Jason, thanks so much for spending your valuable time with the students enrolled in my class this summer. They are all Ph.D.-level students enrolled in a course we call "Student Affairs Administration." I've been impressed by their engaging nature, and it's been fun to watch them discuss issues and debate the challenges they've observed in the early phases of this course.
For starters, how about addressing this collection of questions, and we'll see what discussion unfolds from the class?
1.) Describe your path in your career, the key points of your decision making, the forces that got you to where you are now.
2.) What are the key things you've learned about yourself and how you work and what the rewards are for you.
3.) Describe a challenging, difficult situation you've faced, how you handled it, and what you learned from it.
Thanks, Jason, I look forward to reading the discussion points.
Best to Melissa and MacKenzie!
Best,
TEM
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone, because I am a talker (Tom can verify this) I have broken the three questions into three posts. This is my first time commenting on a blog so I apologize for the length - I will do my best to be short and succinct in future replies.
ReplyDelete1.) My career started out as most student affairs professionals – cutting my teeth in residence life and housing. Like many student affairs professionals today, my exposure to student affairs professionals during my undergraduate career influenced my career path greatly. I began studying Political Science at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1993. Unbeknownst to me, my residence director during my freshman and sophomore year would be one of the main influences on my post-undergraduate life. Fast forward to my junior year – I decided that I hated politics and decided to change majors to Sociology with a double minor in Political Science and Criminology. During my 4th year in school I decided that the student affairs profession was the direction for me. During my five years at Miami I have many stories I could share from being a: resident assistant; summer orientation leader; student worker in the judicial officer; nightclub bouncer, bartender; and even an undercover drug buyer (lots of stories from my internship). However, it is the experiences from my roles in student affairs that really impacted me and helped navigate me toward student affairs.
ReplyDeleteI graduated and went to Virginia Tech in 1998 to pursue my M.A. Ed. degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. I worked in housing for two years as a graduate hall director with my internship in judicial affairs. I wrote a thesis and was lucky enough to be published in the Journal of College Student Development (feel free to Google me) on alcohol and student leaders. I graduated and became an international sensation. Ok, so maybe not an international sensation (haha) but I did become an international student affairs professional by accepting a job as the Director of Housing and Residence Life at Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland. It was an amazing and life-changing experience. However, (after my cup of coffee/espresso as Tom likes to call it) I decided to return to the states due to the departure of some of my colleagues and the failing health of my grandfather in Florida. I ended up accepting a housing position as Assistant Director of Housing at Eckerd College.
At Eckerd College I met my mentor, Dr. Tom Miller, and also my wife, Melissa, who incidentally worked for Tom. Tom left a few months after I started to become Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students at USF. Due to philosophical differences with the Eckerd administration of the importance of alcohol in collegiate life, I and the other Assistant Director resigned our positions. While I only worked at Eckerd for 10 months, those 10 months were instrumental in shaping where I am now and the professional I am today.
Heading to USF was not a financially sound decision at the time, but it was a decision of the heart. Melissa was going to enter the CSA graduate program at USF in August and I knew that this was the woman I wanted to marry so when Tom said I have a temporary job in the student conduct office (60% time), I accepted it. A year later I was the interim director and in 2004 following a national search I became the Associate Dean of Students responsible for the management of the student conduct office. I remained in this position until my departure in July 2008 when I left sunny Florida for IUPUI where I currently serve as the Dean of Students. After six years as a conduct officer (that is double the tenure of many in the field) I decided it was time to move and gain more experience. This was a very tough decision because USF was my home and I was very proud of the program I had built and the relationships I had created. Regrets? No, it was time and ultimately it was a personal decision as well so that Melissa, Mackenzie (our daughter – almost 1 at the time) and I could be closer to family.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete2.) In the last 11 years as a professional I have been very lucky to have a wide breadth of experience from international, to private, to public institutions. I have learned that making an ethical decision may not make you popular, but it does provide personal resolve and builds character. I have learned that there will definitely be tough days no matter what the job, but the rewards – the impact you can have on students make those tough days pale in comparison the satisfaction you feel when you have truly made a difference in the life of a student. This is something that I think can be difficult for professionals in student conduct to remember from time to time because the job typically does not involve students expressing their “thanks” for being referred for an alleged violation of the student code of conduct. The rewards also change as one matures as a professional. One of my rewards now is the ability to leave the office around 5pm and go home and see my family. Before Mackenzie was born I might not leave the office until 7pm. So as priorities shift, rewards shift. I am rewarded when I see the staff reporting to me accomplish great things and receive accolades. My rewards are also the relationships that are created with colleagues – colleagues that can speak the student affairs language and appreciate the daily work. One thing I have definitely learned is that “politics” can be found at each and every institution and you can either drive yourself crazy trying to understand everything, or learn to work within the politics of a given institution. It is very important to pick and choose your battles.
ReplyDeleteFrom a student conduct perspective I have learned that it takes a special kind of person to do this work and I have the utmost respect and admiration for those that do it. No one teaches you how to be a specific type of student affairs professional while in graduate school. Graduate school provides you a basis, but you learn to be a professional through your graduate assistantships, your first jobs, and from the people around you. Sometimes describing someone as a sponge can carry a negative connotation, however, I think being a sponge is a great way for new student affairs professionals to grow and learn. The advice I provide to student conduct administrators is that when it becomes too easy for you to remove a student from school and you do not think about that decision and process it even after having made it, then it is probably time for you to move on to a new job. I was not at that point when I left USF, but burnout is a real issue in student conduct. A great article was published in About Campus in the January/February 2007 issue by Kate Linder titled “I’m Glad Someone Does It!” If you have time, this is a great article to read and really sums up what it means to be a conduct officer.
3.) One of the most challenging situations I have faced occurred August 29, 2006. It was on this day that I experienced a very rare and challenging situation – I was attacked by a student during a disciplinary meeting. Long story short, I was placed in a choke-hold by a 6’7”, 285 pound 27 year old male and had to fight him for two minutes until the police arrived. Luckily I have a 17 ½ inch neck and even though he had me by almost 100 pounds I was not going to let follow through on his declaration of intent to kill me or harm my staff. Believe it or not, what went through my head for the first 10 seconds of being choked by this man was whether or not it was okay to punch a student. Once my brain started working and answered YES, then I entered the longest two minutes of my professional career. He went to jail and I went to the hospital to check out my neck and my sore ribs (I had to tackle him onto my couch at one point when he was heading toward my staff).
ReplyDeleteFollowing the incident I took three days off but I did make an appearance the next day at a student affairs function so that everyone would know that I was ok. Of course there were some knee-jerk reactions of suggestions of changing the process and that all meetings should be conducted by two individuals, but I held firm that this was a freak occurrence and that changes were not necessary and would only negatively impact the interaction between student and administrator. The hard part was handling the misinformation and rumors. It sounds crazy, but I actually protected the student that attacked me because I would not comment to the media about what happened because it occurred during a student conduct meeting and technically was protected. If people really wanted the story, they could always obtain a copy of the police report.
One thing I did learn was to trust my gut and not think of myself as invincible and able to help everyone. At one point I had picked up the phone to call the police but ended up putting it down thinking I could help him. I did up until a point where he “snapped” and there was no helping him anymore. What I have learned as a result of this incident I have passed along to other professionals through presentations about protecting oneself and thinking about what you might do in a life-threatening situation. I would be lying if I said I was not a little nervous the next time I had an upset student in my office, but I handled the situation as I had a thousand other times and redirected that anger and helped the student to calm down. As I said before, what happened to me was extraordinary and I have never met anyone else that has encountered a similar situation, but I have learned to be a little more cautious depending on the circumstances of the situation.
Hi Jason: I am Chris Combie from St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I did my undergrad at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, MI and my master's at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI. (I gather that the weather is not an issue in Indiana!) I have a couple of questions:
ReplyDelete1. What was the adjustment like to Franklin College in Switzerland? How did you conform to higher education standards different from those in the U.S. if any? Was the language a barrier or was English predominant?
2. Referring to your resignation at Eckerd College, is there ever a time in one's career/life when one should confront a situation rather than walk away (i.e. your philosophical differences with the administration over alcohol in collegiate life)?
Thank you for your time.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you and thanks for the questions.
1. The adjustment was definitely interesting. I accepted the position site unseen so I really had no idea what to expect. The language of instruction at Franklin is English, but the campus student population is very diverse. Only 45% of the campus was from North America, the remaining 55% of the students came from 56 other countries. Lugano is located in the canton of Ticino and the main language is Italian - so I enrolled in an Italian language class to assist in my transition. Higher education standards were fairly similar because the school was accredited through middle states if I recall correctly. That was the allure for many of the non-American students. This was an opportunity for a student to get a degree accredited through the United States but not have to go to the United States. As you can expect, we had a decent Arab/Muslim population. Lunchtime was fascinating because the room was melting pot of languages. Personally, I think that immersion is the best way to learn the language and to gain somewhat of an appreciation of what international students experience when coming to the states. I will never forget my first visit to the Migros (the grocery store) and nothing was in English. Milk wasn't even kept cold! Another difference is student behavior. Alcohol was really only an issue for the American students. When the resident director and I went to the Pub, it was strange to engage students while sipping a cold beverage, but we also had the opportunity to role model appropriate drinking behavior.
2. Yes, there are times to confront situations rather than walk away - you simply have to be prepared for the consequences. What I didn't share in my original post was that I had confronted the behavior and nothing changed. In the end I was not going to win a battle against the President's perspective. So, I exited as gracefully as possible leaving the program in the best shape that I could. As I said earlier, I believe that you have to pick and choose your battles and the uniqueness of each situation will help to dictate the course of action. At the same time, discussion with trusted colleagues is also important because sometimes you can be too close to an issue to fully appreciate all the parameters. In the Eckerd situation I had many conversations with trusted colleagues and that was very helpful.
Great questions and I look forward to our continued discussion.
Jason
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Kelly Pearson. I am currently an Academic Advisor at USF; however I have worked in many of the areas that you mentioned in your introduction. I received both my Bachelors in Business Administration and my Masters in Student Personnel in Higher Education from UF.
You mentioned that you decided to change your career path to Student Affairs while in your 4th year of undergrad. When you made this decision, where did you see yourself going in the field? Did you have a specific goal in mind? Also, where do you see your career moving from here?
Thank you.
Hi Kelly,
ReplyDeleteYes, I had decided that law school was not the direction I wanted to go and having been a student leader in many different capacities that this seemed like a good profession for me to pursue. I figured that I would start off in housing and residence life or in student conduct. Ultimately, I thought it would be great to be a Dean of Students. While in graduate school I half-jokingly said it would be great to be a college president one day. Not sure I see myself as a college president at some point in the future, but I would like to be a Dean of Students or a VP of Student Affairs at a smaller institution (less than 10,000). I enjoy working at large institutions but there is something special about working at a smaller institution where you can really make connections with students.
Currently I am also pursuing my PhD in Higher Education Leadership at Indiana State University. It is a great and intense full-time program designed for full-time professionals. I am in my third semester this summer and will finish my coursework in spring 2012 followed by quals and then the big paper. After I complete my PhD I will likely begin a selective job search. It is possible that I could stay at IUPUI longer, but that would depend on future salary issues (I am paying for school on my own since I am enrolled in a non-IU program).
Thanks for the questions.
Jason
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Tyler Dean. My background is in nursing and nursing education. I was wondering what skills or knowledge you obtained while working overseas that you found most helpful working in the states or that would have been more difficult to acquire if you didn’t work abroad?
Also, you touched on the subject of burnout. As the role of student affairs continues to change, besides working long hours or changes in viewpoints with the president as you described, are there other factors that you have come across that have led to student affairs administrators unsatisfied or leading to burnout?
Hey Jason,
ReplyDeleteRemember me? I know I've met you before! Glad to see you are moving up the career ladder and also pursuing your PhD! I was curious about your current position - how much student contact do you have and what is the typical nature of the interactions? Are you dealing with a lot of parents? Do you feel that as you get into higher-level administration that you are still able to have the impact on students that you did at earlier points in your career? That is one of my concerns - I want to advance, but I don't want to advance so far that all I do is go to meetings and never have contact with students (which is obviously why I got into this field in the first place).
Jaymi Butler
Hi Jason! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Ana Torres-Ayala. I'm a doctoral candidate in the Higher Education/College Teaching program and the Graduate Assistant for Dr. Miller this Summer. My background is in engineering (both BS and MEng). I'm originally from Puerto Rico but I've spent most of my adult life in the US.
You mentioned that one of the rewards of your current position is that you can leave the office at 5PM and go to your family. I tend to assume that higher level positions require more time commitment. When you went to IUPIU, did you know that it would be easier to balance work/life? Any advice on that regard, as we consider different career options in Higher Education.
Also, could you talk a bit more about how you now assess the situation with upset students in light of your experiences? What are the red flags and how do you handle it now?
Thanks!
Hi Tyler,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to student affairs. I think one of the skills that I acquired was that of adaptability. When you live abroad - everything is different and your mindset has to adapt to the changing situations. The issues that international students may have can be very similar to American students but also very different. I will never forget having a disciplinary conversation (one of the few I had while abroad - less than ten) with a Muslim student. After the end of our conversation the student said to me: "I was raised to believe that the Americans are the 'white devil' but you treated me with respect and were very different. Thank you."
After the student left, I sat back in my chair and thought to myself - this type of conversation would probably never happened to any of the students from my cohort back in the United States. Moments like this allowed me to experience diversity on a whole different level. I know that my experience working internationally has helped me a great deal because it provided me the opportunity to live and work in a environment where I was not a part of the majority. I am sure that students can gain some of this perspective when you study abroad, but I think that actually living and working abroad defines the experience even more. I highly recommend it if possible.
In regard to your inquiry about factors leading to burnout. I think that finances can definitely be a factor. This is not a field where you get rich - rich with experiences, but not rich with money. Don't get me wrong, as you progress through the years and move into higher-level positions that pay can increase, but the typical coordinator makes $30,000 in the first few years. That can be difficult when you begin comparing yourself to friends in more lucrative fields. A coupled factor influencing burnout is that some positions can be very "thankless" - you can read about this in the About Campus article I mentioned in my original posting. Sometimes student affairs can be very draining, but the impact you can have on a student can be amazing - you just might not see it right away. Student affairs is like a distance race - the finish line is not for sprinters and I think many people leave the field because they did not consider this a long-term race/career.
Just my two cents for what it is worth.
Hope that answered your question.
Jason
Hi Jaymi,
ReplyDeleteI definitely remember the name, but for the life of me I can't picture your face (very sorry!).
My current job does not have as much student contact as I did when I was at USF. The following areas are currently part of my portfolio: Campus Recreation; Student Rights, Responsibilities and Conduct; Student Advocate; Counseling and Psychological Services; and a portion of Student Health. I also chair the Behavioral Consultation Team on campus. When I do have student contact it is either attendance at an event, working with student government, or when a student needs assistance/help. I don't investigate allegations of student misconduct like I used to at USF so my student contact is much lower. Yes, I do believe that as you move into higher-level positions your student contact can decrease, but I also think this depends on the type of position and type of campus. On large public institutions the higher-level positions can lead to less student contact, but I think on smaller campuses that contact can still be high because of the visibility. It also depends on the type of administrator that one wants to be and if that can fit into the role of the position. When I have contact with parents it is typically when they are visiting campus with their prospective student or unfortunately when their student has made some big mistakes or has passed away.
I do think I can still have an impact on students that I do engage, but it is very different from the impact I had as a residence life or student conduct professional. I understand your concern about not wanting to move too far away from contact with students, but you have the ability to manage that in different ways. One way that you might remain engaged is to become an adviser to a student organization. You might also get involved in civic engagement on campus. As I said, on a smaller campus, I think you can make the position much more student centered. When Tom was the VP/Dean of Students at Eckerd College he definitely still had a great deal of interaction with students and he was the SSAO (senior student affairs officer). So, in lawyer-speak, it all depends. These are the questions to ask when you interview for new positions so that you can be sure to find the job that is the right fit for the type of professional you want to be.
Good to hear from you Jaymi - hope all is well!
All the best,
Jason
Hi Ana,
ReplyDeleteNo, I wasn't sure I would be able to leave the campus around 5pm when I took this job. I do think that upper-level positions do take more time, but I think that more of the time is spent communicating through email/projects/reports than being present in an office all hours of the night. I do a lot of work at home in the evening after 9:30pm when my wife goes to bed. Unfortunately, technology has made it so that sometimes we cannot "leave" work, but when I come home, I want to be dad and husband and try not to do any work until after Mackenzie and Melissa are asleep (unless it is important and I need to respond). I still check my email on my phone, but may not respond until later at night. I also think it depends on how you manage your time. I eat my lunch in my office, so I really don't take a lunch break because I am still working. It also depends on the type of boss you have. If you have a boss that values family/personal time, then you can make it work much easier - ultimately the work is still going to be there the next day. Being in a full-time PhD program makes it a bit harder, but I am managing so far and only 1 year of coursework left!
My advice, find the balance that works for you. If not, burnout could definitely be on the horizon. For some people, student affairs is their life and I don't fault them for that if that is the choice that they made - but it is important to not self-judge yourself or others based on the choices they are making. Work that arrangement out with your supervisor and at the end of the day don't worry about what others think or say.
To be a good conduct officer you have to be like a duck and let the water roll off your back. So, many times the things that might shock others, don't necessarily raise the concerns of a student conduct professional. I think the key is to not think of yourself as invincible and that sometimes you might not be able to help everyone. I have created a great document to help faculty and staff on our campus recognize the signs of concern (you can find it at http://bct.iupui.edu under resources). If you are going to deliver bad news to someone, think about where you are doing that and who else knows that you are having this conversation. A little pre-planning can go a long way. In my case, I always thought that I could talk anyone out of a bad situation so our panic buttons were not operational. Panic buttons are not a shield but that can be useful in unpredictable situations. If you are teaching a class and the behavior of a student becomes concerning or disruptive, don't hesitate to take a class break and then contact the campus police. Dealing with the situation in the middle of class (or the heat of the moment) could just make the outcome all the worse.
Let me reiterate that my experience being attacked was extraordinary. However, I have used that story in the presentations I do on Identifying and Responding to Concerning, Disruptive, or Violent Behavior on Campus.
Not sure if I have completely answered your question, but I think the most important thing to do is to trust your gut.
Thanks,
Jason
Everyone,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the questions/comments and should you have any future questions, feel free to contact me at jtspratt@iupui.edu. I have enjoyed participating in this blog. I will continue to check it for a while just in case you have other questions/posts. I wish you the best of luck in your continued career.
Sincerely,
Jason
Thank You Jason for taking the time to share your career experiences and answer our questions. Best wishes in all your endeavors!
ReplyDeleteAna