1. Make the most out of your experience, and love what you do.
2. Enjoy the people you work with
3. Get to know people outside of your office
4. You never know what moments will ‘stick’
5. Be enthusiastic about your work ‘YEAAAH,’  and acknowledge your mistakes ‘SHOOOT’ (@A_Orchard)
6. Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions.
7. Embrace ‘nicknames’
8. Take breaks for FUN; even when working seems like the best option.
9. Take advantage of every minute; it goes by too quickly.
10. Be flexible
11. Sometimes a dance party solves just about anything.
12. Don’t forget about the people who helped get you where you are.
13. Roll your sleeves up and don’t be afraid to get dirty.
14. Make to-do lists. Write down feedback; follow them, and use it.
15. Give praise sincerely, openly, & honestly.
16. Be open to becoming ‘part of the family’
17. Go somewhere alone, and be comfortable with it.
18. A jump in blood sugar can make you loopy by 2:30
19. Join ‘team wellness’ and get a buddy to keep you on point. (@Kathy_Petras)
20. Bring a quarter when you grocery shop at Aldi.
21. Mad Gab will give you plenty of laughs
22. Postcards make great ‘souvenirs’ when you’re low on cash.
23. Troubleshoot.
24. Teach college students to question everything; nothing may be as it seems…1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 (@BWMarcWest)
25. Know your audience, and work it to your advantage
26. Talk about your weaknesses; show them.  Adapt to them.
27. Skype won’t save relationships, but it will certainly make loved ones feel closer.
28. You can work on 20 things, but you can only do 1 well at a time.
29. Make the position your own, when the position/situation allows.
30. Laugh.
31. Take initiative and go the extra mile.
32. Ask questions and be genuinely interested in the answers.
33. Try to find something new in everything you do; you don’t gain anything by acting like you already know.
34. Turn a ‘heckler’ into an ‘educational moment’
35. Reach out and be an advocate.
36. Get to know someones ‘bigger picture.’
37. ‘Tweet-up.’
38. Netflix is fantastic. Or an addiction. Or both.
39. Tweeting, cheese & and little kindness go a long way. (@KARupert)
40. Be open to the ‘other side’ of your strengths
41. Do something you wouldn’t do anywhere else
42. Eat a ‘Buckeye’ (they’re delicious)
43. Don’t expect to always get it right the first time, but get closer the second time.
44. Set goals and measure your progress.
45. Don’t panic about the unknown; it’s never as scary once it becomes reality, just allows opportunities for adjustment.
46. Identify what your weaknesses, and don’t be afraid to talk to them.
47. Support and be supported; motivate those around you.
48. Find the passion of those around you; the more quickly you can identify what makes those around you tick, the more effective a team member you can become.
49. Ask the why or how; do your work on the ‘purpose’ or anticipated goal, not just instructions.
50. Explore; step out and learn about what’s around you. The more information you know, the more well-rounded and resourceful you become.
51. Have a plan (or a GPS).  Seek out the resources around you, and know when you need help.
52. Be flexible; you never know when a 12-hour drive will become a night in a motel and a morning in a auto body shop; panic doesn’t breed results.
53. Most goodbyes should be ‘see you later’s’
54. There is Christmas in July, you just have to know where to look
55. Baldwin-Wallace Colleges’ Summer Orientation Program 2010 is both an extended ‘Student Affairs family,’ and a place I’ll always be able to call home.
56. Update to 56. You can survive several road trips with a good travel buddy (@LaurenBuckley3) (So thankful; check & check!)

We powered through the program despite being down a staff member for the better part of day 1 and with several Orientation Leaders at sub physical ‘peak’ (one with surgery just a few days before, and another on crutches).  We worked in some ‘fun’ and kept clear communication between staff members, and things worked out well.  Keeping one another in the loop and being clear with the duties that needed to be completed throughout the weekend ensured that we got everything done that we needed to!

We broke the stress with some mid-afternoon ‘Peanuts‘ (FUN) and recuperated before the evening events.  The President and VP for Student Affairs sat in on the “Goal Setting” presentation a Student Life Summer Intern & I put together.  Needless to say, it was a little nerve wracking, but kept us on our toes!  We had a VERY rowdy crowd, but we were excited to hear the feedback we received from both administrators and students was positive.

The weekend came to a close without event; I had the opportunity to flex my ‘customer service’ muscles a little more than I expected to (and to be honest, when I least expected it) but it was a great experience, and gave me a little more perspective (and decreased my naivety) about what staff members are navigating with students, parents & families.

Once the session closed, it was off to South Carolina, and right into assessment; my ‘sneak peak’ into the REAL busy life of the Student Affairs pro

This week was spent both preparing for an Orientation session in the distance, realizing that they were the first ‘back-to-back’ weekend sessions that were attempted, and that the quick transition meant that things needed to be as ready as possible for the transition.

Thankfully, this ‘lull’ also offered me an amazing opportunity to speak with a Housing pro as well as the Director of the College Union/Associate Dean.  I had never conducted informational interviews before (while thankfully both of them had) but I hope they aren’t my last; I recieved some great tips and advice for developing myself as an emerging professional, and gaining a much better understanding about what it takes to succeed in the field.  For convenience, I decided to extract the themes that I gained rather then the great detail of each idea, because there are definitely ideas I found that go beyond functional area.

• Get to know your students, but know (and set) boundaries
• Be proactive in setting your impression; don’t let others create it for you
• Anticipate problems before they develop, and have a plan about how to handle them! (process & reflect on experiences)
• Don’t jump to conclusions, try to understand ‘both sides of the story’ (earn respect, and develop trust)
• Be courteous, and show class (dress, concern, take pride in work, be on time)
• View others on a continuum, not in black & white (context is important)
• Show initiative & passion for what you do!

I loved the opportunity and appreciate very much being able to hear the experience of others in their path to Student Affairs, especially when they are ‘less typical.’ It says a lot about the professional when students that are mentored by these pros end up in the field; ‘they’re just that good.’

___________

Additionally, I found out this week that I will be working with my supervisors in presenting at the NODA convention on both a small panel describing my experiences as a graduating Senior entering a NODA internship before Graduate school, as well as presenting a session with Kathy on learning outcomes in Orientation programs based on the assessment data that I have been collecting all summer! NODAC ’10 here I come!

These people bring fun to the office. Every. Single. Day. It’s contagious, relaxing, comforting, and makes the moments of work more productive because the ones away from your desk are so refreshing.  Laughter is the rule, not the exception.

With this at the backdrop of the work environment, it’s easy to overlook, but also continuously emerges in my reflection of work week -to-week.

With this backdrop, it seems that conversations about social justice, gender, or personality can develop naturally, and regardless of whether or not this is the true cause, they do.  I had great conversations this wesk about all of these topics, and gained some great insight about how I may be perceived by others, especially as it relates to my StrengthsQuest assessment.  While the basis of the conversation was light-hearted and funny, I began to really be reflective on how many could perceive my personality in that context, while I felt very differently about them from my own perspective. 

Realizing where a cold, manipulating vibe can be gathered from these themes, it’s given me a lot of reflective consideration about my approach with others, and how to avoid coming across in that way!

Even more intriguing was the fact that this assessment of my personality was confortably without SQ as a reference, and created an exciting goal (relator, competition ) to pursue through my experiences in Student Affairs; and for my own self-efficacy.  My undergraduate degree in Psychology, you can imagine my excitement in opportunities to have conversations about personality, and understanding others’ perceptions.

In my one-on-one with Kathy, we re-evaluated progress on goals, and checked in at the halfway post to make sure that we were on track.  If we goals haven’t directly been achieved, they are definitely well in progress, and the limitations primarily lie in scheduling or are premeditated, and thus ‘in progress.’  It was really encouraging to know that we’re working in the right direction, and with a few adjustments, I will be able to get out of this experience what I had hoped (and more, for sure).

Major breakthroughs aside, there are some really exciting things in the works.  In next week’s post I will reflect on opportunities able to speak with several members of the Division of Student Affairs, and perhaps even an #OLchat moderation thrown in!  Evaluation creation continues as we are beginning to develop materials for ‘Color Partner’ feedback, and closing feedback about Orientation training to improve it for the future!

The evaluations (tailored specifically to either the Student or Family program) measured the student experience with each session individually (which we conducted after it’s conclusion), their overall experience in sessions throughout the day, their experiences with their summer Academic Advisor, and feedback on their Orientation Leader.

It was fantastic to have the opportunity to provide that kind of data towards the success of a program (and from a variety of ‘angles’), and also do a little investigating into the rationale behind the responses!  This point was especially more effective than in the past (I’ve been told)  because of the detail in the results (presumably) as Orientation moved from paper evaluations to an online counterpart.  Additionally, we added several items to reflect and measure the effectiveness of the learning outcomes designed over the previous year.

Comparing the program to last year, it seems that the changes that have taken place to refine the program are succeeding; and while it’s difficult to truly measure the reliability of the data because of the new population that is taking it, the change from paper survey to online, or the fact that it’s only our first session and their isn’t a larger data set to work from, we are still very content with the results thus far.

The ‘down time’ this week post evaluation was spent having great conversations with my supervisors in the office.  With students around only sporadically, we discussed anything and everything from technology, “personal life” in Student Affairs, relationships with students, identity, and other often Taboo topics.  Put a lot of things out there, and got A LOT of thought-provoking stuff in return.

Great week for blog posts, and I look forward to a great weekend and the same for another ‘off’ week before Orientation prep comes back in high gear.

For the time being, I’m taking advantage of the opportunity to check out the CAS Standards for Orientation as a preview of things to come in Grad School, working on accumulating some data for help in a presentation for Kathy, developing an evaluation between Orientation ‘color partners,’ and maybe even trying my hand at developing materials for a mid-summer #olchat!

Have a great 4th of July weekend everyone!  I’ll be enjoying the fireworks from Coe Lake after some weekend fun at a Farmer’s Market in Cleveland (West Side Market)!

I don’t think that I could have asked for a better experience.  Abby and Kelsey, our Student Directors, were on point, upbeat, organized, and prepared.  They were definitely the glue of a sometimes hectic office environment, and led the charge.  Check in and training with the OL’s was incredible.  I wondered how only a few days of training would actually apply itself in building a group dynamic with cohesion while also giving them the adequate knowledge to feel comfortable once Thursday came around.  It happened.  They rallied around one another, asked thoughtful questions and soaked in information, practiced the check-in process, ice-melted, team-built, Chipotle(d), Whirl-Ball(ed), broke down some dance moves, sang the fight song, and most importantly, learned about one another.

Our leadership team took some reflective time before each day to check in on progress and address concerns, and did just that; creatively and effectively.  We had fun along the way, and built a strong foundation for a comfort amongst one another.  By the end of training I even felt like I knew all of the OL’s well enough to have fun and joke with them, and they definitely kept me on my toes returning the favor.  I ended training with a whole multitude of nicknames (both appropriate and questionable) and laughed. A LOT.

We entered session 1 enthusiastically, and as ready as we could be.  Of course the fatigue of training and stress of the program itself made our prep all the more important and easier to lose track of, but we managed our way through.  The program itself is very much the product of lots of communication; phone calls, emails, planning, and understanding.  The benefit of all of this meeting, planning, and communicating, is that the program runs on it’s own, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, because there isn’t much room for adjustment or ‘nimbleness.’  On the other hand, it allows for moments to catch your breath and enjoy the students, sessions, and one another amidst the craze.   There were definitely some nerves.  The other graduate intern and I put together a goal setting presentation for the first-year students with activities and steps to help to begin to set their goals, and with only one formal run-through, I spent the day with our notes glued to my hands.  When it actually came time to present we settled right in, and things went rather well.  Getting that opportunity was so much fun, and we had a great time with it; best of all, the students were really interactive, and while they were bursting with energy, seemed to enjoy the content (we’ll see once we check out the evals); we even managed to attract a few casual former students to the student life presentation to hang out with us!

After a late night dance party, a few incidents with loud residents, and an early morning, we got the ball rolling again.  In fact, a few former students of Kathy’s stopped in and we chatted for a bit on their way to an alumni weekend at BGSU. It’s awesome to really see the work that is done pay off.  Orientation seems to really be based on the edict of ‘beginning with the end in mind;’ and not just building a seamless program, but one that engages students, prepares them for college, and in some cases, helps them narrow their deposit.  And while I maintained the evaluation area to collect feedback on both the Student and Family programs (mandatory for Students to check-out, recommended for Families) some real understanding in the role of Orientation washed over me.

Obviously I’ve recognized the time commitment involved, but I truly have never stopped to enjoy or appreciate the ‘product’ of Orientation until my experiences at BW, and more specifically this session.  It really is the genius of Admissions, Transition, Academics, Marketing, and Customer Service combined at their best.  More importantly, is the role of the student in that process.  As an Orientation Advisor and Coordinator in my undergrad I respected the experience and the importance, but watching the program actually take place and listening to the reactions of the Orientation Leaders throughout the day, I noticed my thoughts wondering to new places, not just thinking about the OL’s role, but the role of the program overall, the glitz versus functionality of the program, and how important it is to remain united and clear in communication throughout those involved.

The transition from a functional role to a reflective and theoretical understanding of Orientation has become difficult to grasp, but the perspective is a welcome one.  I really enjoy the role of Orientation in the college experience both through transition and engagement as it truly exemplifies campus collaboration.

How do you view the role of Orientation in the college experience?

Profile:

Founded in 1845, BW is a small, private, liberal arts institution.  In fact, it was created upon the merger of Baldwin University and German Wallace College.  It’s product, now know as Baldwin-Wallace College, was at it’s creation one of the few Methodist-related College’s in Ohio and also one of the first to admit students without regard to race or gender.  Offering a wide variety of programs to their nearly 3,000 full time undergraduates and 1,000 Night/Weekend UG, MBA and Graduate students, BW has a world-renowned Conservatory (one of the few as a direct program instead of a campus affiliate). Often the Conservatory draws students from outside of the state (and country) while a large  majority (90%) of students are from Ohio.  From what I understand (and can find) it’s not a particularly ethnically diverse school, but it does not appear that students even acknowledge it, for better or worse.  What is notable, on the other hand, it is a rather selective admissions process, with more than 60% of students in the top 25% of their class.  It shows.  So far, the students I have met are smart, articulate, and mature.  To be fair, I have only a limited experience to draw upon in this capacity, because I have only met a small group of students.

Orientation Program:

Leadership Team: Director of Student Life & Involvement, Assistant Director of Student Life & Involvement, Student Directors (2), and Graduate Assistants/Interns (2)

Orientation Leaders: Pairs (1 Male, 1 Female) Divided into ‘Color Groups.’ 8 groups total; Student Directors also part of Color Group Pairings.  There is a larger group of Orientation Leaders hired for ‘Weeks of Welcome,’ including Summer OL’s, totaling over 40 students.

Session type:

Transfer: Day Program

First-Year: Overnight

Both include families in their schedule, and offer specific sessions for families adjusting to sending their student to college.  The program covers the Academic core, with a special session for students in the Conservatory, making responsible choices, as well as breakout type sessions from Residence Life, Study Abroad, Commuter Services, Career Services, and a resource fair featuring many of these departments to answer individual questions. Financial Aid and Billing also present, and offer appointments for to go over individual cases and questions.  Newly added this year was a breakout with students in their respective disciplines facilitated by the Orientation Leaders.  In the evening of day one, students take part in a goal-setting presentation, followed by a campus life presentation where they learn about campus involvement as well as aspects of school spirit including the fight song and alma mater!  Like many Orientation programs, OL’s also create and take part in skits regarding topics of interest for first-year students, followed by a group discussion session in ‘gender groups.’

The program is filled with information and opportunities to understand campus life, and ask questions.  It is very well constructed to make students responsible for their own experiences, while still remaining focused on individual attention (for example, specifically scheduled advising appointment during session).

Offers a wide array of levels for engagement in program because of functional area breakouts and social time through a late night “Dance Party,” as well as focus groups based on ‘Color Group,’ discipline, and gender.

Resources:

BW Orientation

BW Website and Fact sheet

US News & World Report

BusinessWeek

I am starting to realize my role within the program itself, having set goals and no longer limited to the ‘behind the scenes’ evaluation and office details, but finally being able to consistently sit down with students and speak with them, building rapport, and getting to know ‘what they’re all about.’  I had the opportunity to take a tour through campus, and I’m finally starting to understand more of the student culture, and navigate my way (generally) around.

I’m excited about the promise of my transition from undergrad to grad student, comforted by my supervisor that I’m moving in the right direction.  Thankfully, I’ve had their support throughout the process, and the uniqueness of being able to learn from students and not be viewed as a ‘supervisor,’ but rather a mentor has definitely been a source of comfort; not to say that I am uncomfortable being in that role, or have not had some experience of that type, but it definitely infuses a more relaxed vibe for my style overall.  I can already see the relationships building as the joking and general ‘sassiness’ in the office respectfully increases.

I am definitely benefiting from the commitment of my supervisor to making sure that I get the most out of my experience, consistently referencing back to my goals to make sure that we’re taking steps to accomplishing them.

More specifically, I am beginning to be exposed to more of the rationale ‘behind the scenes’ of the process, to understand the partnership’ of Orientation with Academic Affairs and Admissions both in theory and in practice through Datatel and other organizational tools.

And last, but DEFINITELY not least, we had a very successful Transfer Orientation this week, registering and hosting over 80 students with a smaller student staff of 2 Student Coordinators, 2 Orientation Leaders, myself, and my supervisor.  The service and partnership of the program is both efficient and interactive, really well-suited to the Transfer students to get the information they need, while understanding they have been through the Orientation experience before.  After analyzing the evaluations it appears that students echoed those sentiments and took away what they expected from the program.

Now, onto getting down to business preparing for a week full of training and Orientation prep.  This weekend will most definitely be a low key one, heading into next week with game faces ON.

Goal 1: Learn more about my style and personality as a Student Affairs professional through personal reflection, group activities, practical experiences, and supervisor input.

How this goal will be accomplished:

• Assessment tools; evaluating those assessments
• Taking part in training exercises
• Individual meetings with Supervisors

Target Completion Date: Weekly Reflection

Goal 2: Understand the role of Orientation within the Division of Student Affairs, as well as its association with both Admissions and Recruitment as well as Academic Affairs

How this goal will be accomplished:

• Learning from the involved areas, and the logistics ‘behind the scenes’ of the process, and how the collaborative process of the three

Target Completion Date: Pre-Orientation

Goal 3: Examine and further discover where my strengths and passions in Student Affairs lie through experiences with different functional areas on campus by speaking with professionals in those areas.

How this goal will be accomplished:

• Meeting and discussing the areas of Student Affairs throughout my Internship experience
• Shadowing other SA professionals
• Reflecting on my experiences in a blog or other written form to outline my experiences

Target Completion Date: Throughout Experience

Goal 4: Use resources both on and off campus to promote my growth both personally and professionally by utilizing the networks offered by other staff members

How this goal will be accomplished:

• Similar to the above goals, building a network through my supervisors and the other staff members to develop a deeper understanding of the many different areas of Student Affairs

Target Completion Date: Throughout Experience

Goal 5: Develop a strong mentor connection with my supervisors, and also as a resource for students

How this goal will be accomplished:

• One on one meetings with staff and students, and developing connections with students
• Be a ‘go-to’ member of the Orientation program for Student Coordinators and OL’s
• Making time to develop a rapport with students and staff members outside of the work setting

Target Completion Date: Throughout Experience

Goal 6: Develop a competency working with and manipulating assessment tools to evaluate the strength of programs, and their importance in evaluation of Orientation as a whole

• Be an active part of assessment creation
• Consistently contribute and evaluate the assessment of learning outcomes in assessment
• Synthesize assessment data, and assist in its synthesis

Target Completion Date: Pre-Orientation/Post-Orientation

Goal 7: Develop an understanding about the goals, trends, and main concerns/challenges involved with Orientation/first-year programs

How this goal will be accomplished:

• Researching the related information that impacts the field
• Discussing with trends and challenges with Supervisors
• Evaluating assessment tools

Target Completion Date: Throughout Experience

Having said that, I’m finding it difficult to get used to ‘shedding that skin,’ and find that I’m very consistent about looking for feedback and ‘checking in’ with projects that I’m working on to make sure I’m headed in the right direction; I definitely feel like I’m overdoing it at times, but I’ve been working to balance that with doing my own thing and moving forward with other projects, and per the advise of Kathy Petras (my supervisor)  I’ve been getting to know the students (of course!).

The students here are phenomenal; ‘go-getters,’ to say the least; every student I’ve met has been both extremely focused and goal-oriented, getting things done.  It’s a great environment to work in, because it is clear that the students know what’s going on; it has definitely kept me on my toes, today in particular, as they accompanied and watched me galavant all over campus on a ‘self-guided’ tour to take pictures of buildings for a presentation that will be created in the weeks to come. They are always more than willing to accept any help I can offer, and we have some great laughs getting things done, between sporcle games, that is.

Since my last post, I put together goals for my Internship, and have the post at the ready once I talk them over with my supervisor.  I’m looking forward to getting feedback and refining them before I click ‘Publish!’

This was a really helpful process for the framework of the presentation I put together with another practicum GA on goal setting.  We were able to define learning outcomes after a request for materials on #sachat (Thank yous to Mike Severy) and put together the Prezi.com presentation, script, build a few activities to create a workbook handout for the session, and develop our ‘guide to’ the presentation itself.  All in all, I think things came together really nicely, and it was a lot of fun to get some work with another GA for a change!

I’ve also been creating some fun publications for  the OL’s as ‘pocket guides’ of important information during sessions to cut down on the amount of gear they will need, incorporating phone numbers, ice-melters, and a full outline of the schedule.

Speaking of which, we outlined both the Orientation Leader Training schedule as well as the schedule for sessions, taking time to explain the details and confirm the assignments of the Student Directors.  It was great to begin to pull everything together piece by piece (introducing the schedule, then visiting the sites) and having any questions answered along the way.

This internship really is a crash-course of an Orientation program, and if your head isn’t in the game, you’re likely to miss something; questions at the ready, or staying quick on your feet to make sure you understand how things work is so important!  More than once I’ve been caught off guard by an opportunity to ask questions, but as I start to get comfortable with the learning curve, I’d like to think I’m making progress.

And last, but definitely not least, assessment.  This was actually a lot of fun for me, because  I was able to combine skillsa acquired from my psychology degree and all over the map, using learning outcomes that had been developed the year before to edit (and create) assessment for Orientation training as well as Family & Student Sessions.  I also really enjoyed learning the online survey tool that BW uses, (partly because the IT trainer was a blast, partly because of my geeky HTML coding side, and partly because it was the final ‘fruits of my labor’) and watching my survey ‘come to life.’

So far, things are going really well, and with 12 days left to go until training, I’m definitely starting to prepare.  I’ve had the opportunity to meet some of the OL’s who stop in the SLC-Union for lunch or just to visit, but I can’t wait until we have the whole OL Staff!

I’m out of town this weekend, but I definitely have my to-do list set for things to accomplish while I’m here; I’m looking forward to some adventures in the weeks ahead!