Semesters are so Long!

Shouldn’t the semester be over by no?

I’m really missing the tri-mester system I had for the last four years. It took me awhile to get used to how fast the classes moved, but once I got used to it, I loved it! There was never a time to get bored with classes because they were only 2.5 months long. Plus when it came to Thanksgiving and Spring breaks, they were actually breaks because we finished finals. While it was stressful a lot of the times, I wouldn’t have traded it! Right now NCC students are preparing for finals and we still have a month left of classes. I know that will fly by, but it’s hard to see all those status of it almost being winter break from my friends that are still at NCC.

I’ve been struggling with getting the motivation to complete school work because I’m not used to the length of the semester. I keep feeling like we should be on break already. I’ve also had this feeling that classes have been dragging lately. I feel like I’m just going through the motions and not getting as much out of the readings as I once was. I keep telling myself that Thanksgiving break is coming, but then I remember that I’ll have homework to do over break, and it’s important that I take this “break” to do as much as I can because there won’t be much time to complete assignments when I get back.

The tri-mester to semester transition has been one of the hardest things in my transition to grad school. There are times I’m so glad we have semesters because I don’t think we’d be able to complete all that we have to do within the tri-mester, but I’ve never felt as much burn out with class work as I have right now. I know part of that is probably because I came right from undergrad to grad school with only a couple of months in between, but I hope I can find how to work through this feeling so I have quality assignments to turn in throughout the next year and half. I have high standards for my assignments and feel like what my work ethic right now isn’t supporting those standards. 

Learning Outcomes: Great Tools or Great Blinders

Recently, there has been much discussion about Learning Outcomes in class and UC staff meetings. We've spent much time talking about how we’re implementing these with our students and if they’re effective in helping our students develop. The concept of using Learning Outcomes to access how we’re helping students develop is new to me and I’m not sure I’m on board with using them just yet.

At North Central, I don’t believe Learning Outcomes were used. If they were, they weren't as much of a focus as they are here.  At the beginning of the year, I remember asking another cohort member what exactly Learning Outcomes were used for because I haven’t had any experience with them. They were floored by this question because they had attended this institution where they felt it was strange and uncommon if a professor didn’t start out their class by going over the Learning Outcomes for the course. Now, the professors had course objectives at North Central, but they didn’t take center stage in classes. There were many times that I had professors change a path of the course based on what was happening in the world. It was nice to know that my professors weren’t so glued to course objectives that they were willing to ignore what was happening outside of the campus.

 I have felt a little bit of this in my time here, especially in our UC staff meetings. It seems that directors and other staff are so focused on making sure we’re fulfilling the Learning Outcomes and Goals that were set for this year that they aren’t seeing what is really happening to our students. For example, a student of color who attended Soledad O’Brian this week asked a question about how to adjust to feeling alone in classes because he doesn’t have anyone else who looks like him to relate to. This is an issues that shouldn’t be taken lightly, but I feel it has been in many cases here.

Since Learning Outcomes are new to me, I’m still figuring out the best way to utilize them. I agree they are important in creating a goal or path of a position or class, but I also feel they can be blinders to bigger issues that should be addressed. 

First Professional Conference...CHECK!

I attended my first professional conference last week and it was blast!

I was kind of nervous for the conference because I was taking time off work and I had heard from a few second years that they thought it was a waste of time. I took this all with a grain of salt because everyone has different experiences at conferences depending on the speakers and sessions they attended. I thought the second years would have been more excited for us and would try to give more advice than complain about their experiences, but maybe I was talking to the wrong ones.

          

I did get some good advice before we left though. I was told to make sure I attended the sessions I want to attend, and not just go to the ones that everyone else was going to. That’s always been something though for me to do, but I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and went to a few sessions all by myself. This was a good decision, because I was able to get some reflection in before the session started. Since conferences are always  on the go, it can be tough to really think and reflect on what you’ve been learning, which is why I typically felt I never came away with new information after a conference. I just never had the time to reflect on what I was learning.

            

The biggest take away from this conference for me was motivation! I had been feeling unmotivated in the preceding weeks because things weren't really going as I had expected them to be going. When I was in my undergrad, I had all this energy to work with the students and plan events, but I was already starting to feel some burnout since I was only focusing on student affairs. I’m a person that needs variety in life, so it’s been tough to constantly be thinking about students at work, in class, and in my personal life. However, after this conference, I gained back the motivation I was losing plus some! The speakers were genuinely passionate and excited about working with students and that rubbed off on me.

           

 The reason I think this conference went so well is that I went with open mind. I went to the sessions that sounded interesting to me, didn't worry about where the others were going and I came away with some great knowledge and ideas I can’t wait to implement into my assistantship.  

Public vs. Private Institutions: A Game of Numbers?

I’ve been at a public institution for almost two months now, and I’ve been noticing a few significant differences from my private undergrad institution.

First, when the protesters came to campus a couple weeks ago, I was confused as to why no one was asking them to leave. You see, at North Central, If anyone came to campus to hand out fliers or protest something without consent from the school, campus safety was called to escort them off the grounds. This was a rare occurrence, but it was nice knowing our days wouldn’t be interrupted by potential chaos. I think UW-L has done a good job at creating learning experiences from those situations for students. That’s one thing I wasn’t really able to get at North Central.

The bigger difference I realized this week, is the importance of statistics. We talked in class about standards. Now, this was a conversation about Student Affairs standards, but of course we ventured a bit off topic, and started talking about the standards UW-L has for its students. Someone mentioned the importance UW-L places on retention numbers. This made me think back to Chancellor Gow’s fall address to faculty and staff. He had a whole presentation about UW-L’s numbers and how impressive they were in terms of retention. I was surprised at much the numbers mattered. Maybe it was because I was just a student, but at North Central I felt like there wasn’t as much of an emphasis on the numbers. I worked in admissions and each counselor had goal numbers for applications and acceptances, but I always felt they cared more about the students to find the college that fit them best. And, once a student commits to North Central, they’re a name not a number. I never felt a sense of “how do we keep butts in the seats?” I’m not sure if it was because North Central doesn’t have to report to the state, but from what I’ve heard from those who attended UW-L or other public schools from undergrad it didn’t feel that way for them.

I’m not saying private schools are better than public. They each have their own way of operating that fits some people better than others. Attending a private school was the right choice for me at the time, and now I’m glad I’m gaining experience from a public school. Both have offered and will continue to offer me valuable learning experiences. 

My "Problem Child": No Longer a Problem

It’s been a few weeks since I started working with my student employees and things are going pretty well, but I have noticed a few red flags about the work ethic of a couple employees. I have always had high standards for people, especially when someone applied for a position. I told my staff at our first staff meeting that I would be expecting a lot of them, and most of them have been following through. However, it makes it that more frustrating for the staff and myself when an employee doesn't follow through.

What’s even more frustrating is that he was living up to all the bad news I had heard about him before I met him. I took everything that I heard with a grain of salt to give him the benefit of the doubt. We met at the beginning of the year and he told me that last year was rough, but he was certain this year would be better. I could tell that he didn't like his performance last year and he wanted to be a better team member. I had such high hopes that he would be different this year. However, I was quickly proven wrong.

He wasn't too concerned about getting projects done in a timely manner if the customer didn't give him a date then needed it by. This led to few projects slipping through the cracks and then the whole staff had to pick-up his slack. He didn't even seem to be that apologetic about it and there was always someone else to blame for those forgotten projects. I’m not one who likes to micro-manage people, but I was considering placing myself in the graphics office whenever he was working to make sure things were getting done. I felt bad for the other staff members because I was thinking about how to deal with the “problem child” and not getting to know them.

Surprisingly, or maybe luckily, his last day in graphics was Friday. I hope that his departure will help the rest of the staff feel at ease. I could tell that the employees that came for the shift after him were always worried that they would be thrown into finishing his projects and be able to work on their own. He was making things much more stressful than they should have been.

In Student Development Theory we talked about characteristics of the millennial generation, and I could definitely see some of those in this employee. It makes me worry about how he, and my other employees, will be able to adjust to the real working world. Having a job in college is a great way to prepare for life after graduation, but it’s still very sheltered. How can I make sure that I’m preparing my staff to be successful at whatever they do? I don’t want them to fall prey to how the world sees millenials. As their supervisor, I want to help them succeed; I’m just not sure how to do that.