I have been engaged in student affairs professional activities since December 1996 when I attended my first Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors meeting in Orlando. Participation in committees made sense for me – I tend to like to get involved and contribute. Over time I’ve held lots of positions in five different higher education associations, authored lots of articles, made many presentations. I tend to read/skim every issue of association magazines and journals

My inclination for involvement is why it is so important that I be intentional: I can get distracted by the bright lights of new journals, conference attendance, and volunteer positions. While it is important to be engaged, managing a commitment to professional development should only come second to doing your job well in the first place.

Recently I developed my individualized professional development plan as a part of our Division of Student Affairs initiative. I chaired the committee that developed the template and I am excited to see how staff adopt the concept.

I have focused on the Core Competency of Human and Organizational Resources and developed four areas of focus:

1. Demonstrate applications of appropriate supervision techniques for staff (intermediate)

2. Implement advanced accounting techniques that include forecasting, efficient use of fiscal resources, and interpretation of fiscal records (intermediate)

3. Determine if the message (verbal and written) communicated is congruent with the desired outcome for the intended recipient or audience (intermediate)

4. Describe how various fundraising strategies are facilitated by student affairs professionals (intermediate)

It is on these competencies that I will focus the next couple of years. I will be intentional about placing myself into position to develop and strengthen these skills.

If you were me, how would you go about developing your professional competence and confidence in these four areas?