Week of June 22-June 26

Hours:
Monday: 8:00am - 12:00pm
Tuesday: 8:00am - 3:00pm
Wednesday: 8:00am - 12:00pm
Thursday: 8:00pm - 12:00pm
Friday: 8:00am - 10:00am

This week I prepared presentations for Orientation leader training that begins next week. Tuesday was the Campus Life retreat, where the different campus life areas under Tim Ecklund got together to discuss assessment results. It was a day in heaven for me and I developed 2 goals for this summer and the upcoming year:

(1) To develop a system for assessing a campus culture quickly. Basically I want to be able to walk onto a campus and have a "5 easy step" system for understanding what the existing interaction between academic and student affairs is, do things get done? how do things get done? who are the movers and shakers on campus? who are the Debbie Downers, and what's my role in it all?

(2) Develop a framework for communicating assessment data and results to a variety of audiences. Everyone in that room was coming from a different level of understanding of statistics, assessment, data, etc. I want to be able to identify the "Need to Know" background stuff, communicate it so people with no previous experience can understand enough of it, but so people with some experience still get something out of it. Also, I think what should drive the results section is Meaning. I'm finding that when it comes to assessment results, student affairs (generally speaking) people firstly enjoy cartoonish assessment tools, and secondly expect the data to speak. How do I say, "the question(s) you begin with determine what statistical analysis you use, which determines how you can interpret the results. All assessment needs to be theory and hypothesis driven.

Hal Payne made a cameo and stressed the importance of the post-product marketing...or something of that nature. In essence, once students make their deposit, convincing them that this is that right place for them - get them to participate and buy into the community and the experience. He thinks we should get shirts that say "Student Affairs: We're here to help" and shirts for students that say "BSC the right choice for me"

I think that's a little too obvious.

I thought about that for awhile, and building off of x+1, My vote is for a "You are Here" campaign. It's broad enough that it can be customized by each department, e.g. "You are Here: discovering your future" for student employment or career services, or "You are Here: at the beginning" for orientation, or "You are Here: so are We" for counseling services or another support office.

Hours:8:00am - 12:00pm

Finished off training materials for Orientation Leader Training, beginning in July. Coordinated training content with Katie. Talked about strategies for training in leadership and diversity with bob. The vast majority of the day was spent doing desktop publishing for training materials. Leadership training will focus on increasing relationships; building relationships; accomplishes goals through people.

Hours: 8:00am - 12:00pm

Had a one on one meeting with Trish - she loved the idea of toolboxes for the OL's. We ordered the fun stuff from orientation trading and will use the materials as a welcome activity for the OLs. Went over Saturday of Service details: how will be include commuter students in evaluations if we're not feeding them (send them a google doc or survey monkey survey later). not signed on to that yet. I need to be convinced a survey will replace a "reflection activity" sufficiently. Took a campus tour. Learned some new things about BSC, e.g. "Buffalo State is 99% wireless" and "there are 150 computer labs on campus."

As a student ambassador, I would get pretty nervous when staff members were on my tour, and I guess i was right to be nervous. I also understand the value of taking a campus tour once year as a staff member in student affairs. This is the campus marketing - they shoul dhave the mos tup to date information about the campus, and if the tour guides are giving out incorrect information, it needs to stop. And if i were to give feedback to the dean, it's not a poor reflection on the individual student giving the tour, it's just feedback about the information on the tour. I would hope that the hiring process for tour guides is enough to weed out people that don't like attending school or know how to properly promote the campus.

Literature indicates that reflection components to service activities increase the value of the service experience exponentially. I'm not looking to intimidate new students or make the experience more academic than it is intended to be, but i think it will be much more successful if they interact with the service experience a little bit more than going to point B, clean up, have a snack, clean up some more, and go home. And I'm learning now that students won't reflect on their own; they need to be poked an prodded. I really appreciate the resource that Americorps as put together to help structure reflection activities properly and effectively (http://www.studentsinservicetoamerica.org/tools_resources/docs/nwtoolkit.pdf). We used part of it this past April for Community Service Day, and I'll continue to use it in the future, along with Edward Zlotkowski's Journal "rubric". Also, Portland State is well known for its volunteer and service-learning initiatives. They are a good model to follow.

June 11-June 12

Hours:8:00am - 12:00pm (twice)

Thursday: Set up a time to meet with jess in admission to talk about how to train OL's to give campus tours. Met with Kim and chatted about tasks again. Developed presentation on Leadership utilizing Tim Milburn. Love his leadership materials. I think they are incredibly appropriate and easy to use - especially for millennials. I especially like his e-book on student leaders vs. student workers. Very relevant considering these OL's are paid a stipend. RECEIVING A PAYCHECK IS NOT FEEDBACK ON YOUR PERFORMANCE. Read thoroughly through Danni Weaver's transition Binder (thank you a million times over for making one) and got a better idea of the kind of rapport i can build with my core team and the OLs. For transfer OL training, I'm scheduled to do training in (1) leadership (2) communication styles (3) active listening (4) giving and receiving feedback. I have 2 hours between 4 things, and right now i'm thinking about doing an hour on leadership, and then chunking the other 3 together since they overlap so much...

Past two days

Hours: 8:00am - 12:00pm (twice)

The past two days, the other interns and I have been focused on OL training and how to make it enjoyable, yet informational to students. we decided that "Discover your Truths" is a really difficult theme to plan around, so we opted for the more ostensible theme of "Under Construction". We've been brainstorming ways of incorporating it into the theme topics of our presentations, e.g. "blueprints, a toolbox for transitions, zoning, constructing, connecting, building, etc." there are really some very clever things. I've also been reading literature regarding transfer transitions to be able to add some questions to our existing parent and transfer student assessment tools that will help us benchmark against national averages. I'm also reviewing transfer student orientation surveys developed and used by UC San Diego and Colorado University (available through Trish's participation with StudentVoice). Also still working on structured evening programming activities.

True Colors

Hours:8:00am - 12:00pm

Tracked Orientation Leader office hours, comparing with res. life tracking. helped bob and Trish prepare for meetings later in the day. One on one meeting with Trish; discussed assessment strategy. Kim taught Katie and I the True Colors GOLD Personality Assessment. I'm Green and Orange. (see below). It's probably the most accurate (least manipulative personality quiz I've taken, and the explanations really appeal to me. Katie and Kim are both BLUE (emotionally driven), which i think makes for a strong intern team. This afternoon, a group of about 10 administrators met to discuss evening programming. There are improvements to be made on the schedule.

Green

I seek knowledge and understanding.
Analytical, Global, Conceptual.
I live life by my own standards.
Cool, Calm, Collected.
I need explanations and answers.
Inventive, Logical, Perfectionist.
I value intelligence, insight, fairness and justice.
Abstract, Hypothetical, Investigative.
I am a natural non-conformist, a visionary, a problem solver.

AT WORK:
I am conceptual and independent thinker. For me, work is play. I am drawn to constant challenge in careers and like to develop models, explore ideas, or build systems to satisfy my need to deal with the innovative. Once I have perfected an idea, I prefer to move on, leaving the project to be maintained and supported by others.

IN LOVE:
I prefer to let my head rule my heart. I dislike repetition, so it is difficult for me to continuously express feelings. I believe that once feelings are stated, there are obvious to a partner. I am uneasy when my emotions control me; I want to establish a relationship, leave it to maintain itself, and turn my energies back to my career.

IN CHILDHOOD:
I appeared to be older than my years and focused on my greatest interests, achieving in subjects that were mentally stimulating. I was impatient with drill and routine, questioned authority, and found it necessary to respect teachers before I could learn from them.

Orange

I act on a moment’s notice.
Witty, Charming, Spontaneous.
I consider life as a game, here and now.
Impulsive, Generous, Impactful.
I need fun, variety, stimulation and excitement.
Optimistic, Eager, Bold.
I value skill, resourcefulness and courage.
Physical, Immediate, Fraternal.
I am a natural trouble-shooter, a performer, a competitor.

AT WORK:
I am bored and restless with jobs that are routine and structured and satisfied in careers that allow me independence and freedom, while utilizing my physical coordination and my love of tools. I view any kind of tool as an extension of self. I am a natural performer.



IN LOVE:
I seek a relationship with shared activities and interests. With my mate, I like to explore new ways to energize the relationship. As a lover, I need to be bold and thrive on physical contact. I enjoy giving extravagant gifts that bring obvious pleasure to my loved one.


IN CHILDHOOD:
Of all types of children I had the most difficult time fitting into academic routine. I learn by doing and experiencing, rather than by listening and reading. I need physical involvement in the learning process and am motivated by my own natural competitive nature and sense of fun.


We know that millennials at times rely on their helicopter parents. They (we) are a generation that have had play dates and scheduled, organized activities for as long as they (we) can remember. So, i think it's unlikely that if we set out Frisbees, footballs, kick balls, etc., new students will organize themselves into physical activities. Ever been to a high school dance? they won't even dance when presented with music, dance floor, low lights, etc. So, i think more structured social activities are still appropriate. My favorites (tries and true - thanks Naz (Jane): Dave Binder or Playfair. brilliant. i could not replicate what Dave binder or play fair does if i tried.

One sense of collaboration

Hours: 8:00am - 12:00pm

Finished up a presentation proposal for CSPA. Put together driving directions for 5 buses for service day to tag on to a residence life bid for NFTA buses. Counted how many out of the 486 orientation registration webforms we have received, how many students indicated interest in the saturday of service. (25.3%, which projects to 379 first year students participating in the saturday of service; not much above the VSLC's typical spring service day amount.)

Today I learned the very hard way to save my document when i download it from my e-mail. special thanks to Ching from the help desk. I owe him cookies and my first born for finding all the changes I made to my proposal.
When trying to determine projects that we would need buses for (keep in mind we haven't even started soliciting projects yet because Phil has taken more than 2 weeks to have a student assistant put together a webform). So - how to you not only give someone a number of buses, but also firm destinations for those buses without having talked to community partners? (1) make some phone calls, (2) evaluate relationships/partnerships, (3) figure out agencies that are physically located near each other. The real answer is anything and everything you can when free transportation is on the line. In the process of putting information together, i was working between 2 buildings, 2 computers, and 3 user accounts, and 3 e-mail addresses...that's 12 different hard drive locations a document i needed quickly could have been. it's time to consolidate.

We didn't end up getting free buses for reasons beyond my control. The more exciting part of the day was actually in tallying up who is interested in the saturday of service. Looking at the webforms, i realized that not only do we have e-mail addresses and banner ID numbers for tracking purposes, but we also have other useful information, e.g. what classes they sign up for, majors, learning communities, etc. knowing the correlates will allow the VSLC to be able to target marketing initiatives to those specific populations. For example, if students who opt in to the service day tend to be undeclared majors and also in learning communities, we can market in those communities more, give specific information/conversations to advisors for undeclared students, and maybe even purport that students that sign up for the service day option are looking for social connectedness with BSC and peers. pending further assessment, of course.

Hours: 8:15am - 12:00pm

Recorded weekly hours from OL's. Checked on res. life time cards upstairs, research a CSPA conference proposal idea. staff meeting/coffee in the bookstore - used the "Deal Me In" cards from yesterday's conference to talk about strengths and weaknesses. Gave Katie (from UB) and Kim a "campus tour" to help acquaint them to BSC. Kim briefed Katie and I on OL training. We found out that there are two sets of OL trainings and two sets of orientation. over the summer are the Transfer student orientations, and then the first years get a whole new training.

This time of the year seems slow because it's heavy in preparation and planning, and most of my tasks take place closer to the end of summer. I feel like I have an abundance of time to dedicate to extra projects or assessment. or to just procrastinate. i'm the type of person that works better when my schedule and tasks/duties are full.

At first separating transfer OL training from First year (FY) OL training confused me, and seeemed less efficient, but i'm seeing now that the end result will be better. The transfer OL training is more need-based and specific to the individual transfer student - some students want to get in and out and have an "i've already done it" attitude. That's ok, and we should be prepared to offer that to them, they still have to attend an orientation and make contact with a person to connect them to campus, even if briefly (if not, we block them from registering). Some transfer students may be having a more difficult time with transferring and want to talk about why they are here at BSC now, and what they expect and hope to get out of it. I hope the OL's focus on goal setting, and actions to prevent transfer students from transferring again (as is an emerging trend with millenials). FY students have much different needs, even commuters and residents have different needs, but tailoring the OL training to FY students and preparing OLs to be receptive and patient to high maintenance and low maintenance FY students and parents will be useful to them and us in the long run.

NYLEC Conference

Hours: 6:00am - 7:00pm

Attended the 2009 New York Leadership Education Conference at SUNY Cortland with Bob, Trish, and the 2 other graduate interns. Attended 3 ed. sessions (Leadership through experiential education, Leadership course development, and developing peer mentor programs) and 2 keynotes (RandyMcCrillis - Infusing diversity into your leadership programs; and Joyce Cohen - Leadership in relation to career development and interests). Networked with a number of professionals at other SUNY schools including SUNY Oneonta, RIT, Brockport, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Geneseo (Tom Matthews), Alfred University, and UB regarding topics such as millenials, parents, diversity, service-learning, and diversity.

I gained new appreciation for SPA professionals as faculty members. it's a tough position to be in, especially without a Ph.D. because we are charged with course development, and have similar responsibilities to faculty members, but don't have the credibility without the degree. Especially when it comes to a concept as ill-defined (literally - there is no single definition) as "Leadership".

In teaching/discussion diversity, the conversation seems to have been focused on a sociological perspective (power, privilege, and oppression), then a business/management perspective (communication/conflict), and now given the millenial perspective on diversity, it may be time to take a more skills based psychological approach to "teaching" diversity. We've deconstructed the concept for so long that "diversity" has little meaning to millenial students. In addressing diversity, especially in regard to leadership development, we need to lead by example by NOT segregating the conversation on diversity - integrate it into every part of every thing that we do. We should focus on the skills to recognies stereotypes and biases in ourselves and others, and what to do about it once we do acknowledge prejudices. It's time for the conversation to move forward.