expectations, and seasons of stress. I would also encourage you to spend some time in reflection thinking over some of the other major decisions you have made: what clues or signs did you seek for confirmation of your decision? Reviewing these experiences could give you insight into how to adequately approach this new one. Things I sought to know where expectations for my family and my spouse in particular, the life stage of my potential colleagues (if they were at different points, their expectations might have been different than my own). Last, ask questions during the interview that will give you specific insight into expectations and the culture you may be joining. I have a list of 24 questions I have compiled to address in interviews to get a sense of those interviewing me. I don’t use them all every time, but here are some examples:
(to be cont'd)
1. Seek to clarify definitions of important words: success, rest, and student development, for example.
ReplyDelete2. Ask if you can observe natural function of the office.
3. What is a legitimate transition period for taking on a new role?
4. What is the expectation of my spouse/partner, and children? Be up front about what they can expect from these people.
5. Is there a support system for our family?
6. What is the typical workweek? What other annual requirements?
7. How does my position fit into the overall plan?
8. Why did previous person leave?
9. Who is your target?
10. What are characteristics of the rest of the staff?
11. How long has rest of staff been there? How long do you expect us to be here?
12. Do you support continuing education?
13. What do you measure & reward?
14. Is there a bias for action or study "why?" vs. "why not?"
15. Ask about management style: describe it & illustrate it.
Second, I’m glad that your interest in Semester-At-Sea was piqued! It is an incredible journey for those able to take the opportunity. If you want all the nitty-gritty details of my travels, please look for my upcoming book, Sailing Through Uncharted Waters: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know (And a Great Deal You Didn’t) About Semester At Sea, set to publish in fall of… oh I can’t continue the charade: I’m not writing a book, yet!
I truly love what Semester At Sea provided for me, and I would encourage any and all Student Affairs professional to pursue it. We often talk about creating a true learning community. But I believe such a situation can never happen on a standard college campus: people live in different locations, maintain jobs off campus, go home to families, etc. Being on ship together is dramatically different. We learn together, eat together, dance together, get sick together – do life together. You cannot simply leave. You are forced to find common ground and mutual appreciation of all people and rise to the challenge of developing relationships through challenge.
Someone approached me to take the position of Dean of Students after I cut a colleague’s tie on stage while chairing a National NASPA event in San Diego. You do hot have to go about it this way. It is very easy to get involved (follow this link: http://www.semesteratsea.org/). Be sure to apply 2-3 years in advance, however. Also one word of caution: know yourself well enough to assess whether you can weather the challenge of being in close proximity with others, with little to no personal space for a long period of time. To enter the experience without some self-knowledge in this area could be very detrimental. As for being able to keep your job, this is a big challenge. I was at Gonzaga University for 15 years before I first joined the program in 1996. I had a demonstrated proven track record that I could put systems and people in place to manage my absence. You may not have that opportunity, and you may have to make some difficult decisions. I wish you well!
Warmly, Sue
Laurie-Ann, thank you for your question. This is another good one! I wholeheartedly believe that many of the skills and principles in Student Affairs are generalizable. The variety of institutions in which I worked all had distinctives in their culture. In my journey, I quickly realized I belonged in a smaller institution. It was a bit of a challenge to go from a small college to Gonzaga. I was not Catholic and was coming from a very small women’s college. Which leads to my main bit of advice: It is on you and me to read the institutional context and sell yourself. We must build bridges between the mission of the school and our expertise, experiences, skills, and strengths. This is similar to what you do in a cover letter. A cover letter begins the process and hopefully opens the window for you to shine a light on how you are a solid institutional fit. If you can anticipate and speak to concerns and issues that the hiring committee might have, you have already done a great deal to help give them the confidence to hire you.
ReplyDeleteIt has been fun to connect with you all. Thank you for your interest in my life, and for the depth of your questions. I am honored for the opportunity to share this week with you. I wish you well in your endeavors, and encourage you to pursue excellence in this noble calling known as Student Development!
Sue Weitz
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ReplyDeleteHey Everyone I will be posting later this evening. I look forward to our upcoming discussion.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day.
All the best,
Jason T. Spratt
Good Morning Everyone,
ReplyDeleteI apologize for the delay in posting but I was one tired daddy last night and fell asleep with my daughter (she will be 6 at the end of August) and woke up at 1am and decided I would post today. This is my second tour of duty in the blogosphere with Dr. Miller and I greatly enjoyed the experience back in 2011 so I am happy to be back and able to engage with you all.
Tom asked that we respond to the following questions:
1.)Describe your path to the work, how you got from your start to you present circumstance. If there are special factors in the decisions you made, it would give the students insight if you explained that.
2.)If you can share a few key lessons you’ve learned along the way, keys to your success, if you will, that would be nice.
3.)If you can think of a particularly tough situation you faced, it would be nice for you to share it. Describe the circumstances and the way you approached it and what you learned from it.
I will break my first post into 3 sections and have found that as you ask questions I will likely continue to expand on the initial questions.
So, here we go...
Question #1
ReplyDeleteMy career started out as most student affairs professionals – cutting my teeth in residence life and housing. Like many student affairs professionals today, my exposure to student affairs professionals during my undergraduate career influenced my career path greatly. I began studying Political Science at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1993. Unbeknownst to me, my residence director during my freshman and sophomore year would be one of the main influences on my post-undergraduate life. Fast forward to my junior year – I decided that I hated politics and decided to change majors to Sociology with a double minor in Political Science and Criminology. During my 4th year in school I decided that the student affairs profession was the direction for me. During my five years at Miami I have many stories I could share from being a: resident assistant; summer orientation leader; student worker in the judicial officer; nightclub bouncer, bartender; and even an undercover drug work (lots of stories from my criminology internship). However, it is the experiences from my roles in student affairs that really impacted me and helped navigate me toward student affairs.
I graduated and went to Virginia Tech in 1998 to pursue my M.A. Ed. degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. I worked in housing for two years as a graduate hall director with my internship in judicial affairs. I wrote a thesis and was lucky enough to be published in the Journal of College Student Development (feel free to Google me) on alcohol and student leaders. I graduated and became an international sensation. Ok, so maybe not an international sensation (haha) but I did become an international student affairs professional by accepting a job as the Director of Housing and Residence Life at Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland. It was an amazing and life-changing experience. However, (after my cup of coffee/espresso as Tom likes to call it) I decided to return to the states due to the departure of some of my colleagues and the failing health of my grandfather in Florida. I ended up accepting a housing position as Assistant Director of Housing at Eckerd College.
At Eckerd College I met my mentor, Dr. Tom Miller. Tom left a few months after I started to become Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students at USF. Due to philosophical differences with the Eckerd administration of the importance of alcohol in collegiate life, I and the other Assistant Director resigned our positions. While I only worked at Eckerd for 10 months, those 10 months were instrumental in shaping where I am now and the professional I am today.
Heading to USF was not a financially sound decision at the time, but it was a decision of the heart. My ex-wife was going to enter the CSA graduate program at USF in August and I knew that this was the woman I wanted to marry so when Tom said I have a temporary job in the student conduct office (60% time), I accepted it. A year later I was the interim director and in 2004 following a national search I became the Associate Dean of Students responsible for the management of the student conduct office. I remained in this position until my departure in July 2008 when I left sunny Florida for IUPUI where I currently serve as the Dean of Students. After six years as a conduct officer (that is double the tenure of many in the field) I decided it was time to move and gain more experience. This was a very tough decision because USF was my home and I was very proud of the program I had built and the relationships I had created. Regrets? No, it was time and ultimately it was a personal decision as well so that we could be closer to family.
Hi Jason,
DeleteThanks so much for the interesting and detailed responses to the questions posed by Dr. Miller and the class. I have a slightly off topic question, but am curious about the movement between student and academic affairs. I started my higher education career in admissions and moved to alumni/parent relations and fundraising, so I'm trying to identify where I'd like to go next. I'm wondering is there mobility between the two areas or if you begin on one path, then will you likely continue on that path? If that makes sense!
Hi Jessica,
DeleteThis is a great question! There are so many great areas in higher education. I know personally that I too have always been curious about exploring other areas of higher education but sometimes question if I'd be considered for a move into another area.
Respectfully,
Billy Houder
Jessica,
DeleteI do believe mobility exists and the best way to explore that is through making connections with multiple areas/folks on campus. I have seen professionals go from enrollment services to student affairs and student affairs to academic affairs and vice versa. The key is showcasing your talents and making connections. If you only keep your head in your own shop you run the risk of pigeonholing yourself. Getting involved in committees and other meetings can be a good way to meet many folks across campus. Attending open forums - especially for candidates interviewing gives you a chance to meet people and ask questions where others notice you? So, it it a little bit like selling yourself across campus and as I mentioned to Amanda just getting out there and exploring what might interest you.
I hope this helps.
Jason
Question #1 Continued
ReplyDeleteIn regard to present day circumstances, it is hard to believe that I am starting my 6th year at IUPUI as the Dean of Students but in that time I have had the opportunity to supervise all of the most common units found in a Student Affairs Division. When I started I supervised the Office of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct (SRRC), Student Health, and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). Six months later Campus Recreation was moved from the School of Physical Education to my portfolio. About two years ago we switched some things up when the new Vice Chancellor started and we moved several of the units that were under the Assistant Vice Chancellor to my portfolio and vice versa. So, my current portfolio for the last two years has been SRRC, Housing and Residential Life, the Office of Student Involvement, and the Campus Center. I am also currently A.B.D. after passing my qualifying exams in July 2012 at Indiana State University for my PhD in Educational Leadership.
Question #2
ReplyDeleteIn the last 13 years as a professional I have been very lucky to have a wide breadth of experience from international, to private, to public institutions. I have learned that making an ethical decision may not make you popular, but it does provide personal resolve and builds character. I have learned that there will definitely be tough days no matter what the job, but the rewards – the impact you can have on students make those tough days pale in comparison the satisfaction you feel when you have truly made a difference in the life of a student. This is something that I think can be difficult for professionals in student conduct to remember from time to time because the job typically does not involve students expressing their “thanks” for being referred for an alleged violation of the student code of conduct. The rewards also change as one matures as a professional. One of my rewards now is the impact that family can have on the balance in your life. Before Mackenzie, my daughter, was born I might not leave the office until 7pm. Now, I leave at 5pm – I may still work in the evening after she is asleep, but that time with her is so important. So as priorities shift, rewards shift. I am rewarded when I see the staff reporting to me accomplish great things and receive accolades. My rewards are also the relationships that are created with colleagues – colleagues that can speak the student affairs language and appreciate the daily work. One thing I have definitely learned is that “politics” can be found at each and every institution and you can either drive yourself crazy trying to understand everything, or learn to work within the politics of a given institution. It is very important to pick and choose your battles.
From a student conduct perspective I have learned that it takes a special kind of person to do this work and I have the utmost respect and admiration for those that do it. No one teaches you how to be a specific type of student affairs professional while in graduate school. Graduate school provides you a basis, but you learn to be a professional through your graduate assistantships, your first jobs, and from the people around you. Sometimes describing someone as a sponge can carry a negative connotation, however, I think being a sponge is a great way for new student affairs professionals to grow and learn. The advice I provide to student conduct administrators is that when it becomes too easy for you to remove a student from school and you do not think about that decision and process it even after having made it, then it is probably time for you to move on to a new job. I was not at that point when I left USF, but burnout is a real issue in student conduct. A great article was published in About Campus in the January/February 2007 issue by Kate Linder titled “I’m Glad Someone Does It!” If you have time, this is a great article to read and really sums up what it means to be a conduct officer.
I will share more keys to success as we talk this week.
Question #3
ReplyDeleteOne of the most challenging situations I have faced occurred August 29, 2006. It was on this day that I experienced a very rare and challenging situation – I was attacked by a student during a disciplinary meeting. Long story short, I was placed in a choke-hold by a 6’7”, 285 pound 27 year old male and had to fight him for two minutes until the police arrived. Luckily I have a 17 ½ inch neck and even though he had me by almost 100 pounds I was not going to let follow through on his declaration of intent to kill me or harm my staff. Believe it or not, what went through my head for the first 10 seconds of being choked by this man was whether or not it was okay to punch a student. Once my brain started working and answered YES, then I entered the longest two minutes of my professional career. He went to jail and I went to the hospital to check out my neck and my sore ribs (I had to tackle him onto my couch at one point when he was heading toward my staff).
Following the incident I took three days off but I did make an appearance the next day at a student affairs function so that everyone would know that I was ok. Of course there were some knee-jerk reactions of suggestions of changing the process and that all meetings should be conducted by two individuals, but I held firm that this was a freak occurrence and that changes were not necessary and would only negatively impact the interaction between student and administrator. The hard part was handling the misinformation and rumors. It sounds crazy, but I actually protected the student that attacked me because I would not comment to the media about what happened because it occurred during a student conduct meeting and technically was protected. If people really wanted the story, they could always obtain a copy of the police report.
One thing I did learn was to trust my gut and not think of myself as invincible and able to help everyone. At one point I had picked up the phone to call the police but ended up putting it down thinking I could help him. I did up until a point where he “snapped” and there was no helping him anymore. What I have learned as a result of this incident I have passed along to other professionals through presentations about protecting oneself and thinking about what you might do in a life-threatening situation. I would be lying if I said I was not a little nervous the next time I had an upset student in my office, but I handled the situation as I had a thousand other times and redirected that anger and helped the student to calm down. As I said before, what happened to me was extraordinary and I have never met anyone else that has encountered a similar situation, but I have learned to be a little more cautious depending on the circumstances of the situation.
Hi Jason, thank you so much for your posts. I found them very sincere. I have two questions for you:
DeleteResponse to Question #1: I was not heavily involved in undergrad. I came to learn about student affairs when I worked in student services at a community college in Jacksonville, FL. I have spent the last five years at USF (two in the CSA program and three in advising) trying to make up for that lack of experience. In my graduate assistantship, I worked with a group of scholarship students doing some programming and a lot of counseling. I have interned in an international student programs office for a summer, updating a pandemic communication and emergency action plan. Now an academic advisor, I also oversee the student organization for the Honors College and I teach leadership. However, I have never had any direct experience in Housing or Conduct. I know many Deans of Students (and other higher education administrators) have a lot of experience in these functional areas. Do you have any advice for how I might make up for this?
Response to Question #3: What a traumatic experience for you! I am so sorry you had to experience somehting like that, but I am very impressed by your reflection on it. My husband also works in Conduct. I have to say, after the events at Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and others, I am concerned. I think individuals in this functional area are particularly vulnerable to this type of violence. As you said, your experience was rare, but is there specific training regardng these circumstances for individuals in this functional area?
Thank you for your time!
Hi Amanda,
DeleteThank you for sharing your responses with Jason. I think it is great that you want to learn more about housing and conduct. Any thoughts of why it would be beneficial to you?
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your questions. You are correct that a lot of Dean of Students have conduct experience before obtaining the role, but that certainly does not mean you shouldn't continue to works toward the goal of becoming one. :-) Ultimately, I believe that being a good DOS is about engagement. The way in which we engage students, parents, colleagues makes all the difference in the world. The DOS ends being the "catch all" for many issues in student affairs/collegiate life so being able to demonstrate flexibility, understanding, compassion, advocacy, and commitment are critically important to become a good DOS. I have met deans without those qualities and they are not approachable and are more of an administrator than a true student affairs professional. Continue to do what you are doing - reach out and get involved outside of your normal scope of duties. Attend the ASCA conference in February that will be in St. Pete (I am sure your husband will be there) and get a feel for the many types of professionals that are there and begin creating a network. Try to get involved with Student Government in some capacity as well because many times the DOS has direct involvement with student governance. Take advantage of professional development opportunities and don't be afraid to ask others for help - be up front and say you are looking for experience to help make you a well-rounded professional.
Yes, it was an interesting experience to say the least and quite unique. Yes, the events of VT, NIU, Sandy Hook and others do cause one to be concerned about safety on college campuses. Our world continues to change and I continue to be a proponent of gun control especially on college campuses. I think the big thing is to make sure that you have panic buttons even if you are not in a conduct office. Even you should not be meeting with students after 5pm if no one else is around. Sometimes we forget our own personal sense of safety because we are so focused on helping students. Trust your gut - if something doesn't feel right it probably isn't right. The buddy system applies to administrators as well so if you are going to meet with a student that raises some hairs on your neck - tell someone else so they are there as well in the office suite or area. One thing we do is if we are meeting with a student that has been involved in a violent incident we hold the meeting in the police station so that they know if they try anything - the police are going to be there. :-) For women, I recommend R.A.D. training through the police department. While the training Rape Aggression Defense, it is about protecting oneself even if it isn't about sexual assault. I always tell folks the bonus is at the end you get to take out your frustration for any speeding tickets you have ever received on a police officer in protective body gear at the end of the class! haha
All in all, trust your senses/gut and think about what type of news you intend to deliver (whether you are suspending a student or telling them they are academically dismissed for failing grades) and the best way to do that while protecting yourself and the dignity of the student.
Hope that helps!
Jason,
DeleteThank you for the very positive feedback and suggestions. Any student curious about DOS and learning more should strongly consider the ASCA in St. Pete. I also appreciated your suggestion regarding RAD. Your experience is valuable and sharing your story allows all of us to grown and learn how to best be prepared for the unexpected. Experience is invaluable and can make us all better leaders to handle the unique nuances of each individual student.
Hi Jason,
DeleteThat certainly does help to clarify many things for me. I appreciate your advice and guidance. I will definitely look for those opportunities. Again, thank you for your time!
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your posts and authenticity with each point. I agree with so many things you wrote including the political aspect and "choosing your battles", trusting your gut, how we so often forget about or own safety because we are so focused on helping them.
I work in college athletics as an academic coordinator and the director of a "life skills" program covering career development, personal maturity, and community involvement. Although I've generally feel safe working with student-athletes at any of the three institutions I've at which I've worked, I can't help but think that I'm a 5'4", 120lb former gymnast and I am surrounded by very fit, strong, and large human beings all the time. So much so, that large doesn't really resonate with me anymore. I work directly with men's basketball and our largest student-athlete is from Nigeria and he's 7'3" and 330lbs! Luckily, he's a gental giant, but what if he wasn't? There are so many times that I have to come down on them or deliver news regarding eligibility concerns or reports that will go to coaches. When it comes down to it, they could snap me in half if they wanted to. I suppose a major difference is that we generally have the luxury of "knowing" our students and being able to build pretty strong relationships with them which makes it much easier to have these difficult conversations. Still, with the world the way it is, I suppose it's a thought that can haunt us all.
Once last summer, we had a former student-athlete who was a walk-on and not very involved with her team come into the athletic building. She was making her rounds and pushing her way into offices, conversations, etc. She made her way into the study area and was talking to student-athletes and visibly making them very uncomfortable (not to mention, disrupting their studying). I was the most senior member of our staff while this was occurring so I had to take action. I went in to calmly talk to her and it was clear to me that she was not mentally stable. Even with a female I did not feel comfortable asking her to leave by myseld. So, I chose to leave our academic center (with another staff member watching her from a distance) to go and find another male staff member to be there. I then took him with me and talked to her for a few minutes about what she wanted to talk about and then told her we needed her to leave. She did not want to, but with some encouragement she obliged.
I was really just sharing this story to share about my circumstances and experiences, but I think there are some questions that are applicable to all. We know the safety precautions that you've mentioned such as meeting in numbers and emergency buttons, which are so important to keep in mind. I think the part that resonated with me the most from your story was that you stopped to think if you could actually hit a student back to protect yourself. Could we always be protected if we were in a situation where a student is attempting to harm us and we have to defend back? I can't think of a worse situation than having to defend yourself and then being sued afterward... but I can definitely see it happening. If it's only you and the student present, it's your word against theirs. Can you comment further about your experiences or thoughts on this? Again, thank you so much for sharing!!
Jodie Heinicka
Hi Jodie.
DeleteThank you for sharing your story. I remember getting a tour from you and walking through athletics and seeing just how large some of these athletes are. It is impressive but also makes me stop and think how fortunate I am that I do not have to line up across from them on a field. Can you share with us what training you received in your professional career to know how to handle this situation with the young lady?
Billy
Interesting you should ask this, Billy. Unfortunately, I have never received any training in this area. In fact, I think that many other employees do not receive proper training for things like this. For me, I have always relied on my instincts, which I think have served me well so far, but I do think that sometimes instincts can throw you in the wrong direction. We did discuss similar topics in one of my classes in my Student Affairs masters program at Mizzou. This was only because of the what had just happened at Virginia Tech, though. So, maybe my instincts are a little better because of those conversations. I think that all staff who work regularly with students should receive some sort of training about this for sure. Otherwise, we are not putting them into a good place to make the best possible decisions should any problems arise.
DeleteHi Jodie,
DeleteThank you for sharing your experience with us. I agree. I've heard of and received some training but for the most part have had to rely on my instincts. I also think it would be a good idea to have staff go every few years for a "refresher" since so much is constantly changing in higher education. Great comments!
Billy
Jodie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story and thoughts concerning safety in the workplace.
To answer your question, yes, you can always protect yourself but one always has to be careful of going to far. I always say to students that if someone punches you or hits you it may not be cool to walk away or run away but that is an important "angle" in cases of self-defense - was there another option. So, if you and a student are in the middle of a room and you have the ability to get out - get out. But if a student has you backed into a corner or is blocking your escape then you have every right to defend yourself. I always tell male students that once they get the upper hand they need to stop defending and call the police/get away.
Unfortunately we live in a age of litigation and he said/she said but we can't live in fear of being sued. Yes, it can happen, but if we are doing our job, the university should be defending our behavior.
I am huge proponent of windows in office doors so that others can always see in. Whenever I meet with a student the blinds are always open. Harder to make a claim if others can see in the room. When I came to IUPUI I immediately had windows cut into all the wooden doors. Ultimately, you let your professionalism and record speak for itself and hopefully that is enough. A student tried to make an OCR claim against be back in 2007 while at USF and said all of these outrageous things and I told the University and the OCR that I had nothing to hide and to ask me any questions they had. Both the University and OCR found nothing to the claim and no wrong-doing. Not a fun situation, but you hold your head high and while his claim was full of just utter lies, the key was trusting that people know my integrity and who I am and that since I had nothing to hide I had nothing to worry about.
Times have changed though - I can remember 15 years ago as a graduate hall director giving a student a hug when they were crying about something but nowadays I don't hug any students and I think that should hold true for male or female administrators. You never know what someone could say. It is tough when you just want to show the compassion to a student and say it is all going to be okay, but you never know how a hug could be interpreted or all of a sudden someone has made a sexual harassment claim. So, our comfort and compassion has to be through our communication and our non-verbal body language.
It can seem a little overwhelming thinking about all of the scenarios, but I think the key is just using common sense, understanding that we live in a litigious society, and doing the best we can as professionals.
Thanks!
Thanks for your reply. I think you make excellent points and I'm very glad you shared all of this. I think I may try to talk to my boss about at least having discussions about this with our staff so that everyone is on the same page about the best ways to handle these kinds of situations.
DeleteYou are very welcome Jodie - best of luck in the conversation.
DeleteThat is a great point about the windows and ability for others to see in and make sure everything is above board. I was a high school teacher prior to working in Student Affairs and was a bit nervous in my first role as a student conduct officer. I had gone from a system where you should never be alone with a student to meeting with a dozen students alone behind a closed door. My mentality at the time was to make sure there was no appearance of impropriety, which a recorder always helps to document what was said/not said. I think the secondary education faculty at USF did a great job of instilling this me, which always stays in the back of my mind in student meetings. It does get tricky with privacy issues and open windows/doors however.
DeleteThank you for the post Jason. I was on the other end of a similar scenario with a student once (verbal threats of violence, advancing, pre-contact disrobing), but he was about 100lbs and I am a smidgen larger. He decided it was not wise and scampered off, but there is alwasy the thought that those types of situations may happen.
Jason,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your personal experiences with us. These examples are very helpful for many of us as we are looking to provide great service to students but also be careful and aware of our surroundings. How have you seen social media also influence your behavior personally and professionally in higher education?
Billy,
DeleteYes, social media does play a more significant role in our lives now than it did back in the 90s. As professionals we need to be cognizant of our image and how we brand ourselves. I have seen professionals put things on Facebook and Twitter that sometimes amaze me and could alienate students/colleagues if their profile is not private. Our actions and our words speak volumes and as professionals we have to remember that especially in the world of social media. Personally, I keep my Facebook private and never accept friend requests from students (sometimes I do from graduate assistants). My Twitter is public but I don't post much and I always think about what I am putting out there if I do post.
You always have to remember that you not only wear your personal hat, but your professional hat and the hat of your institution.
Jason
Jason,
DeleteThank you for your feedback. I try to be very cognizant of that as well. I know it will continue to be a struggle with younger professionals coming into higher education.
Respectfully,
Billy Houder
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteThanks for all that you've shared with us about your professional journey and your advice. I was curious about how you balance empathy and holding students accountable when dealing with conduct issues?
Laurie-Ann
Laurie-Ann,
DeleteThis is a great question! It is important that at the end of the day we remember that we are working with people. Whether they be students, family, colleagues, or visitors at the end of the day we are all people. Your question is a great one for the class because it is very challenging to build this rapport from a textbook.
Respectfully,
Billy Houder
Laurie-Ann,
DeleteBalancing empathy and accountability is an important aspect of any type of conduct - whether it be student or having to deal with a colleague/subordinate. Billy is right in that it isn't something that can really be learned from a textbook. It is an acquired skill and one that for some it can be very difficult. Conduct is not a black and white issue and when professionals get into the field of student conduct they typically think that way at first. Rule broke = consequence - very black and white. If you are very dualistic in your thinking there is no gray area. I like to say that conduct is a rainbow and that every case is unique. Yes, there is a consistency to what we do and the decisions we have made in the past should not be so different from the decisions we make in the present or the future, but you have to look at each case without preconceived notions if possible. I believe that my success as a conduct officer was because I took the time to engage students and hear their stories. In my time at USF (6 years) I had less than 10 appeals. I don't think it is because I was some genius conduct officer, I think it was a result of engaging a student and speaking with them, not at them. The goal is to get the student to understand and respect the decision of the university, not necessarily agree with it. I believe that students just want to be heard and that the reason why many students appeal is because they don't feel like someone heard their story. Taking the time to engage a student and really listen can save conduct administrators a great deal of time later. Empathy can be displayed by listening and engaging a student while helping them to understand the accountability that they have for their own behavior and that ultimately they are in a conduct office because they drew attention to their behavior.
So, my advice would be to listen and to engage and help them to see the multiple perspectives.
Jason
I think it may be a slightly different system now, but when I was a conduct officer, the first five or more minutes were spent talking about their student experience. I wanted to find out how they were doing in school, if they were involved, if there were campus resources that may help them engage with the campus better (SDS, Tutoring, etc.), how they were fitting in, under the premise that they may be engaged in negative behaviors as a result of something that is fixable outside of the conduct process. It also helped (in my mind) to establish that rapport that Jason talks about) so the student does not feel that they are meeting with the executioner. I had always thought if a student is not engaged with their school and has no loyalty/tie to it, then why care about the place and "their rules". Maybe all they know about their school is that they show up to 200 person lectures that they don't understand and then sit in their tiny boring room by themselves, then why not write their tag in the bathroom of the Marshall Center or throw trash out front of their residence hall? I would imagine an Orientation Leader, RA or successful involved student would not do the same. If you are failing your classes and are going to end up back home in a few months anyway, why not drink to excess on a Tuesday? I think it is possible to have a well documented and followed due process conduct hearing that includes the opportunity to see how they are doing and how you can help their overall experience without coming off as "the man" or preachy, but it is definitely a practiced skill.
DeleteHave a great week too!
Scott,
DeleteThank you for your comments. I forgot you had experience as a conduct officer. Your contributions to the conversation are helpful and I agree that it is important that you make the student feel comfortable and not, as you said, feel like they are walking into a meeting with an executioner.
Respectfully,
Billy Houder
Good Morning Everyone,
ReplyDeleteI hope I responded to everyone's questions - if I did not please repost below. I will continue to monitor this blog for a while so if you have more questions don't hesitate to ask. You can also email me at jtspratt@iupui.edu
I wish you all the best and I thank you for letting me share some of my thoughts with you.
Have a wonderful holiday week!
Sincerely,
Jason
Jason,
DeleteThank you for your time and contributions to the class blog. Your insight and experiences are valuable and we appreciate your time to allow us to connect with you. Have a wonderful holiday break as well.
Respectfully,
Billy Houder
Thanks for your post! Your experiences in Japan must have been really amazing! Could you please elaborate on your time there--how did you find your work to be different from work here in the US? In what ways was it particularly similar? What surprises or unique challenges did you encounter? What are the biggest lessons you learned from contributing to opening a campus?
ReplyDeleteThanks again! You mentioned "provide opportunities for skill development." What have you found to be the most valuable skills in student affairs practice? What opportunities for skill development have you found to be the most helpful for student affairs staff?
ReplyDeleteHi John,
ReplyDeleteYou have a great amount of diverse experience. Can you comment further on which of these experiences was your favorite and why? I work in athletics and have only been at Division I schools, but two very large and well known programs and one much smaller FCS (non-bowl eligible) program. The longer at I'm at a big time program, the more I miss my days at a smaller school. However, a large reason I was ready to leave the smaller school was due to feeling "overworked" to the point that I had no life balance. Now, I'm at a bigger school again and feel even more that way! ;-) Part of it is our society's expectations, part of it is athletics in general, and part of it is my own personal desire and need to "succeed"... but one of these days I hope to find a place that provides a great work experience with a better balance with life as well.
Thanks in advance for your input!
Jodie Heinicka
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for joining us this week. My background is not in student affairs; rather I come from the academic side and have spent most of my time in four-year privates. Your advice to be willing to explore different kinds of institutions resonated with me. I feel that such diversity of experience can be very beneficial so long as one understands and makes salient what type of institution (and the corresponding mission and philosophy) he/she is situated in at a given moment.
However, I've had several colleagues/mentors warn me and others of the pigeonholing that goes on regarding experience based on institutional type. For example, I've been cautioned against working/teaching in the community college setting or staying too long in a large public research institution if I want to return to the four-year private setting later. My mentors claim that when reviewing applications, many will bypass those who are coming from a different institution-type. I've also overheard conversations locally from some in advising who were discussing bypassing applicants coming from smaller institutions as they felt they wouldn't be able to handle the work at a large university.
Have you seen much of this "pigeon-holing" in student affairs? If so, how do you think you were so successful in moving through the various types of institutions? Is there any advice you could give about how to combat this (if it's real)? And, finally, do you think there are areas or situations in student affairs where consistency in institutional-type experience is actually better?
I look forward to your thoughts!
-Erin
Thank you John, that was very helpful. I appreciate your time!
DeleteThat's really insightful, thanks!
ReplyDeleteWow--that sounds like a really valuable and challenging experience! I've worked at a campus that was originally just upper-level students, and very much used a student services approach, rather than focusing on student development. With some growth initiatives and new leadership, we were planning to add first- and second-year students and shift the approach toward true student development.
ReplyDeleteIn doing this, I found myself often trying to explain that "what we do/why we do it" portion of student affairs you mentioned, to make the case for creating certain programs from scratch.
What did you find were the best (or worst, in a "what not to do" sense) ways of explaining what we do and why we do it? How did you change your message to different audiences (faculty colleagues, other student affairs professionals, students, families, etc) to achieve the buy-in you needed?
Thanks so much for sharing these experiences with us!
Excellent insight and thank you so much for sharing your experiences!
ReplyDeleteWell hello everyone.
ReplyDeleteI too, will take a stab at three posts in hopes that I won't bore you.
I too, am in the Student Affairs field primarily because of Dr. Miller. I was an undergraduate at Canisius College in Buffalo, and met him when I was elected to the student government. I went on to be elected President, and met with him regularly thereafter. I was pretty much majoring in Student Government and activities at the time, and he introduced me to the possibility that you could actually get paid for that. He pretty much set me up on a track to pursue a Master's at Bloomington, however, I was 21 and in live, and couldn't think of leaving home. Several monthls later I graduated, no longer was dating, and was going door to door in search of employment. I worked in the private sector for a couple of years, worked in government and even tried (unsuccessfully) to recapture that electoral magic by running for public office. I remained close to Dr. Miller ( I admit that he likely cringes every time he reads "Dr. Miller" but it takes a whole lot for me to call him Tom in person, I could never refer to him that way) and it was 8 years after I had graduated from undergrad, and after two unsuccessful applications for Admissions positions that a job in Career Planning and Job Placement (yes that was the name in those days) came up and I applied. I got the job mostly I think because of my professed ability to sell recruiters on visiting Canisius. I started right in on a Master's Degree in Counseling, and directly upon completing that, entered the Doctoral Program at the University at Buffalo. Halfway through my Master's program, the college went through a number of layoffs, and while I survived, I was asked to take on the additional responsibility of coordinating Disability Services. This was just 16 years after the passage of the Rehabiltation Act of 1974 and months after the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The numbers began to grow exponentially until I was doing more and more DSS work, and much less career Services. I did my dissertation on Attitudes Toward and Interactions With Students with Visible Disabilities.
When I completed my degree, an opportunity came up to Direct the office of Career Planning and Placement and UB. I took that Job in 1997 and worked in that role until 2008 when I was asked to start an office to deal with Off-Campus Students. This past year I was asked to help start an office for Veteran Students. I hold those two positions currently.
Hi Dan,
DeleteThanks for all you have shared with us so far! You mentioned being asked to start an office to deal with Off-Campus students. Can you share with us what that experience was like starting an office/department from scratch - challenges, opportunities, surprises, factors to be considered? Also, what factors lead to the decision to create this office (student needs, retention efforts etc.)? Does this office partner with other student affairs departments?
Laurie-Ann
Any success I have enjoyed in my career has stemmed from some amalgam of love for the work, a desire to be challenged and flexibility.
ReplyDeleteAlmost any growth I have experienced came as the result of being nudged outside of my comfort zone. Sometimes those opportunities come in the form of new positions or responsibilities, and sometimes they come through volunteering for committees or within a professional association.
Hi Dan,
DeleteThank you for sharing with us. I agree with you completely! Many times new opportunities arise and take out outside of our comfort zone. These opportunities are great learning experiences (both good and bad) and help us find more out about ourselves and the type of job/leader we want to become.
Respectfully,
Billy Houder
The most difficult moment in my career was when I went to the home of a student who had been murdered the night of his graduation. I met with his roommates and we just sort of grieved together.
ReplyDeleteI am looking at opportunities to take the next step in my career and have applied for a few Dean/VP positions, but I will confess to all of you that the thing that worries me most about taking that step is the thought of dealing with parents and roommates after a student suicide. My current supervisor is extraordinarily well equipped by virtue of her personality and demeanor. She has a very empathetic presence, and unfortunately she has gotten a lot of experience dealing with that sort of thing. While I have a Master's in Counseling, and so, have what I think is a solid understanding of what is needed in those circumstances, I pray that I will have the stamina to truly be helpful in the event that I need to confront that sort of tragedy.
Wow - that was kind of a bummer. let me add that I have made plenty of mistakes along the way, but I have been blessed to have had great mentors and supervisors who helped me learn from all of them. (You would think I would be brilliant by now).
Dan,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have really had to deal with some very difficult situations. I'm sure your counseling background has helped you significantly during these times, even in ways that you may not be aware of. I think we have to also rely on intuition in these situations and hope that it serves us well. What would be your recommendations for those who do not have a counseling background to best handle these kinds of challenges?
Thanks,
Jodie
I am not saying that a graduate program in counseling wouldn't be helpful for a deeper understanding of theories and techniques, but the foundation for being a "good counselor" has more to do with the qualities of the counselor. If you can be a good listener who can remain in the moment with the student in a non-judgmental way you will be successful in helping students.
ReplyDeleteI am a little out of the mainstream in our profession. I don't really buy into much of the special interest politics that our professional associations and Master's programs espouse sometimes. I believe you will help a student most if you treat that student as an individual. Their gender, race, age, disability status, sexual preference, political party, religion are all part of who that student is, but it should not define them for you. I don't know that there really is a way you should treat students with disabilities international students, GLBTQ students, student athletes etc. That is not to say that membership in any of those groups aren't important factors in certain situations, but it is up to the student to raise those issues. The minute we ascribe tendencies, attributes or mindsets to students because of their membership in a category is the minute we devalue them as individuals. I would enjoy reading the reactions of the participants on this topic, because in my experience it is not often discussed in this manner.
Dan,
DeleteI'll jump out on the limb with you. I find your perspective refreshing and generally agree with you. I'll admit I am not from a student affairs background, and won't go into too much detail on my thoughts here, but sometimes cringe when I hear about certain efforts or approaches, though I think all are well-intentioned. It just seems--and as you said--these can begin to devalue an individual's uniqueness and many facets via the application of label or assumptions/knowledge of group membership. I have seen some similar movements in the faculty development/teaching and learning arena, which is where I come from.
As you said, "[A student's] gender, race, age, disability status, sexual preference, political party, religion are all part of who that student is, but it should not define them for you." To clarify, I think there's value in efforts to help people identify practices or processes that marginalize certain populations, as well as bring a new perspective(s) that a professional may otherwise be unaware of, but I am very cautious against presupposing that any "learning" I may have done about "groups" of people applies to an individual student in front of me.
My background is in communication and I have taught intercultural communication (both with an international and within-the-U.S. slant) and cautioned my students against making the same mistake. Further, as a former faculty member and with having advising responsibilities for a significant number of students as part of my duties in that role, I feel I was well-served by my philosophy. I formed many great relationships (and sometimes unexpected ones) with students by making NO assumptions (or, for the same of argument very flexible assumptions) and engaging in deep listening with them; many of these students were very different from me in all kinds of ways. Yet, because of the relationship that was able to develop, I was able to help or refer them to the appropriate help. I attribute this almost entirely to the bond that was formed by their realization that I was someone who had a genuine interest in their well-being in my classroom, as a student at my institution, and in broader community/society.
I really don't want anyone to misconstrue what I am saying; I just think there is a fine line between raising consciousness about experiences/worldviews our students may have and the sometimes-subsequent (and unfortunate) reduction of their individuality to membership in a particular "category".
Thanks for dialoguing with us!
-Erin
Hi, Dan! Thanks for sharing! Could you address in a little more detail the approach you have taken when you have been asked to assume two roles concurrently? We discussed this in our last class session to some extent, actually, in terms of how much can you take on realistically while still being successful.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we discussed how sometimes those situations can be somewhat negative in a sense that once you take on several additional responsibilities, you can be seen as the go-to person. At that point, if you admit to being overworked ... well, that isn't necessarily something anyone wants to do!
I'd love to hear more about your experiences with taking on multiple roles and the successes and struggles you've had.
Well, I won't say it is easy. The first time I did it I had two supervisors. So on one hand I was a peer and on the other a subordinate to one of the supervisors. They were both very good to work for, but there were occasional awkward moments. In my current role I have the same supervisor for both assignments, so that is not an issue. It is tough to keep all the plates spinning, however, and I think September may be a real challenge.
ReplyDeleteI think the key to success when juggling multiple roles is to be honest with yourself about your limitations, and then honest with your supervisor. It is sort of like strength training. If you take on a little more work, you may struggle a bit, but if you work through it you will be sore for a few days, but stronger in the long run. If you take on more than you can handle, however, you can hurt yourself, or in this case, the students you are serving.
(Did I mention I am brutal with metaphors?)
Thanks, Dan! Interestingly enough, my director and I had a conversation yesterday about having several responsibilities that require you to report to different people - and how navigating that process can be tricky!
DeleteI think that's great advice - and spreading yourself too thin is commonly done (by our students, too!). Ha, I like the metaphors.
Lindsey,
DeleteI'm working on a project now for our incoming students that my supervisor assigned me earlier in the spring. As the project has progressed, I've had to find partnerships and seek assistance from others within my division, and they have other leadership. As we have begun to work together, the original goal and scope of the project has changed from what my supervisor had originally had in mind, and even though I frequently keep his thoughts in mind, its difficult to navigate the waters when others have their hand in the pot. Just a piggy-back...
Dan,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the investment in sharing your experiences with us. Could you touch more on your mentors and leaders you have worked with? How have they helped you through mistakes? How have they taught you to be a better leader? What has been some of the "gems" you have personally kept/remembered as you have progressed in your career? Thanks for sharing!
Respectfully,
Billy Houder
I have definitely given my mentors and leaders plenty of opportunities to help me through my mistakes. I have tried to use their approach when mentoring or supervising others. If I suspect that the course of action that someone is pursuing might not be successful I ask myself first if anyone will be harmed by it. If the answer is no, then I may ask questions that may help the person see the situation in a different light, but I will let them carry on. In the event I am wrong, then I have learned something. In the event that it doesn't work out, we regroup and talk through the process and chose another course of action. A good example of this was when I was doing a program. My mentor asked questions about the content of the program and agreed that the information would be valuable. He also asked about my plans to market it. He seemed less convinced about some of those ideas and asked me if I had considered other methods. Long story shorter, the program was a success in terms of outcomes, but not in terms of attendance. Clearly if I had used some of the other methods, the results might have differed. He explained to me later that he had expected that the turnout might be low, but felt certain that those who came could benefit from it. I have tried to use the same approach.
ReplyDeleteHi Dan,
DeleteThank you for taking the time to speak with us. I have worked with a mentor for a long time and developed a strong rapport, which turned into a friendship with him. Additionally, I see another individual at work, whom I respect and career I would like to emulate as a mentor. The first is a very proud and the the latter is always questioning the things I do. I guess I have a good balance. I suppose my question to you is, how were you able to consistently prove that you were learning and doing well without seeming threatened by disapproval from a mentor?
Dan,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you feedback and input with managing and mentoring others. Your sentence about asking if anyone will be harmed by this really resonated with me. It demonstrates a high level of integrity, professionalism, and desire to be self-aware of the entire situation.
Respectfully,
Billy Houder