Ed Cabellon « The Student Affairs Collaborative

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#sachat — 1 Comment
21
Nov 11

Growing #saGROW

It’s hard to believe, but it was one year ago that #saGROW was born out of a conversation that Tina Horvath and I had on Twitter. Growing the Student Affairs profession is something I’ve always been passionate about and watching how #saGROW continued to evolve this year has been such a rewarding experience. Highlights include 340 folks (170 Student Affairs Graduate Students and 170 Student Affairs professionals) being paired up, several stories of meaningful connections made, as well as the creation and awarding of two $500 #saGROW scholarships.

In the spring, I had asked those connected with the program to share their thoughts on how the program was going, both from the #saGROW mentor and mentee perspectives. The feedback reflected a broad range of experiences ranging from successful connections to some that never got off the ground. Over the last few weeks, I’ve thought long and hard about where #saGROW should go from here, and I am looking to the online Student Affairs community for help. I need a small group of people to help grow #saGROW. Since the summer, I’ve had very little time to continue promoting the program, connecting those interested in finding mentors or mentees, and following up with those pairings to make sure all is going well. While I still care deeply about making these connections, I can no longer do it alone. Who out there shares this passion with me and is willing to dive in and take it to the next level?

If you are interested in helping, please leave a comment below or simply connect with me over email!

What are your thoughts on the #saGROW online mentoring program? If you’ve been a part of it this year, what are you thoughts on ways to grow it further? Is it time to get a professional association behind it?

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Web/Tech — 1 Comment
7
Sep 11

Keeping Your Online Life Secure

Over the weekend, at student employee training for our Campus Center, I heard something that continues to be a pet peeve of mine. While talking about access to email, internal databases, and learning management systems, many of my students said, “Oh, I use the same password for everything.” While I have been guilty of this myself in the past, it’s important to change this habit, especially since many of us own a number of online accounts. Here are some recommendations, which I hope spur conversations with students and staff in your own organizations on this important topic:

1. Have FOUR Different, Complex Passwords: What’s worse than having one password for everything? Having that password be not complex. While it isn’t realistic to have a different password for each of your accounts, creating a complex password should be your first priority. Complex passwords are defined by having at least 14 characters, mixed with capital letters, numbers and characters (where allowed.) Microsoft has some great advice on this topic. Once you create your first complex password, create three more and rotate them across your accounts. You may also decide to categorize your passwords for personal, work, merchants, and social networks. Oh, and don’t forget, Windows users may also use SPACES as characters in passwords. It is a great way to mix things up.

A good password is more than just a complex password. It is one that is not easily guessed, but still easy to remember. It should be long, but still easy to type quickly with few errors.

2. Securing Your Facebook Account: If you visit the “Security Settings” tab, you can do a lot to make your Facebook account more secure, beyond your initial password. First, enable “Secure Browsing” so that you always log into Facebook on a secure (https) connection. Second, enable “Email Notifications” to be notified when your account is accessed from a computer or mobile device that you haven’t used before. By doing this, you actively record each device you use to access Facebook, so there is a record in case someone else tries to log in as you. If you are an active Facebook user, I highly recommend doing this.

3. Securing Your Google Accounts: If you use any Google product, want to make it more secure, and you own a smartphone, consider adding the 2-step authorization feature via the Google Authenticator App. All pertinent information is found here. Frankly, once you sell your digital soul to Google like I have, its important to add this extra layer of protection to ensure ALL your Google products (Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Documents, etc.) are safe(r) and (more) secure.

4. Storing Passwords: Now that you have all your passwords, how will you keep up with all of them? There is not a right answer, only recommendations based on your comfort levels. Some will opt to write them all down and keep them in one or two places. Others will use programs like Evernote, add a super password and store them all on the cloud for access anywhere at anytime. My favorite way is to use a password storage services like KeePass and sync it with DropBox. According to KeePass’ site: “KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key file. So you only have to remember one single master password or select the key file to unlock the whole database. The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known (AES and Twofish). ”

No matter how you choose to keep your passwords secure, make sure you do something and don’t leave this important information to chance.

How many passwords do you use for the various accounts you log into everyday? Is your password complex? Do you have a central storage system for your passwords? What advice do you have to share on this?

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Uncategorized — 1 Comment
7
Apr 11

Conference Access to WiFi vs. Conference Apps

While some of you already know this, the other night on Twitter, an impromptu conversation started about whether or not professional associations in Higher Education should invest money in development of Conference Apps versus providing free access to WiFi at their respective national conference locations. Here is the “Storify” of that conversation. I’m interested in your feedback and hope the conversation and information is shared with those planning events next year. Thanks to all those who engaged with me and answered the questions so thoughtfully.

The big takeaway is to make sure you ask your respective membership what they are more interested in and if you can do both, then do so!

After reading the tweets below, what do you think? Should professional associations be investing their time and money in developing a conference app or finding a way to provide free access to WiFi?

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Uncategorized — 12 Comments
5
Apr 11

The Evolution of #saGROW

The #saGROW program has far exceeded my expectations! If you remember from the original inception of this idea and its quick growth over the first month, the original idea of #saGROW was to serve graduate students who wanted to connect with a professional. Since November, I have paired up over 130 Student Affairs professionals with Student Affairs graduate students (and undergraduates too!) interested in finding a mentor and serving as a mentor. The support and interest has been overwhelming at times, but exciting to see. We’ve even created a Facebook Group to start threaded conversations around common topics to find out what the participants are learning by being in a mentor/mentee relationship.

Over this past weekend though, I noticed a new trend in the request for mentors: professionals seeking professionals as mentors. It only made sense to me that these requests were coming as the #sachat community evolves to having more pros using and engaging in the online space, especially after NASPA and ACPA.

So, I’ve decided to start a new mentoring program called #saPRO, where current professionals in Student Affairs can:

Find a mentor based on interest, skill set, or position. (e.g. If a new professional wants to connect with a Senior Student Affairs Officer (SSAO), she or he could request that. If a SSAO wants help with a particular topic area or skill set, she or he could request a mentor for that, as well. You get the idea.)
Be a mentor by selecting the person they want to help by reading the information on the spreadsheet and reaching out to the mentee themselves. (This is a better system and one that doesn’t rely on me to have to pair people up!)

If you are interested in finding an #saPRO mentor, fill out the Google spreadsheet. If you are interested in mentoring an #saPRO, check out the SAME Google spreadsheet and if there is someone you want to help, fill out your information next to him/her and make your initial connection. All I ask is that you tag any related tweets with #saPRO.

Finally, there are still a few #saGROW folks looking for mentors. I’ve adjusted the current #saGROW Google spreadsheet so you can now make your own connections. Simply look for an entry in the spreadsheet that doesn’t have a dark black line in column H. If you think you can help this person out, simply fill out your information there and make an initial connection over email and/or Twitter and tag it with #saGROW.

If the purpose of an online community is to mirror and create in-person connections and relationships for growth, development, and shared understanding, then I hope that the #saGROW and #saPRO programs serve as good examples. Thanks so much to all of you for your support and participation!

Are online mentoring programs a good idea? How can we improve upon the #saGROW program to ensure those involved have a great experience? Do you think #saPRO will work like #saGROW did?

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25
Mar 11

Live Video Interview With The Cronk News Staff

Replay to be posted soon! Check back later please!

Friday, April 1 from 5:00pm – 6:00pm EST
Broadcasted over Vokle
Video Hashtag: #SA30

I sat down (virtually via Vokle) with the Cronk News Staff for a Live Video Interview in April. The Cronk of Higher Education is an online faux-magazine founded by editor-in-chief, Leah Wescott, in June 2009 to provide critical and satirical analysis of the current events and daily routines at colleges and universities. (source: cronknews.com/about)

During the interview, I spoke with Leah Wescott, Brody Truce, and THE Irma Pelt about all the work they do with the Cronk, how it has grown in almost two years, and its impact on Student Affairs and Higher Education. It was great conversation and everyone involved had a great time!

To learn more about The Cronk of Higher Education , visit them at their website: http://www.cronknews.com

Bios:

Leah Wescott: Daughter of a school superintendent dad and a newspaper editor-in-chief mom (CronkNews was in her genetic code). 17 years as a higher ed practitioner at public, private, co-ed, single-gender, religious and independent colleges. Taught full-time for 5 years. Aggressive idealist

Brody Truce: Full-time academic dean and curriculum guru; Part-time higher ed fashion critic; Experienced administrator; traditional college and hospital university environment; Hoping the Supreme Court will allow legal marriages between one man and one Microsoft Excel application.

Irma Pelt: Full-time student affairs practitioner; National and regional organizational leader and activist; Published author and editor. Winner of 1956 Miss Teen America pageant

What questions do you have for Leah, Brody, or Irma? Please leave them in the comment section and I’ll try to incorporate it during the interview!

IF YOU’VE MISSED ANY OF MY LIVE VIDEO INTERVIEWS, CHECK THEM ALL OUT HERE. THANK YOU!

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22
Mar 11

Twitter: My Relationship Builder

This post is part of BSU’s BlogFest during the 2011 BSU Social Media Week festivities. Today’s writing prompt: “What role does technology play to help or hinder relationships?”

Five years ago, Twitter was born, and I had no idea how much it would change my life, both professionally and personally. If you told me this two years ago when I first joined the Twitter community, I would have said you were crazy. But as many of you know, Twitter as been a transformative force in my life and helped me build so many meaningful relationships I would have otherwise not been privileged to.

When I read the prompt, my answer depends on how you use “technology.” It can hinder relationships if there is no balance with it in your life and I have certainly had my share of challenges in this area. I rarely look at things as an “either / or”, I am more of a “both / and” type of thinker. For a long time, I saw the use of technology, like Twitter, as either “on it” or “off it”, mainly because I did not fully understand it’s purpose in my life. This caused a lot of unbalance and unnecessary stress, because like many things I do, I want to be the best at it so I can teach others with confidence (this comes from my parents.) So I was on Twitter ALL THE TIME, to learn everything I could. But recently, I have changed a bit, and embraced Twitter with a “both / and” approach. Like my email and voicemail, I check in on Twitter when I have the chance and mainly to respond to mentions and DM’s, and to RT good content. I no longer try to keep up with everything (because I simply can’t), knowing that my Twitter community will RT the good stuff anyway. I have seen myself move further away from Facebook and frankly, would disconnect my account today, if it weren’t for the work I do in Higher Education to try and build learning communities.

As I think about Twitter as a relationship builder, it really matters how you spend your time there. I love meeting new people, helping out where I can, and connecting them with others I know. Those are big reason why I am on Twitter. If you choose to be part of it, you may for a variety of reasons. If you do, I have a few pieces of advice, especially for our Bridgewater State students:

1. Have a purpose. Are you looking to network? Meet new people? Grow current relationships? Whatever it is, understand that Twitter is an INFORMATION NETWORK that can be social at times… it is NOT a social network by definition. Thus, you must have a clear purpose to joining Twitter or you simply won’t get it.
2. Fill in all your information, please. I see so many people / brands who don’t fill in their information, including a current/accurate picture, website (use your LinkedIn or Facebook URL if you don’t have your own site), and who they are / what they do. How can I trust your content when I can’t read ANY info on you. The first step in getting me to follow you is to have this information complete and accurate.
3. It takes time to build relationships. Be patient as you develop your online identity. Listen more than you tweet initially, but when you feel comfortable, get to know your community members one tweet a time.

Technology has certainly been a relationship builder and it can be for you if you want it to be. If your main technology is a mobile phone, laptop, iPad, etc., be mindful of how you use it and know that its OK to unplug once in a while. I will certainly be doing more that this summer.

Happy fifth birthday Twitter

What technology is your relationship builder or hinderer? What have been your habits and do you need to reevaluate how you use it?

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18
Mar 11

South by Amazing: My 2011 SXSW Story

(Before reading this post, if you want to know more about why I went to this conference and who sent me there, check out my previous SXSW post. If you want to know more about SXSW’s history, read this.)

There is nothing I can write that will ever describe what I experienced at South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) in Austin, TX last week. Many of you have tweeted, emailed, etc. and asked what the experience was like so I hope this helps paint a clear picture of my time in south.

Build Up / Arrival to Austin
Leading up to last weekend, I spent some time reading the blogosphere for advice and an overall sense on what to expect. This was the first time I would be at a conference outside of Higher Education and I was traveling by myself as well. To help quell some nerves, I attended a “Boston in Austin” meetup to get to know some of the people who were headed down and to get their sense of what SXSW was all about. Everyone there was so gracious and nice, it gave me a glimpse of what was to come.

Arriving in Austin was a breeze. I was a little concerned because when your event has over 20,000 delegates, you might expect some hiccups, but not at SXSW! I got to my hotel, checked-in there, and was able to register at the Austin Convention Center and get my coveted SXSW badge without any problems. Now, as many of you who have been to Higher Education conferences know, you typically will take your badge off at the end of the day before going out, but not there! At SXSW, it is common to wear your badge EVERYWHERE at night since it gets you into many of the bars, restaurants, and clubs hosting SXSW related events. I put the badge on and began my SXSW adventure.

Unbelievable Networking Opportunities
I realized quickly why people paid the money to be here every year: power networking. Deep down, I just couldn’t believe that everyone was going to be as nice to me as the folks in Boston were… but they were. Every single person I met was unbelievably nice, willing to chat, help, and be a connector. It made perfect sense… you just never knew who you were talking to so you always had to have your best foot forward. Everyone I talked to had an interest in Higher Education and were willing to listen, lend ideas, and connect me with those that could help and amplify our stories. Where else could I have had one on one conversations with Meredith Artley, Managing Editor of CNN.com; Baratunde Thurston, Director of Digital at TheOnion.com; Pete Cashmore, CEO of Mashable.com; and Sean Ammirati, Chief Operating Officer of Read Write Web? Oh, and for fun, I got to hang out with Romany Malco, and be in the same spaces with other stars like Rainn Wilson, Dane Cook, and Conan O’Brian just to name a few!

I also connected with some fantastic folks who work in Higher Education at an “EDU” meetup, at educational sessions, and at night while out and about. Key folks I met were Cynde Fleagle from Penn State University; Sue Beckingham from the UK ; Ellie Lovell from University of Warwick, UK; Lori Packer from the University of Rochester; and John Hill and Leigh Graves Wolf from Michigan State University. All were extremely insightful and gave me key insights that will help move some of my technology ideas forward in Student Affairs.

Of course, getting the Student Affairs community together at SXSW was amazing. Meeting folks in person for the first time like Marlena Ballard, Pete Pereira, Lynne Ellison, Laura Lambeth, Laura Pasquini, Julie Larsen, and Brad Popiolek was not only fantastic, but also would have made Tom Krieglstein and Debra Sanborn proud knowing what they created in the Student Affairs Collaborative still growing strong at events outside of higher education!

Finally, spending some serious time with Rey Junco and Liz Gross was a major highlight. We shared perspectives on many things in Higher Education, technology, etc. I was inspired to hear about Liz’s research interests and know she has a great mentor in Rey as she goes through her doctoral journey. It was a real treat to see Rey impress A LOT of people while he presented his research and findings. His work is instrumental in my work as a Higher Education administrator and practitioner. As we continue to see shifts in communication with our students at the University level, we all need to be tuned in to Rey’s work. If you haven’t read his stuff yet, you really should.

Educational Sessions
Here are a list of sessions that I was present at or listened-in on/followed up with the speakers on (with a future post dedicated to what I got out of each of these sessions)

- “No Child Left Behind – Mobile Tech Meets Education” – #MobNCLI
- “The Potential For Augmented Reality for Education” - #EduAR
- “Offline America, Why We Have A Digital Divide” – #digdiv
- “Demystifying Online Privacy and Empowering the Digital Self” – #digitalself
- “Using Twitter to Improve Student Engagement” – #twesearch
- “Tech Power to the People: Digital Community Engagement”
- “Keynote: Seth Priebatsch” – #gamelayer
- “Measuring Social Media – Let’s Get Serious” – #smAroi
- “The Science of Influence” – (Ogilvy Note)
- “The Art of Enchantment” – #enchantment
- ”Method Tweeting (for Non-Profits and other Players)” – #methodtweet
- ”Online Reputation, in and around Contexts” – #repinctx

Finally, one of the coolest things I saw as part of the educational process was the staff from Ogilvy and other conference attendees who createed beautiful “notes”, by way of creative images, of many of the talks given. Here is just one amazing example from the sesson: “Tweeting on Weekends: Are we becoming socially anti-social?” – #overtweeting:

Imagine having some of our association talks presented to us in this timeless format? Unbelievably stunning, creative and thought-provoking, even if you weren’t in the session. To view more of these amazing images, visit http://ogilvynotes.com/ and prepare to be astonished. The RSA Organization in the UK does this also and has some YouTube clips out there as well.

Services To Know About (again, with a future post going through in more detail what I think about all of these!)
Leximancer - (Mentioned during Rey Junco’s talk, it is a tweet content analyzer!)
Radian 6, ViralHeat, Swix (Paid Social Media Analytics Services)
SlideRocket (Awesome presentation software. Closest thing to Keynote that I’ve seen online!)
TechSmith Corporation (makers of Jing and Camtasia) (Fantastic screen capture software)
Min.us (A sharing aggregator that I really liked and will start using)
Animoto (While I’ve been using them for a while, they are a great/easy way to make short films using current photos and video clips!)

Gadgets
If you are into gadgets like me, the only things that caught my eye were the iPad 2 and the Asus EEE Slate. If you already have the iPad, I don’t think it is worth upgrading, unless you have a need for video chatting regularly. Yes, its thinner, slightly faster, and extremely light, however, it is not yet worth upgrading. If you don’t have an iPad yet, and want one for casual productivity, then go for it

As for the Asus EEE Slate, take a look at my quick video review:

Wrap Up
Overall, it was one of the best professional / personal development opportunities I have had in recent memory. It is a no-brainer why due to my passion and interest in technology and since Higher Education conferences aren’t known for their innovative education in this area, I was able to go to a place where I was not the one teaching, but learning. In hindsight, the best thing I did was travel by myself to experience as much as I could, but still have familiar faces like Rey and Liz to share in the experience with me. The pictures, videos, and tweets just don’t do it justice!

If you have the same passion and interest in technology that I have, I invite you to join me next year (assuming that it isn’t the same time as the ACUI 2012 Conference in Boston) at SXSW Interactive 2012!

You have to see it to believe it

What questions do you have about my South by Southwest Interactive experiences? If you went to SXSW this year, was your experience as good as mine?

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8
Mar 11

SXSW Interactive – Visions of Geekdom

Quick back story: Over the past 18 months, I have been part of Bridgewater State University’s pilot mentoring program called Portfolio’s of Excellence (POE), serving as one of its five faculty/staff mentors. This program is being funded by a grant from the Nellie Mae Foundation and Project Compass. Last year, I earned a small stipend for my work, but this year, the grant is supporting my travel for two conferences: ACPA in Baltimore and SXSW Interactive in Austin. Both conferences feature educational sessions that support the work I do with the POE program and foster the development of educational technology tools and formal technology education for these student populations.

Armed with my Droid X, iPad, Laptop, various chargers, spare batteries, and a “Talk Nerdy to Me” T-Shirt (thanks Rey Junco), I am ready and excited to be headed to Austin on Friday for SXSW. It’s rare that I get an opportunity to attend a conference outside of the Higher Education ones I’ve typically attended. I will be surrounded by so many who share similar passions in all things technology and want to use this experience to provide new technology education for all of you. I will take advantage of each meeting, formal educational session, and networking opportunity to its fullest and have a three goals (or visions) I wanted to share with you all:

1. Share The Latest Technology and It’s Possible Higher Education Applications
SXSWi is where many new ideas, services, and products are shared and as I come across them, I will share them with you. I will do this via blog posts, impromptu Live Video Interviews, and Twitter via the #saSXSW backchannel. Since we know that Higher Education is slow to adopt some technology, let’s get a head start together on the new, emerging stuff. Who knows, maybe I will meet someone whose idea may have Student Affairs or Higher Education applications?

2. Grow My Connections Within the SXSW Community
There are so many fantastic communities within SXSW and my hope is to meet as many of the folks as possible. One of particular interest is the Boston SXSW community who I will get a chance to meet with ahead of time on Wednesday night this week and then again in Austin. From here, I plan on connecting them with all of you Also, as I meet more Higher Education folks at SXSW, I will add them to my SXSW list Stay tuned!

3. Have an BLAST
I’m glad that some members of the Student Affairs community will be there as SXSW participants (Rey Junco, Liz Gross) and locals (Jeff Jackson, Brad Popiolek, Laura Pasquini, Marlena Hensarling, Laura Lambeth, Steph Wintling) to meet and hang out with and have our own mini-tweetup. I am also excited to reconnect with my old Whuffaoke friends Tara Hunt, Karen Hartline, and finally get to meet Liza Sperling in person I plan on having lots of FUN while in Austin, a place I have never visited before!

For those who have been to SXSWi before: Best piece of advice? What to wear in Austin?

For those who will be following us online: What are you interested in finding out more about?

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6
Feb 11

ACUI 2011 #sachat Tweetup Information

In three short weeks This weekend, the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) will be holding their Annual Conference in the magnificent city of Chicago. I’m excited to be headed back to the windy city and reconnect with old friends and colleagues. As we did last year in New York, we are having another #sachat tweetup!

We will be meeting for dinner at 7:00pm at WEBER GRILL (539 N. State Street Chicago, IL) in their Summit Room (those confirmed for dinner will get an email from me with details!) For those who are interested just grabbing drinks, come by at 9pm and we’ll be at the bar!

If you want to join us, please fill out your information here on this Google Doc, so we know who to expect!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Get Shareaholic

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#sachat — 22 Comments
17
Dec 10

2010 Reflections: Student Affairs and Twitter

Cindy Kane and I had a conversation recently about how we could capture how powerful Twitter has been in 2010 for so many Student Affairs professionals. After seeing a Tweet from @StephWint this morning:

I’ve decided to help by starting a new Google Doc, where we can reflect and share our thoughts on what we learned (beyond 140 characters) from Twitter this year, who we made connections with, and how it contributed to our professional development. As 2011 begins, we must continue to encourage our colleagues that using Twitter is a free, powerful, and in some cases, transformational network.

I hope you will join us sharing your reflections. Not only is it a great professional development exercise, but the information collected may be shared with others who may not yet fully understand why Twitter is a viable professional development tool.

What other things should we share our reflections that would be helpful to you?

The Student Affairs Collaborative

Know-how from peers and professionals

Author Archives

Growing #saGROW

Keeping Your Online Life Secure

Conference Access to WiFi vs. Conference Apps

The Evolution of #saGROW

Live Video Interview With The Cronk News Staff

SXSW Interactive – Visions of Geekdom

ACUI 2011 #sachat Tweetup Information

2010 Reflections: Student Affairs and Twitter

#sachat on Twitter

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