Advising and helping has been a central component throughout my coursework, internship, and practicum experiences. Due to the nature of my internship, I work very closely advising five student leaders in the Student Alumni Connection (SAC). Over the past two years, I have had weekly one-on-ones with these Executive Board members to discuss their personal and professional development, and the work they are doing in each of their roles. I have learned the importance of “strategically and simultaneously pursing multiple objectives in conversations with students” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 6) and how to challenge them to think about things from various perspectives.
When meeting with these students, I exhibit active listening skills, facilitate reflection and problem solving, and conduct individual professional needs assessment (ACPA & NASPA, 2010). Mental health concerns often arise during these meetings, and I have experience reporting students of concern to the Office of Residence Life, the Counseling Center, and staff members on campus I know work directly with the student. This has allowed me to learn when it is appropriate to utilize crisis management and intervention responses (ACPA & NASPA, 2010). In addition to weekly one-on-one meetings, at the start of each semester, I meet with Executive Board members who did not meet the minimum GPA requirement of the role. My first artifact is the grades check-in outline for the meeting I have with each student below a 2.5 semester GPA. I use the questions to prompt an initial reflection, and also let the student know it is okay, and relevant, to discuss how both personal and academic factors influenced their grades. Later in the conversation, I let the student know how I will follow up with them in the future to assist them with accountability. I think it is important to not only prompt initial reflection with the student, but also let them know how I will continuously support them in their development. This outline allows me to be consistent in my advising technique, but also cater the conversation to each student I work with. After the grades check-in meeting, students are required to send back their academic action plan within two weeks, and asked to place their copy of the plan in a place they look often (their planner, desktop, cork board, etc.) As a second part to my artifact, I have included a completed academic action plan completed in January 2015 by an Executive Board member. I utilized her plan in our follow up conversation halfway through the semester to check on progress. This action plan also serves as a “contract” of sorts, because the student is informed that if they do not meet the GPA requirement the following semester they will be ineligible to return to their position. Part of advising and helping requires helping students understand the consequences of their actions (ACPA & NASPA, 2010), and proper documentation of our conversations is key for future conversations if necessary. |
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In addition to utilizing my advising and helping skills with the students I advise, I have also had the opportunity to share my knowledge and experience in this competency area with other advisors. I co-facilitated a session with my supervisor at a Council for the Advancement and Support of Education conference in August 2014. The session was geared toward advisors of student alumni, ambassador, and philanthropy groups, and intentionally “introductory” in order to reach advisors from non-student affairs backgrounds. Some of the things we discussed with attendees included navigating personal versus professional relationships, how to “meet students where they are”, and resources to help the advisors learn more about advising their student group.
I have included the presentation I facilitated as an artifact to illustrate how we approached sharing this information with session attendees. Specifically, I believe creating and facilitating this presentation allowed me to “provide necessary training and development for staff to enhance their advising and helping skills” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 7). I presented a similar session with my supervisor and three other professionals from various institutions at the CASE District V Conference in December 2014, and this provided further experience in teaching others about the advising and helping competency.
I have included the presentation I facilitated as an artifact to illustrate how we approached sharing this information with session attendees. Specifically, I believe creating and facilitating this presentation allowed me to “provide necessary training and development for staff to enhance their advising and helping skills” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 7). I presented a similar session with my supervisor and three other professionals from various institutions at the CASE District V Conference in December 2014, and this provided further experience in teaching others about the advising and helping competency.