I Am Still Learning (Thank God)

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I just returned from a meeting with my Student Affairs Assessment Committee. We attended a webinar where Campus Labs demonstrated some of their products. Afterwards, the attendees voiced their thoughts about the products, as well as assessment in general. I left the meeting with two equally strong impressions:

1. Our committee has some highly intelligent and dedicated individuals who are doing everything they can to help their departments produce quality assessments. They see assessment as an integral part of not only their jobs, but of the entire division – a necessary step we need for continuous improvement and to show that what we do provides value to our stakeholders.

2. I am just a dumb jock.

Through most of the 1.5 hour web presentation, and the hour-long discussion afterwards, I had little clue about what any of it meant. Even something as basic (I assume) as SPSS was foreign to me. But then you toss in buzz words like “ key performance indicators” and “regression analysis,”  large data sets, and names of educational theorists I’d never heard of (OK, I’d at least heard of Kuh), and my head starts to hurt. I feel like I am in a foreign land and everyone around me is talking like I understand what they’re saying, but in truth I don’t speak one word of the language. I want to stand up and scream, “I don’t understand any of this,” but I am too embarrassed. After serving on the Assessment Committee for the past four years, I have never felt so unqualified to be in the room.

I don’t really think I’m dumb. I’ve just never taken a modern statistics course. There have been many changes in Student Affairs within the past 10 years that I’ve had to learn on my own. Technology, sustainability, assessment, they all come with their own requirements and even their own language. I’ve had to learn about these things either on my own or at conferences, while still performing the daily tasks that my “regular” job requires. Some would argue that these things ARE my regular job, and I would agree, but the level of learning that is required has kept me late at the office many, many times. And just when I thought I was getting a handle on current trends, I realize that I know almost NOTHING about statistics. And I really, really need to know statistics. I WANT to know statistics. But today, at this moment, that task just seems so daunting. I will be starting from chi-square one while the rest of my committee will be moving on to more advanced statistics, and I fear I’ll never be on their same page. I thought about that “I Love Lucy” episode where the assembly line goes faster and faster, and Lucy can’t keep up. And just like Lucy, I can’t keep up with my Assessment Committee colleagues. I briefly fantasized about quitting. It was all too much.

But the thing is, there will always be something new to learn. Students graduating today with their master’s degree in Higher Education will, ten years from now, find themselves scrambling to keep up with new skills, ideas, and technologies. They will have to learn on the fly, just like me. I don’t want to adopt the attitude of an employee I knew who, when asked to learn how to organize a spreadsheet in MS Excel, replied, “I will be retiring in a few years. I don’t want to learn anything new.”

So bring it on. Whatever I need to learn to help me stay current in my job, then by god, I’m going to learn it. And, thank god, I WANT to learn it. For me, the worst thing would be to tire of learning. So in the words of Bob Dylan:

Come gather 'round people 
Wherever you roam 
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone

If your time to you 
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Surprise! Now Save My Life

During the summer of 2005, six of us drove from Lexington, KY to the tiny town of Mexican Hat, Utah (pop. 88) to begin a self-supported, multi-day river trip down the San Juan River. We drove through the night and arrived at our outfitter’s store at 4pm the following day. The thermometer on the store’s front porch read 110 degrees.

We walked into the store, passing an elderly couple who had just finished eating a late lunch at the small diner inside. As the couple drove away in their van, we secured our river permit and discussed driving to see the rock formations that are common in the area. As we stepped outside, the same van that had just left pulled back in front of the store. The man hopped out and told us that he needed help, that his wife had passed out.

We carried the woman inside and laid her on the floor. She was not breathing and had no pulse. An ambulance was called and I began CPR. About 20 minutes later, the ambulance arrived with an AED. They shocked her a few times and then loaded her into the ambulance for the 20 minute drive to the hospital. I knew that her survival was unlikely, and later found out from the outfitter that she had died. Though the ending wasn’t what we wanted, I was glad that we were able to provide the best care possible under the circumstances, especially for her husband’s sake.

At the time of this incident I had been a CPR instructor for almost 20 years. During part of this time I managed a city pool where I was responsible for lifeguard training. I made my lifeguards practice their CPR skills every day. Additionally, we ran “surprise” drills five times per week where the guards had to activate the emergency action plan, clear the pool, and perform a backboarding or near drowning scenario. I critiqued CPR skills hundreds of times each summer, and could recite the steps and perform the skills myself perfectly, every time.

That is why I was so surprised when I missed the most important step with the lady at Mexican Hat. I forgot to check for signs of life. I had assumed that she had passed out from the heat, and went to ask the outfitter for some damp towels. Luckily, one of my companions (who had taken one of my CPR classes) thought to check for breathing, and found there were no signs of life. There was really no break in appropriate care for the woman, but I should have known better. 

With all of my perfect CPR practice, I had never actually participated in a “surprise” drill where my brain had to go from “What rock formations should we see?” to “You have an unconscious victim. Go!” All of my practice was planned. That is why, to this day, I continue to have my student recreation center staff participate in surprise drills. Nothing prepares you for the real thing like the next best thing to the real thing. There is no warning, no pre-practice, no hint that something is going to happen. The surprise scenario begins and the staff members involved have to rely on their previous training to respond correctly.

Overall, staff members react very well to surprise drills. Sometimes we discover large-scale training deficiencies that we are able to correct. For example, when we practice skills during our monthly skills checks, the employee is in a controlled environment where they have the manikin, CPR mask, and AED readily available. When employees are stationed out in the facility, they carry first aid supplies, including their CPR mask, in a shoulder pouch. The CPR mask fits better in the pouch if the mask is compressed. During one of our surprise drills, a number of our staff did not realize that they needed to pop the mask out before using it. Now, when we do our monthly skills checks, we always give the employees a compressed mask so they can practice popping it out before performing CPR.

Here are the things we’ve found that help to make surprise drills more effective for our staff:

1. Always have the staff practice their skills in a controlled environment before running any surprise drills. It’s better to correct basic errors before expecting the staff to perform well in an unexpected setting. Staff should be able to perform CPR/AED skills flawlessly in a controlled setting. Be sure that you maintain high expectations and don’t be satisfied with “only a few mistakes.” Mistakes will be magnified many times over during a real emergency.
2. Recreate as many steps as possible during controlled practice. If employees are expected to communicate emergencies using a radio, have them practice using a radio during skills practice. Make sure they speak clearly and provide all important details, such as location of the emergency, condition of the victim, and as much additional information as possible that would help staff and paramedics better deal with the situation. Have them locate the needed equipment in their shoulder pouch or fanny pack if that is where their equipment is usually stored when they’re on duty. Have them put on protective gloves before practicing their skills. Set the stage as best you can to recreate a real situation.
3. We use manikins for our surprise drills, placing them in various areas around the facility. You can put an old lost-and-found t-shirt on the manikin so that employees can practice cutting away clothing in order to place the AED pads on the chest correctly.
4. Try your best to surprise the employees, but make sure they know it’s a drill BEFORE they actually call EMS. On the initial radio call, the person who is caring for the victim will preface their emergency communication by repeating: “This is a drill. This is a drill.”
5. We formed a Risk Management Team, composed of student supervisors who were interested in helping to train our staff. The team helps during surprise drills by watching different areas of the facility and reporting how employees perform during the drills.
6. Always provide immediate feedback, and take the time to correct any significant errors after the drill concludes. Record the results of the drill, including who participated, effectiveness of communication and skills, and any other pertinent information. We created a Google Doc to capture this information. This way you won’t always be “surprising” the same employees over and over.

Giving employees the opportunity to react in situations that closely resemble the “real thing” gives them confidence and increases the chance that they will act appropriately in a true emergency. 

How do you prepare your staff to handle emergencies?

Can't Get No Satisfaction Assessment

With the publication of Learning Reconsidered I & II, there has been a critical push for co-curricular departments within Student Affairs to develop and assess student learning outcomes. As a Campus Recreation professional, I support this completely. For years, those in my profession have "known" that programs we offer provide learning opportunities for students. Now, because of the culture change towards intentional assessment, we have learned how to conduct assessment to show that learning takes place. 

But though I am pleased with the number of programs offered through my department that assess student learning outcomes, most of what we do in campus recreation is "operational" in nature. We want to provide the best facilities and services possible so that students can participate in the physical activity of their choice. We strive to create a recreational environment where students feel welcome, where they can exercise without barriers, where they have opportunities during various times of the day to come and relieve stress and play with their friends. When they walk through our doors, we want students to be glad that they chose to attend our university because we have such a wonderful recreational center that meets their needs. We want them to exercise and leave happier, less stressed, and more prepared to face their academic pursuits than when they entered the facility.

How do we assess these operational outcomes? Mainly through satisfaction surveys.

The survey we use is sent via an emailed link to 2500 randomly selected students. Most questions ask students to select their level of satisfaction with a variety of items related to our programs and services. Included are questions pertaining to hours of operation, cleanliness of the facility, availability of equipment, customer service, number and type of group fitness classes offered, number and type of intramural contests offered, etc. Through the survey results, we have received invaluable information and have made improvements to our facilities and services that have increased student satisfaction in subsequent surveys.

So imagine my confusion (and frustration) when I recently read the following tweet from a Student Affairs professional:

"Satisfaction surveys is not assessment work... stop it, NOW!"

After further investigation, I found that the tweet was sent during a chat session with the authors of Learning is Not a Sprint: Assessing and Documenting Student Leader Learning in a Co-curricular Environment. I assume that what the author of the tweet meant was "using satisfaction surveys to assess learning is not assessment work..." And I would wholeheartedly agree with that statement: satisfaction surveys do not show that learning has occurred.

In general, though, this is what I find confusing (and frustrating) with Student Affairs assessment: it seems that when “assessment” is discussed, the focus is almost exclusively on student learning outcomes, and very little mention is made of what is perhaps our most important work: delivering quality services to our students. The reason for this focus could be that, before a few years ago, we didn’t understand the need for a co-curricular unit to develop and assess student learning outcomes. Over-emphasizing the need for student learning outcomes assessment created an awareness of this concept, so that now, most Student Affairs units are doing this type of assessment.

But shouldn’t it be time to again start including operational outcomes in the conversation? I love to talk about assessments we’ve conducted showing that our 200 student employees have learned transferable skills; that our 75 weight loss program participants have learned how to design their own weight training program; that our 80 club sports officers have learned how to develop a risk management plan that is customized for the unique needs of their sport. But for me, an even more important assessment question is this: 

Are we meeting the recreational needs of the 3,000 students per day who use our programs and services?

Proud to See Blue

Last night I attended the University of Kentucky Honors and Recognition Awards Program. A colleague was receiving an award and I was there to celebrate his achievement. The event ended up being over three hours long. Three hours! Anyone who has ever attended an awards ceremony would cringe at the thought. If I had been told beforehand that I would be sitting in my folding chair for three hours, I might have reconsidered going. But I would have missed an amazing evening. 

The emcee for the night (a student) was composed and gracious. That in itself made me proud. Several administrators who presented awards were not as fluent and engaging as our emcee. But the true stars of the evening were the student award recipients. I do not understand how students can receive degrees (sometimes two or three degrees) in difficult majors, participate in a bazillion extracurricular and philanthropic activities, and still find time to sleep. One professor made a simple, but eloquent statement. He wrote, “[The student] is an extraordinary individual,” and then listed the student’s honors and achievements. He ended by stating, “One might ask, ‘How does one person successfully accomplish all of this?’ That’s what makes him extraordinary.”

Many of the honorees had been involved with Dance Blue, a student-initiated, student-run fundraiser to benefit the UK Children’s Hospital. This year that event raised over 1.1 million dollars. One young woman was recognized, in part, for spearheading a group that raised over $27,000, the largest donation made to this event by a single organization.

At times the presenter would read a quote attributed to the award recipient. Some excerpts from those quotes include: “I have found that the best way to learn about myself is by serving others” and “It’s amazing what a group can accomplish when nobody in the group cares who gets the credit.” With these philosophies, how can we not have hope for the future?

The University of Kentucky has several great, nationally ranked academic programs, but is not known nationally as an academic powerhouse. In fact, I’ve heard murmurings from colleagues that other schools consider Kentucky students a bunch of country hicks. It doesn’t matter, because I know the truth. We have amazing students. We have extraordinary students. I couldn’t be prouder to be associated with them and the University of Kentucky.

Presenting...A Better Presentation

In a recent blog post, Eric Stoller reflected on his experiences attending the 2013 NASPA and ACPA conferences. He wrote the following concerning educational sessions:

"In terms of regular sessions … we have to stop being so bad at this. Seriously. Powerpoint isn't the problem. We need to be better storytellers and utilize high quality visual communications." 

He then cited an earlier blog he wrote, properly entitled Conference Sessions Do Not Have To Suck.

I feel your pain, Eric. Most of us feel your pain. In fact, I probably have contributed to the pain. And I agree: our presentations, particularly at professional conferences, have got to improve, if for no other reason than to set an example for our future leaders. And the improvement needs to start with me.

At my university, I am responsible for supervising four graduate assistants within the Campus Recreation Department. One of their responsibilities is to conduct staff training and development. Up until now, I have assumed that these graduate assistants were decent presenters. They had all made good grades in their undergraduate careers, which included giving class presentations, and they had all been leaders in their Campus Recreation Departments, which meant that they had participated in staff training. But time after time their staff training presentations at my facility ended up being boring Powerpoint slides that were visually unappealing, with the graduate assistant rushing through each slide, reading verbatim from their notes. There was no storytelling—only regurgitated information that could have been communicated via an email attachment.

This year, after talking with my students, I finally understood why these smart, talented graduate assistants gave such poor presentations. They had all been told in their undergraduate school that their presentations were good. And they commented that they had never seen presentations done any other way, even in their university classes.

At conferences, in university classes, watching their instructors and peers: they had never seen presentations done any other way. Whoa.

My university is undergoing a SACS review, and as part of this review, they have chosen to institute a Quality Enhancement Plan entitled “Presentation U.” It “represents new opportunities students will soon have to improve their presentation skills across various platforms.” I am encouraged, and look forward to seeing the initiatives that my university takes to improve our students’ presentation skills. However, our students continue to see poor presentations year after year from some professors who haven’t changed their class information and teaching style in years. For real change to occur, our faculty will need to set good examples. I hope they are up for the challenge.

Good examples also need to be set at our regional and national conferences. I’m not saying that every presentation is terrible; in fact, I attended more great presentations this year at the NIRSA conference than I’ve ever seen before. But it seems there are more bad presentations than good. Why? Is it because seasoned professionals never receive honest feedback? And could it be that younger presenters have never seen it done any other way?

In order to stop this cycle of poor presentations, we need to teach the next generation how to do it better. And that is my responsibility. Starting this fall I will provide my graduate assistants with intentional instruction on how to give a good presentation. And though it seems odd to me that I would need to teach presentation skills, I welcome the chance to be part of the change that we all desire. Because who wants to sit through another boring presentation? We can do better.

How do you train your student staff to give great presentations?

Just Say "Bugs"

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In the movie “Big”, Tom Hanks stars as Josh, a 13-year old boy who makes a wish that he was “big”, and overnight grows into an adult. The problem, of course, is that he is a regular 13-year old inside an adult body. He gets a job with a toy development company while he tries to figure out how to reverse his wish. Josh attends a toy development meeting, and Paul, a veteran team member, pitches the idea of creating a transformer toy: a building that turns into a robot. Josh challenges that idea, and instead suggests that they make a robot that turns into a bug. That suggestion ignites the imagination of the group, and Paul watches helplessly as his building idea fizzles, saying, “This doesn’t happen. You don’t just come to a meeting and say “bugs.”

Today we held our first Student Affairs Technology Committee meeting, of which I am the chair. My qualifications for holding this position are twofold:

1. I have an interest in expanding technology use within the division.

2. Nobody else would do it.

My technology skills are average at best. I don’t really know how to “talk tech.” I have tweeted a total of 134 times since 2008. Yet I was responsible for running a tech meeting, with people far more tech-savvy than myself.

I was stressing.

I arrived at the meeting and soon all committee members were there. I started by bringing up a recent tech survey that we had conducted, and said, “What do you think about [here you can insert any tech topic that is at the forefront of your division—personnel, social media use, tech support, etc.]”

The room exploded with energy. The discussion was lively, relevant, and productive. And the best part? All I had to do was start the discussion. Sometimes you don’t really need to be an expert. Sometimes all you need to say is “bugs.”

The Value of Second Impressions

My first trip to Vegas was a one-night stopover on my way to a backpacking trip in Zion NP. Walking through a hotel casino at 8am the next day, an older lady in front of me vomited on the floor and then passed out. That was my first impression of Vegas and I've hated the city ever since.
 

Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled to hear that the NIRSA conference this year was in Vegas. I didn't want to go. But since I've had the chance to spend a few days here, I have found that Vegas isn't all "Sin City"; in fact, it's pretty cool. The hotels are wonders to behold with their themes from around the world. My room on the 11th floor of the Paris Las Vegas has a view of the Eiffel Tower. And the water show at the Bellagio, choreographed to an operatic aria, was so beautiful it made me want to cry. 

Twitter reminds me of Vegas. 

When I joined Twitter back in 2008, I found I didn't like it at all, thinking it was nothing more than mindless social media drivel that could at times include some pretty raunchy stuff. People I didn't know we're asking to "follow" me, and their profile photos showed provocatively dressed women who looked like they came straight off a Vegas street hustler's card. But when I gave Twitter another chance in 2012, I found the good in it. I found a community of smart, thoughtful professionals who were willing to share their expertise in higher education and revel in successes of others. It is such a godsend to have found a community like this who I can turn to on a daily basis for professional development. Just thinking about it makes me want to cry. 

So I'll come away from Vegas with kinder thoughts of the city. I see it differently now, and will look forward to visiting again sometime. And for my colleagues who cannot see the value in using Twitter, I will gently encourage them (and show them how) to give it a second look. Because sometimes that second look can make all the difference. 

The Devil's in the Policies

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I am guilty of having an over-simplified view of right and wrong. I realize that this is who I am, so when a complicated issue arises that could lead to policy development or change, I know that my knee-jerk reaction should not be my final answer. I’ve come to this realization because policy decisions I’ve made in haste have come back to bite me in the…well, you know… 

After reading several posts this week on the NIRSA website that dealt with policy questions, I started thinking about the process that is involved with creating or changing policies. Here is what I try to do:

1. Explore your options.

Identify the problem, state the possible solutions, then list pros and cons for those solutions. Write it down! It’s important to try to see the issue from all viewpoints. Decisions shouldn’t be made on what is easiest for you, but what is best for all stakeholders. Look at your department’s mission and try to find solutions that would best fulfill that mission. 

2. Talk to the devil.

My boss drives me up the wall with his constant “well, what about this…” and “what about that…” But he is the perfect person to help uncover potential problems with a policy. Colleagues and student workers are great resources to help you view problems from different angles. It’s helpful to find someone who can play a good devil’s advocate by drilling you with the tough questions you may get from patrons who could be negatively impacted by the policy. If you can’t answer the tough questions satisfactorily, then you need to change the policy. 

3. Policy vs. Recommendation

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If you want to weigh in on an action or behavior that could potentially be detrimental, remember that policies must be enforceable. If you can’t consistently enforce a policy, then use “recommend” instead. For example, we received a call from a university health service doctor who said that he had treated two students within the period of a week who came in with eye injuries received while playing racquetball. We discussed creating a policy that would require eye protection to be worn at all times while playing racquetball. However, we knew that this policy would be impossible to enforce unless we posted an employee at the courts. Instead of making it a policy, we posted a sign on each racquetball court door stating “Protective eyewear strongly recommended and available at the front desk.” This communicated to our patrons that by playing racquetball, there could be a danger of eye injuries, and presented a solution to mitigate that danger. However, if we had a policy stating that eyewear was required, we could be held liable for injuries sustained if those injuries occurred because we were unable to enforce the policy. 

4. Re-evaluate on a regular basis.

Our facility is constantly changing. We add new equipment and take away old. We discover new technologies that allow us to do things we never could before. Industry standards are always evolving. Because change is the only constant thing, it is important to re-evaluate policies on a regular basis. For example, if a student forgot their school ID card, we used to require them to present a photo ID in order to access the facility. However, when we started using a new recreation software program to control access, we could type in their student number and their picture would come up on the computer screen. We had never had access to student photos before, so the policy that required students who forgot their ID to show a photo ID was unnecessary. We did away with the policy. However, it is important to be especially careful when considering making a policy more lenient. If you change a policy to allow patrons to do something that they haven’t been able to do in the past, and then find that the change was a mistake, the uproar that will occur when you again take away that privilege is far worse than if you’d never changed the policy at all. So be sure to talk to the devil before making the change!

What do you feel are important steps to take when creating policies?

More Than Tossing Out a Ball

As I struggle to become more comfortable with “public” writing, there is one aspect of my blog with which I am pleased: the title. Although “Campus Recreation Reconsidered” is not the catchiest title I’ve seen, still it represents the rekindling of excitement and interest in my chosen profession that began about four years ago. 

Since I started working in Campus Recreation over 25 years ago, I’ve gotten a sense that those outside the profession think that what I do is little more than throwing a basketball out on a court and letting kids play. And honestly, for many years my main goal was just to provide an outlet for college students to be able to pursue their recreational interests and have fun. 

Then the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) published “The Value of Recreational Sports in Higher Education,” which showed that “participation in recreational sports programs and activities is a key determinant of college satisfaction, success, recruitment, and retention.” That’s when the conversation really started to change. Terms like “intentional learning” and “assessment”—words that I had never heard associated with my profession—started popping up at conferences. And I started paying attention. 
Then two things happened that has set my course for the last four years. First, I attended a NIRSA educational session on Student Learning Outcomes, presented by Dr. George Brown from the University of Alabama. During his presentation he talked about the different areas within Campus Recreation where learning can take place, and the importance to identify these areas, establish expected learning outcomes, and assess those outcomes. During this session he also mentioned the book, “Learning Reconsidered 2.” Dr. Brown’s session intrigued me, so when I returned from the conference, I ordered and read “Learning Reconsidered 2.” (You can read the whole book at this link.) I was inspired. 
That’s when the second thing happened to set my course. Right after I finished reading the book, my boss sent an email to the Campus Recreation professional staff asking for volunteers to serve on a Student Affairs Assessment Committee. I jumped at the chance (my Campus Rec colleagues like to say I “dove on the grenade”). 

During the first year, everyone on the committee struggled through what for us was uncharted territory. Most on the committee had not conducted any kind of formal assessments in our areas. We confused “operational assessment” with “student learning outcomes.” We asked for advice from our university’s assessment office, and they seemed almost as lost as we were in trying to determine learning outcomes for non-academic departments. Over the next several years we muddled through the frustration of trying to cram our square peg of “academic support units” into the round hole of student learning outcomes. But we’ve slowly gained understanding, and we’ve continued to pursue intentional assessment within our departments. And even though I’m still not very good at it, I’ve found that I love it. 

I know that studies have shown that participation in recreational sports has value for college students. So now the question that I strive to answer every day is this: does my recreation department’s programs and services have value for our students? This question has led me to pursue different ways to assess my own area of facilities management to see if this is true. I have developed a Graduate Assistant Development Program, where I have established learning outcomes and hope to show that by working as a facilities graduate assistant, my students will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in a professional job. Assessing outcomes for experiential learning has been a challenge, so requiring my GAs to write reflective blogs is my latest attempt to use indirect measures to show that learning has taken place. And I’ve joined them in blogging, for my own professional development. 

So that “grenade” that I fell on has turned out to be my phoenix. My enthusiasm for my department and my profession is renewed daily. I understand, support, and contribute to the process of looking at our programs and services through the lens of how they help us to accomplish our mission. Campus Recreation, reconsidered. Indeed.

Technology and Mantras and Blogs...OH NO!

My Student Affairs Division recently took steps to create a Technology Committee, whose mission was to encourage and support technology use throughout the division. Interested individuals from each department got together for an organizational meeting where ideas were shared and enthusiasm seemed high. The next day a Google Doc was shared with the group that solicited ideas for the committee’s mission and goals, and called for a volunteer to be the committee chair. Out of the twelve people who had attended the meeting, only three submitted their ideas, and nobody volunteered to lead the group. 

I was disheartened. I have only recently started expanding my technology horizons, but I have become passionate about the value of using social media, online apps, and cloud computing to engage students and increase productivity. I wanted this committee—I believed our division needed this committee—but I felt that I was in no way qualified to lead it. Without a leader, I knew the committee would die, so I decided to just stop wishing and hoping for something to happen and pursue other things. 

Later that same day, I read a reflective blog from one of my Graduate Assistants where she related an incident that she had to manage as part of her GA duties. She had to have a disciplinary meeting with a student worker, and she was dreading it because confrontation made her uncomfortable. However, she pressed on, had the meeting, and was pleased with the results, as well as the way she handled the situation. She was gaining confidence because she had developed a “mantra” for the new year: “challenge yourself; do not stay comfortable.” 

My first thought was, “Good for you, Alicia!” 

My second thought was, “Oh, no.” 

I hate when I try things and fail. I get embarrassed, I feel ashamed, and my sense of worth plummets. I know this is silly, and what you do shouldn’t define who you are, blah, blah, blah, but the thought of failing makes me so uncomfortable, that I go out of my way to avoid situations where this might happen. I never took Physics in high school for fear that I wouldn’t make an “A”. I never enrolled in one of my community’s writing classes for fear that people wouldn’t like my stories. I’ve always disliked this characteristic about myself. Now, I could hear my GA’s mantra echoing in my head: “challenge yourself; do not stay comfortable. Step outside of your comfort zone and volunteer to lead the technology committee.” 

Lead a committee of my peers? In an area that was not my expertise? I could fail. Oh, no. 

For the rest of the day I did my best to suppress that idea, and I almost succeeded in ignoring the mantra. But then I read Joe Sabado’s blog entitled “MOOC ‘Meltdown’ or a Learning Experience?” In this article, Joe suggests viewing the outcome of the “Fundamentals of Online Education” MOOC as a “learning experience” rather than a “failure”, and acknowledges the value of “accepting challenges despite the risk of failure” in order to create growth. 

At this point I started hearing a tiny voice in my head that sounded like my GA’s mantra. 

As I read further, Joe also provided a link to another of his articles about the value of making mistakes. Which I also read. And which convinced me that I needed to heed that voice to challenge myself, to not stay comfortable, to volunteer to lead the technology committee. Oh, no. 

So now I am committed. I have volunteered to chair this committee and I will do my best to help it succeed. And if everything falls apart, I have promised myself to treat it as a learning experience rather than a failure. And who knows? Maybe while the mantra is strong I’ll sign up for that writing class after all…oh, no!

I Blame Twitter

As part of my job as a Campus Recreation Facilities Director, I supervise four graduate assistants who are responsible for night and weekend supervision of our student recreation center. They also share responsibility for staff training and development, hiring and scheduling, equipment inventory, and risk management. For the last several years I have required my graduate assistants to submit monthly summaries stating what they did well that month, what they would have done differently, etc. At the end of their 2-year assistantship I review all of their summaries and write my own evaluation of their professional growth during their time as a Facilities Graduate Assistant. Until this month, summaries were submitted as Word documents. That is about to change.

This past fall semester I attended a professional development session on my campus entitled “Social Media and Student Reflection”, taught by Christopher Rice. Among other ideas, he explained how he uses Twitter in the classroom to engage students, creating specific hashtags so that everyone can follow the discussion. Instead of asking students to put away their cell phones, he requires them to pull them out. As I listened to him explain how this worked, I could feel his passion. Here was a person who was willing to step outside of tradition to engage students in a way that they found familiar and exciting. He also spoke of other digital avenues that allowed students to organize class information in meaningful ways, collaborate with classmates, and actually be participants in their own learning by using websites such as Paper.li, Prezi, Google Docs, Google Hangouts, and Pinterest, to name only a few.

Not everyone in the room was buying into the ideas behind Chris’ presentation. Participants expressed privacy concerns associated with using social media. There was overall skepticism concerning the true value of using Twitter as an educational forum. At one point during a Q and A session, Chris was accused of being “glib”, a comment which reflects the opinion of the majority of faculty on this campus who refuse to change their teaching styles to reach students who define themselves, in large part, through their electronic devices. But for me, it was my first peek into what could be. At the time, I didn’t use Twitter, and I didn’t know how it could possibly work as a tool for student engagement in my job, but I knew I had to find out. As Dr. John Schuh, professor and chair of educational leadership and policy studies at Iowa State University, explained in a previous professional development session: It’s not important to understand everything before you begin; the important thing is to just take the first step.

After the “Social Media” session, I logged into Twitter for the first time in months. Using my new-found knowledge of how hashtags work, I searched #highered and found a world of Student Affairs professionals who routinely used Twitter to share helpful tips, discuss educational trends, and present new ideas on student engagement and learning. I created a Diigo in Education account and started receiving daily updates of websites that could help educators use technology to connect with students. I found a surprising world of helpful suggestions, creative ideas, and encouragement that I never knew existed. And it all started with—of all things—Twitter.

Which brings me back to the beginning of this post. Over the past few months, my exploration into the world of educational technology has included reading blogs from colleagues worldwide. I have bought into the idea of continuous reflection as a form of professional development. So beginning this month, my graduate students have been challenged (code word for “required”) to set up their own blogs using Google Blogger, and to subscribe to at least two blogs within their graduate program area of interest. They will be encouraged to not only complete monthly reflections, but also to use the blog as an opportunity to discuss other thoughts and ideas on a more regular basis. 

I am very excited about having extended this challenge. I am also nervous, because I have included myself in this challenge. In my efforts towards continuous growth, how can I not make the same requirement of myself as I do of young professionals? So this is for all those GAs who have gone before, to those who are currently here, and to those yet to come. You inspire me to find ways to challenge you, and it’s because of you that I continue to reach for more. This blog’s for you.