Fall 2012

Title: Graduate Assistant: Student Affairs Professional

Description: My experience before the MSHE program was a secondary English teacher.  Throughout the program I started to realize how I did not feel confident as a student affairs professional due to my lack of experience.  Especially since all I knew at the time was teaching high school students.  Many of my classmates had a great amount of experience in student affairs and I had a little experience in student affairs as an undergraduate seven years ago.  I knew I would enjoy Student Affairs, but I first needed to define what it meant to be a leader in student affairs and one way was through a Graduate Assistant position (GA) in student affairs.

Semester: Fall 2012
Learning Domain: Leadership, Personal Development

Learning Outcome:

SWiBAT: Student gained more confidence as a student’s affairs professional through her experience as a GA

	Advanced	Competent	Basic	Needs Improvement
SLO #1 Student will gain more confidence as a student’s affairs professional by gaining experience through a GA.	Student gained more confidence as a student’s affairs professional through her experience as a GA and is able to articulate her philosophy as a student affairs professional.	Student gained more confidence as a student’s affairs professional through her experience as a  GA.	Student did get a GA position, but confidence as student affairs professional did not increase.	Student did not get a GA position.

Evidence

Graduate Assistants of DOS with Dr. Eanes

Valentines Day at the office!

Reflection:

Why did I stop teaching?  A question people ask me many times.  I was the Senior Advisor at a charter school, since we did not have a college/career center or an academic advisor on campus; I assisted students in their preparation for college.  An academic counselor would come to the school to help the students, but she did not work on-campus.  As the Senior Advisor, I would plan and assist with college tours, help with college applications and FAFSA, organize speakers to come speak about trades or other non-college options, etc.  I soon found out that I not only enjoyed teaching, but I also enjoyed assisting students in their transition into college.  Making sure they had the necessary tools to be successful as they started their first year in college. Majority of the students I taught were first generational and did not see college as an option.  If they did see college as an option, many needed guidance on how to get to college.  That is one reason why I wanted to get my Masters in Higher Education.  If I want students to continue their education and go to college, I wanted to effectively assist students in their transition to college.

            As I started the MSHE program, I knew my experience as a teacher would be helpful, but I still felt as if I needed more experience in student affairs.  Especially when it came to understanding organizational structure, hierarchy, politics, and other facets of higher education; this was a new arena for me.  Therefore, I believed if I gained more experience in student affairs that my confidence would increase. So I applied for a few GA positions and had the opportunity of being a GA in Judicial Affairs.  I have learned a lot in Judicial Affairs.  It is helping me gain more understanding about student affairs based upon my responsibilities and interactions with other student affairs professionals.  I am learning about my leadership style which is helping me define my philosophy as student affairs professional.  My lack of confidence was partly due to my lack of experience in student affairs.  I realized that my experience as a teacher was helpful and as a teacher; the lesson plans I created, the activities or the way I taught a lesson was rooted in the needs of the students.  Similar to student affairs, it is about meeting the needs of the students.  Even though my confidence may grow as I learn more about student affairs, I must first realize that no matter where I am I just have to be confident within myself first and what I do not know or understand, confident in my ability to learn.

Based upon my learning outcome, I would rate myself Advanced and Competent.  My confidence level increased a little; therefore, I would put myself in the category of Competent.  The reason why I say Advanced is because I feel my experience as a Graduate Assistant has not only helped me begin to articulate my vision as a student affairs professional, but it has also played apart in my development as a leader.

I also realized the importance of having a mentor.  Having a GA in student affairs helped me gain experience, but part of my lack of confidence was perhaps not really in not having an adequate amount of experience in higher education, but rather lack of understanding.  What would have been helpful was having someone with a vast amount of experience in student affairs I could go and talk to.  Someone who would help me gain a better understanding of the organizational structure, politics, and protocol and procedures, and other facets of higher education.  I realized I needed a mentor.  One of my goals is to seek out mentors in higher education.

Title: Assessment

Description: My fieldwork is in Freshman Programs as a Student Services Professional and my Graduate Assistant posittion (GA) is in Judicial Affairs. In Freshmen Programs there is a Student Services Personnel (SSP), a faculty member and peer mentor to teach a University 100 course. One aspect of the course is bringing in a variety of guest speakers on campus from different departments. The Associate Dean, Sandra Rhoten, from Judicial Affairs gives a presentation at all of the classes on student conduct and assesses their learning through a pre and post survey, entitled (Got Integrity?). Assessment is one area that I needed to grow in. So, as the GA in Judicial Affairs my project involved collecting the surveys and  analyzing the data from the Got Integrity surveys from the University 100 courses in Freshman Program.

Semester: Fall 2012
Learning Domains: Assessment & Evaluation, Education

Learning Outcome:

SWiBAT: Student will be able to determine if the “Got Integrity” pre and post survey for University 100 is effective by analyzing student’s response. 

Assessment Rubric

	Advanced	Competent	Basic	Needs Improvement
SLO #1 Student will be able to determine if the “Integrity Counts” pre and post survey for University 100 is effective by analyzing student’s responses.	Student analyzed the student’s responses from the pre and post survey; also created a report based upon the results.	Student analyzed student’s response from the pre and post “Got Integrity” survey.	Student did not analyze student’s responses from the pre and post survey.	Student did not collect pre and post surveys from students.

Evidence:

Got Integrity
Reflection:

In Judicial Affairs, the Associate Dean Sandra Rhoten would present in each University 100 course about Student Conduct.  She would administer a pre-survey called “Got Integrity”, conduct a one hour presentation about Student Conduct and Integrity, and after the presentation administer a post-survey. I would collect the surveys and grade them after each presentation. Towards the end of the semester, I would send a post-post survey to each faculty member, in order to see what information the students retained. The goal this year was to collect as many post-post surveys as possible. This would help us determine how much information the students remembered from the beginning of the semester until the end of the semester. I would then enter all of the results into the database, analyze the data and write report.

Based upon student’s responses from the surveys, I would say I would be in the category Competent.  Majority of the students increased their score from pre to post. Last year, Judicial Affairs did not receive that many post-post surveys, so the goal this year was to increase the number of responses. This year, out of 24 University 100 courses, I received responses from 17 classes, which was an increase from last year.

Collecting the post-post was a little challenge, since I had to send each faculty member an envelope with the surveys and a self-addressed envelope through campus mail. It was up to the faculty member to find time to administer the post-post survey. I will then grade the post-post survey and input that data. I am looking forward to grading the post-post survey to see if the scores increase or decrease. I have conducted assessments as a teacher, but this is the first time I have worked with assessments at this length and am grateful for the experience.  Although I am still in the process of analyzing the surveys, I learned the challenges of collaboration between academic and student affairs and the amount of time it takes inputting and analyzing data.

Assessment is an on-going process because you are continuously assessing the effectiveness of the program, resource, presentation, etc.  You always want to make sure you are meeting the needs of your students and that if what you are doing is effective. Having Judicial Affairs reach freshman in the University 100 course is a great idea, especially since it is information students need to know. Also, when it comes to assessments, I can see how having a Student Services Professional who has an understanding of assessments can work with a faculty 
member in the classroom, in order to assess the students learning in the Program.

Title: Networking: N4A Conference

Description: Athletics has always been apart me; former student athlete and coach.  As I began to gain experience in higher education, one area of interest is becoming an adviser in an Athletic Department.  Since I do not have a lot of experience in that area, one of my goals was to not only attend a conference about Athletics, but to also network.

Semester: Fall 2012
Learning Domains: Professional Development

Learning Outcome:

SWiBAT: attend a regional conference for Athletics and network with 3 people.

Assessment Rubric:

	Advanced	Competent	Basic	Needs Improvement
SLO #1 Student attended a regional conference for Athletics and networked 3 people	Student attended a regional conference for Athletics, networked with 3 people and followed up with each person	Student attended a regional conference for Athletics and networked 3 people	Student attended a regional conference for Athletics, but did not network with anyone	Student did not attend a regional conference for Athletics

Evidence: 

At N4A Conference at USC.

Reflection:

The MSHE program requires us to attend one regional and one national conference.  I knew I wanted to be strategic in the conferences that I attend and because of my interest in athletics, I wanted to attend a conference geared towards athletics and student affairs.  In doing my research, one organization that I found was N4A (National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics).  The N4A Regional VI conference was held this year in October at University of Southern California (USC).  I was so excited when I found out, it was so close. I prepared for this conference by: contacting the Region VI Director, Jean Boyde,whom I knew from Arizona State University; edited my resume; created my business cards; and familiarized myself with the agenda for each day. I knew I had to take advantage of this opportunity and made sure I got the most out of the conference.  Especially since this is the year I need to start my job search.

            The first night of the conference was more social.  There were representatives from various schools and positions, appetizers, tours of USC's sports facilities; great place to network.  When I saw Mr. Boyde there, he let me know the key people I wanted to make sure I meet and what to say.  I begin to talk to different people and even asked other new Athletic Advisors how they got started in the profession.  Most of them said they completed their fieldwork or GA at the school they presently work at, but the most common response was they learned about the position through someone they knew.  This made it more clear, the power of networking.

The second day of conference I met a key person to know at the community college level.  I talked to him about my interest in advising. I was so nervous about networking, but after this first experience my confidence increased.  Throughout the day I met and exchanged information with more people, approximately 5-7 people.  I was proud of myself. 

Based upon my student learning outcome, I would put myself in the category Advanced.  I networked with at least 5-7 people and followed-up with three people that I met.  Each of them replied back to me and offered to support me as I began my job search.  One contact from Cal State San Bernardino, works in Compliance, and asked me to send him my resume for review.  I met with another contact from Mount San Antonio College and he gave me valuable advice on how to prepare myself for a job in Athletics, especially since my degree is not in counseling.  He also offered me a chance to intern at the school.  I also sent him my resume for review. Although it was discouraging to hear how not having the counseling emphasis in my degree would make it extremely difficult to work at a community college, I was still encouraged to hear about other types of institutions I could still work in. I was glad I was able to attend the conference and meet and talk to people who are in the field I hope to one day work in. 

Title: Theory and Curriculum

Description: In my fieldwork Freshman Programs, we were required to teach five lessons.  As I planned each lesson, I wanted to make sure I incorporated theory in my lessons. I taught a lesson on critical thinking, involvement, time management, budget, and the last lesson was based upon student’s comments on topics they still wanted to see covered in class.

Semester: Fall 2012
Learning Domain: Education, Professional Development

Learning Outcome:

SWiBAT: Use theory to create 3 lesson plans that encouraged continual learning and developmental growth

Assessment Rubric

	Advanced	Competent	Basic	Needs Improvement
SLO #1 Student used theory to create 3 lesson plans that encouraged continual learning and developmental growth	Student used theory to create 5 lesson plans that encouraged continual learning and developmental growth	Student used theory to create 3 lesson plans that encouraged continual learning and developmental growth	Student used theory to create 2 lesson plans that encouraged continual learning and developmental growth	Student did not use theory to create curriculum

Evidence:
Time management Lesson
My example
Reflection:

As I was creating my lesson plans, I would try to figure out which theory I could base my lesson on. Some topics, such as time management and student involvement, were easier than others.  My lesson plan on student involvement stood out the most.  Since I was familiar with Astin’s Student Involvement, it was easier to base my lesson plan on that particular theory.

While I was planning each lesson, I wanted to start with sharing how important it was to be involved on campus and how it helped me when I was an undergraduate.  For student involvement, I wanted to have a guest speaker come in and talk about how they could get involved, guest speakers from clubs/organizations of their choice, then an assignment to make sure they took steps to get involved.  So, the day of the lesson, I started off by sharing how I got involved at Arizona State University.  I was involved in clubs, student-athlete, and I worked on campus.  I shared how I was strategic about where I worked.  My junior year, since my major was in secondary education, I got a work study position in the College of Education.  I also worked as a tutor in a program called America Reads and I was a peer mentor and after graduation an instructor in First Year Experience course.  I shared how my involvement on campus made me feel connected and to this day I still feel connected to the school.  For example, I still look forward to the alumni football games and football season.  I even talked to the students about Astin’s involvement theory.  Before I taught the lesson I had the students give me a list of clubs/organizations and perhaps types of clubs they were interested in and I contacted them to see who could come to the class and give a 3-5 minute presentation.  The students gave me a list of about 20 clubs/organizations.  We had four clubs/organizations come to the class.  In order for students to apply what they learned, they had to go to the Involvement website and complete an Interest Form.  I also gave extra credit to students who went or joined a club/organization on campus.  My assessment was based upon the students who completed the Interest survey and attended a meeting.  Only 4 students out of 22 did not complete the Interest Form and from the students I talked to, almost half attended a meeting or joined an organization.  Many of students said they wanted to first see how demanding the first semester of college would be and then plan on getting more involved in the Spring.

Based upon my learning outcome, I would place myself in the category Competent.  Out of the five lessons that I taught, I incorporated theory in three of the lesson plans; involvement, time management, and budget.  The two theories that I incorporated into curriculum was Astin’s student involvement theory and Tinto’s transitional theory.  Based upon the coursework in the Masters of Science Higher Education (MSHE) program, I was introduced to student involvement and transitional theory.  In Astin’s student involvement theory, I understood that students needed to feel involved and connected to their campus and in Tinto’s theory, since the students in the University 100 course were freshman, they are facing a major transition from high school to college and them being connected to their campus is vital to their success in college.

 For the critical thinking lesson, I would have used a cognitive theory as I planned my lesson.  For the last lesson where it was based upon what the students wanted to know, it was a mixture of information; therefore, I did not see how I would use theory.  I created a handout and presentation with information about studying, resources, classes, etc.