The Student Affairs Blog

Disrupting Class and Student Affairs

I just finished Disrupting Class, by Clayton Christensen, et. al. It's a terrifically interesting book for anyone interested in education.

Christensen is an expert in innovation. In the book, he brings his concise, clear, highly useful frames for thinking about improvement and change over to education.

Of particular interest to Student Affairs, I believe, is the historical narrative listing the changing goals of education.

A quick summary:

Job 1: 1830's - Horace Mann lead a charge to formalize schooling around a Jeffersonian goal: educate students to be citizens in a democracy. Only elite students went on past grade school.

Job 2: 1890's - Provide something for every student. Prepare them for a variety of jobs so that everyone can be employed. This required high school, and diverse offerings in high school. In 1905 only a third of students made it to high school and only a third graduated. Even fewer made it to college. By 1935 75 percent were entering high school and almost 45 percent were graduating. Both breadth and depth of services exploded. With 1954's Brown vs. Board of education high schools opened wide to all of society. While the number of high schools in 1930 to 1970 stayed about the same at 24,000, the average number of students per high school exploded tenfold from around a 100 to over 1000 by 1970. The larger high schools had an unheard of variety of programs with a growing number of student support services. By 1960, 69 percent of high schoolers were graduating- an impressive record of success.

Job 3: 1960's - Keep America competitive. Sony, Canon, and Toyota all started to displace their American competition. Policy makers drew a correlation between performance of American students vs. their foreign peers. Standardized tests were the metric, education, again, was the solution. In the influential 1983 report "A Nation at Risk", the federal government questioned the breadth of services, suggesting it muddied the focus on the more important core competencies. It said "students have too many choices". In short, the goal post had moved. What was good - more offerings to prepare everyone - was now bad.

Job 4: 2001 - Eliminate Poverty. the No Child Left Behind act changed the goal from bringing up the average standardized test score to bringing the highest number possible up to proficiency. It's a subtle, but important shift in the value system.

Christensen sums it up:

"Society has hired education to do four distinct jobs."

Impressively, education as a whole has shown steady improvement towards each goal as it has been defined. The very difficult challenge is simply that the goals keep changing.

Now education is "in a crisis" not because it's doing a bad job per se, but because it is being measured by different people with different, and shifting, value systems.

It does not make sense to blame administrators and teachers for falling short on the new metric of success. Any judgement of success must be placed in context. An important part of that context is clarity on what the current goal is and what metrics go with that goal.

The Student Affairs professionals in my circle often talk about "taking it all on" and constantly struggling to complete assessment that is both actionable and in line with the value systems of the school and their supervisors.

Do you feel like your job goals have changed during your tenure? Are you clear on the big picture? Is your supervisor and school on the same page?

In the same book, Christensen offers a great frame for addressing disconnects - but that's another post.

Stress? Keeping Your Head Above Water

It's near the middle of the fall semester for many campuses and there's a chance you are feeling that pinch of stress. That feeling that we have bitten off more than we can chew and overcommitted ourselves. Again. The feeling of a schedule becoming out of control that may require snorkle gear if we reply to one more email request.

Stress raises our adrenaline, resulting in increased heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure. These increases make bodily organs work harder. A little stress is good and keeps us on our toes. But over the long term, too much stress can lead to illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke.

The MBTI Blog discusses our stress as an In The Grip experience, or being forced to react contrary to personality preferences. Usually my recognition of being in a Grip experience arises when I am counseling a student with school anxiety and realize I need to take my own advice.

In my first-year seminar, we discuss the symptoms and effects of stress and ways college students can alleviate stress through planning and organization. For a bit of fun, we encourage students to add more stress to their lives with a few of the suggestions below:

♦ No matter where you are going, always leave for the appointment at the time you should be arriving. On the way there, drive, walk or ride your bike no further than two feet from the car or person in front of you.

♦ Don’t pay attention to your body. If you feel yourself becoming over-stressed and tired, ignore it and keep pushing yourself.

♦ Make a special effort to take note of the irritations in your life and blow them out of proportion. Be resentful and hypercritical, especially toward yourself.

♦ Refuse to take action on nagging problems. Procrastinate, worry, and whenever possibly lose sleep over them. Blame other people for all of your problems.

♦ If you’ve been sleeping less than 4 hours a night, consider eliminating this activity altogether.

Stress Management Tips offers great information, games and exercises to introduce to your students. Me? I'm practicing a little deep breathing until finals week.

What causes you stress? Do you have a favorite stress reliever?

Student Affairs Humor on Twitter

Should I have a Facebook Account for my Class?

 

Once upon a time, Facebook used to be a student only playground as it was a closed system. But ever since Facebook opened up to allow anyone and their cat to have an account, well maybe not their cat as it's hard to be a fake person with a fake name on Facebook, many academic professionals have been signing up and experimenting with using Facebook as an academic tool.

 

   

Recently I read an article about how a teacher from the University of Maryland uses Facebook to get in touch with her students. She explained that with everyone on Facebook it was much easier to remember names and faces. Since Facebook is not a school controlled site it kind of sets an atmosphere of neutral grounds, allowing the students to experience a more casual interaction with teachers, enabling them to be more open with their communication. Due to the fluidity of personal information shared back and forth on Facebook, a certain level of familiarity is developed quicker than could be during precious classroom time.    

 

Not everyone is in agreement. There are many teachers that do not see a benefit in using Facebook for their class, some say there’s no classroom value in it and that it might even be an avenue for accessing inappropriate material, others suggest that it only adds to the many distractions in class. Many school districts agree and block these sites from school computers. Some unfortunate byproducts occur from this however; faculty computers are also blocked, students discover proxy sites, IT hires more personnel to block proxy sites, students access the sites from their cell phones. 

 

 

The article concludes with saying, Facebook can be an excellent virtual medium for building and maintaining real world social connections within a class, but only when it’s used informally and everyone understands its purpose and limits. 

 

 

Where do you stand on the issue? Do you use Facebook in your job formally or informally? Are you worried about TMI with your students? Do you separate your personal and professional online profiles?

 

 

NACA Sells Out Its Top Spot

In the midst of ongoing legal issues over derogatory domain names with the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities and Campus Activities Magazine, the National Association of Campus Activities launched a new website to accommodate it's growing menu of support tools related to student affairs. The reach of NACA is impressive and over the years they've collected a solid database of content to support student affairs professionals.

However, new sites are not always better. Beyond the confusing navigation, what bothers me the most is NACA sold their homepage top spot to a 3rd party vendor. When I visited the site for the first time, I took a double take because I thought I'd accidently mistyped the web address. Try it out yourself and tell me what you think.

I think the NACA brand is hurt by being smoothered under a massive banner ad that covers the whole page. Unless maybe the two companies formed a parternship or Fantasy World Entertainment bought NACA. Then it would all make sense.

Yes, I'm a risk manager.

You’ve received the honor, now what do you do with it?

Campus risk managers take different forms on every campus. Some institutions have specific departments that cover the spectrum (threat assessment, event safety, bystander intervention, classroom management, hazing recognition, etc.); others outsource to local attorneys or companies. A few use a combination and select one or two individuals to manage an aspect of the protocols.

Having served in the role in regards to campus activities, here are a few recommendations to help you cover your… uh, assets. (Please adapt them to fit your campus culture and needs.) Please note, I am not an attorney. Using the advice below as legal advice to save you in a situation is not recommended.

1.)    Meet with those in the know – ask your institution to clearly delineate your responsibilities in regards to risk management. (ie. Responsible for walk-thru’s of venues prior to events occurring.)

2.)    Obtain professional insurance. (ACPA recommends Professional Liability Insurance.)

3.)    Attend a work-shop on risk management in student affairs, as it pertains to your job duties. ( NCHERM, NACA, or APCA are great resources.)

4.)    Ask questions (especially if a situation is unclear).

5.)    Be aware of all necessary paperwork (ie. Event participation waivers when traveling off-campus, incident reports, meeting history notes).

6.)    Know that anyone can sue for anything. (It costs less than $50 to file in several states.) If you’ve done your homework and have written documentation, it may be a rough ride during the process but you’ll usually come out on top.

Risk Management Magic

Risk management. Words, much like lawsuit, that can make any professional cringe. Of course, everyone looks at the protocols differently depending on personal experiences. In the end, risk management for me comes down to two choices: the art of illusion or the act of preparation.

When I look at being a campus risk manager for events, I strive to find a bit of excitement in the position as this role is usually one that is loved, hated, but hardly ignored. Enter – Harry Houdini. 

Yes, Houdini was a magician, an escape artist, an entertainer; but he was also a risk manager. The “Challenge of the Mirror” (as noted in The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero) is an example of Houdini in dual roles of risk manager and entertainer. He was challenged by The Daily Illustrated Mirror to escape from handcuffs made by a local blacksmith with a lock that “no mortal man can pick”. The actual escape from the cuffs took over an hour by all accounts and included requests to have his jacket removed (only to have to personally cut it off with his mouth using a pocketed penknife), for a drink of water, and for more comfortable arrangements (he was inside a cabinet). The audience was entertained.

Houdini had already proven to be a master with card tricks and in reacting to situations thrust upon him. Roll in Houdini – Risk Manager. Substantiation exists that the “Challenge of the Mirror” was one performance Houdini minutely planned. He commissioned the handcuffs using his own sketches, worked with the newspaper to issue the challenge, and encouraged local politicians to be in attendance. In effect, he knew the circumstances, the props, and the audience. He sealed his reputation as The Handcuff King.

In the role of campus risk manager, you take steps like Houdini’s – performing your own act of preparation. For an event: you evaluate the venue, the performer’s needs, available staff – ensuring you know your risks. The approved marketing scheme is intentional and appealing to your campus population, ensuring a high attendance and participation. Your institution’s reputation, or that of the sponsoring organization, is revered because the event is successful.

In my experience, institutions that rely on the art of illusion are often those that have dialogues about risk management in stealthily held meetings. The conclusion of the meeting may or may not be disseminated to staff members that have to respond in the situation. Campuses that are growing rapidly also use the art of illusion. For example, if your risk management plan still lists having a “crier” run building to building alerting individuals to an emergency – you fall into this category (Yes, this is in an emergency handbook at one not-to-be-named institution). Conversely, institutions (or departments) that rely on the act of preparation often have a task force to write policies, share information, and ensure all staff know the plan. If you have attended a meeting about quarantining students and entertaining them during an avian flu outbreak, you may fall into this category.

The next time that you receive the honor (or draw the short –straw) of campus risk manager, just remember Houdini –make a comprehensive plan and expect success. 

Social Network Identity 101: Lesson Plan

Updating a presentation on social networks for my first-year seminar is my focus this week.  In past years, Facebook has been the primary topic and I have posted about it here. This year I will add a top-10 list of online identity considerations from technology/online media guru Chris Pirillo.

1.   It goes on your permanent record. Forever.
2.   Be mindful of your privacy.
3.   Don't trust implicitly.
4.   Own what you do.
5.   Engage. Leave comments.
6.   Be respectful, be respectable, and be respected.
7.   Be yourself.
8.   Watch out for flame wars and name calling.
9.   Learn how to communicate.
10. Remember that your future employer, spouse, and neighbors are all watching.

Do you discuss Social Network Identity with your students?

ChaCha.com and the New Age of Digital Cheating in the Classroom

Classroom cheating has taken a new digital turn. An article about a free cellphone service called ChaCha caught my eye last week. Text any question to 242242 and ChaCha promises to provide the answer to virtually any question within minutes, be it math, science, politics and even directions to the nearest café, they have the answer.  Go ahead try it now!

 

ChaCha has a hired network of 25,000 “friends” to help anyone with any question. Imagine the possibilities, imagine the benefits…imagine the repercussions.  A lot of academics are a bit alarmed that some students might use this new service for cheating in the classroom. ChaCha claims that when they created the service cheating was the last thing on their mind.

It doesn’t really matter what the service is for, I’m pretty sure they only had good intentions, the thing is it can be used for cheating, “digital cheating” that is. So what can be done?  Banning cellphones seems to be out of the question. Most schools have no restriction regarding cellphone use so it’s up to the professors to lay down the law.  A professor at Rowan thinks it’s no big deal, if a student wants to cheat, ChaCha is not the only way, there are what you call conventional cheating methods i.e. cheat sheets, copying from neighbors and the like. But does that mean we’ll let these students use the ChaCha service in class?  Ed Burns a professor from Delaware says otherwise, if the student’s cellphone goes off inside the classroom the student is asked to leave and marked absent for the day.

 

Digital cheating or conventional cheating?  Can you believe this? Students now have a choice!  I agree with the idea that we should not focus on the source of cheating materials, or trying to put a stop in the advancement of technology, but instead make our students learn about classroom integrity, the value of NOT CHEATING. It will be much easier to teach your students not to cheat rather than to employ ways and means of protecting them from cheating temptations.  We should not be alarmed that the number of students who admitted cheating digitally increased some 15%, we should be alarmed that these students had the gall to admit that they cheated.

Digital cheating is not so cool anyway, testing the ChaCha service showed that out of 6 questions it only got 3 correct answers, that’s a 50% accuracy rate.  If I were you and you have racked your brain but still can’t remember the answer, take a guess, guessing it will probably give you a 50% chance that you’ll get the answer right.  What’s cool is you didn’t cheat :)

Mission Impossible? Making a Statement

Earlier this summer Del Suggs challenged us to create contemporary mission statements that address why we do things. Sure enough, upon examining the missions of my scholarship and exchange programs, I found dusty and tired lists of the services provided, but not much about the benefit. The statements were certainly not representative of the active, evolving organizations or the students in them.

I struggled for weeks with rewriting why we do things in order to convey a new message of the vibrant nature of our students and goals. I found the best inspiration at a summer staff retreat. The homework exercise required writing a personal mission statement. And BAM. That's what it took. My struggle to define program mission statements had been hampered because I needed to define myself.

Helpful resources were found here and here to point me in a new direction for crafting a personal statement. By redefining self and the values that shape my work in student affairs, my program mission statements found new life and purpose.

Facing mission statement impossible? Try looking within.

Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't. --Richard Bach

Do you have a personal mission statement? How does it enhance the work that you do?

Using the Five Whys

"The Five Whys" is a method of distilling the true cause/effect of an issue.  Simply put, it involves asking the question "why?," and then asking "why?" of the answer.  The pretense is that if asked five times, that simple question will take you to the heart of the matter.

When I first heard of the Five Whys, I was told it was an ancient Chinese technique.  Later I learned it was neither ancient nor Chinese-- it had been developed by  Sakichi Toyoda at his automobile company to aid problem solving.  Whatever the source, it's a useful tool.

A quick example:  My car won't start.  Why?  Because the battery is dead.  Why? Because the alternator isn't working.  Why?  Because the belt broke.   Why?  Because it was worn out.  Why?  Because I didn't follow the maintenance schedule. 

So the root cause of my car failing to start is my own neglect of the required maintenance.

The concept is to peel back the layers of an issue, and get down to the true problem or concern.  But is also works in helping to determine a purpose.  I like to use it to analyze a situation, condition, proposal, or issue.

It's especially useful in developing a purpose or mission statement.  While assisting an SGA to create a mission statement, I began by asking them why the SGA existed.  "To be the voice of the students" they replied.  Why?  "So the administration will know the students' opinion on important school issues."  Why?  "So the school can better meet the students' needs."  Why?  "So more students can get an education."  Why?  "So they can become successful productive citizens."

So the SGA's real purpose is to help students become successful graduates.  That's a totally different idea and more powerful purpose that just being the "voice of the students."

While it may seem a little hokey, and the number five is pretty arbitrary (could be three, could be six), it does seem to work.  Maybe looking at the path we've come will make the path ahead seem more clear.

The next time you're faced with a decision, issue, or question try the Five Whys.  You might just get down to the "heart of the matter."    

Topic of the Month: September

"What is the number one thing getting in the way of student groups being more active?"

Let the debate begin. Please post your thoughts below.

Violating the Prime Directive

I violated the Prime Directive today. You know the one. It states there can be no interference with the internal affairs of other civilizations. It also applies to students.

A student leader in my employ sought feedback regarding a situation he was facing. Portions of the situation appeared to be borderline campus legal issues. I pointed out some specific areas where I was concerned and discussed possible actions. But I didn't stop there. Just like a helicopter parent, I went into combat mode and made a phone call to one of the parties involved. All before my student had a chance to respond and address the issue. Long story short, although the situation is resolved, I overstepped my boundaries. More like a giant leap.

Star Fleet personnel are not allowed to interfere with the healthy development of alien life and culture. Our role in student affairs is the same: to enable and educate, not intervene or intrude. Except if the intrusion is required for the health or welfare of students.

I quashed a teachable moment by making decisions and not facilitating them. But fortunately, my student turned it into a teachable moment...for me.

At times you seem quite human, Mr. Spock.
Captain, I don't think that insults are within your prerogative as my commanding officer.

When a Hug Is More than a Hug

Repost from the Swift Kick Blog.

Last week I did our Dance Floor Theory training for an Army BOSS conference because just like schools, the Army has an extremely hard time engaging their single Soldiers. According to a 2005 Leisure Needs Survey, 80-95% of single Soldiers never participate in BOSS sponsored activities.

As usual, I set up the idea of building relationship with apathetic Soldiers through Blender events such The Free Hugs Campaign. Then I handed out Free Hug signs and encouraged the group to take the idea outside the session to the rest of the conference. And they continued the campaign all the way to lunch.

As we stood in line to get our food, an older lunch lady with an Eastern European accent pointed at one of the Free Hugs signs from behind the counter. "In my 25 years working here, I've never seen anything like this." She smiled.

I responded, "Well, we'd love to give you a Free Hug, but you're behind the counter." She smiled again and spoke softly, "Oh no, I'm too busy to give hugs." Then she shuffled off to the back room.

I turned to the Soldiers next to me and we all knew, without words, that she not only wanted the Free Hug, but needed it. So we waited by the back room door for our lunch lady to emerge. Two minutes later she opened the door to me and 3 Soldiers with our arms wide open and Free Hug signs. Her face expanded into a smile much larger than it was used to and she embraced us all.

As we let go, her eyes filled with tears and without words she smiled and shuffled back to work.

Sometimes they don't want it.
Sometimes they want it.
And sometimes they need it.

To Brand or Not To Brand... Good Question.

More than any other human attribute, I think I value creativity the most. Wisdom is good, if you've got it. Leadership is pretty high on my list. Heck, I think "kind heartedness" would even run a pretty good race for first. But for me, creativity is a commodity that carries a lot of weight in my department, The CORE (Campus Organizations, Resources and Entertainment).

Like most of you, I get a certain "high" from creating (or "borrowing" from another school - ha!) that certain theme, t-shirt, poster or FaceBook invite that just rocks. I get goose bumps when we run out of specialty give-away items because the students thought they were cool, and they're begging for more. I even get a kick out of using inside humor in a poster or flyer, and students stop by to tell me they "get it."

Connecting with students is what makes my world go round.

But now I feel like that connection has been severed.

Our university recently hired a marketing firm to come in and assess our strengths and weaknesses, especially in regard to how the community views us. In other words, we wanted to take a hard look at our image.

One year and tens of thousands of dollars later, I'm told to do away with my departmental logo.

The marketing firm was convinced that our university had too many "brands" and logos floating around the community, and that, in turn, created mixed messages. I agree.

My department, however, does not market to the general community. I market to students who are already on my campus. I am competing for my students' attention, to some degree, with recreational sports, campus religious student centers, career services and programs, residential living, etc. I need a brand. My department, in itself, is like an agency.

So now we (my department) have to set ourselves apart from the pack. We must get even more bodies to our events. We must measure and assess and evaluate and plan strategically and report and compete. With no brand. With no logo. With no measure of creativity in our printed materials, t-shirts and web pages.

I can get mad, throw a fit and bad-mouth the Powers That Be. (I did, and it felt pretty good for a while.) But when the dust settled, I still had a problem I had to deal with.

You know, I've been around since the days of mimeograph (kids, look it up on your desktop dictionary widget). I've seen desktop publishing come on the block. LED boards. Email. Full-color poster printing. Vinyl signs. Blinky nametags. Cell phones and text messages. University cable t.v. channels.

And you know what?

Deep down, I know that my programming board members can get just as many people at an event with a personal invite, a handshake, and a kind word of encouragement.

Maybe we need to ease up on relying on technology, marketing and numbers to get the job done, and get back to what's really important -- building relationships.

I've decided that this academic year, I'm going to spend more time hanging out in the student union and work on building relationships with students than sitting at my laptop, trying to design what's cool.

I'll let you know how it goes.