Leadership

The Ongoing Search for Student Affairs Competence: Becoming the Well-Rounded Student Affairs Professional

Dan

The search for competence: it’s the framework I have used for this blog since its inception just over a year ago. The ongoing quest to be our best is a part of a career in student affairs. Through the simple search for competence we actually can become better and more confident in our work.When we become better we are more equipped to serve our students. The best student affairs professionals I know put students first, but they don’t sacrifice their own learning: they are deeply committed to ongoing professional engagement and development.

However, I believe that the majority of student affairs professionals do not focus on developing the entire set of skills and prefer often to focus on only a few at a time (and possibly only a few at all). I am convinced that our pursuit to be really good at one thing will ultimately be a downfall in modern-day student affairs work. We can’t afford for you to rock at advising when your understanding of legal issues is dismal. We can’t afford for you to be a great supervisor but have zero concern with assessment of your programs.

Student affairs is an ironic field: those who come into the field through a student affairs preparation program, are typically taught to be generalists but new professionals often go into functional area positions that are specialists such as residence life, advising, fraternity/sorority life, and career development. While our generalist skills might come in handy now and then, we default to what defines us as specialists: advising residents in your learning community, helping students schedule their classes, aiding leaders in managing complex organizations, and counseling students as they determine potential career paths. We focus so much on specific skills that those we don’t (or choose not to) use routinely just go by the wayside. The best athletes practice all parts of their game and work all parts of their bodies – therefore, shouldn’t the best student affairs professionals practice every part of ours?

Enhancing our competence in all areas of student affairs work requires an intention that many student affairs professionals lack: as we are so responsive to the demands of our students, we often forget to take the time to determine pathways for strengthening our competence and confidence in all the skills necessary to student affairs work. We are not bad professionals for this, in fact if the metrics that people around us care about is how accessible we are to students, then you might be perceived well; however, are you truly developing the competence you need to interact with all of those students? What skills would make you even better at serving your students?

Well-rounded student affairs professionals are important to our field. We have to create environments in which all staff are clear that expertise in an area is good but some level of understanding in all areas is expected.

At the University of Memphis, we have been intentional about creating a framework for ongoing professional development. All training sessions tie back to the ACPA/NASPA Professional Competency areas. Next week we will have our annual Spring Break Professional Development Challenge; participants are encouraged to take part in as many sessions as they can fit into their week (it is spring break) and each session addresses at least one of the 10 professional competencies. I love this week and almost 40 of our staff must also appreciate the opportunity because they have signed up for at least one training!

It’s our hope that this intention will help our staff realize what they know now, what they need to know, and how they can fill the gaps between what they are expected to do and their current skill set. To help others, I have highlighted those I find to be most engaged in their work and ongoing professional development in our weekly newsletter. We can all learn from examples and aspire to be like those who are the most focused on high levels of professional engagement and ongoing development.

We also have developed an individualized professional development plan, using the Competency areas, that can be used to help staff figure out how to accomplish their professional goals. The value of professional development has become an ethos here: coming down from our VPSA, through her AVPs and permeating the director/associate dean level.

Personally, I believe we can do even more! I’d love to see all staff be held accountable for demonstrating at least the basic level of the ACPA/NASPA Competency areas. What if we had to prove annually that we worked on one attribute within the  basic level of each competency area? What if our work was evaluated on our demonstration of each competency level? It would require a high level of intentionality and we’d be laser focused on being the best we can be in order to make a difference in the lives of students. We have to be more intentional to become the well-rounded student affairs professional we are needed in modern day higher education.

What are your professional goals? What competencies do you need to work on to reach your goals? How would you rate yourself in each of the 10 Professional Competencies?

Sometimes change sticks, and sometimes it hangs there for a bit and slides down the wall

Dan

When spaghetti is ready it will stick on the wall. When it’s not, it just slides down, indicating to the chef that more time is needed. It’s an interesting analogy to the concept of change.

Change happens all the time. Each of us are likely engaged in some change effort right now. I’ve led some change initiatives and have been fortunate to be involved in lots of discussions that involve “making a change”. I tend to like change.

However, change can be really uncomfortable, particularly when people don’t know all the facts. Those in the highest positions are trying new things – seeing what sticks. Leaders have good intentions to be transparent – discussing issues, positing approaches, suggesting systemic change approaches. Transparency is by and large the best tactic…BUT, people read into messages and decisions. Sometimes transparency breeds speculation, particularly in times of significant change.

The rest of us are asked to respond to ideas that might come across as etched in stone when they’re nothing more than a passing conversation between two people who have decision power. When ideas are thrown out there they have implications as people struggle to work through logistics of implementing new and different ideas only to find out days (maybe hours) later that it was only an idea. Those tasked with implementing the change ideas are going to spend a lot of time answering the questions of nervous staff who feel threatened or at risk. It’s obvious that saying “give it some time and we’ll know for sure” is not an effective spin strategy.

It’s almost like we need some way to know what’s a change that is sticking and what is a change that is up for discussion. Perceptions of idea traction can be deceiving. Really, we should just assume that nothing is finalized until someone says it is.

What we all should take from change initiatives is that leaders are looking to address financial, structural, political and other forces that are at play. Those things keep happening around us and leaders must respond by indicating they are working toward improvements and change. Problem is that the rest of us have to take a wait and see or hold on tight while we change directions yet again.

How do you perceive change? What aspects make you feel uncomfortable? When have you seen change stick well?

How Professional Association Conferences Give Me Life and Drain the Hell Out of Me

Dan

I attended my 18th Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors Annual Meeting in December. I’ve written previously about  how attendance at a functional area association, even one outside of my day to day work and after 18 years of work in student affairs, is still an opportunity to learn about good work in the field of student affairs. In addition to learning, professional and personal relationships I’ve developed through AFA give me a sense of belonging and hope.

All of this aside, professional associations also drain me and give me cause to worry about our field. Here’s how one experience can both enriching and draining all at the same time.

Learning: I attend conferences to learn. I do this in three ways: attend sessions, facilitate sessions, and connect with colleagues to talk about issues. Student affairs association conferences, for the most part, tend to have good content and good facilitators doing the work. I always feel like I’m learning, even in sessions that might be “routine” for me. I have a learning orientation, but….

Not everyone does. Student affairs professionals must realize that we are not at conferences to vacation. Resources are put behind us to participate: Time away from work, money from the dwindling higher education budgets, etc. If I could change one thing about how people approach their time at professional conferences it would be that everyone would recognize this need to learn and then teach others. Additionally, no matter how much fun you have or how many relationships you want to nurture (for personal and professional reasons), attending sessions is tantamount. It is not in question: you go to things, you participate in learning for some significant period of time each day at the conference and then you share what you learned with others upon return.

Relationships: I attend conferences to maintain and nurture relationships. These are  professional and personal and often both. I appreciate those who have mentored and supported me and I try to pass that on to others. I enjoy time talking through issues. I enjoy time at dinner. At the bar. I enjoy time exercising before sessions start. I truly enjoy these relationships, but….

These relationships can be draining: some are terrific and there’s not so much an issue with the relationship but more about the time spent nurturing them. Staying up all night hanging with friends is something that’s particularly challenging if I also want to prioritize my learning. I have to figure out how to spend better time with people rather than less. There are also some relationships I need to spend time on repairing and some that I need to let go of – not for any reason other than I can’t be everything to everyone. My best self never shows up in that scenario.

Because I value supporting others, I find that I spend a lot of time at AFA in particular, but at any conference, I want to mentor and support. This means lots of hallway conversations, coffee and lunch meetings, fitting in discussions between sessions or at dinner, the bar, etc. I won’t stop doing this BUT it is time away from some of my prioritized relationships; can I support others while being supported myself?

Drama: Associations come with drama (don’t even get me started on the ACPA/NASPA consolidation matter) and AFA is no stranger to this. It’s particularly salient in AFA because (1) we’re a relationship oriented function, (2) not everyone plays nice together in the sandbox, and (3) for me, I’ve been so engaged in so many ways that I traverse in different circles, know different things, etc.

I see nothing valuable about unfounded drama. Sometimes the conversations that result from discussions (i.e. the never ending perception of an in/out crowd in professional associations, members’ perceptions of how leaders are doing) can be powerful, rewarding, learning experiences, but…

I have to step away from the drama. I often think I’m not immersed in it, but I become immersed because I respond to it. Because I value relationships, I want to ensure that all have the right information and we all know drama comes from perceptions that something isn’t right and that someone wasn’t involved or didn’t have the right information.

I also wonder if the drama continues to suck the life out of the relationships, how can we make progress? How can we move beyond territory and ownership to shared goals? Prevalent in AFA and any association, this is a real problem in student affairs: are we always truly about the right things or do we let personal hangups influence our work?

So, what does this mean for me and how can someone take this and use it for their own association experience:

1. If I am focused on learning, how can I do this in a way that doesn’t exhaust me. I am less willing to compromise the learning orientation but I also may need to be less involved in creating the learning experiences. Maybe going to sessions or facilitating one or two sessions rather than facilitating five is a good idea for me.

2. If I am focused on relationships, what do I need to do to prioritize the ones that matter most, incorporate opportunities for mentoring and relationship building, and minimize the time spent in interactions that may be valuable/important but not priorities? How can I ensure relationship building occurs and still get enough sleep to prioritize learning?

3. If I am focused too much on drama, or fixing perceptions, I get wrapped up in the things that drain me the most. My investment in professional associations is meaningful and I demonstrate care through my contributions. However, I can’t change the perception of all persons and I need to determine when I have crossed the line between getting involved in meaningful discussions about the future of an organization and the experiences of members and that of being dragged down into drama ridden, mean or spiteful. and often uninformed conversations.

We’ll see how I do. I don’t get as invested in ACPA or NASPA issues and tend to focus my learning and relationship orientations pretty well there. I imagine trying out this new balancing approach to engagement in professional associations, specifically their conferences, will end up with lots of hiccups rather than perfection, but I am committed to trying.

What are your experiences like in professional associations? How do you engage at conferences? What do you love and hate about these organizations?

What student affairs professionals can learn from the series finale of Breaking Bad

Dan

Since last night’s finale, I’ve had Breaking Bad on the mind. It may be one of the best television shows I have ever watched. When I was driving to work this a.m. I was thinking of all I had to do this week and then my mind went back to Breaking Bad. At some point this morning, it occurred to me that some of the lessons from the series finale can be applied to student affairs. Mild spoilers are included, but nothing too revealing.

1. Deliver on your promises without compromise. Throughout the season, Vince Gilligan (creator, writer) has promised to wrap up stories in a way that would be satisfying. The series finale did this and there’s really no unanswered questions remaining. It occurred to me that this is similar to how we should approach annual planning, reporting and assessment processes. As we develop goals as departments and divisions, we should ensure these goals drive our work (much as resolution drove Gilligan to write the finale as he did). Realizing these goals and documenting the processes used is a vital part of demonstrating leadership in student affairs work.

2. Examine why it is you do this work (and determine to what extent that’s ok). Without giving too much away, Walter makes a confession to his wife – he had justified his “work” because it was for his family. Last night, he admitted it was because it made him feel alive and valued. Why do you do student affairs work? Is it because you define yourself through how students value you? Or is it because you aim to add value to the lives of students? There’s a difference. Consider your personal foundations, what drives you to do this work?

3. There is calm after the storm. Two episodes prior to the finale (Ozymandias), the world comes undone for Walter and other characters. It was arguably the best hour of the show I have watched. However, the final two episodes don’t live up to the pace or drama of Ozymandias (though PARTS of the finale feel as edge of your seat awesome). During these two episodes things were wrapped up, relationships were examined, Walt went into and came out of hiding, etc. The pace was different and I think many audience members may have felt let down. Well, we shouldn’t.

Many of us who work in student affairs take a breath after a large scale event and to some extent we might miss the activity and interactions around the event. What we should do is come to value the times when we are not driven by someone else’s agenda and develop our own – get caught up on other projects, develop reports, document program successes. All things we can do better in our student affairs work.

I believe we can learn a lot from a show like Breaking Bad (not to mention the anti-drug campaigns that are very helpful). I think pop culture teaches us about who were are and allows us to reflect on what we should and could do. What are lessons you’ve learned from Breaking Bad? Other shows? Music? How do you apply those in your work?

 

 

As you develop that strategic plan, realize it will likely fail

Dan

I am a big fan of strategic planning. I think it’s vital. I’ve been a part of a few dozen efforts either as a participant or consultant. They’ve been vital to my professional development. They’ve helped me make mortgage payments.

But I have found that most strategic planning processes will fail.

There’s some danger in me saying this, but I have seen it too often. So, considering I have said that it is vital but it is also prone to failure, why do you bother? Well, the key is knowing what needs to be done differently. Here’s what I’ve seen happen when it goes well and is done right.

1. There are multiple champions. In previous posts I’ve written about infusing awareness across functional areas to increase the attention on developing competencies. This blog post focuses on the leadership competency of the ACPA and NASPA Professional Competencies. People believe that leadership equals LEADER, but what I’ve seen is there is a need for many to lead and to do so from wherever they are in the organizational chart. The same is true with strategic planning. There has to be at least one really good champion and multiple parts of the cheering squad on board. Take the time to invest people to champion attention to the strategic priorities of your organization.

2. It’s not so much a plan as a philosophy. People love to see the final plan but in this case the process is as important as the product. Additionally, the implementation is more than just attention to the document. There has to be an ethos of strategic THINKING, not just PLANNING. As you develop the document engage people in discussions about how to anchor the changes in the culture. How can you create an environment in which people think mission, vision, values, goals FIRST and then launch into action every day?

3. The laundry list doesn’t work. I’ve been as guilty as anyone in thinking “we need to get it all on paper so everyone knows our plans and how they fit in”. Actually, too much of a good thing is simply too much here. Focusing on a few key actions to help facilitate the strategic priorities is better than brainstorming a list of several. For example, if your strategic priority is to retain students then having four to five action items, broadly written, can be better than having 20 very specific ones. You can flush out the specifics when you develop operational plans. In fact, give your broad items off to a separate committee to develop operational plans. Think of it as the Myers-Briggs spectrum – big thinking vs. detail oriented. Strategic thinkers have to go wide. Operational planners need to go deep.

4. The plan is seen as static or unchangeable. People like to think 5-10 years in strategic planning. I’m not sure that people can create a road map to the future with that long of a distance in mind. I’d go three at most. It’s like saying that you’re driving from New Hampshire to California (which I have done) and the map you create in New Hampshire will not and cannot change. Life throws things in your way. Strategic planning is no different. Yes, mission, vision, goals/strategic priorities/objectives, values may all stay the same but actions and especially how you operationalize those actions through tactics should be revisited annually. Therefore, strategic planning isn’t a thing you work through every five years; because you’ve adopted strategic planning as a philosophy (see number 2) you then take time throughout each year to revisit, reaffirm and revise.

The leadership competency has a strong focus in ensuring the planning process occurs and taking the time to think with innovation about the future. What can you do to ensure your next planning process doesn’t fail? How can you create a culture of attention to the plan? These are questions I plan to ask when I’m next involved in a planning process.