Let’s Call it the National Professional Exchange

May 9th, 2012 | Posted by Steven Harowitz in Conferences | Creativity | Professional Organizations - (4 Comments)

“When all think alike, then no one is thinking.” – Walter Lippman.

I really enjoy attending conferences.  I hear some interesting talks and chat with some impressive professionals.  At the same time I recognize how outdated their structure and format are.  Apparently other professionals have been feeling the same way (Check out Erika Thompson‘s delicious Stack with links to most of the conversation).  I might be a little late to this party but I  I wanted to throw a thought into the ring.

The conversation’s I read centered around reconstructing conferences to make them more nimble, up-to-date, relevant, thought provoking, and so on – all valid points.  For this post I want to focus on conference content disruption.  Joe Ginese remarked that sessions are not so much about innovation, rather repurposed ideas that are offered as “possibly” applicable to your campus.  I agree with that but I see it going a step further.  The session content itself may not be traditionally innovative but what professionals do with the content is meant to be innovative.  The content we offer attendees become the tools for future program growth, but if we offer sessions lacking depth and richness, then the outcomes will mimic.

I was an Interdiscplinary Studies major as an undergraduate – which I am pretty sure is the technical term for an academic mashup.  One belief that was hammered home that I still believe deeply in:  Innovation sparks when multiple disciplines are brought together to see what can be created. HigherEd conferences probably can’t be considered a mashup of discplines. This is not to say that innovation and great ideas aren’t created at these meetings of the minds, but when you bring folks within the same profession together every year… the outcome isn’t going to shift much. There needs to be a spark that brings a little disruption to our conferences.

Let’s tentatively call it the National Professional Exchange. I picture the system looking like this:  A HigherEd professional organization makes a connection with another professional organization, one outside of higher education but that represents applicable professions.  These two organizations strike an accord that allows 5 or so professionals to attend the other associations conference at discount price.  Think of it as an investment in the group and their ability to come back with applicable fresh and innovative ideas for their peers. The professional would be enrolled as a NPE Fellow and tasked to engage with participants, present, and then bring back new ideas to the conference and discussed in an unconference setting.

This type of AltProDev is burgeoning as can be seen with the BIGIdeas conference in New Jersey. The conference organizers are having professionals in outside industries lead presentations and discussions.  Simply put, I LOVE that. You can also find live streaming conferences andor twitter backchannels that can give a similar experience.  All in all there are a number of ways professionals can find accessible professional development.  Would a National Professional Exchange be a viable option for AltProDev?

Do you think this system could work? Would it add to the conference experience?

 

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Lateral thinking for student affairs

March 19th, 2012 | Posted by Gary Alan Miller in Creativity | Engagement - (9 Comments)

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about sources of inspiration for student affairs services and programs and in surveying the field think we would benefit from more lateral thinking. The folks at Wikipedia provide this definition for lateral thinking: “Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic.” But my primary introduction to the concept is through a book by Paul Sloane, called “The Leader’s Guide to Lateral Thinking Skills: Unlocking the Creativity and Innovation in You and Your Team.” It’s a good read that you should check out.

In Sloane’s book he tells the story of how at one point (think early 1900s), most retailers had a counter at the very front of the store. Customers walked in the front door and were met quickly by staff behind the counter. All the merchandise was kept behind the counter and customers told the staff what items they would like. These items were retrieved by the clerk. But one shop owner had an idea: what if the counter was in the back and all the merchandise was available to allow the customers to select their own items? Thus was created the modern retail experience, paving the way for how we shop today.

The question to you:  What can we do to “flip the store,” metaphorically speaking?

While the core of what we do is strong, there’s nothing preventing us from reinventing the way we “do business.”  Our approaches, our technologies, our processes, our programs, and how we think about what we do are all fair game for innovation and improvements.  Perhaps this is simply a bias from where I sit, but it seems we are missing opportunities by focusing on best practices instead of “next practices.”  We owe it to ourselves and to our students to think more broadly about how we function.

So, I’m on the lookout.  How can we draw more influence from unusual sources?  What have you seen other service industries or sectors doing that inspire you?  I’d love to hear from you on this.

Cross posted on Service Design Thinking, Marketing and Innovation

Gary Alan Miller is the Assistant Director for Social Media and Innovation at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

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The HOW of innovation

March 13th, 2012 | Posted by Chris Huebner in #sachat | Creativity | University - (3 Comments)

What is innovation? One way to look at innovation, is the convergence of ideas to create a new idea. In a ‘big picture’ sort of way, innovation usually occurs through various networks of ideas that when engaged produces a new idea. Similarly, when an idea is created, the firing of neutrons (visually) looks like a web. This is a great metaphor for the formation of new ideas or information networks. It is the ebb and flow of the network that can dictate how information or growth moves. Throughout our #SaChat on innovation in Student Affairs, there was this exploration of ways we can be innovative and where innovation needs to occur. What I would like to explore, is the ‘how’ component. How do we create an environment conducive to innovation?

We can take what we know about structural predictors of organizations that encourage innovation and apply it to our offices. Through a multitude of studies a couple of trends/concepts emerge as predictors. I think a good way to reference these concepts, is in terms of strengths. Not only does it help with clarity, but it can provide a concise set of guidelines for any office. Each has the ability to balance the other out.

The strength in weak ties concept describes the connection of both influence and information networks (think Malcolm Gladwell). Weak ties are shown to allow information to travel more efficiently and information is more likely to arrive in different contexts, because they tend to bridge the gaps between distinct social groups. This encourages innovation, because the threat of conformity remains small. Think about it, if you get information from one source, you are only looking at things through one lens.

Strength of directed ties refers to a unilateral relationship between two people where the separation between influence and information has occurred. One can think of directed ties as having a mentor, without that person actually knowing. Microblogging and “tagging” have heightened the ability to create these ties and maintain them more efficiently. We all have people whom we unofficially communicate with through Twitter or by reading their blogs. We use them for information or even best practices.

Strength of network diversity is the creation of a blended network. This network can include individuals (family, friends, acquaintances, organizations) who you have had no prior contact with, yet still remain influential. When individuals have a strong diverse network, individuals tend not to become so tied to their specific role in an organization due to their broaden perspective. Because they are obtaining information and influence outside of their role, they are able to seek out information and act not solely as an academic advisor (for example), but a practitioner who can develop skills outside of student development theory and increase their professional performance.

How can an office strive to strengthen these predictors? How can these concepts be tied to simple initiatives? I believe the first step is the continual push, from the top down, towards the development of human capital in each member of an office. For this reason, I do not like the term professional development, because I believe it conjures up an idea that is too narrow- the network is not expanding (think conformity). There needs to be a push to expand employees network passed its normal boundaries. There needs to be a desire to develop new knowledge, skills and personal connections. Google has produced many of the platforms that we use today, because of this ethos. Employees are instructed to use a portion of their work day to develop ideas outside their established role (weak ties, diverse ties). Here are some items I feel warrant discussion and would have immediate impact on the strengthening of the three network ties :

1) Conferences: Are there conferences outside your specific area that may still be beneficial? It is very easy to attend your associations conference each year, but could there be others?

2) Serendipity: Can you devote time to pursuits outside your specific role?

3) Participation: Are you strictly operating within your office or area/specialty? Participating in the SA Collaborative (direct ties) has been a huge eye opener for me. I have found new perspectives, new avenues for information (weak ties) and a great community. Most of which has been outside of academic advising, but still extremely beneficial. Are there new ways your office can participate within your campus/community to gain new perspectives or connections?

4) Et cetera: While conferences can be expensive, does your office take advantage of webinars? Perhaps there is a great book that an office can read as a collective for inspiration. Do you take time to collaborate or converse about processes or how to make things better? Do you hold others accountable to pursue these goals?

Finally, we need to operate in an environment where it is okay to take risks. For offices wanting to foster innovation, the development of a culture that promotes new and uncharted ideas is a must. If you have taken the time to expand your information network and developed new skills, what are you going to do with this new knowledge? For example, embracing social media for an office might be seen as a risk. Does it have to be?

When I think of taking risks, I love this quote:

“Chance favors the connected mind” – Steven Johnson

More often than not, innovators are taking chances and operating in expanded networks. Individuals should be pushed to develop beyond their current capabilities and then act on them. Not only can it be beneficial for the individual, but beneficial to the office as a whole. To me, offices who look to develop individual’s stronger weak ties, direct ties and create a more diverse network tip the scales in their favor when taking risks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Six Words

January 27th, 2012 | Posted by Krissy Peterson in Creativity | Engagement | Event Ideas | Leadership Training - (2 Comments)

As a self-described “creative person” I find inspiration in the most random things. My brain is able to take a component from one part of my life and link it to another (completely unrelated) area. For example, while in a leadership class in grad school, my mind began to wander and suddenly I had brainstormed leadership lessons that I had learned through musicals. This was then turned into a very fun, very energetic presentation at a women’s leadership conference. Welcome to my world—to me, anything can inspire my next staff development or lead me to brainstorm a campaign for RA recruitment.

This is one of the reasons that I respect this blog so much. It provides great food for thought for professionals and reminds me to reflect and make meaning of my experiences. I, like many others in this community, have brainstormed a one word resolution for 2012. I love that it’s an easy, yet thought-provoking exercise that challenges us to focus on what we want to do. As I pondered what my word would be, I also wondered if there was a way to take this reflective exercise further.

And then—because inspiration strikes at the most random of moments—it came to me through Oprah. Or rather, her magazine, O. In the February 2012 issue, readers submitted six word stories or memoirs to describe their lives. The six-word memoir creativity exercise is wonderful because even if someone doesn’t consider herself to be a writer, she can string together six words and come up with a powerful statement. The most famous of the six-word stories is Ernest Hemmingway’s haunting passage: “For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.”

The article got me thinking—if we could write six word memoirs that describe our lives, couldn’t we do the same thing with our work and/or life philosophies? Why should the six words be confined to something as expansive as one’s life? Why not pen a six word philosophy? Why not write six succinct words that can guide your work? If you could write six works, no more, no less, about your work philosophy what would they be? You could challenge yourself to write a six word story about your life as well—what would that look like?

Personally, I discovered that my life story and work philosophy could be one and the same with this simple sentence: “Finds the good and laughs loudly.” This, I think, sums me and my work up nicely, though I will admit that it took some reflection and a few drafts for me to feel satisfied with this succinct sentence. Coming up with your philosophy or memoir may not be the easiest reflective exercise, but it could lead to some good things. So, what will your six words be?

Krissy Peterson is a residence director at the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota.

#OneWord2012 in #SAchat

January 5th, 2012 | Posted by The SA Team in #sachat | Collaborative Learning | Creativity | Engagement - (2 Comments)

In our first #SAchat of 2012, participants shared their #OneWord2012.  The One Word Project for first-year students at University of Pacific began much of the enthusiasm for finding a word or phrase that can define your year as an alternative to annual resolutions.

Is your #OneWord included? Make it a great year!

Racist Halloween? Not for these students.

October 31st, 2011 | Posted by Viraj Patel in Campus Issues | Creativity | Diversity | Education Theory | Engagement | Event Ideas | Leadership Training | Marketing | Student Activities | Student Discipline | University - (5 Comments)

By now, you may have seen a link circulating across social media and email inboxes highlighting the ad campaign created by a group of students at Ohio University. The posters show students holding a picture of a Halloween costume, either worn commonly at parties or sold in party stores, depicting caricatures of their culture. You can see the full account with pictures of each of the posters here.


I post about it here on the Student Affairs Collaborative because every year, there is always one theme party that makes national headlines (not to count the thousands that don’t) as being derogatory, racist, offensive, and  whole list of other words that indicate unsafe environments for students with traditional marginalized identities. When I was an undergraduate student, my University community, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was torn apart over a Greek mixer titled “Tacos ‘N Tequila”- I’ll let your imagination do the work here, but suffice it to say that students were not dressed up as food or bottles of alcohol. The experience, which still elicits a physical reaction with me, cast a shadow over my college experience which, for all intents and purposes, was otherwise one of the happiest times of my life. I remember feeling frustrated, alienated, and hurt that people who lived in a place I love and called my home could make me, as a person of color, feel so unwelcome. Last year it was the Compton Cookout hosted by UC San Diego students, but there are plenty more out there that don’t make national headlines.

As student affairs practitioners, I feel that we are the ones responsible for addressing the issues that arise from such incidents. We are the ones that are held accountable for the parties occurring, though they are never officially University sanctioned. They are often a classic example of higher education, and especially student affairs, of being reactive versus proactive. Have you had any proactive conversations on campus about what to do if/when an oppressively-themed party hits your campus? What did you discuss?

As a student, I remember feeling frustrated that the administration didn’t automatically remove these students or ban the particular organizations from campus. Now, with a few more years under my belt, I understand their decisions as a necessary step to protect free speech rights at a public land-grant institution. But it still doesn’t feel good nor does it change the fact that, even though I was not a part of the group directly being stereotyped in the party, I still felt like an outsider in my campus community.

It is wonderful to see students at Ohio U. taking a proactive stand against a very public display of intolerance. I applaud the unsung heroes of the initiative, including the advisors who helped them with the program and funding for the project, the people writing articles about them in major news sources, and all the other supporters of the initiative. I think it is a wonderful example of student empowerment and activism and I hope to see the proactive educational initiatives continue.

How do you feel institutions should respond to theme parties? Can you give where an institution effectively responded to such a situation? What other ways can higher education, or we as individual practitioners, support proactive measures to counter negatively themed parties/costumes?

Viraj S. Patel is a Hall Director at Georgetown University.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Please Complain.”

October 3rd, 2011 | Posted by Joe Ginese in Assessment | Collaborative Learning | Creativity | First-Year Experience | University - (6 Comments)

That line is something that every syllabus should include in its first few lines. Not in the context of, “This is too hard.” or “This is too much work.” but rather in the context of “you aren’t challenging/stimulating/engaging me.”

In any classroom the facilitator should be engaging the participants in the learning, as opposed to lecturing and breathlessly spraying knowledge into the air. The latter is akin to throwing spaghetti against the wall, hoping some of the noodles stick. To take the analogy further, lecturers will show off the noodles that stick (A’s for those who learn by listening) while brushing the ones that don’t stick (C’s for those who learn better by doing) under the rug.

What brought me to this topic is a perfect storm of an insightful Seth Godin blog post (also titled, “Please complain”) and a blog post by one of my students who innocently touted, “My classes are way too easy… They are kinda pathetic in a way.” Upon approaching the student, I encouraged her to complain and let me (as one of her educators) know that the classroom that I’m running isn’t challenging, engaging, or stimulating her thinking. I’m not sure if she was more stunned by the fact that someone was actually reading what she was putting on the internet or by the fact that I was empowering her and encouraging her to follow through on her willingness to be challenged. In any case, we’ll see if she follows through.

My point is this, in a higher education environment that is increasingly focusing on costs, revenues, returns-on-investments, and customer satisfaction – who are we to not encourage and empower our students to complain if they are unhappy with their academic or co-curricular experiences? We are here to facilitate their learning, to create safe environments for their self discovery through successes and failures, and to ask questions such as “how would you make it better?”

In the end however, it’s up to us. We can either challenge, support, and engage or we can keep throwing spaghetti at the wall and hope enough of it sticks to make a difference in the appetites of our hungry learners. Seth Godin says it best:

“Acquiring and processing user feedback is a choice. If you want people to speak up, be clear and mean it. If you don’t, don’t pretend.”

Is this a mentality of higher education becoming consumer focused? Is this the mentality of a generation feeling entitled enough to tell an educator when they are teaching in ways that are no longer efficient or applicable?

I hope you feel challenged, engaged, and stimulated enough to comment and continue the discussion.

 

 

Introducing #SAYR1

September 27th, 2011 | Posted by Brian Gallagher in Announcements | Careers | Collaborative Learning | Creativity | Leadership Training | Professional Organizations | Social Networks | University | Work/Life Balance - (19 Comments)

What started as a question from Kelley McCarthy on Twitter asking if anyone would be interested in participating in her #52in52 project turned into a conversation about a lack of resources for new student affairs professionals. Student affairs graduate students have the support of their cohort, professors in their program, mentors through personal connections and programs like #saGROW, and special initiatives coordinated by professional associations. New professionals, though, are at a key transition point in their life and do not have a centralized support system. Our solution? #SAYR1 (Student Affairs Year One)!

The vision of #SAYR1 is to discuss the key issues facing new professionals in student affairs and provide avenues of support from the last year of graduate school through their third year as a professional. One of the ways we will be doing this is by creating support groups of approximately three individuals who will journey through these first few years together. With the small-sized groups, you will have the benefit of a consistent and tight-knit support system without the nearly impossible task of having to coordinate the schedules of a big group (we’ve all been there!). Groups can communicate in person, through phone calls, e-mails, Google + hangouts, Skype, on Twitter, or however your group decides works best for you! The #SAYR1 Core Team will be providing discussion questions, topics, and resources to get everyone started.

#SAYR1 will provide you with a group of people you can talk to about what’s going on without trying to explain (for the 4,534th time) what it is exactly that you do again. It will give you an avenue to discuss current issues and trends in the field and how they’re impacting your work. With #SAYR1, you will have a network that will support you in trying times, celebrate your successes with you, and continually encourage you to be the best version of you. If this sounds like something you’re interested in, please visit this link and complete the form. You can join a group that’s already been started or start your own. Groups can be by functional area, year, region, or just a pure hodge podge – it’s up to you! Please feel free to contact anyone from the Core Team should you have any questions. We are all excited to get this program started and hope you are too.

#SAYR1 Core Team:

Brian Gallagher (gallagb@gmail.com) Hall Director at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Karen Schomaker (kschomaker@gmail.com) Coordinator for Community Service at California Lutheran University

Kelley McCarthy (kmccarthy1985@yahoo.com) 2nd Year Graduate Student and Graduate Assistant for Leadership Programs  in the Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at Nova Southeastern University

Melissa L. Brown (melissabrown47@gmail.com) Residence Hall Director for Moore Hall, University of North Carolina School of the Arts

Tricia Cesarino (tr.cesarino@gmail.com) Program Coordinator for Sorority and Fraternity Affairs at the University of Florida

Tracey Walterbusch (twalterbusch@gmail.com) Residential Life Coordinator at Ohio Wesleyan University

Brian Gallagher is a hall director at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Why Office Politics Matter

August 10th, 2011 | Posted by The SA Team in Campus Issues | Careers | Collaborative Learning | Creativity | University - (2 Comments)

I often hear some of my fellow educators talk about their lack of interest in politics. More specifically, politics includes your run-of-the-mill office politics, local government politics and national government politics. What is most surprising to me is that with each of these levels of politics, I get the keen sense that most people have no understanding of how they are impacted and the implications politics has on their jobs and the ability of students to be successful at institutions of higher learning, especially during such hard times where educational budgets are heavily targeted to be slashed, in the name of cutting costs.

When asked how I view politics, I often reply that “politics are like building relationships; you figure out the kinds of relationships that you need to foster and how those relationships impact you and what you do on a daily basis and the implications those relationships has on those around you.” Additionally, I believe that not all politics are bad and that many great things can happen when you are at your political best. With this being said, here are some thoughts to ponder:

• Take the time to observe the office culture. This allows you to see how to operate in that office culture. From observing, you’ll be able to see how people get things done by negotiating and working with others and navigating their way through the office politics.

• Build relationships. Once you learn the office culture, figure out how you fit into culture and how you can build the relationships with the people who impact you the most. This not only includes supervisors, but their support staff as well. Having a solid relationship with support staff is an excellent way to get a foot in the door and the inside scoop on important things that are happening. Don’t take anyone for granted, regardless of who they are and the position they are in!

• Stay away from drama! It’s not in your best interest to get involved in the problems that others may be having at work. Of course, as you build relationships, you may connect with some people more so than others. This leads to people sharing their woes or problems. You can listen, if you choose, but stay out of it! You do not want to be pulled in the middle of something that you probably have no idea about and it certainly raises eyebrows from supervisors. If there are unpopular decisions that are made, it may not be in your best interest to join the local band wagon and protest. I suggest that you take the time to look at the big picture and evaluate if that issue is something that is worth the time and effort to devote your frustrations. This can certainly save you lots of heartache and pain in the short term and future if it’s not in your best interest.

• Praise in public, address concerns in private. Yes, you’ve heard this before. The truth of the matter is that this really makes a huge difference. If people see you as someone who is always criticizing others, they are least likely to want to work with you, out of hesitation that you may do the same to them. Hence, if you do have feedback to give to others, kindly and respectfully pull them aside and share that feedback in private. This allows for any misunderstandings or miscommunications to be easily resolved without the rat race of gossip that can spread so quickly.

Navigating your way through the wavy waters of office politics can be tricky, but following these general guidelines may be a good way for you to coast on the sailboat vs. rowing in the canoe. Stay focused, build those relationships and be mindful of the culture and how you fit into that culture. Politic away!

Rinardo Reddick is a doctoral student in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa State University and coordinator for America Reads/America Counts.

Cultivating Compassion in Our Practice

August 8th, 2011 | Posted by Adam Ortiz in Books | Campus Issues | Collaborative Learning | Creativity | Diversity | Leadership Training | Work/Life Balance - (4 Comments)

Last spring, my supervisor and I had a conversation about Student Affairs and Buddhism. I mentioned to her that, as someone with an interest in Buddhist philosophy, I would like to begin thinking about ways to intentionally incorporate my broad personal belief in compassion into my professional practice. My supervisor noted that she had never had a supervisee mention this aspiration to her before, but that I should pursue it.

In an effort to learn more about compassion and how I can contextualize it within Student Affairs, this summer I read The Lost Art of Compassion: Discovering the Practice of Happiness in the Meeting of Buddhism and Psychology by Lorne Ladner. In the book, Ladner articulates the benefits of compassion as well as how to cultivate a compassionate attitude using Buddhist-inspired meditations. He examines through Western psychology how cultivating compassion is extremely beneficial to both an individual and the community in which they live.

The entire time I was reading the book, I was thinking about ways that actively cultivating compassion could bolster my work in Student Affairs. After all, if one of our profession’s foundational goals is the holistic health and wellbeing of students, I think it’s reasonable to argue that compassion is a necessary component of efficacy. Ideally, we practice compassion when we are helping students understand the impact of their mistakes, when we are teaching them about social justice and identity, and when we are challenging them to become responsible global citizens.

The most competent professionals I have met are those who demonstrate their commitment to students in their compassion for them, even when they behave in ways that are damaging. Yet, so few of us ever name compassion as a professional competency. I think that a lot of us, particularly in the United States, associate the cultivation of compassion as a lofty and spiritual practice. I certainly used to. Since reading about and seriously contemplating compassion, however, I have realized that my best professional moments have come when I have exercised it.

Is compassion an intentional component to your professional practice? If so, in what ways do you practice compassion with your students and your colleagues?

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