I recently attended my first Association of College Unions International (ACUI) conference this past March in Boston. Needless to say the experience was eye opening, and filled with copious amounts of knowledge from new and seasoned professionals in the field of student affairs. Within this experience I was able to attend various workshops wherein I received many resources. One such resource was a book entitled “Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men” by Michael Kimmel.

Upon my return from the conference I purchased the book for myself and began to read it. Certainly, the author illustrates various issues that plague the current student population, and cause these students to accept the responsibilities of adulthood at later and later ages. One such issue centers in career development. Indeed, as written in this book, many students that we currently work with have grown up with the notion that they are entitled to a wonderful, fulfilling, and high income job based primarily on wants rather than the skills it takes to get to the career of their dreams. It should be noted that this sense of entitlement spreads across the generation and does not exclude based upon gender. Undoubtedly, in my opinion male and female students both feel this entitlement with regards to their future careers.

It seems students today have no real knowledge of the grunt work one needs to take on in order to reach a job which provides the level of success they desire and feel they deserve. Have our students truly become this entitled with regards to job? If so, then what can we as practitioners do to help them recognize what it takes to make it “big”? I often worry that my students will face a certain situation in their lives which will cause them to recognize their unrealistic expectations with regards to career that will leave them feeling disillusioned about career development. I know I try to work with this sense of entitlement by educating my students into recognizing the hard work, dedication, motivation, perseverance and education jobs in this day and age require, but I often feel as though I hit a brick wall.

I then have to ask myself what else can be done to help these students. Do we as practitioner’s need to just watch them make their mistakes in order to recognize what it takes to make it “big”? Furthermore, as students did we have these same unrealistic expectations about careers and believe in instant gratification therefore determining that this is a normal stage in their development as adolescents? As can be noted there are many questions left to be answered but ultimately it all begins with educating ourselves in the hopes of educating our students.

Juhi Bhatt works as a Career/Transfer Counselor and Coordinator of Judicial Affairs at Bergen Community College.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our #SAchat focused on Student Leader Burnout. This week’s topic produced 500 tweets from 81 student affairs professionals, graduate students and undergraduates interested or working in the Student Affairs field!

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In my last post I wrote the following line: “Let me just say, the ‘real world’ as a term is bogus. If college is a fake world then it’s our fault for creating it.”  The line came out naturally, and I didn’t think about it much after typing it, although it kept grabbing my attention as I proof read the post.  I took some time to reflect and ended up  taking a walk and jotting down some notes.

I realized I hear those statements all the time from students: “When I enter the real world…”  I struggle with the idea that somehow college is not the real world. That belief is counter to what college is about: exploration and adventure, trial and error, and embracing things that are different.  Most universities do offer a comfy world within their campus by offering every service needed: food, shelter, medical care, counseling, activities, etc.  Four-year institutions market themselves in nice neat packages, a get away of sorts for students.  It’s the last hideaway before the scary real world takes over and worries like taxes, mortgages, and car payments creep in.  Even though the majority of freshmen are 18 and considered adults, we provide most services for them, without students even having to ask. What are students losing by having everything at their fingertips?

There are very few things that traditional four-year institutions do not offer.  There are competing thoughts on how this came about. It might be because the collective buying power of a large group affords the opportunity to offer discounted services, or universities wanted to attract students and ensure they had a comfortable stay.  I will say for certain that it’s not due to student development theory.  Student affairs grew from campus need, student development theories hadn’t even been dreamed up yet when the student affairs movement began. No matter how it came about, we ultimately ended up here:  A mix between an all-inclusive resort and a home for the elderly (with less elderly… although that population is growing).

Beyond the fact that students have everything they would need at their disposal, the part that concerns me the most is the relative alienation of our students from the surrounding community.  Students don’t to need to venture out into the community unless for small activities like going to get food or grocery shopping.  The community within the campus is enough for most students. The problem then becomes students don’t engage their community because they don’t need to.  Universities promote community engagement but it doesn’t go much further then community service and internships. My concern is institutions don’t hold these ideals valuable enough to urge our students to step beyond the walls and truly engage the diverse communities they reside in. Community engagement should go much deeper. Same for diversity, it  shouldn’t mean just the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of those attending college. Our communities are built on diversity and should be embraced as a resource and learning tool.  What stories are we cutting out by building walls between community and college. Are we afraid of having students leave campus?

There are programs across the country that urge student-community interaction.  While doing benchmarking interviews for a project I came upon two welcome week programs that piqued my interest: American University’s Discover D.C. program and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s SLO Bound program.  Both programs recognize the necessity of student familiarity with their surrounding communities, not as a passing experience, but as a resource and integral part in learning.

I hope institutions urge their students to embrace community for everything it offers. If not, we are missing an opportunity to show students how truly amazing our communities can be.

Steven Harowitz is a graduate student at the University of South Carolina, and serves as the Graduate Assistant for Carolina Productions.

One of the most salient traits I have noticed about working in a residence hall is that every year brings with it a unique set of problems. Last year, for example, my common area kitchen was constantly trashed. No amount of signage, threats, or interventions helped. Yet, our public laundry room was always immaculate. This year, our laundry room is a mess while the common area kitchen is often pristine. Bizarre? Yes, but that seems to be the way it works.

Another issue that arose during the start of this year was an unexpected wave of indoor smoking. I was shocked by this because… it’s 2012, right? Yet, it was this year’s biggest issue in my building and I received numerous complaints from students and their parents about the smell of cigarette smoke infiltrating rooms and lingering in the hallways.

The problem with indoor smoking in residence halls is that it is extremely difficult to identify when someone is in their room with their door closed. By the time the smell reaches the hallway, the deed has been done and locating the room where it is coming from is a challenge. I told students to call Campus Police if they smelled any smoke indoors, but more often than not by the time they would arrive all they encountered was a faint haze.

We needed a creative solution.

At the end of the first semester, while brainstorming, one of my staff members and I came to the realization that the best way to go about finding a solution was to approach the situation from a peer impact lens. We decided to create a survey that asked residents 1) whether or not they support the idea of people smoking indoors and why, 2) how peers’ decisions to smoke indoors impacts them directly. We promised to publish the results and reassured everyone that their responses would be anonymous.

Within three days, we had almost 60 responses. The answers were mostly dichotomized between those residents who were deeply upset by people smoking inside and those residents who confessed that they smoke inside because of convenience. The end product of the survey was tangible evidence that indoor smoking hurts and bothers many residents for numerous reasons and that students who perpetuate it do so for unconvincing reasons.

My staff member and I assembled the survey responses into a printed booklet and distributed it to the students in our building. This generated many discussions about the impact of indoor smoking and since then there has been a dramatic reduction in the instances of it happening. I have not received one complaint about it this entire semester.

The lesson that I took away from this situation is that sometimes students legitimately have no idea how their behavior affects others in the community, and will make damaging choices as a result. This survey project gave students being most affected by these choices a voice to express their experiences. At the same time, it gave the smokers insight into how much their behavior was hurting others. The resulting decrease makes me think that community respect was the motivating factor.

This approach is certainly not applicable to all conduct issues, but for a problem that was negatively impacting a lot of people, it worked wonderfully.

Adam J. Ortiz is a House Director at Hampshire College.

Curious what Student Affairs folks read about the most in March? Below are the top 5 posts for last month:

1. Its a new job Shopping season – the employer side of the house
2. Chairs, Stairs, and Garbage Cans: Your Partners in Student Engagement
3. Trench Warfare: How I plan to win the war of visibility on Twitter
4. Using Search Committee Work to Improve Your Approach
5. Scripted Reality: what’s really real?

Who is your mother’s mother?

This is the question that a recent blog post by Ann Marie Klotz, Assistant Director for Selection and Training at DePaul University had me thinking about during Women’s History month.

I was recently enjoying the hot tub at the rec center one Sunday evening before heading back to work, when an older gentleman who was also enjoying the spa sparked up a conversation with my friend and me. He started off the conversation by exclaiming, “This is the life”, which we enthusiastically agreed, and he said “If you think this is the life now, wait until you’re older, if I knew I was going to live this long I wouldn’t have done half the stupid things I’ve done”. I quickly learned that this man was not just a talkative older gentleman, but also a firefighter in town that remembered when a friend and I delivered treats to the firehouse on MLK day, but he could have probably never guessed where my mind went with that comment about life expectancy. Then, I realized, I’ve just never really thought about that, just like I never really thought about going to college.

Yet who was Jean Klein (Goodin)? She was the daughter of a Chicago horseback police officer and an older sister. She grew up in the Catholic school system, and was told by her father that she would go to an all-girls Catholic school for the entirety of her life. I guess in this sense she was a rebel. She didn’t have the grades she says to get into Mundelein College so off to DePaul she went.

What would she major in? Education of course, her father determined that, he would tell both his daughters, when they asked if they could be nurses instead, “No daughter of mine will be changing bedpans”. So a teacher she would be. When I first heard this story I was a little saddened. Saddened because I felt my grandmother had no choice, but she reminded me the choice has always been hers. Sure if she chose a different path things may have been more difficult. She was happy. She was happy because her children were able to go to any school and choose any major. She knew her granddaughters and grandsons would have those choices – and that she would be right there with us supporting and loving us.

As I said before, I never really thought about going to college. I just knew I would. I knew I would because my grandmother had, because her father made sure she did. In this sense I consider myself quite lucky. I always knew that there were “dorms” and RAs, I knew about financial aid, and I knew I’d have to pick a major. Now that I think about this, I’m sure my great-grandfathers decision to have his daughters be teachers has greatly influenced my desire and passion for this field – it has led me to recognize that not all students view college this way. There are so many people out there who view Higher Education as an impenetrable fortress, this is what has led me to want to do this work, to be able to help students work through college. This privilege I have and have had gives me a sense of responsibility to give back. We all have something, some strands of knowledge, that we can give back, give to someone else. Who will you remember today? Who will you help tomorrow?

Ryan Bye is a graduate hall coordinator at Texas Tech University.

Several years ago I was introduced to the podcasts over at Manager Tools.  Full disclosure I gain in absolutely no way from endorsing Manager Tools.  But we all collectively gain when our field is full of good, efficient and effective managers.

The folks at Manager Tools stress one tool more than any other: One-on-one meetings.  Sure – you may think – I talk to my team all the time.  This is a little different.  This is a structured, regularly scheduled (weekly is ideal) meeting with each one of your direct reports.

I have been performing structured one-on-one meetings as described by Manager Tools for 4-5 years and the time is well invested in the relationship with your direct reports.  On Thursday I asked my twitter stream “Interested in hearing from folks that have regularly scheduled 1on1s with their direct reports. Worth the time? Benefits?”  I got some great replies.

The first reply was from Gavin Henning, Senior Research Analyst in the Office of Institutional Research at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, U.S.  Gavin indicated that one-one-ones are absolutely worth the time and said the meetings are a great opportunity to give updates and get direction from your supervisor.  He also indicated how important it is to have a consistent time to connect and the importance of both direct and supervisor contributing agenda items.

I was very grateful to get replies from hall directors to vice-president student affairs.  Although I can’t share all the comments I received via twitter the overwhelming majority where in support of one-on-ones.  Rachel Barreca, a Canadian higher education professional who has for several years worked in the United Kingdom.  Rachel indicated that the one-on-one meetings were a great way to know your direct reports better and check-in with them personally.  Rachel also described one-on-one meetings as an opportunity to solve problems, discuss professional development opportunities as well as a provide feedback and direction.

You may be thinking to yourself – I have SO many staff.  I can’t possibly meet with all of them weekly.  Why not?  As a manager or supervisor it is your job to ensure your team performs.  If you work 35, 45, or even 55 hours per week – 30 minutes with each direct report is not very much time.  Think of it like this: 10 direct reports x 30 minutes would only be 5 hours.  Only 12% of a 40 hour work week.  If you don’t currently supervise full-time staff and you have a big team of part-time staff this may be more challenging.  It may make sense to meet bi-weekly or less frequently with part-timers.  However if you have 5-8 or less full-time staff you should have no trouble finding the time if you schedule it consistently from now till forever in your calendar.

I suggest you head on over to Manager Tools to the listen to their podcast on one-on-ones.

A little one-on-one summary

Absolutely worth the time invested!

Purpose: To develop and strengthen a professional relationship with your direct reports.

Format: 10 minutes for them, 10 minutes for you, 10 minutes for the future (coaching, professional development, growth, etc)

What are your thoughts on one-on-ones?  If you have tricks and tips for one-on-ones please leave them in the comments.

 Chad Nuttall is Manager, Student Housing Services (CHO) at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Standing bleary eyed on the fourth floor of Alumni Hall, I stared at the glass the police officer was pointing toward.

“Do you remember if that was here yesterday?” he asked.

I shrugged and mumbled something about not remembering, feeling stupid. I spent a considerable amount of time on this floor of my building; it was my floor of troublemaker residents. Not being able to remember if there was a bullet hole in the glass next to the stairwell door seemed ridiculous. But in this moment — less than 24 hours after the Virginia Tech massacre — it was a hugely important detail as police evaluated whether this was an active threat or stale vandalism left unrepaired and ignored.

The officer made a note on his pad and then took a picture of the graffiti around the bullet hole. Scrawled in permanent marker below the hole in the safety glass was a reference to the previous day’s massacre. Though he reassured me he didn’t think it was an active threat, I went back to my apartment and sat awake, waiting for the phone to ring with notification we’d been wrong.

In less than a day, my own job, hundreds of miles from Blacksburg, had changed dramatically. There was no waiting for the ripple of effects of the Virginia Tech shootings; there was an immediacy in the way student affairs started evaluating protocols for students of concern and responding to threats on campuses. Five years later, campuses are still navigating these waters and, it’s safe to say, no functional area of higher education has been left untouched by the deadliest campus shooting in history. Laws have changed, procedures have changed, standards have changed — we have changed.

Five years after the massacre that killed 32 and wounded 25, we are all still Hokies. All of our lives were touched in some way by April 16, 2007 and so we became part of a community forever changed, linking student affairs professionals across the world in a startling, humbling moment of both the limitations and potential of our field to create safe places on our campuses.  Remembering the events of that day is not isolated to this anniversary; it’s become part of our culture as a field. And in that way, we keep the memory of those who lost their lives close to our hearts as we keep working toward change on our campuses.

How did the Virginia Tech massacre change your work as a student affairs professional? How are you remembering the five-year anniversary today? 

Thanks to everyone who participated in our #SAchat focused on Navigating Tough Campus Issues. This week’s topic produced 793 tweets from 84 student affairs professionals, graduate students and undergraduates interested or working in the Student Affairs field!

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What are some other topics you would like to see us cover? Please let us know your ideas and feedback to keep #sachat growing strong. Until next week, (if you haven’t already done so) please make sure to LIKE our Facebook Page. Thanks for your continued support!