Cafe Victoria

It’s been awhile since I had sometime to share some thoughts on student affairs and student services. I love sharing stuff, especially for my New Student Affairs Professional blog readers.  So I thought, why not share “a day in the life” moment. Here is some highlights from an email I sent to my Vice President of Student Services before I left for the weekend. You will find, that in our field of student affairs, we wearing many hats which makes for a far from boring job AND we could use another hour in the day, but hey, lunch breaks are meant to be spent not in meetings or at your desk but at your favorite spot on campus where no student can find ya 😉

This week I’m presenting a workshop at the California Community College Student Affairs Association Professional 2011 Conference in Sacramento. As part of the Board of Directors, we started brainstorming topics and I couldn’t help but bring up my personal experience. As someone who recently changes jobs, I learned that I was the only in the hiring pool with an online professional portfolio. After I was hired, the student on the committee shared with me “it made a real difference that the committee could see examples of my work and read about experiences in student affairs  in an simple easy way”. So, I volunteered to lead a workshop on how to create your own online portfolio. Here is a few things I’ve learned:

• If you are not ready or have the time to develop an online portfolio, LinkedIn is a great place to start!
• The Education field is slowing starting to use social media for hiring, so I encourage to keep working on your resume and essay questions..ahh but guess what..you can also have those documents posted online!
• The bonus of starting an online portfolio is it gets you organized. You get to showcase examples of the work you are most proud of, show your resume, and develop new ideas all in one place, AND it forces you stay on top of it.

“Commit to Completion”  “Honors in Action”  “5 Start Chapter”

These were just a few statements I heard last weekend in Seattle when I attended the Phi Theta Kappa International Conference. Let me tell ya, I was hooked! After 9 years in the student affairs field, this was my first time truly understanding what and how Phi Theta Kappa works. The organizers of this conference did an awesome job sending a wave of emotion through 4000 community college honors students from across the US empowering these student leaders to finish their A.A. or A.S., believe that they too can finish their Bachelors Degrees and to most important, bring their fellow college students along with them.

I realized in California Community College Student Affairs programs, majority of Phi Theta Kappa programs come out of the President’s Office and then directed to go under Instruction. Which might effect the connection that Student Life has with Phi Theta Kappa because majority of the time, Student Life is established under Student Services. Now, after attending the Phi Theta Kappa conference, I have a way better understanding, can see the similarities, and know now how we can best advocate for each other.

I encourage new and seasoned student affairs professionals that are advising Student Government and Student Activities programs to make a strong effort to attend a Phi Theta Kappa regional or international conference, or even ask to have coffee with the current Phi Theta Kappa advisors and ask them about how they are doing with their “5 Start Chapter Status attempt”. Take some time to learn about the 5 Star Chapter Status and how it all works. You will be surprised how you are both providing student engagement and could support each other to reach that 5 Start chapter status each year.