Computer & Internet

Archive for March, 2010

Part One Written By: Mike Hamilton, Complex Coordinator, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, @m1hamilton
Part Two Written By: Stacy Oliver, Assistant Director of Housing and Residential Life, Indiana University South Bend, @StacyLOliver

Part One

Origin:

As I was sitting through my fourth year of resident assistant group process at Worcester Polytechnic Institute I began to think, how could this be improved?  Now I have to admit that there is nothing wrong with out group process to begin with.  It is a standard 3 hour process where a professional staff facilitator gives the group activities to work on for a specified time while current resident assistants observe interactions.  It is very similar to resident assistant and orientation group processes I have worked with in the past that also worked really well.   However, I still like to look for ways to improve processes when possible.  So I started to think about removing the structure of the the program, particularly time limits and facilitation.  What I have noticed increasingly over the years is a reluctance to share opinions or be fully genuine in the process by candidates.  My thought is that this may be tied to the structure of the program and that there is a facilitator.   Within our process the facilitator does absolutely nothing but give the group activities to work on and keep track of time, however groups still seemed to direct their comments and discussion toward this person.  The question I started to ask myself was whether the structure limits the groups potential growth or the personalities of the individuals within the group.  Working under the assumption that group process is more about the group interaction than the outcome of the activities I believe that removing facilitation will create a more realistic depiction of group behavior. 

Theory:

The ideal setup would be to remove the facilitator and specific time limits from group process.  The group would enter the room and find a packet of activities ready for them.  The packet would explain that you have “x” amount of time to complete the enclosed activities.  My hope is that this process will show the basic level of leadership to the observers.  Who becomes the facilitators? Who watches the time?  Do they rush to complete activities or work to make sure everyone is heard?  With this process we are able to not only see how they work within the activities but also how they work to complete a common goal.  The one major risk I see is if a group completely implodes.  However I have seen this happen in a standard group process with a facilitator and the facilitator can not do much to resolve issues in a group process setting.  It would be interesting to see them try to resolve their own issues knowing that they are being observed and that there is a potential job on the line. While not necessarily realistic in the higher education setting, this process would be great to observe from behind a 2 way glass mirror.  Luckily I do not have to wait a full year to try this process.  A colleague in the field has agreed to help out by trying it this year with her process.

Part 2

Implementation:

When Mike shared his idea to remove the facilitator from group process, I was intrigued. Having worked with training and selection of student staff for six years, I’m always looking for ways to update processes. I like new challenges and, to be frank, I like challenging students in new ways. I offered to run this on my campus because we have a very small group process due to the size of our department. This minimized the risk and allowed for easier intervention if things went severely off-track.

We had nine candidates participating in group process. I identified the activities for the evening by determining which ones could be done with little facilitation while also allowing for students to demonstrate target skills of discussion, time management, consensus, and collaboration. I chose activities that I have observed before in a traditional group process setting so that I could more accurately compare the differences.

The current Resident Assistant staff acted as observers for the activities and provided guided feedback via an evaluation form on the following areas:

• Communication Skills
• Knowledge of Resources
• Problem Solving Skills
• Leadership
• Assertiveness

When candidates arrived, a current Resident Assistant led a brief teambuilder to get them acquainted and learn names. After the teambuilding activity ended, they were handed a packet with two activities and told that they had 40 minutes to complete both and all candidates must participate in both activities.

Activity One:

The first activity the group chose to complete was the consensus-reaching activity in which they were asked to hire a Resident Assistant staff based on brief biographies of candidates. The candidates allowed time to individually review the biographies. Within minutes of discussion starting, a self-appointed facilitator emerged from the group. I was pleased that this did not dissuade the rest of the group from fully participating. Conversation was lively and candid with several candidates taking on roles of pointing out gaps in logic. The self-appointed facilitator did an excellent job keeping the group on track and highlighting discussion points.

I found this activity to be true to my observations of it in previous group processes where there was a facilitator. There was the added benefit of seeing the group work through their own time management issues. This activity easily could have taken the entire 40 minutes allotted to the group [and nearly did!].

To Mike’s point of wondering if the group would interact more candidly, I believe that they did. It seemed that they lost awareness of the resident assistants who were sitting around the perimeter of the room. Without a faciltiator present or in their line of vision, they seeemed to completely forget that this was a piece of an interview.

Activity Two:

The second activity asked candidates to build the tallest tower possible with the provided supplies of spaghetti, rubber bands, coffee stirrers, gum drops, and construction paper. The instructions were left vague to allow the candidates’ interpretation of whether they were supposed to be competing to build the tallest tower between two groups or work as a large group. The candidates chose to work as a large group. I had no expectation for which they do, though I thought if they chose to divide into two groups, the element of competition would be an interesting dynamic without a faciltiator.

Interestingly, this is an activity I have done in the past and the facilitator had a minimal role [e.g. declaring certain building materials "unsafe" and having the group remove them from the structure]. Whether it was the lack of facilitator or the time crunch that the group found themselves in after spending 30 minutes on the first activity, this activity was near-disaster. The group spent the bulk of their remaining time discussing and debating. So little time was spent building that there was no reason to issue them challenges, remove supplies, etc.

Of course, having spent much of their time on the first activity added a valuable observation opportunity — working under pressure — that may not have happened if they had simply been provided an allotted time for each activity.

They ultimately pulled it together at the end to construct a tower; however, I am glad that none of them are architecture majors.
 
Debriefing:

At the close of the second activity, I brought the candidate group back together to debrief both activities. I never told them that the facilitator was removed from the activities, but during the course of the discussion, I asked what would have made the activities either. No one mentioned or even alluded to wanting a facilitator. Their reflections focused on how they interacted and communicated with one another.

Summary:

Removing the facilitator did not change the outcome of group process. Mike and I never expected it would. Instead, we both hoped for a more organic look at the communication and collaboration process of these student leaders. It also contributed new methods of observing the behaviors we were assessing by putting the onus on the candidates to move through the process, gauge their own involvement, and manage the timed activities appropriately. I can’t say with certainty that it changed who we hired, but I can say it gave different clarity to the skill-set of certain candidates.

As far as accuracy and success in the hiring process? Check back with me in a year after the new staff have had their formal performance appraisals.

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We speak a lot about the meteoric rise of student affairs professionals communicating on Twitter. Within #SACHAT, our participant numbers have grown 500% since our October 2009 debut. We have so many colleagues engaged that we had to add a second chat time three months into the venture. Our #SACHAT meet-ups are occurring around the spring professional conferences and organically as our student affairs family find themselves in similar locations.

I had an opportunity to meet several of our #SACHAT friends in conjunction with the ACUI conference and spent some time exploring New York City with one of those friends. We made a day of it, walking and sharing stories, stopping for lunch, shopping a bit, and before you knew it, found ourselves uncertain how to make our way back to the car. We stood at a busy street corner, attempting to get our bearings. We asked a passerby for directions and then headed off to find our way. After covering quite a few more blocks and not yet seeing any landmarks leading to the car, it dawned on me that I could use the map function on my phone to aid our quest. This handy little GPS tool is not essential for navigation in my small Midwest city, so I had forgotten that I had it.

We determined our present location, entered an address for the parking garage, and lo and behold, walking directions were magically provided. So, we started out again in the direction of our vehicle, enjoying the city scenery, chatting, and enjoying the day. Only to miss a turn and get off track, again. Ah, but this time we had the map and directions. We backtracked, paid more attention to our map, and finally made our way back to the car.

Early in my student affairs career, I found easy ways to network with colleagues. I joined professional organizations, served on committees, and chatted regularly with colleagues at other institutions as we planned trainings and conferences. As I advanced in my career, it seems that I lost some of those opportunities, as my own work required more of my time and focus. At some point along the way, I lost track of most of my network, also losing the community that helped me brainstorm and recharge with energy and new ideas.

Then along comes a social networking tool like Twitter and fun little communities such as the Student Affairs Blog and #SACHAT. Once again, I am linked with other professionals, sharing ideas, and learning new ways to do things. I am engaged in building a community that challenges and inspires me. It is a community that grew through social network technology and like a GPS, helped me find my way.

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Thanks to everyone who participated in today’s #SAchat focusing on Creative Judicial Sanctioning. Each week, we continue to grow our numbers and today’s chats produced over 900 comments from over 100 student affairs professionals,  graduate students and undergraduates interested or working in the Student Affairs field!

In case you missed it, below is a quick recap. If you haven’t yet participated in an #sachat, learn more here.

Full Transcripts
DAYTIME:
View as webpage
Download as PDF

EVENING:
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Download as PDF

Today’s Top Contributors

@The_SA_Blog
@reyjunco
@m1hamilton
@JGinese23
@jesstini85
@jpkirch
@BeccaFick
@beekayroot
@ericstoller
@HFIELDS33

Here’s to another successful set of #sachats!  What are some other topics you would like to see us cover?  Please let us know your ideas and feedback to keep #sachat growing strong.

Until we next week, (if you haven’t already done so) please make sure to join our growing Facebook Page, currently over 2,800 and adding new #studentaffairs friends every day!  Thanks for your continued support!

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A month ago, I shared a very personal story and I wanted to write a quick follow up.  After posting it, I received an outpouring of support  as well as ideas and feedback on what they would do if that same scenario happened to them.  Many of you also stated that this opened up conversations with your colleagues about “Ethics”, which I’m glad happened, since more of these conversations need to occur, especially in our Higher Education Graduate Programs.

Having said this, I wanted you all to know that I received a handwritten letter from Jodie.  I’m still not sure if it is in response to or independent of my blog post, but needless to say, it came as a surprise.  When I got back from my NYC trip two weeks ago, it was sitting in my work mailbox.  The letter was forwarded to me from my friend who made the initial contact in person with Jodie last month in jail.

The letter was well written and gently tugging at my heart strings.  She expressed complete remorse for her actions, recognized the fact that she needs help for her addictions, and is on her way to reaching out to some key people that she wanted to personally apologize to.  I still have the letter and have read it over and over again to try and gain some perspective on my old Mentor’s state of being.  It is all so surreal.

After all the advice and feedback I received, I was still on the fence of what to do and it wasn’t until I had an insightful conversation with a former student of mine that really cemented my plan.   In that conversation, she told me that she was in Jodie’s corner because she understood how powerful addictions (gambling, alcohol and other drugs) can be, since she lived through it growing up.  She hammered home that trying to “wrap my brain around the why’s” of  her actions would do me no good.  She encouraged me to reach out to Jodie, forgive her, and move on.  She made me realize that no matter what I did, Jodie would still have to live with her decisions and spend the rest of her life making amends.  For those of you who may have experienced addictions first or second hand, I’m sure you can empathize with  this train of thought.

So,I’ve decided to practice what I often preach and that is to “Build a Bridge and Get Over It”.  I’m writing her a response letter and get everything off my chest. I’m using this as a cathartic process so I can move on.  I’ve already started the letter and feel better.  I can’t even begin to imagine what she is going through daily.  However, I do believe that pieces of my old mentor are still in there, and I hope that someday, she can rise above all this and live the life I know she can.

Who in your life do you need to “build a bridge” for in order to “get over it?”

I appreciate the support and feedback you all have given me with all this.  Thank you!

(This is a cross post with On the Go!)

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If you cannot view this poll click here.

And here are the results from the last poll.

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Incorporating student development theory into training of student leaders always caused a conundrum for me. Having watched and tried a variety of means and methods of delivering this information, I realized that it was difficult for undergraduate students to wrap their hands around the idea that they were, at that very moment, developing. It became more challenging to convince them of the changes they already experienced. Add to that in August 2008 that I was training the first group of Resident Assistants on this campus. Not only did they not have previous context for their own jobs, they had no context for the life changes that occur through the experience of living on campus.

I had no idea how I was going to give them the foundation of development theory. I did know that I needed to empower them and prove to them that not only were these things relevant, but as college students themselves, they were the true experts. And so, “Are You Smarter than a Student Development Theorist?” was born.

I focused on only two theories in August 2008, the ones that most reflected our goals for our first year as a housing operation.

Involvement

During the staff selection process in February 2008, each Resident Assistant candidate was required to write an essay describing the ideal on-campus community and what the role of the RA is in creating that community. Having not been part of that selection process because I was hired several months after the RA staff, I dug out their essays and read them over and over again.

They were theorists.

I chose significant quotes from each of the staff members who would be sitting at the table. I printed those insightful snippets onto index cards and made a set for each of the staff members. At the beginning of the session, I highlighted Astin’s Theory of Involvement I provided a brief overview of the concepts of availability of resources, environment, student time, motivation, behavior and return on invested time.

The staff members were then given the packet of quotes from the essays. They spent the next 30 minutes individually assigning the quotes to different tenets of Astin’s theory by taping index cards to large pieces of paper hanging around the room that were labeled with the previously dicsused tenets. When they were done, we debriefed by discussing why they chose to hang the quotes where they did.

Highlights from the quotes included:

• Comparison of on-campus community to Disney World
• Discussion of the types of events that should take place  in the community
• Faculty involvement in the community
• Creating measurable outcomes of student learning in the community

Through the debriefing discussion, the staff quickly realized that they understood involvement and what it would take to appropriately engage residents in the new community we were creating by offering campus housing for the first time.

Hierarchy of Needs

With on-campus housing being a new option in 2008, there were many questions about what housing would and would not be. To highlight what we hoped housing would provide, I took the Resident Assistants on a field trip to our model suite. I provided them with sets of numbered index cards and masking tape. I gave them instructions to label in order of importance the amenities in the suite, with 1 being most important and 10 being the least. They spent 10 minutes perusing the multiple bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms, etc. When they were done, we walked through the suite together, and discussed the numbers and how they were distributed.

Through discussion, the staff debated and discussed what the actual intent of campus housing is and what was really important about that experience. While they maintained the importance of the Internet, something Maslow perhaps would have disputed, they also saw the importance of card access points, mattresses, and refrigerator.

The conversation was affirmation that they saw the bigger picture of the housing experience and were able to discern through their discourse what really mattered most to the student experience.

Having overcome the conundrum of addressing student development theory in a way that is both meaningful and useful, I continue to use both of these activities in training. I also have expanded my repertoire of “Are You Smarter than a Student Development Theorist?” activities to help staff address issues in the community as they arise. For me, this has become theory to practice to theory – bringing theory to life and then back to concept for the student leaders who work the front lines daily.

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All of us the Student Affairs Collaborative are thrilled at the response of the #NASPA10 demo of #SACHAT this past Monday that focused on How You Use Twitter in Student Affairs and today’s weekly #SACHAT that focused on Best Student Development Strategies. We’re thrilled to welcome all our new participants from ACUI and NASPA and hope that we gain even more friends at ACPA in Boston in 10 short days!  Each week, we continue to grow our numbers and this week’s chats produced over 1,800 comments from almost 200 Student Affairs professionals,  graduate students and undergraduates interested or working in the Student Affairs field!  WOW!

In case you missed any of it, below is a quick recap. If you STILL haven’t yet participated in an #sachat, learn more here.

Full Transcripts

#NASPA10 #SACHAT Demo: “How You Use Twitter in Student Affairs” (3/8/2010)
View as webpage
Download as PDF

DAYTIME: How You Use Twitter in Student Affairs (3/11/2010)
View as webpage
Download as PDF

EVENING: How You Use Twitter in Student Affairs (3/11/2010)
View as webpage
Download as PDF

Top Contributors

@The_SA_Blog
@reyjunco
@edcabellon
@m1hamilton
@ARL275
@cindykane
@debrasanborn
@AndreaHart
@jesstini85
@BeccaFick

Here’s to another successful set of #sachats!  What are some other topics you would like to see us cover?  Please let us know your ideas and feedback to keep #sachat growing strong.

Until we next week, (if you haven’t already done so) please make sure to join our growing Facebook Page, currently over 2,700 and adding new #studentaffairs friends every day!  Thanks for your continued support!

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If you cannot view this poll click here.

And here are the results from the last poll.

Source: nope

One recent thread on the Twitter #sachat has related to the quest for something called “In Box Zero.”  Out of sheer desperation for some motivation to get my e-mail life under control, I posted a challenge to readers and participants of the #sachat to see if we could motivate each other to get our e-mail situations under control.

Postings and responses were mixed.  I could talk for a while and analyze whether or not it is possible to be productive when there are 2,000 e-mails in your In Box, but I’ll let your own conscience ring in on that one as you are asking yourself if your current system is working.  Instead, I’ll share a bit about what I did and how I’m hoping to reclaim my productivity.

This quest for In Box Zero was inspired by a few frustrating e-mail searches during situations where I needed to be able to quickly locate an email.  As I was frustrated by the huge numbers of messages that kept coming up no matter how specific I thought my searches were, I realized something big.

My e-mails are important, but not that important.

I owe it to myself to manage my own life intentionally and with the same care that I coach my own students and staff to do for each other. I am really starting to tire of all of the student affairs culture that asks us to wear our stress as a “badge of honor” as we tell anyone who will listen how busy we are.  This has to stop, especially if we are going to accomplish the respect we are looking for.  We need to show our campus leadership and ourselves that we have our *stuff* together.

Getting to the point of In Box Zero took about two days of moderate focus (I will confess!! It was fun – a nerdy “spring cleaning” of sorts).  Here were some important parts of my attempt:

• Email folders are my new best friend.  If you think of a paper-driven system, my former In Box was akin to a pile of papers with the one that just came in on the top.  They are now filed in a system that makes sense, kind of like file folders, so if I need to quickly review emails all relating to the same event or issue they are still there.
• Un-subscribing like it’s my job. In campus activities we get a lot of email from artists, agents, vendors, etc.  In many cases, these subscriptions are not ones that I asked for but are ones that come with membership in associations.  My past approach was just deleting, but now I’m also making an effort to unsubscribe to those I will never need.
• Ruthless deleting. For every message, I thought hard about “what are the chances I will need this info again?” and “can I get this information somewhere else if I needed it again?”

I got to In Box Zero in time for this past Thursday’s #sachat, as promised.  The main question is, can this last?  From here out, I’m hoping to change some things about the way I work to take more control over my management of information.  Based on the Tuesday Tally results, I think at least a few of you might be interested in joining me on this quest!

• In Box Zero is the goal each week.  I don’t think I can manage it each day, but I think by the end of the week each week I can do this.
• No more using email as a To Do List. This was sage advice I received  (again, via Twitter!) and I will most definitely oblige.  Most of the reasons why I was keeping so many emails was “as a reminder” that I had to do something.  I was also keeping a To Do List that usually included all of the email items, but not always remembering them. From here on, I’m deleting or filing those messages after I enter the task on my list.  Now, my e-mail is in better control and my To Do list is now more of an accurate picture of what is on my plate.
• When In Box Zero is accomplished, close the e-mail. Again, sage advice.  With e-mail being empty, the accumulation of a few messages isn’t a big deal anymore.  The peace of mind of not worrying about every little message coming in for a few hours is quite nice.
• Set up some rules. For the e-mail subscriptions that I kept, I set up auto rules for the ones that I wanted to read when I have time. This way, the messages are out of my day-to-day message flow and I can review them when I get time.
• Manage the blog reading. Before I really figured out the world of the blog, I was subscribed to some blogs via email/RSS.  I finally caught up to the rest of the world and started using Google Reader in the way it is supposed to be used.  My newsflash: Collect all of these great messages in one place…and that place is NOT in my email!  This way, I can use Google Reader when I have the time to read the blog posts.

The feeling of getting the e-mail world under control is this ENFJ’s “natural high.”  This is a great feeling and I really believe I can approach the work week with a bit more sanity.  I have this community to thank for some motivation.

For more on In Box Zero, Merlin Mann is the guru you want to read more about.  Check out his 43folders.com site. More About In Box Zero

So, are you willing to give this a try, or are you sticking with the “I’m Too Busy” explanation?  If you can’t work on this, what are your struggles with managing your e-mail and getting control over your work?

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Thanks to everyone who participated in today’s #SAchat focusing on Career Decision Making: Where Do I Go From Here? Each week, we continue to grow our numbers and today’s chats produced over 1,000 comments from over 100 student affairs professionals,  graduate students and undergraduates interested or working in the Student Affairs field!

In case you missed it, below is a quick recap. If you haven’t yet participated in an #sachat, learn more here.

Full Transcripts
DAYTIME:
View as webpage
Download as PDF

EVENING:
View as webpage
Download as PDF

Today’s Top Contributors

@JGinese23
@jmayojr
@edcabellon
@Geralyn5
@The_SA_Blog
@cindykane
@reyjunco
@debrasanborn
@AndreaHart
@bryan_koval

Here’s to another successful set of #sachats!  What are some other topics you would like to see us cover?  Please let us know your ideas and feedback to keep #sachat growing strong.

Until we next week, (if you haven’t already done so) please make sure to join our growing Facebook Page, currently over 2,600 and adding new #studentaffairs friends every day!  Thanks for your continued support!

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