My Student Affairs Philosphy
As a student affairs professional, it is my belief that every campus event, student employment role, and marketing effort should be rooted in a deep understanding of student wants, needs, and desires. My philosophy places emphasis on holistic student development to achieve the outcomes of student success and engagement, viewing the institution as a site for deep learning, and is rooted in the belief that engagement is not just attendance; it is the active involvement of students, organizations, and departments to meet student needs; offering a unique collegiate experience that prepares students for life past the university. My practice is guided by three primary pillars: Empowering the Student Employee, Data-Driven Advocacy, and Student/Staff Collaboration.
Empowering the Student Employee
Student employees have a unique position in the collegiate landscape. The academic environment should be one of learning and growth for the student employee. Students should be approached not with a business-first mindset but a learning-first mindset. Where is it that students can make mistakes and grow to be better prepared for future careers if not in their student employment positions. I believe that student employees should be treated in such a way and while responsibilities and expectations are placed on them, it is the role of the supervisor to keep track of those responsibilities and expectations just enough to maintain order and take responsibility when necessary. It is also the role of the supervisor to act as advisor, consistently look for areas of growth and measure the performance of student employees in respect to their career aspirations in order to look for and provide opportunities for development.
This is a pillar that I experienced from my supervisors, seasoned student affairs professionals both in Recreational Sports and in Residence Life, as a student employee. Encouraging me to try and make mistakes with a level of trust and autonomy that I had never heard about from folks that I knew that worked in other student positions.
Data-Driven Advocacy
I believe that every university has the duty to equitably meet the needs of all students or at least make the efforts to meet all students where they are. To do this well a professional must be driven by accurate and ever-evolving qualitative and quantitative data that is tailored to the university in which they are employed. Consistent meetings and committees with a diverse array of students and consistent surveys of the student population to make efforts to meet all students through intentional programming and equitable marketing campaigns should be a paramount priority for student affairs professionals. This allows professionals to make data-informed decisions that will help maximize their efforts and spending. In the same vein of data-informed decisions it is vital that programming is approached with a goal and evaluated on the effectiveness in achieving said goal. I believe changes and alterations should be rooted in continuous improvement to the needs of the student population.
This is a pillar that has grown to become very important to me after reflection on my time working for IU Recreational Sports.There were always an abundance of student committees that may have felt pointless at the time but that I now realized kept the professionals in charge of the many facilities informed on the needs of both regular participants but also the working conditions of the employee.
Student/Staff Collaboration
In student employment roles it is vital for students to feel that they have their hands in decisions that affect them and their peers. Allowing opportunities for students to advocate for their friends and communities opens allows student affairs professionals to be well informed and to accurately create goals and predict the needs of students. This consistent communication loop creates an environment where student affairs professionals are able to focus their time and efforts on projects that continuously improve the lives of students and those students can feel like an integral part in university efforts and initiatives.
In my time as a student employee and graduate student, I have gotten to experience what it feels like to have decisions made where it doesn’t feel like student input is involved. Many times these decisions are not able to be pushed back on as there is no basis to advocate for students on. As a supervisor it has often felt difficult to listen to students tell you that they don’t feel seen or heard when it comes to events, policy, or other decisions that affect their lives or the things that are meant for them. By taking some of the guess work out of decision making and allowing students to have a hand in making decisions it is more likely that we meet the needs of students.