James Fowler’s keynote address at the #ACUI11 conference this year stirred up quite a discussion after he made the claim that online relationships had little influence over behavior. As expected, our friends in the #SAchat community quickly expressed concern for the statement through the Twitter backchannel and afterwards in the hotel lobby as they’ve experienced a great deal of influence exchange through #SAchat. In talking over the keynote with Jeff Lail from UNCG that night, he brought up the idea of weak ties verses strong ties within relationships. In-person connections are more likely to build strong ties whereas online connections are more likely to result in weak ties.

Over the past year, it’s been interesting to watch this concept play out within the micro world of Student Affairs. The #SAchat community on Twitter is the most active hashtag for Student Affairs professionals to connect, learn, and grow from each other. However, within #SAchat there are many sub cultures such as Residence Life, Orientation Leaders, First Year Experience, etc. These subcultures have tried, several times, to create and maintain a hashtag to connect their members together. But most of the hashtags have faded away. Why?

Let’s start with #SAchat. The original group of people who started #SAchat knew each other in the real world. There were strong ties within the inner core. This meant that if no one else participated in the conversation, there would still be a longer term commitment to the conversation between the people in the inner core because they shared strong ties. As it happened, other people did join the conversation and over time it grew. If it were a dance floor, the total number of people on the dance floor increased through weak ties, but the number of people with strong ties in the center of the dance floor stayed the same. The critical shift in the community happened last year during conference season when #SAchat members hosted meetups at each conference. They wanted to meet their weak tie online friends IRL (in real life) and thus turn them into strong tie friends. The results were amazing, the #SAchat community grew exponentially. Back to the dance floor, not only did the overall number of people on the dance floor increase, but the number of people in the center of the dance floor increased as many of the weak ties were converted into strong ties. Each meetup repeats this process.

During conference season this year, I made it a point to connect with as many #SAchat people as possible IRL because not only did I want to get to know them better, but I also know how strong ties are what keep people engaged in the community longer.

On the flip side is #FYEchat. I started the #FYEchat community to mimic the success of the #SAchat community. But it has never quite worked [yet] even though I see the value it could provide to First Year Experience professionals. The difference is I started the community on a foundation of weak ties so the commitment to keep the conversation going wasn’t there. So it fades in and out.

Another example is the #WLsalt community. The community started online with a collection of weak ties but has since grown to a dedicated group. The critical difference between #WLsalt and #FYEchat was that soon after a collection of weak ties were created online, they hosted a meetup for the community at a conference to convert those weak ties into strong ties. The strong ties thus formed the inner core of their dance floor.

In terms of weak ties and strong ties, there are two options to creating and maintaing an online community. Either start with an inner core built on strong ties that are dedicated, or convert your weak ties into strong ties quickly. Once the inner core is established, and the community norm of inclusion is practiced, you’ll watch your community grow with little effort from you. Weak ties won’t have as much influence over you as strong ties whether online or offline.

1. Even in a fairly well-defined grant program, definitions for common terms differed greatly across the 81 proposals.
2. Many authors used buzz words in their application narratives, but failed to back up those words or concepts with knowledge or examples that showed they knew anything about the terms.
3. Risks and obstacles associated with the implementation of the project almost always dealt with resistance to change in other areas of campus.
4. Student affairs units were woefully absent among the collaborators in proposed initiatives.

In an era of fiscal responsibility and budget cuts, relevance matters. In era of accountability, meaningfulness is important. In an era of continued alteration, adaptation is key. In an era of “do more with less” (whether you ascribe to that theory or not), collaboration is necessary.  So, I ask you to consider the following as you plan for the upcoming academic year:

1. Does everyone on campus understand what you do? If not, why not, and how will you address that this year?
2. Do you use buzz words so you can be a part of the conversation, or are you driving the conversation because you and your area are the buzz of campus?
3. How are you addressing change head-on and helping others realize its usefulness and necessity?
4. Are you collaborating with non-student affairs offices to learn about their work and efforts, enhance their programs, and impact your campus’ students? If not, why not, and who’s at the top of your list for contacting?

It’s a new year, with new possibilities and new opportunities. How are you going to make this the best year yet? Not ever, because that implies you’ve no way to improve from now. Just yet… better than years past, setting a solid foundation for the years to come.

Matt Pistilli is a research associate in Information Technology at Purdue University. Connect with him on twitter.

Over the past year, it’s been interesting to watch this concept play out within the micro world of Student Affairs. The #SAchat community on Twitter is arguably the most active hashtag for Student Affairs professionals to connect, learn, and grow from each other. However, within #SAchat there are many sub cultures such as Residence Life, Orientation Leaders, First Year Experience, etc. These subcultures have tried, several times, to create and maintain a hashtag to connect their members together. But most of the hashtags have faded away. Why?

Let’s start with #SAchat. The original group of people who started #SAchat knew each other in the real world. There were strong ties within the inner core. This meant that if no one else participated in the conversation, there would still be a longer term commitment to the conversation between the people in the inner core because they shared strong ties. As it happened, other people did join the conversation and over time it grew. If it were a dance floor, the total number of people on the dance floor increased through weak ties, but the number of people with strong ties in the center of the dance floor stayed the same. The critical shift in the community happened last year during conference season when #SAchat members hosted meetups at each conference. They wanted to meet their weak tie online friends IRL (in real life) and thus turn them into strong tie friends. The results were amazing, the #SAchat community grew exponentially. Back to the dance floor, not only did the overall number of people on the dance floor increase, but the number of people in the center of the dance floor increased as many of the weak ties were converted into strong ties. Each meetup repeats this process.

During conference season this year, I made it a point to connect with as many #SAchat people as possible IRL because not only did I want to get to know them better, but I also know how strong ties are what keep people engaged in the community longer.

On the flip side is #FYEchat. I started the #FYEchat community to mimic the success of the #SAchat community. But it has never quite worked even though I see the value it could provide to First Year Experience professionals. The difference is I started the community on a foundation of weak ties so the commitment to keep the conversation going wasn’t there. So it fades in and out.

Another example is the #WLsalt community started by Teri Bump. Her community started online with a collection of weak ties but has since grown to a dedicated group. The critical difference between #WLsalt and #FYEchat was that soon after a collection of weak ties were created online, Teri hosted a meetup for the community at a conference to convert those weak ties into strong ties. The strong ties thus formed the inner core of their dance floor.

In terms of weak ties and strong ties, there are two options to creating and maintaing an online community. Either start with an inner core built on strong ties that are dedicated, or convert your weak ties into strong ties quickly. Once the inner core is established, and the community norm of inclusion is practiced, you’ll watch your community grow with little effort from you. Weak ties won’t have as much influence over you as strong ties whether online or offline.

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?

Most student club advisors will tell you that club engagement goes through waves; some years are rockstars and others are duds. Almost every club starts the year with aspirations of rockstardom, but within a couple weeks, the excitement and motivation of the leadership team fades, and thus, the entire club activity withers. In pondering this problem, I’ve been talking more and more about an idea called engagement-based leadership (EBL), meaning that leadership is not a one-time elected thing, but rather an ongoing, ever-changing position rewarded based on engagement. Before I talk more about EBL, first let’s dissect the problem of why student leaders fade within a month of being elected.

Several years ago, I walked the second day of a 2-Day Avon Walk For Breast Cancer with my wife and some friends. Anyone who’s ever done the walk knows how grueling it is. Blisters alone are painful, but the average Avon walker can expect to endure multiple layers of blisters building up until his or her entire foot becomes one big blister. It’s disgusting and painful and makes the second day of the walk intense. The organizers know that completion of the walk is extremely difficult without a continuous onslaught of support from spectators and volunteers. That’s why for every walker, they commit to line the entire path with at least five cheerers. On the last leg of the walk, my feet blistered up and shot a pain through my body with each step. Mentally and physically I was ready to quit. My motivation was gone. But then, as we turned the corner, there was a smiling old lady sitting in a wheel chair, wearing a cap to cover her bald head and holding a sign that read, “I’m why you’re walking, Thank you.” Like a bolt of electricity, my whole body reenergized and plowed toward the finish line. Imagine if the only rewards for walking the race were in the beginning when they pumped us up, and at the end when we crossed the finish line? The attrition rates would be horrendous!

Like the Avon walk, student leaders begin the year excited and motivated about the idea of the journey they’re about to start. They might have just attended an award ceremony where the outgoing leaders were showered in praise for the hard work they did throughout the year, which further motivates the incoming leaders. So much support. So much praise. And then, let’s say within a month or so, reality sets in. The real work starts, and the “blisters” of being a leader build up. But unlike the Avon walk, with a motivational checkpoint waiting for you at every street corner, the next motivational checkpoint for student leaders most likely won’t be for another six months, during their outgoing ceremony when they are praised for all the hard work they did throughout the year. Thus, within the first couple months of being a leader, the excitement and motivation fade and the attrition rates go up. It should be noted that some leaders drop off for other reasons, such as class overload, work overload, or personal issues.

What’s a solution look like?

As the advisor, you could make sure to set up a collection of individual checkpoints for your leaders throughout the year, so you make sure they stay excited and motivated. At bare minimum, let’s say you create checkpoints that happen once per week for ten minutes where you praise them for the work they are doing and remind them of the bigger picture of student engagement. Just one leader multiplied out for eight months, that’s just under five hours of your time. Now expand that to 50-300 leaders. If you don’t think you have a life now…

Enter EBL. The goal is still the same, keep the leaders motivated on an ongoing basis so they can survive through the typical student leader burnout, but in EBL, the tactics change. In EBL, you are moving the motivational checkpoints away from you as the admin/advisor and pushing it to the students. EBL builds in a peer-to-peer motivational system that is ongoing and ever present. Now it doesn’t matter if you have 50 or 5000 student leaders. Actually, the more leaders you have, the better.

How does it work?

It’s no secret I’m a fan of Whole Foods (also known as Whole Paycheck). Because there’s a WF on my way home from work, I tend to frequently stop in and grab a few items. Over time, I realized that WF is one of the top five places I visit the most every week, which makes me a pretty darn engaged customer. In fact, WF should probably be rewarding me for being so engaged. Enter FourSquare, Yelp, and SCVNGR. For those unfamiliar with these three sites, they are, simply stated, mobile check-in tools. I can be anywhere in NY and check in that I am there via my mobile phone. Nothing special yet, until you start to receive prizes, titles, and recognition for checking in more often. For a while, I was crowned the Mayor of our WF because I was the most engaged customer. But then my speaking travel schedule picked up and for several months I disappeared and rightfully so, someone else took over as Mayor.

EBL rewards students based on their engagement. The more engagement “points” you score, the more rewards, titles, and recognition you receive. To repeat from above, leadership is not a one-time yearly elected thing, but rather an ongoing, ever-changing position that is rewarded based on engagement.

There certainly is much more to debate and discuss here, but consider this post only a surface-level introduction to the idea. I’m not interested in getting into the weeds just yet, so I purposefully left out many of the operational details. This isn’t a pitch to integrate FourSquare, Yelp, and SCVNGR into student activities, because engagement is more than just being there. Engagement also could mean clicking on a link, reading/commenting on a post, or expressing your opinion at a meeting…etc.

The Value of EBL?

Admin/Advisor – Student Leader attrition rates will drop, which means student leaders will stick around longer and be more active in their clubs. The increased activity will make clubs more successful throughout the year. The admin/advisor also won’t have to do as much individual student leader motivational check-ins.

Student Leaders – Like a video game, the rewards and benefits built into EBL will keep the student leaders motivated throughout the entire year on an ongoing basis. They are going to have more fun because their clubs are more active and engaged. They also won’t feel as much guilt about dropping off the map and letting the club die due to some personal issues they didn’t plan for ahead of time. A new leader with the most engagement points is ready to step up to Mayorship.

Students – They will have a larger group of active clubs to join. After joining they don’t have to rely on a disengaged elected leader to keep the group going. Leadership is open to anyone who wants it and is willing to work for it.

Wrap Up

EBL is a blend of game theory and student engagement theory. Every student affairs professional knows the pains of deadbeat leaders and thus dead groups. EBL is a new paradigm in thinking about leadership. If we want to break out of the normal student engagement levels of 16-40%, we have to think differently. The ideas, tactics, and tech tools we use have to embody this new way of thinking. It’s not just about making paperwork more efficient, that’s just extracting more energy from the resources you already know exists. It’s about exploring new potential energy that is sitting dormant in the 60-84% of the rest of your student body, that’s a massive untapped pool of energy.

Collaborative Applications

Collaborative applications focus on communicative knowledge building and idea exploration. These applications allow a group of individuals to develop knowledge by editing and evaluating material at their own pace. Examples of these applications are Wiki Spaces, Microsoft Groove (newly renamed Sharepoint), and Google Documents. A current student affairs application comes from Duke University staff members (http://www.studentaffairs.duke.edu/ra/programs-services/wiki-instructions), who are using wiki-spaces to archive document development, as well as collaborate on job searches with campus-wide committees within the student affairs division. Another example for collaborative application would be developing a wiki-space for student leaders to respond to a case study. Students can re-evaluate their solution by applying the knowledge gained in the training session and reviewing others’ perspectives on the case.

Online Forums

Online forums serve as an effective means of sharing thoughts and opinions on different topics and issues. Users post their questions, ideas, or opinions, communicating their thoughts in a coherent and understandable form, allowing for transparency of mega-cognitive processes. Examples of online forums are blogs, vlogs, Blackboard, Sakai, Word Press, and Twitter. A wonderful online forum that is providing excellent professional development for student affairs professionals is our own Student Affairs Collaborative (http://thesabloggers.org/). There are several components of this online forum:  WordPress allows contributors to post on various topics, such as staff training and development, political discussions on higher education, and conference reactions; additionally, using the medium of Twitter, a weekly #sachat occurs to provide student affairs professionals an opportunity to share their knowledge and contribute to the online community of learners. Another example for online forums to engage students would be developing an online forum after inviting an engaging speaker on-campus. Reflective questions could be posted about the event, and students could in turn post their thoughts about the event and/or ask each other questions, continuing the learning process after the event has ended.

Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites offer an online environment that feels less “academic” and more open to students freely expressing themselves. Within this environment, students may feel more comfortable asking questions, sharing experiences, and generating new ideas. Examples of social network sites are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Second Life. Penn State World Campus (http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu) and Texas Woman’s University (http://www.twu.edu) are utilizing different online forums to develop a sense of community and belonging to online students. Delivered either through Facebook or a website, both institutions provide online academic advising sessions, chat rooms, and resources for students to explore at their own pace. Another possible use of a social network site would be to create a Twitter account for a Student Affairs division to not only promote campus events and resources, but also post questions, polls, or recruit students for focus groups or other leadership opportunities.

Pod/Video Casting

Pod- and Video-casting allows the facilitator to record information (in video or audio form) that can be shared and accessed at any time. This allows the student to review the information at their own pace and provides an opportunity for audio/visual learners to more fully engage in the learning process. ITunes, ITunesU, RSS Feeds, Blogs, and YouTube are excellent examples of pod/video-casting. The Ohio State University recently promoted the opening of their new student union through videos posted on YouTube. Not only did they highlight the beautiful LEED construction of this facility, but a flash mob was organized to promote excitement and interest from OSU students and other constituencies.  A possible student affairs application would be developing an i-pod quiz or videos using Snagit or Jing to train student employees on a routine task. Tags, or notes, can be added to the video to enhance the content.

Final Thoughts

I have provided some examples of current student affairs application of free open-source software available on the web.  If you have examples to share, please contact me at lulu@udel.edu , or follow me at twitter.com/lbarrueco. There are many great innovative and creative methods of using technology today to enhance students’ college experiences. Let us not be restrained by our old practices, but rather re-invent them in a manner that transforms our student affairs profession.

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.

The poll is open for this week’s #SAbest – let the nominations begin!

In case you missed it, below is a quick recap. If you haven’t yet participated in an #sachat, learn more here.

Full Transcripts
(Feel free to add your own comments if you missed the entire chat, a few questions, or comments today!)

DAYTIME:  View as a Google Document

Today’s Top Contributors

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Here’s to another successful set of #sachats!  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 we next week, (if you haven’t already done so) please make sure to LIKE our growing Facebook Page, currently over 2,800 and adding new #studentaffairs friends every day!  Thanks for your continued support!

In case you missed it, below is a quick recap. If you haven’t yet participated in an #sachat, learn more here.

Full Transcripts
(Feel free to add your own comments if you missed the entire chat, a few questions, or comments today!)

DAYTIME:  View as a Google Document

Today’s Top Contributors

<Data Unavailable>

Here’s to another successful set of #sachats!  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 we next week, (if you haven’t already done so) please make sure to LIKE our growing Facebook Page, currently over 2,800 and adding new #studentaffairs friends every day!  Thanks for your continued support!