Does Educational Customer Service Exist?

Summertime….it is that time of year again when many of our campuses are packed with summer time visitors, often a result of various conferences or camps staying in university housing.  Although many of these groups are only on campus for a short while, there are various situations or conflicts that might arise which can call our “normal” and educational responses into question.  For example, what are housing professionals to do when the adult leader of a camp uses a racial or homophobic slur?  If they were a student during the year, we would immediately pull them aside to have an educational conversation about how language like that hurts others and how it is not welcome in our communities.  Does this response change with summer conferences groups and if so, how? Despite what we have all been told, conferences are a money making venture and in order to keep the “customers” and “clients” happy, there are some things that we need to sacrifice, or do we??

If one thing is true, it is that I am a very “business minded, administratively detailed” person growing up with parents who worked in Corporate America for 36 years.  Dinner table conversations often were related to how to keep customers “happy” and continue to acquire their business.   A happy customer is one that returns, often.  The same holds true when entertaining camps and conferences, yet we cannot, and should not lose sight of the fact that we are educators, first and foremost.  What this may mean during summer conference season is that as a department you are going to need to discuss what values and fundamentals of your program you are unwilling to compromise on in order to make the clients happy,  and in what areas you can give a bit more.

This was exactly the conversation that our department needed to have a few years back when we were housing a 7,000 person conference for an organization that fundamentally disagreed and did not support our Residential Programs and Services Diversity Statement.  Although we still needed to house the conference, as an organization we agreed to continue our educational responsibility and plastered our housing communities with the Diversity Statement.  In addition, we also posted ways in which we work to create an inclusive community within our residential communities.  The conference ended with  very little incidents, but we made it as clear as we could to the client the type of behavior that was expected of everyone who was a part of our communities, even if for only a few short days.

It is possible to still provide quality customer service, be business minded while also being educational, certainly, but one must not be afraid to engage in these conversations as a department.  Also, remembering that camps and conferences are guests in OUR facilities and within OUR communities can also be a starting point for conversations related to conduct.  By having these conversations before groups arrive on campus can help make summertime a more enjoyable time for all.

 

Kelly Thacker is the Associate Director of Residential Operations at Indiana University.

Advising 101: It’s Time to Prepare

As the new academic year approaches our plates begin to get very full. We have a great deal to accomplish in a very short window. As we progress, some things fall to the wayside or only get done “well enough”, including preparation for our advising responsibilities.

Our advising role is something that is easy to let slide, but it’s dangerous to allow it to do so! The students in these groups, our student leaders, play a powerful role in deciding what kind of culture our campus community will have. Our interaction with these students can dramatically impact our role within that community!

Fortunately, it is possible to prepare ourselves self for the advising role by answering a few simple questions and calling upon our existing supervising and counseling tool kits. Below are the questions I ask myself every year for every group that I advise.

Who am I as an adviser?

Coming from a philosophical background, I firmly believe in the old adage “Know thyself.” Advising is unlike any other role we play in our professional lives, yet our existing knowledge, skills, and resources can serve us extremely well. Being self aware enables us to be prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. Essentially, we need to be aware of our own styles, beliefs, preferences, etc. Ask yourself the following: Are you a likely to be hands on or hands off? Are you free with praise or do you hold it back for truly exemplary performance? What is your understanding of group dynamics and student development? How flexible are you?

The answers to questions like the ones above determine what kind of adviser we will be and thus determine the relationship we will have the group you advise and the leaders involved. The more aware of these things we are the more efficient and effective we will become.

Who are the students I will be advising?

Just as knowing yourself gives us a leg up, so does knowing the student leaders we will be working with. It is enormously helpful to be aware of their backgrounds, demographics, and leadership histories. I like to start with what I know about my general campus population and then really narrow in on the specific leaders I will be working with.

Knowledge is power and knowing backgrounds and demographics can help predict skill sets, preferred communication styles, and even some conflicts that may arise. It is likely that the leaders on my team will have had previous leadership roles on campus. I find it helpful to speak to other advisers my team has worked with. I can learn what strengths and challenges of my team members are. Once I have that information, I can customize training and development activities to have the most impact.

What is the organizational culture I will be working with?

This is a twofold question. First, what is the culture regarding student organizations on campus and within my department. Every institution and department is different. Remember that we as advisers are often held responsible for major mistakes or snafus. I need to know what the expectations for performance are from those who count, as well as who are “those who count”. I also need to know what resources are available to me. A good question to ask is if your department provides a budget for your group or if they need to seek funding from elsewhere, such as fundraising or the Student Government Association.

The other side of this question refers to my student organization’s culture. Is this a new group or one with an established culture? Historically, how formal or informal are they? What is the structure and reporting lines within the group? What role does the organization play in regards to other organizations on campus? Once this information is known, I try to compare it to my own styles and preferences so that I can prepare myself to adapt to something different if need be.

What is my plan for this year?

 Everything above has just been information gathering so that we can see the big picture. Now, it is time to put that information to use. We need to lay a plan around how we are going to approach our advising role with this group. Using what we now know, we can predict what the groups needs will be and begin preparing for them. For example, we need to decide how our personal communication styles will work with those of the leaders we will serve. If they are incompatible, we will have to find a way to reconcile them!

Finally, remember that, like every time we work with students, things will change. Our plan may not play out the way we expect it to or there may be some key piece of information that we missed. Maybe our plan will work like a charm and will run its course by the end of the second week! We must stay flexible and be constantly considering the needs of the group and how we can support them.

 

Joe Hawkins is the Assistant Director of Residential and Student Life at Lincoln College in Normal, Illinois.

August is Coming!

“August is coming!” If still unconscious, this is the mantra being recited in many of our heads. Pretty soon, that will change to “August is here!” Before we know it, our student leaders and staff will be back. Our campuses will be overrun with familiar and fresh, new faces. Classes will be back in session. It will be business as usual.

For some of us, this is an exciting time. For others, it is terrifying, especially at this point in the summer. The question is: which category do you fall into? Does the upcoming opening get you worked up or make you want to crawl under your desk?

Personally, I am somewhere in between. There is a lot to do and much more that could be done between now and opening. Sadly, with the all that is on my plate, my energy will drain between now and opening. Fortunately, I have a secret weapon that always gets me back to 110%… training.

Every year when my student leaders, resident assistant staff, and graduate assistants return, I get to help teach them what they need to know. I am responsible for getting them ready and excited about our institution and for opening, even if I am only running a few breakout sessions here and there.

I think anyone would struggle to stay grumpy when there is so much raw potential and excitement around, but that isn’t what really reenergizes me. What really gets my turbines turning is the reminder of the impact I can have. I am not just teaching skill sets and perceptions; I am teaching and developing the passions of a group of people that want to change the world.

When training is over, the individuals participating will have new tools and perspectives that will provide a whole new level of confidence in their own ability to be successful. Then, I get an extra perk. I get to watch all those pupils turn around and immediately become teachers. When the rest of campus fills, those I just worked with immediately begin planning activities and programs, creating a campus culture, and identifying and developing the potential in other students.

That much raw energy is contagious. Their desire to make an impact reminds me why I chose student affairs in the first place. Their drive and energy show me that my efforts are worthwhile. Their struggles and eventual success restores my faith in the human spirit.

So even though I am currently bogged down with policy revision and campus planning, overwhelmed with planning opening activities and trainings, swamped with committee meetings that never end, etc. I can see the rainbow at the end of the tunnel. For me, just knowing that soon my world will be inundated with so much potential is enough to wake me up. Thinking about that enables me to give my best at the things I am doing now because I hope that will make their experience better.

What keeps you motivated through the summer?

This post was written by Joe Hawkins, Assistant Director of Residential and Student Life at Lincoln College-Normal in Normal, IL.  You can follow him at @domebio on Twitter.

I miss my summer friends…

Before I got into Student Affairs, I went to college to be a teacher.  Someone once said that the three best reasons to be a teacher are: June, July, and August.  I remember how that made me laugh… and while it didn’t have anything to do with why I did or didn’t become a teacher, it makes me think about summer.  And how my formative years shape how I want summer to be…

I loved college summers because of my summer friends. My summer friends were the freshmen orientation team, housing summer conferences staff and the various camp/summer job co-workers that I collected while away from campus.

Aside from the people, the pace of the summer was different than during the academic year.  I believe that was partly because of the weather and fewer students were taking classes.  But it was more than that too.  During the summer, weekdays and weekend days are more likely to blur, meetings could take place outside, there were very fast paced days and slow days… there was less consistency in my summer, but I enjoyed approaching each new day as a challenge!

As a professional, I have gotten to a point that I believe summer is one of those work season that you either hate or love… some people love having a new role in the summer- instead of working with residence hall students, summers bring camps, conferences, central office work or special projects.  Summers appeal to others because of the weather, time off (10-month hall directors, right?), or all the time they get to spend preparing for next year!  But others hate their summer assignments, how camps get scheduled (yes, we have one that starts on July 4^th, really.), or because of other time constraints.

One thing most can agree on is that summer is unlike the rest of the year when it comes to what we do in Housing and Residence Life- the pace, the roles, the differences vary from campus to campus and how you feel about your campus will vary too.  Taking time to consider your summer and how you feel about it can help you either embrace it or make the most of it.  Keep working hard, take time to enjoy the summer and make the most of every day!  A big part of summer is preparing for fall… but more on that in the Leadership Sub-committee’s next blog post…

As for me, I’m going to miss old summer friends and make new ones!

Social Media Policies: Different Approaches and Needs

Social media policies are becoming not only popular in higher education and student affairs, but also a necessity.  Some policies focus on upholding the school brand through various social media avenues. Other policies focus on student social media use as addenda to harassment policies or conduct standards. Recently I have witnessed students using social media avenues to attack other students. Twitter and facebook  are most common, however other avenues such as YouTube have been used for these reasons also.  These are two very different reasons to have social media policies at our institutions but both very applicable.

Some common themes of social media policies include “how to” guides as well as best practices. However, many social media policies are addenda to already in tact PR policies so the same rules apply in terms of logos, text, or any other examples of marketing standards for the institutions. The institution I currently work for is developing a social media policy as it relates to students and is more of an addendum to our harassment policy. In addition to that, they are also developing a Ning or a social network which will incorporate different forms of social media and be able to connect members of the community to all forms of social media related to the college, whether that be an admissions facebook page or student life flickr page. Most best practice sections include sections on branding and etiquette and most are fairly similar.

What are some important sections beyond this people feel should be included in policies? What are important branding and etiquette best practices? Some great resources for this are Depaul University’s policy, Indiana University South Bend’s policy, as well as University of Deleware’s.

Does your institution have a social media policy? Who in your department works with social media?

Haley Lindemood is the Assistant Director of Residence Life at Hanover College in Hanover, Ind.

Proof: Meaning What You Say

The edge of a cliff.  The top of a roller coaster. Completing a trust fall.  What do these things have in common?  They make most people’s stomachs do flips from the anticipation of what is to come.  I believe this is the feeling Steve Farber speaks about that Extreme Leaders experience when they have an OS!M.  Have any of you felt this way when approaching your job?  If you could not answer yes, then you may not have dug deep enough to become an Extreme Leader yet.

The final letter of LEAP…Proof.  Love, energy, and audacity are great concepts but without the follow-through and proof that you really mean what you are saying it’s pointless to even put forth an effort on the other three concepts.  You must prove it to others, prove it to yourself, and prove it to others that you are proving it yourself.

This concept reminds me of a movie I recently watched, The Prince of Persia.  A quick synopsis of the storyline, the prince has the opportunity to go back into time due to a magical dagger and change the fate of what would have occurred.  In order to change the fate, the prince had to stand up for what was right, even though that meant speaking up against his uncle and brothers.  He spoke what he believed to be the truth in front of hundreds of people he was leading.  In other words, he had an OS!M.  Prior to opening his mouth, the prince did not know how his words would be perceived, especially since he was disagreeing with the decision his brothers and uncle made to go to war.  I am sure if we could go back in time and ask how he felt…or maybe we could just ask Jake Gyllenhaal (the actor who played the prince), the prince would probably tell us his stomach was doing flips right before he spoke.  When he spoke he provided proof that a close friend had betrayed them.  Throughout the entire movie the prince searched for the correct answer, found the proof of betrayal, and then proclaimed the truth for all to see.

Within The Radical Leap, Janice stood up in front of XinoniX and showed how much she loved and believed in what they did.  She had an OS!M in front of her fellow peers.  She also conveyed the fact that she still had to prove it to them.  She informed her colleagues what she wanted to accomplish and asked them to hold her accountable to that goal while she proved it to them.  I will ask you the same question she asked her peers, “Why did/do you love what you do and how can you ensure that you keep that feeling?”  I cannot answer the first part of the question for you, but Steve Farber answered the second half for us.  It is simple; we must have humility and ask for help.

DWYSYWD: Do What You Say You Will Do.  Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, known leadership gurus, coined this term.  How many of us have sat at conferences and been inspired by what we hear and learn from our colleagues?  Yet, when we get back to our campuses we talk big, but don’t prove how we can implement an idea on our campus. How many of us have sat in staff meetings where our boss was giving us another ‘hoorah speech?  How many of us have given that speech to our RA staff?  Did it do much good?  Before you answer that question ask yourself, did you love what you were doing and believe it could change the world?  You need to prove yourself by walking the walk and holding yourself accountable to the same things you are asking of your staff.  It is easy to talk things up, but actually embodying those concepts and ideas is a different story.  An Extreme Leader will embody their organization’s concepts and ideas in their daily actions and words, standing up for what is right, and using their successes and failures as public examples.

I believe that Edg said it best when he issued the challenge, “Make a commitment – right now- that no matter where you sit on the org chart, no matter what it says in your job description, stand up for what is right and ‘normal constraints’ be damned.”  So, I now ask you, how are you going to change the W/world?

Ellen Engh is a Residential Community Coordinator at Millikin University. 

Book Club Blog Post: Audacity

“Love generates Energy, inspires Audacity, and requires Proof. LEAP, you see, is simply the Extreme Leader’s active, dynamic expression of love.” – Steve Farber via Edg

Monday morning, I woke up and started my day with my usual program: a simple breakfast followed by a quick shower and then head into the office. As I do most mornings, I made a pot of coffee, sat down at my desk, checked phone messages, and started rifling through the email from the weekend. It was just deluge of the usual incident reports, solicitations for entertainment funds, and the typical daily communication that occurs on a college campus. Everything done with the robotic efficiency that comes from years of routine.

Then I found an email from a coworker describing a fund raising project that she is spearheading for a local scholarship fund. Not too far out of the realm of regular email for a college campus, but I couldn’t help connecting her plea for help with the Audacity aspect of Steve Farber’s LEAP. She had asked herself “How can I change the world?” and found herself helping to change the life of a student..

It was definitely the wakeup call I needed on a sleepy Monday morning! I thought, “This woman Loves what she does and it is giving her the Energy to be Audacious.” Where was my Love? Where was my Energy?

According to “The Daily Handbook for Radical Leaders”, we surrounded and imprisoned by “normal constraints” of people who don’t think we can do it, people who don’t think it is worth the effort or risk, and people who, for some reason or other, want us not to be successful. If we Love what we do, then we will have the Energy to be Audacious; the energy to take risks and find a way to change the world!

I realized that I was placing constraints based on society’s perception of the working world: Monday morning is slow and grumpy. My Love and Energy were lost in the ridiculous constraints of an exaggerated stereotype of office life! I decided then and there to shrug that constraint, regardless of its source, and I spent the rest of my morning working with a renewed vigor.

Being an Extreme Leader means asking the question “What are the constraints holding you back?” For me, in this case, it was the constraint that Mondays are not allowed to be fun and exciting. In other cases, especially working with the ever diminishing resources of higher education, it is someone telling us that there is not enough money or that the return does not justify the cost. There are as many constraints as there are people to impose them.

Being an Extreme Leader means throwing those constraints aside. Being an Extreme Leader means inspiring others to do the same. Being an Extreme Leader means changing the world, even if it is just for one person in one situation.

How have you expressed your love? How have you changed the world?

Joseph Hawkins is the Assistant Director of Residential and Student Life at Lincoln College.

Radical LEAP: Love and Energy

“What is leadership?” Have you ever stopped to think about this question before you began to read The Radical Leap? I love to ask students this question in RA interviews but never really had an answer of my own. Who knew it could be defined in just four words? Love. Energy. Audacity. Proof. Like Steve Farber, I was curious about how this acronym could encompass leadership but the more I read, the more it made sense. I’d like to focus on the first two components of the LEAP acronym: love and energy.

I may not think of myself as an extreme leader yet, but I sure do have plenty of OS!Ms. For example, three years ago I accepted a position at my current institution only to find out in my first week that I would be the only staff member in Housing & Residence Life. Luckily I work at a very small college, nevertheless the task seemed daunting.  However, I survived this OS!M, stepped up to the challenge and, just as Steve Farber highlights, I was able to grow and develop my leadership abilities. Think back in your experiences. What OS!Ms have influenced the work that you do and how were you challenged?

It becomes easy to see how these ideas lead into the first concept of the LEAP philosophy. In order to get through an OS!M or any difficult task you have to love what you do. As Farber writes, “Love is the ultimate motivation of the Extreme Leader”. Just like Farber’s friend Janice, I too sometimes lose sight of why I love my job and the wonderful opportunity I have to influence others. However, I am now challenging myself to remember the many reasons why I love what I do, and I ask you to do the same. Why do you love your job?

After reading further in The Radical Leap it became extremely evident that love and energy are connected. When you love what you do you are inspired to be a better person and are motivated to help others. For example, during high school I spent one summer working at Dairy Queen and I hated it. I now understand that it was because I didn’t love what I was doing and wasn’t energized to make the job better.  It is our role as rising Extreme Leaders to show our love and generate energy in all that we do. I find that in my current position I continually am filled with energy and passion because I love where I work and the students/staff I work with.

Becoming an extreme leader may seem challenging, but start here: first, identify why you love your work. Next, think about where your energy comes from and how you can act on it. I encourage you to reflect, and/or post your reactions to this post as we move forward in The Radical Leap so that we can share in the process of becoming extreme leaders.

 

Stephanie Martin is the Director of Housing and Residence Life at St. Joseph’s College in Indiana. Share your thoughts on the first two sections of the book in the comments!

Anticipated Openings, Anticipated Futures

Looking back over the past two weeks with the Oshkosh Placement Exchange and The Placement Exchange, I’m filled with a wide range of emotions: hope about getting my first professional position, fear about the numbers of people and number of available position, anxious for the waiting game that is going to be the next few weeks, and frustration about the number of anticipated positions.

Anticipated—one word that I, as a candidate, am frustrated with.  Merriam-Webster and dictionary.com define anticipate as “to act before (another) often so as to check or counter; to look forward to as certain” or “to expect; look forward to; be sure of; to nullify, prevent, or forestall by taking countermeasures in advance”.  For me as a candidate, anticipated means a scary, stressful, uncertain future.

I understand the point behind anticipated openings; this gives the people who are currently job searching a little bit of security within their position in the case that they don’t find a position in which they fit.  But it is still little comfort to potential candidates.  It is hard to get super excited about a position that may or may not be open.  It is especially difficult when there is something between the potential candidate and employer (call it chemistry, clicking, magic, or whatever).  When the employer says “as you know, this is a very anticipated position opening”, it can break the candidate’s heart a little bit.  It’s hard to know that you could be a good fit, but there is not a place for you.

So, with this uncertain job market where jobs may be hard to come by, I think that it is important to keep up hope.  I like to think of myself as an eternal optimist—there is a great job out there for me somewhere; there is a great job for everyone out there.  It may take some time; it may be hard when your friends and colleagues are all finding work before you.  But don’t give up hope!  Keep looking, keep trying!  You will be able to find a fit!

Additionally, it’s not necessarily about you!  You may think that you are qualified and could work in a given position and be successful; this may be true, but you may not be who the employer is looking for.  My mentors have told me this dozens of times: don’t take it personally—employers know who will fit in their department and the type of person they want to join their team.

So, anticipation is stressful, scary, and uncertain—after all, Tom Petty did say that “the waiting is the hardest part.”  However, it is also a great opportunity to take the time and reflect on who you are as a person and what you really want out of that next position.  It is possible to use the anticipation to become a better professional.  Think about what you bring to the table, what you are hoping to gain from this next position, and how you can connect the two.

Most importantly, don’t give up hope.  It may be hard to do, but keep your spirits high and a smile on your face!  We all can be successful!  There is a position for you out there somewhere!  Don’t give up!

 

Zac Birch is an Assistant Hall Director at Indiana State University and is job searching as he completes his graduate degree this spring.

Which Hat to Wear: Ethical Issues in Student Staff Selection

Just a few short weeks ago I sat in a student staff instructors meeting for a class to prepare future potential student staff members.  In this meeting of instructors, we debated for an hour how exactly to evaluate students in the class.  Evaluation is always a difficult task, but even more so when the evaluator is also a future potential employer.  This debate has been a continued one in our department for at least the 5 years that I have been here, and I have been told by colleagues, that the debate even precedes my arrival at Indiana University.  As I reflected upon our conversation, it became clearer some of the ethical dilemmas and decisions that student affairs professionals face when it comes to the hiring of student staff members, especially when we wear multiple “hats”.  This wearing of multiple “hats” was something first introduced to me by my current supervisor Michael Moore.  He has mastered the art of the “hats” and I have learned so much from him about how to balance these multiple roles, especially during selection season.  On any given day housing professionals can be called upon to be a mentor, supervisor, teacher, advisor, counselor, crisis manager, administrator, and friend.  When to wear which “hat” can be a challenge.

Although I enjoy the task of picking out a different outfit every day, sometimes I struggle when I have to decide which “hat” to wear.  For some this can be a daunting task and one which has very unclear rules.  Over the years I have found that when working with potential staff members in a variety of capacities, it is most important to have a conversation with fellow colleagues about the approach that your department will take to various issues that might arise.  For example, what will you do when a staff member reveals very personal information in a paper or project that would impact their potential employment or how much do you take into account one’s performance in a staff class with that of selection?

I was faced with such a dilemma just a few short years ago when a member of my student staff class revealed to me a sexual assault that significantly impacted her every day.  It was clear based upon her overall behavior in the class that she was not emotionally or mentally ready to take on the responsibility of a student staff position and that she had not worked to deal with many of her own issues.  When I told her that I didn’t feel she was fit for a student staff position, she immediately felt that the personal information that she shared impacted my decision.  Although her personal story shed light on her behavior, it was her overall performance, or lack thereof, which helped me to make my assessment.  It was difficult to try and explain to her the different roles and responsibilities that I had to not only her, but also to the future students and residents that as a staff member, she might interact with.  In addition, I also worked to provide her the support and counseling services that she needed in order to assist her as she continued to work through her issues.

After this experience, and a fellow colleague also having a similar situation, we asked our department to engage in a conversation about how student staff class instructors should use the information from students that is shared in class to impact selection decisions.  Since this time, we have worked to better inform the students in our classes that although we ask them to share their personal experiences, that they should do so remembering that we are also employers and they should be mindful of that.  In the Facebook and Twitter age, students are extremely comfortable sharing everything and anything with everyone, but reminding them of our role as an instructor is important.  Additionally, we have also revised our class evaluation form that is completed by class instructors.  We have moved away from general comments about the student to much more concrete attributes and behaviors, working to provide consistency across classes and also remove subjectivity, as much as possible.  In just finishing these evaluations a few short nights ago, it will be clear to my colleagues the strengths and weaknesses seen by the students throughout the class without making mention of personal experiences or information that has been shared.

We are all still human and will be constantly called upon to make tough decisions and choices about our various roles and “hats”, but hopefully by engaging colleagues in a conversation about these challenges will assist you and your department in ethical student staff selection.

 

Kelly Thacker is a Residence Manager at Indiana University Bloomington. She is also pursuing her Ph.D. You can follow her on Twitter at @KellyLThacker.