Advising and Supporting (A/S)
Level: Exemplary
I developed in the following areas related to this competency:
"Establish rapport with students, groups, colleagues, and others that acknowledges differences in lived experiences" (p. 36).
“Facilitate individual decision-making and goalsetting” (p. 36).
“Facilitate or coach group decision-making, goalsetting, and process (p. 37).
"Appropriately challenge and support students and colleagues" (p. 36).
“Develop and distribute accurate and helpful mental health information for students, faculty, and staff” (p. 37).
"Collaborate with other campus departments and organizations as well as surrounding community agencies and other institutions of higher education to address students’ holistic wellness needs in a comprehensive, collaborative way" (p. 37).
Work Experience
Heartland Student Government Association (SGA) Advisor:
My main responsibility in Heartland’s Student Engagement Office is advising their student government association. The SGA includes student government officers as well as other student leaders across HCC’s student organizations and clubs. This position focuses on facilitating and coaching individuals or groups on decision-making and goal setting (p. 37). My one-on-one with the SGA students wavered between weekly and bi-weekly meetings. I quickly learned throughout these meetings to be intentional. I would often do goal setting for individual members, and check in with them to support them in reaching their goals. Many times I would prepare agendas for these meetings, and mix an informal get to know you style with intentionality about goals and recent event check-ins. For the most part, students were extremely open with me, which became a huge opportunity to form rapport and to help them develop as college students. Group facilitation and advising came in the form of SGA Weekly Meetings and SGA Senate Meetings. Our weekly meetings are SGA’s planning and check-in sessions. We used this time to plan events, Senate meetings, strategize, and check-in. In the beginning of the semester, I would lead the first few sessions, but over time I would help the SGA President in preparing and leading the meetings for the rest of the semester. Senate Meetings are monthly meetings that include all student leaders and senators. I allow the SGA to lead these, but I often chime in as necessary, take notes, and provide feedback to the group and to individuals.
Millikin Academic Advising:
During my summer in the CAPP office at Millikin University, I had the opportunity to observe several hours of academic advising appointments for Millikin’s Exploratory students. The advising appointments were led by CAPP’s success coaches whose main responsibility is advising students who may not know exactly what they want to study or pursue. The CAPP’s success coaches provide guidance for Exploratory students through the process of finding their strengths, values, and passions. Being a part of these appointments have given me a better understanding on how to guide those intentional conversations with students who may be undecided in their major or program. Additionally, during a professional development day at Millikin, I was able to sit in on a presentation focused specifically on student development advising which provided me even more insight on how to guide those one-on-one appointments with students.
Heartland Community College Boxes and Walls:
Another committee I sit on at HCC is the Boxes and Walls Committee. The Boxes and Walls event is an oppression/marginalization/empathy experience put on by the Student Engagement Office in collaboration with other departments on campus. The Boxes and Walls are there to challenge the status quo and to increase diversity awareness. In a regular year, we provide a multiple room set-up that presents activities with 10 minute sessions around particular themes of oppression and marginalization; however, this year we had to go virtual for our students. In collaboration with McLean County’s History Museum, we presented the virtual event series titled "Breaking Bread." Each event in the series explored local and personal stories of migration, immigration, adaptation, assimilation, appropriation, preservation, and contribution in McLean County. All Boxes and Walls events serve to increase student awareness and encourage a more broad array of critical thinking in inclusiveness and global awareness. This experience demonstrates how I was able to “collaborate with other campus departments and organizations as well as surrounding community agencies and other institutions of higher education to address students’ holistic wellness needs in a comprehensive, collaborative way” (p.37).
Reference:
ACPA: College Student Educators International & NASPA − Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (2015). Professional competency areas for student affairs practitioners. Washington, DC: Authors.
Retrieved from http://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/main/ACPA_NASPA_Professional_Competencies_FINAL.pdf