Joe Sabado – Higher Education & Technology Leadership

I firmly believe that having some historical/theoretical knowledge and understanding of the purpose of student affairs have provided me a better perspective and appreciation of the use and impact of technology in student affairs. The knowledge and understanding have helped me in my role as a technology implementer/user for the Division of Student Affairs at UC Santa Barbara. I became familiar with contemporary issues, student development theories, history, and principles of student affairs through self-directed learning by reading textbooks, social media, and engaging with my personal learning network. It is with this perspective and background that I think about what would a course on technology in student affairs. What elements should this course contain so all student affairs professionals, regardless of their educational and previous professional background can use technology within the purpose of student affairs?

The idea of designing a course about technology in student affairs entered my mind from time to time the last few months but I never really committed to exploring what this course would even look like. I just recently began to explore this idea again as a result of my involvement with a professional development committee charged with defining the curriculum for new student affairs professionals at UCSB. I would like to include an introductory course about technology in student affairs as a part of the curriculum. One of the goals of the 1 year cohort-based program is to set a foundation of core competencies. The intended audiences are:

• Professionals who recently completed student affairs graduate programs
• Professionals who have student affairs administrative experience, but without formal student affairs graduate training
• Professionals newly entering students affairs from other industries or fields within higher education

What I find interesting is that based on this post by Eric Stoller, it seems student affairs graduate programs do not offer courses in technology. This is an issue that Eric has raised for discussion several times.  What topics then should be included in a technology course to provide new professionals theoretical/practical knowledge to do their job effectively?

Here are some elements I think should be considered given the audience and the purpose of providing theoretical/practical knowledge to new student affairs professionals:

General Introduction to Student Affairs (Principles, History). Effective use of technology in student affairs must start with understanding how technology should be used with the purpose of student affairs in mind. Ideally, it would also be nice to have an overview of the history/purpose of the student affairs on the audience’s campus.

Student Development/Ecology Theories. Theories can serve as guides to understanding how technology impacts student learning and personal development. How technology impacts digital identity, student engagement, retention, and learning are key issues

History of Technology in Student Affairs. I have read Kevin Guidry’s research on the history of student affairs technology including the topic of technology as a competency and his research provided me a greater appreciation of how technology has impacted the student affairs profession as way back as the 1920’s. Social media, mobile, and cloud computing are the technologies used today but I think it’s important to recognize the evolution of technology as drivers and as tools to accommodate the needs given the time periods.

Innovation and Change Management. Most of the issues I have encountered (and requiring most attention) throughout my years of implementing technology solutions have not been the technologies themselves. Effectively communicating changes, managing people’s expectations and dealing with stress/conflicts resulting from ambiguities and uncertainties have been keys to successful projects. Some participants in this course may be leading/implementing technology projects in the futures and most certainly, all participants will be impacted by the introduction of new technologies as end-users.

Assessment. The effectiveness/impact of technology use should be measured for the purpose of accountability and improving its use with respect to the programs/services it is being applied.

Frameworks for understanding technology use. This document, “Guidelines for Creating Student Services Online“, categorizes the different uses of technology to provide online student services. Technology is also used throughout student affairs for administrative and employee support services. Viewing technology use from different perspectives can provide the audience wi

Current and Future of Student Affairs and How to Prepare/Adapt. Student affairs does not exist in a vacuum. Globalization, internationalization, economic changes, changing demographics, and technological advances are just a few variables impacting the role of student affairs in higher education. How do we, as a profession and as individuals, prepare ourselves so we can adapt to meet the changes? How can we better understand the needs/wants of our current students and how do we tailor technology to meet them?

Ethics/Legal/Confidentiality Considerations. As end-users, educators and providers, we need to practice appropriate and ethical use of technology and within the boundaries of  campus, state, federal policies/guidelines. Part of this discussion includes developing decision-making frameworks
in navigating between policies and practices that may well be in conflict with each other.

Ideally, this course should be flexible enough to be offered as a one-day introductory course or as part of a masters program curriculum. Content can either be expanded or some may be excluded/generalized depending on the purpose of the course. While this course is intended for new professionals, those who have in student affairs for years could benefit from this course.

What other elements would you add? How should the course be organized?

Ideas for this course came from links provided within the post as well as the following:

• Envisioning the Future of Student Affairs (NASPA)
• What is Technology in Student Affairs? (Kristen Abell)
• Campus Ecology Theory and Websites: One Example of Applying Traditional Student Affairs Theory to Technology
• Four Elements of Technology in Student Affairs (Dr. Will Barratt)
• Technology, Student Affairs and Graduate Programs (Eric Stoller/Dr. Leslie Dare)
• Is Student Affairs Still Relevant for the 21st Century?
• EAC 595C – Technology in Student Affairs (Dr. Leslie Dare)
• SAA 701 Student Affairs and Technology Course (Dr J Vianden)
• New Realities in the Management of Student Affairs: Emerging Specialist Roles and Structures for Changing Times
• Technology in Student Affairs: Supporting Student Learning and Services: New Directions for Student Services, Number 112 (J-B SS Single Issue Student Services)
• College 2020
• Student Affairs Programs and Technology (Joe Sabado)
• StudentAffairs.com 2004 Virtual Case Study – University of West Florida (ppt)
• StudentAffairs.com 2004 Virtual Case Study Entries

“We design for end-users and we (developers) are not the end-users” – this was a quote I once read in a software development book. In designing student information systems and related systems, the customer perspectives, which include students, staff/faculty, and parents cannot be ignored. This concept may sound simple and naive but within the realities of a bureaucratic campus, it’s very easy for staff, including myself, to forget the end-users of the systems. Politics, financial constraints, mandates, siloed thinking, and personal motivations of those involved in the process impact the decisions driving the project  and derail from the purpose of the systems. The customer perspective is different from campus providers. While the campus may be divided into organizational hierarchies and divisions for bureaucratic reasons, customers may not necessarily view their college experience based on how the campus is organized. Websites generally reflect the structure of the campus bureaucracy. Lack of coordination, conflicting priorities and misunderstood policies can lead to disjointed systems, inconsistent user interfaces, and isolated/duplicate data.

Keeping the customer perspective and needs in mind, thinking holistically, and designing systems to minimize/eliminate pain points at the “moments of truth” when customers interact with the system, are considerations included in the diagram below. Click on the image to view the full size version.

Online education is a hot topic in higher education today. The relationship between the teacher and students and the manner how learning happens are being redefined by technology. Through technology, teachers and students no longer have to be  physically present in same classroom at the same time.  Another area of the campus facing the same issue is student affairs. One question being asked is how effective are online  student services relative to  face-to-face interactions.  This article on StudentAffairs.com in 2000 shows the issue of  technology and student services is nothing new.  As the article states, “the high-touch culture that has been the bedrock of student development practice for decades will be impacted by the advancement of technology both inside and outside the classroom.”

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This is a story of  how I came to be in my current position in student affairs. It’s a story of how a “failed” plan towards  a career in student affairs via graduate school led me to an alternate path to a career I truly enjoy and one  even better than I could have ever imagined.  I share my story with the message that sometimes, life has an interesting way of getting you to a place where you should be.  How you get to where you should be may not always be the route you intend to take.

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With MOOCs, professional learning networks, student swirls and other ways students and life-long learners gain knowledge nowadays, how can individuals own and maintain their own learning portfolios, including their accomplishments and competencies? How can we make it easier for educational institutions, vendors and even individuals themselves to exchange learning portfolios so their data do not belong in islands such as educational institutions’ and vendor databases? What if there is a common language for vendors and educational institutions and their systems to interface seamlessly, something like Common Learning Portfolio Markup Language (CLPML)?

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