August, 2010

Tom
Original post
Web/Tech — No Comments
31
Aug 10

Twitter As A Free Campus, Group Text Messaging Provider (Updated)

In May 2009 I wrote a post on how to turn Twitter into a free SMS alert system for your campus. Back then, the major hang up was people had to have a Twitter account for it to work. With student adoption of Twitter hovering pretty low at colleges, this was a problem.

Last week Twitter recognized the issue and introduced an updated tool called Fast Follow.

"The mobile team here at Twitter has rolled out a new feature called Fast Follow, and its genius lies in its simplicity: text “follow [account]” to 40404 (Twitter’s U.S. shortcode) and you’ll immediately start getting that account’s tweets via SMS—without ever signing up for Twitter."

Eric Stoller, writer for Inside Higher Ed, reported on Fast Follow and how it could be integrated into the campus culture.

"You could place your school's admissions Twitter account name and the Twitter SMS number on your marketing collateral. A school could even have multiple Twitter accounts that could then be included on strategic mailings or promotional microsites. Campaign tracking would be a snap! Prospective students do not have to be on Twitter to use Fast Follow."

Enterprise SMS tools will have a hard time justifying large price tags when competing against…free. I suspect an advantage they will have is back end assessment data. Though, knowing Twitter's history of openness, might be provided by a third party tool soon.

Curious to know if anyone has tried mass, or even departmental adoption of Fast Follow at their campus?

SA Team
Original post
Poll — 3 Comments
31
Aug 10

TuesTally: Do you have any fitness-related goals this semetser?

If you cannot view this poll click here.




And here are the results from the last poll.


Adrianne
Original post
Club/Org Recruitment / Community College / Creativity / Leadership Training — 4 Comments
30
Aug 10

Semester Planning, Student Leader Training and the beauty of a nicely compiled list

Part of the semester planning ‘round these parts is to conduct a student leader training for all of our new, incoming club and Student Government (SGA) officers. We talk about things like communication, team building, conflict management, member recruitment and retention…ya know, all the million dollar words in student affairs. Most years, our group of student leaders consists mostly of returners with some newbies thrown in for fun – the returners naturally mentor the newcomers and everything is hunky dory. Last year, we got a group of nearly ALL newbies with only one or two returners interspersed. It was a long, but very rewarding year, and at the end of it, as if they were scripted, they all gushed about how much fun they had and how much they’d learned. They were free with the compliments to the office staff and our advising skills, but they also reflected on how much they didn’t know coming in that just wasn’t covered under the umbrella of million dollar training topics. As student leaders are so apt to do, this particular group pooled all of their genius, sarcasm and new-found expertise, and imparted insight onto us for inclusion into all future upcoming student leader training sessions.

I would now like to share their list with you because 1, it makes me laugh, but 2, because these are little things we, as SA pros, don’t always stop and think about, but could make or break a student leader’s experience.

Top 25 things I wish someone would have told me about being a student leader…

As compiled by the Spring 2010 Burlington County College SGA and Club Officers

  1. It is a lot of work, but don’t forget to have a good time!
  2. Being a student leader is a large time commitment – it will be worth it in the end. The more you give, the more you get back.
  3. You need a lot of dress clothes for meetings and events.
  4. There is a lot of paperwork to be done. Be patient with the OSA’s (Office of Student Activities) processes and follow the guidelines.
  5. You will meet tons of great people.
  6. You are given so many opportunities and rewards – academically, personally and professionally.
  7. The advisors are awesome resources and awesome people.  They want to see you succeed. Do not make any of them angry with you.
  8. There is a Mt. Holly campus. You will have to go there for events. (one of our smaller locations with very specialized course offerings, but equipped with a beautiful event space)
  9. You will get to go to the President’s house for a tree-trimming party. Be prepared to sing Christmas carols.
  10. Network and build relationships!  Recruit EVERYONE! “The more the merrier” really applies to being involved with Student Activities and the people you meet will become your friends.
  11. You will learn WAY more than you originally thought.
  12. Get yourself organized from the get-go. Use your club’s office space to help! The best way to do this is to keep your club space clean!
  13. Find a balance between being a student leader and class/family/work/friends/etc…
  14. BE CREATIVE and don’t be afraid to try new things.
  15. Give yourself way more time to plan things than you think you’ll need – you’ll need it.
  16. There are people out there who want to join your club but don’t know about it yet – Tell them!
  17. If you have a small club or inactive members, don’t underestimate a good co-sponsorship opportunity. You can’t do it alone – teamwork is imperative!
  18. You will grow as a person.
  19. Update your bulletin board often!
  20. Market your meetings and events in ALL locations, and remember that fliers are not the end-all-be-all of advertising.
  21. The OSA is a one-stop-shop for event planning resources.  Don’t take it all on yourself and never be afraid to ask for help!
  22. The OSA and SGA offer student leadership development workshops – attend them!
  23. Don’t doubt yourself or change your plans because a few people disagree.
  24. Check your personal drama at the door.
  25. Take the time to reflect on your experiences so you can do it even better the next time around.

Adrianne Dahms is a student activities specialist at Burlington County College, Pemberton, New Jersey.

Eric
Original post
#sachat — 3 Comments
28
Aug 10

Multiple Mentors = Lifelong Mentoring

Mentoring, mentorship, and lifelong learning

One of my mentors once told me that mentors are everywhere and that all I needed to do was to seek them out. At the time, I had been struggling with finding experienced practitioners who were as into learning / using technology within student affairs as I was. It took me a while to realize that what I had been looking for was the ultimate mentor. I was seeking someone who matched up with every nuance, every interest area, in effect, the “perfect” mentor.

When I woke up this morning, I had a realization. A thought that I had never really allowed to materialize. I currently have multiple individuals who I call “mentor.” No single person. Not a lone individual. I have multiple mentors. Some of my mentors provide professional advice. Some of my mentors assist me in the “apprenticeship of life.” This cadre of mentors provides me with an amazing breadth and depth of learning, experiences, and guidance. A community of mentors who I look to for strength, insight, humor, and caring.

My mentors come from all over the place. They have been instrumental in where I am and where I want to be. Here are a few ideas that I have been pondering about mentoring:

  • Sometimes mentors bring mentorship into your life without it being strategic or intentional. It just happens.
  • Age does not always equal wisdom. Be open to mentoring from anyone. Wisdom can surprise you.
  • If your mentors are well-known, be prepared to spend less time with them. Learn as much as you can when you have access. Maximize your time with them.
  • Social media spans the globe. Your access to mentors has just increased…be ready.
  • Sometimes mentors and mentees switch roles depending on circumstances, timing, and need. It’s okay.

Photo credit: quacktaculous

Matt
Original post
#sachat / Freshman / Orientation / Uncategorized — 31 Comments
26
Aug 10

The Grasshopper, Orientation, and Self-Sufficiency

A few weeks ago I was driving home from staff training for our orientation leaders and I noticed that there was a grasshopper on my windshield.  A large grasshopper.  Clinging to the glass. for. dear. life.  As I drove to my house, this intrepid insect stayed with me – even as I exceeded 50 mph.

As I pulled into my driveway and shut off the ignition, I watched as the grasshopper leapt off my car into my wife’s flowers and went about his business – five miles from where he had started.  Now, five miles for me is no big deal – I could walk it if I had to.  But this grasshopper, while large, was still only two inches long and now was over 317,000 inches from where he had started.  He was, essentially, in a brand new environment, and was there because he hung on as I made my way to my house.  He appeared happy, jumping through the lilies and daisies, but he was in a brand new place, vaguely aware of where he was, with little knowledge of how to get back to where he started… much less where to go from there.

Jump back to new student orientation.

Last week we welcomed over 5,200 students to campus for orientation (our first-year class will be closer to 6,400 when all is said and done).  While our student leaders were exceptionally trained by my colleagues, I get the sense that many of the new students in their groups ended up being along for the ride, despite the best efforts of the leaders to teach students to fend for themselves.  The university where I work is a large, land grant institution that enrolls students from all 50 states and over 120 countries.  Many of our students are far more than 5 miles from home, and, as such, it is easy to get here and simply be along for the ride.

So it got me thinking.  How often do I work with students or colleagues and bring them along for a ride versus letting them get to the same destination on their own?

I get asked a lot of questions, and most of the time I answer them outright… essentially driving someone to their answer.  But could I have helped that student or colleague get to that answer on their own?  Guide them, rather than drive them?  Probably.  The end result being that if I can teach them to find the answers on their own I can be the consultant/guidance they need, not necessary the driver/provider that they currently see me as.

My goal this year is to help people get themselves to where they’re going, rather than just get them there with a simple answer.

It’s going to be an adjustment – for me because I’m used to providing answers, and for them because they’re used to me just giving them the answer. But lest they become like my grasshopper passenger and end up a long way from where they started with no map in hand, it’s an adjustment I have to make.

What adjustments do you have to make to ensure that folks just aren’t along for your ride?

Matt Pistilli coordinates evaluation and adminstration for Student Access, Transition and Success Programs at Purdue University.

SA Team
Original post
Poll — 5 Comments
24
Aug 10

TuesTally: On average, how many hours do you sleep each weeknight?

If you cannot view this poll click here.


And here are the results from the last poll.

Tom
Original post
Uncategorized — No Comments
24
Aug 10

Increased Engagement Through Bizarre College Clubs

Yesterday, USA Today reported on how student participation in co-curricular (outside the classroom) activities leads to higher GPAs and a more satisfied social life. 

"College experts say students who participate in extracurricular activities are more engaged in the college experience, and benefits can be seen both in and outside the classroom."

The article's focus wasn't about participation in standard clubs such as German and Chess, but rather in more obscure clubs such as Michigan's Squirrel Club or Harvard's College Cube Club. In other words, the long tail of student interests.

But ask any student activities department how they would feel about a 50% increase in registered campus clubs and you'd experience a face of joyous panic.

Supporting the long tail means the position of student activities also has to shift from gate keeper to facilitator. Instead of registering, formalizing, and monitoring every organization, support a platform that allows students to self-organize around an infinite number of interests and act as the facilitator to introduce like minded students together. 

"Seth have you met Randy, you both like White Water Canoeing" 

Allowing bizarre peer-to-peer learning communities to form through the long tail will not only increase engagement, but also will lead to longer lasting friendships because the commonality of "we're the only ones who love XYZ" is already established. As John Gardner, president of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education said in the USA Today article:

"Friendship formation is task No. 1 for most students. If you don't make friends, you're lonely, you're anxious, you feel sort of adrift."

New tools are supporting schools as they shift towards a more decentralized peer-to-peer engagement model.

Through the schools using our Red Rover campus directory tool, we can actually visualize, and for the first time quantify, what the long tail of engagement looks like. 

Debra
Original post
#sachat / First-Year Experience / Orientation — 5 Comments
23
Aug 10

Laws of Physics and College Transition


There is an amusement park near my home that has one of those lose your lunch inducing rides that spin faster and faster until the floor drops out. It leaves you stuck to the wall until the ride slows and you gradually resume your footing on solid ground. The science of this phenomenon is centrifugal inertial force.


My university is welcoming 4,356 new students to campus as we begin the fall semester; colleges across the country are welcoming thousands more over the next few weeks. Imagine the inertial force as these students navigate classes, new roommates, and campus cultures that are frequently in contrast to their personal experiences.

Now, imagine your campus as a giant spinning disk with a student planted firmly in place by centripetal force, moving along the curved path of the disk, going with the flow. All is fine as the student survives residence move-in, deciphers a schedule, and maneuvers the dining center. But soon the campus disk is spinning faster and the centrifugal inertial force can become greater than the centripetal friction force holding the student in place. A failing quiz grade, roommate argument, financial difficulties or homesickness can all be triggers to send our students flying right off the college ride.

As we in student affairs greet our new students and those who are returning, it is important that we keep these laws of physics in mind. Know what resources you have available to address student concerns. Advocate for your students when university networks are difficult to follow. Listen carefully for clues that a student may be struggling.

Understanding F = mv2/r may just save a student.


Joe
Original post
#sachat / Orientation — 1 Comment
19
Aug 10

Reflect: Not something only a mirror can do.

Do you practice reflection? The art of stopping and smelling the roses? The action of not doing anything else in a moment but living in that moment?

When’s the last time you walked outside in the midst of Orientation/Welcome Week and just observed the madness behind the method of starting up the school year?

Watching that Mother try to sneak the tissue our of her purse to wipe away a tear before her student sees it.

The Dad eying the other males in the building up and down as he puts the massive pink hamper and pink comforter on his daughter’s bed.

The siblings holding a folder that announces who they belong to, shouting out, “Hurry up! This thing says you have to meet the President in 5 minutes at the Auditorium!”

The Orientation Leaders smiling and running around on minimal hours of sleep and not wanting it any other way.

The Residence Life staff handing out keys, answering questions, and responding to roommate conflicts exactly 40 minutes into the operation.

The campus custodial staff, quietly, and unnoticed, emptying trashes, and maintaining a bright and shiny veneer of campus on day 1. They go along with the campus grounds staff who sit in the shade and watch their perfectly manicured lawns, mulch, and walk ways get trampled by the egress of 400 anxious teenagers heading to their next session.

And then there is you. The master of your domain whether it be handing out keys, hot dogs, t-shirts, lanyards, folders, name tags, hugs, or handshakes. You own your responsibility, you watch others do take charge of theirs. Whether you are a cog in the machine, or the operator of the machine take a step back and watch the production that you get to play a part in.

Realize the act of the welcoming hundreds to thousands of new members of your community. Reflect on how you may become part of their story while they are learning at your institution.

Orientation/Welcome week is a busy time in student affairs. Don’t let it pass you by without having a moment in the middle of the madness to realize the value in what is it that you do, and are doing in that moment.

I ask again…

Do you practice reflection? The art of stopping and smelling the roses? The action of not doing anything else in a moment but living in that moment?

Try it right now. It doesn’t take long. In fact, it can be as short or as long as an experience that you want.

Take a deep breath. Shut your monitor off. Go outside. Walk outside and don’t look at your watch, phone, or the ground. Look up. Listen to the birds (or the stampede of new students heading your way). Feel the wind and the sun. Realize what it is you do that will make an impact on your campus community and those within it.

That’s my idea for the day – and I say it CAN happen.

Rock on,
Joe

Cindy
Original post
Work/Life Balance — 20 Comments
18
Aug 10

Countdown to Opening: On Vacation?

My department’s equivalent of “opening” happens on Friday with the return of our Orientation staff.  I’m feeling the typical range of excitement, gratitude for the approaching fall weather, cursing myself for making the summer project list too long…and utter terror at the thought of the to-do list.  How am I spending this week?

On vacation.

You read this right.  Student affairs martyrs of America, I know you are freaking out and probably are getting ready to e-mail my supervisor to find out how this is possible.

There is a three and a half week gap between the closing of my son’s preschool on campus and the start of his next step in the journey, kindergarten.  With such a long period of time to schedule, we needed to wait until this point in the summer to take a week of vacation as a family and there wasn’t a darned thing I could do about it.

I distinctly remember life before I became a parent and hearing this same explanation from those with children thinking “sure, your kid’s April vacation on the same week as our Spring Week and you’re not coming in? Must be nice to have that option.” I really didn’t know it, but there was no option for many of these people as they, like our family, may not have had the “go-to” relative nearby to help save the day.

I will confess that it’s taken me about two months to make peace with the fact that I was going to be off for the week before opening. I was having a bit of a crisis of guilt mixed with a bit of student affairs martyrdom in thinking that if all of my colleagues across the country were in their offices going nutty then I needed to be too. I am ashamed to even type these words, as someone who preaches the “hire great people and stay out of their way” approach to supervision.

Reality check came next. Guess what?! I did hire great people and they do their best when I stay out of their way and let them shine. Truth be told, the illusion that summer is a ‘break” just isn’t real and we’ve been preparing for this all along.  They are going to be crazy busy this week, but it would be that way whether I was there or not because our department is hosting some giant programs coming up in the next two weeks.

I’ve spent all summer patiently waiting for time off with both my husband and son, a quick trip to visit my parents, and the great feeling of more than five sequential days of casual dress.  I’ll admit that I’m going to be reading e-mail as it just causes less stress to me to know there are no e-mail surprises. Rest assured though, there won’t be much replying but to a very short list of possible senders. (if your position title has the word “president” anywhere in it, congrats! You’ve made the cut!)

I honestly have no idea how someone can be a “micro manager” and also be a parent. This small redheaded person has taught me so much about loving life while he dictates my vacation schedule, forces seriously inconvenient exits from work due to sicknesses, and has destroyed most every hope I have of ever sleeping late again. I value blow-drying my hair in the morning as my only minutes of solitude each day and the last ten movies I’ve seen in theaters have all been animated.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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