Student Affairs

22
Mar/15

Student Affairs Conferences & Higher Ed – Some Parallels

by under About Me, Associations, Personal Thoughts, Student Affairs, Technology

As I sit here at home in California and participate on the Twitter back channel for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) 2015 national conference in New Orleans, it dawned on me that this conference and other higher ed conferences are like higher education in some ways. This post is not an analysis of what’s right or what’s wrong with higher education or the NASPA and other similar conferences. They’re just observations.

The purpose for attending varies. For some, it’s to get a job by interviewing with campuses at The Placement Exchange (TPE) or connecting with potential employers at other universities during the conference. For some to learn new ideas via the sessions, for some to network and build their social capital, and maybe for some, they were asked to attend by their organizations, and yet for others, a chance to vacation and visit a nice city.

The cost of attendance can be considered expensive. I can’t attend this year because of the combined cost of attendance. There are no shortage of literature and stories about the rising cost of tuition and attending higher education. Also, a big portion of attendance costs is travel, accommodation, food, and clothes. Some folks paid independently, while others received assistance from their organizations or sponsors.

The conference is bound by time and location. While there are virtual sessions and recorded sessions are available after the event, it’s not the same as being in New Orleans. The sessions are generally presentations for about 50 minutes, just like lectures, and the level of interaction between the speakers and the audience can be limited. Technology is used to extend the conference but as it is used, is it considered transformative when it comes to using it for learning/education?

Learning is hard to measure. If one of the conference’s goals is to learn new ideas, how does one know how much and what they have learned? What’s the proof/measure of learning? Colleges provide diplomas as proof that the students met the course requirements, and while tests may provide some assessment of what they’ve learned, is there any definitive way to measure learning? How about personal development, which is one of the goals of student affairs?

The benefits you receive are based on how much effort you put into it. I am guilty of skipping sessions in past conferences (not NASPA) because they didn’t interest me or I had other activities planned. I felt guilty for doing that, given that my campus paid for my trip. This is not to suggest that learning also doesn’t happen outside those sessions. For this conference, I’m taking advantage of Twitter to learn and engage with those in attendance.

As I mentioned above, these are just observations. What do you think about the state of higher ed and how conferences are held?

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15
Mar/15

My Professional Reading List 2014

by under About Me, Student Affairs, Technology

Below is a list of books (kindle books except for 5 or so) I read in 2014. I didn’t quite get to read as many books as I did in 2013 because I went back to school to pursue my MBA with a Specialization in IT Management. I also got promoted to a new position with much more significant responsibilities. Finding time for leisure reading was a challenge. Here’s a list of books I read in 2015. Please feel free to ask me for any recommendations.

Business/Productivity:

Change & Innovation:

General Reading:

Higher Education/Student Affairs:

Information Technology:

Management/Leadership:

Technology (Social Media, Big Data, Wearable Computing, Cloud, Mobile, …):

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13
Mar/15

Case for Technology Leadership at the SSAO Table

by under Information Technology, Student Affairs, Student Affairs IT, Technology

How many IT professionals attend student affairs conferences like NASPA and ACPA? I would guess not too many. When I attended the first NASPA Technology Conference in Rhode Island a few years ago, only a few IT professionals were in attendance. Those who attended expressed frustration with the limited topics at the conference, as most of the sessions revolved around social media. Why is it that while information and communication technologies span student affairs organizations, there seems to be such a big disconnect between IT staff and student affairs practitioners? Let me add another question, how many Senior Student Affairs Officers (SSAOs) have technology backgrounds to make strategic and tactical decisions for effective and cohesive technology investments for their organizations? How many student affairs organizations have IT, directors on their senior directors’ board?

As mentioned in this article about CSAO as Information Technology Managers,  SSAOs don’t necessarily have to have the deep technical knowledge to be able to act as IT managers, as long as they have the technical staff to be able to provide them with the strategic and tactical guidance when it comes to technology investments and usage. However, suppose IT directors (or some technology leadership position) are not involved in strategic discussions held at the highest student affairs management level. In that case, opportunities for valuable input from those with deep knowledge of the opportunities and pitfalls related to enterprise technology implementations and use are missed. As mentioned above, technology spans all units of any student affairs organization. As such, technology investment and use must be approached from a holistic perspective and aligned with the purpose of student affairs.

I had previously advocated for a Dean of Student Affairs Technology position, and I firmly believe this position will need to exist in the future of student affairs. At the core of this position is the understanding of the philosophies, theories, and organizational framework that guide the work of the student affairs profession and the role technologies play within student affairs and the campus.

I have read the goals of the  ACPA Digital Task Force and NASPA’s Technical Knowledge Community and the work they’ve done, and I am so grateful these two groups (as well as other similar groups) exist and for their work. I think these groups are framing the right questions and leading the profession towards better use of technologies for student development and learning. I wish more IT leaders were involved in these important strategic discussions. This lack of involvement of IT leadership in conversations being held at the national level mirrors what I think goes on at the campus level.

The gap between technology professionals and student affairs practitioners needs to be eliminated, starting at the top of student affairs organizations. There needs to be a better understanding of how student affairs as an organization can best effectively serve students through technology and better partnership. Hence, technology implementations result in effective use. Technology leaders need to understand what student affairs is about so they can, in turn, influence their organization to think in the right framework. This understanding must go beyond business processes. Unfortunately, I think this gap will persist as long as technology leaders are not included as a member at the highest level of student affairs management and leadership.

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10
Mar/15

What Defines Student Affairs Professionals?

by under Career, Student Affairs

This question of “what defines student affairs professionals?”  probably has an obvious answer, and maybe I’m overthinking it. This happens in the middle of late at night when my mind wanders and thinks about random ideas. As a reader of this post, how would you answer this question? My personal answer is anyone who is working in the field of student affairs in a paid capacity and not just as a pastime. This is probably an inadequate, perhaps even a wrong definition. But that’s how I interpret what student affairs professionals are.

This question came to mind following the ACPA national conference via Twitter, where several thousands of student affairs professionals convene to network and share their research, case studies, and work-related topics. This is an assumption, but many participants probably hold an advanced degree in education, specifically in student affairs and higher education. I ask this question because when I think about the folks who work in my student affairs division, many of them, including me, probably don’t fit the demographics of those who attend conferences by ACPA and NASPA, the two major student affairs organizations. Based on my general knowledge of the folks who work in my division, most of us probably don’t have master’s degrees in higher education and student affairs, and we’re probably not familiar with student affairs and student development theories. A large number of us hold administrative, support, and other roles. In our division, two of the largest departments are the central student affairs IT group and student health services. The folks who work in these departments are specialized in the technology and medical fields.

Why am I asking this seemingly obvious question? Regardless of whether we belong in the camp of those who attend NASPA/ACPA conferences or the other folks I mentioned above, we all have a common goal: providing services for student development and learning. Collectively, through our roles, we contribute to helping students succeed. We interact with students in different ways and at different degrees of interactions, from direct contact to behind the scenes. I have read/heard this concept that our practice should be driven/informed by theories. But, how many of us who work in student affairs even know the theories and concepts that drive our practice? If we don’t know theories, does that mean we can’t effectively do our jobs? As administrative and support folks, do we need to know what student engagement means and how it relates to student success?

For those who have formal educational experience in student affairs and who are familiar with student affairs theories and models and how they apply to their jobs, how are you sharing this knowledge to your colleagues?

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9
Mar/15

Technology (Big T), technology (little t)

by under Student Affairs, Technology

Using technology without a sense of purpose/direction leads to wasted resources and could even derail organizations from their missions. I came across a concept called Big M (Marketing) and little m (marketing) in a book (Marketing Management) for my marketing class. The idea is that in marketing, where the customer is at the core of the business, two elements must be considered – strategic (Big M) and tactical (little m). According to the book, strategic marketing is “a long-term, firm-level commitment to investing in marketing – supported at the highest organizational level – to enhance organizational performance.” The tactical element (little m) “serves the firm and its stakeholders at a functional or operational level.” As the book notes, since the customers are at the core of the organization’s business, all parts of the organization must play in the marketing efforts.

I see parallels between marketing and technology as they are used in organizations. Big T (strategic) and little t (tactical) must be considered for technology to provide value to the organization. Without a strategy, an organization may just be chasing “shiny objects” and/or using technology in less optimal ways. It may even be used counterproductive to the mission of the organization. Likewise, without execution, the best technology road map will be just a piece of document.

In education, one topic that surely illicit strong responses from different groups are using technology for educational purposes. One notable example of such a project that may have been caused by a lack or unclear vision is the Los Angeles Unified School District’s attempt to integrate the iPad as a tool in the classroom which somehow ended up in a fiasco. As this article would suggest on why LAUSD canceled the “pads-in-the-classroom” program, it’s not because of the technology, but rather, it’s because of lack of vision.

Another topic of discussion about educational technology revolves around the perceived lack of curriculum design and pedagogy when technology is introduced in the classroom. I believe technology can be beneficial or a distraction to the learning process. When technology is used in the classroom, the question must be asked is how does technology add value to the learning process?

Regarding student affairs, information and communication technologies play an integral role in how student services and enrollment services units conduct their business functions and communicate with students. With students at the core, the different functional units must work as integrated units instead of silos to effectively serve the students and their needs. The information and communication systems used in these units also cannot exist in silos, and neither should there be duplicates, as this could only lead to wasteful spending of tuition and tax money. Furthermore, these siloed/duplicated systems could also lead to inaccurate information and prevent student affairs staff from viewing a holistic view of the students they serve. From the student’s perspective, the lack of unified systems could lead to frustrations and hindrances to their success.

As I noted in this article about Chief Student Affairs Officers as Information Technology Managers, technology requires folks at different levels of the organization to be involved in the strategic and tactical levels. Technology use in student affairs (or any organization) is more than software/hardware as organizational and personal dynamics are involved. For technology to add value to the work done in student affairs, student affairs organizations must ask about the role of technology in student development and learning and, in addition, what would be needed to implement technology for this purpose.

In your organization, is the purpose of technology clear? What are the driving forces behind their uses? Is your organization providing resources/training so technology can be used to its fullest?

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