Preliminary portfolio

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Personal Statement

Erin R. Mross

Colorado State University

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I believe that student affairs is critical to student success in higher education and assists

students in the lifetime process of growth and development.

If I am being transparent with you all, in a several instances during my SAHE career, I have

found the prospect of going into the field of higher education disheartening. This is primarily

because the education system, in many respects, is broken. And, on most days, it feels like it is

impossible to fix. I think the closest I got to dropping out of SAHE was after my faculty

interview with Eric Ishiwata for CSPA. We talked for almost an hour about the flaws of the

higher education system, in particular about how faculty don’t have the capacity to actually care

for their students due to the pressures of the tenure system (personal communication, November

20, 2014). He also called out the profession of student affairs stating that we were, as a

profession, not really reaching students that needed to be reached but rather only serving the

students who were going to be fine without us (personal communication, November 20, 2014). I

went home feeling completely dejected. I had known some of the limitations of our field before

going into it, and always hoped that through being a part of the field of higher education, I could

change it. I have come to realize that just because the system is broken doesn’t mean that our

existence within the system doesn’t make a difference to students. In fact, I believe that student

affairs is critical to student success and growth. Without student affairs professionals, I believe

higher education would be a much more oppressive system. In short, even though the system of

higher education will not change overnight, I believe that we matter because we make a

difference to our students through providing them opportunities for growth and development.

I believe in the power of students and that I serve an important role as an advocate for

them. They are who I fight for.

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The first assignment during my SAHE career will always stick with me because it helped me

frame my purpose as a student affairs professional. Our first paper we wrote was on John

Gardner’s book Excellence. As a primer for this paper, we watched a video on John Gardner. At

the end of the video they posed the question: “Who will you fight for?” (PBS, 2001). This

question has stuck with me and it has guided a lot of my work. I find that sometimes it is easy to

get distracted in the politics of an institution or to get buried in the daily administrative tasks of

our positions. It is easy to forget for whom higher education actually exists: the students. As

such, I believe it is important to remain student centered and student focused. It is vital to

remember the power of students especially when they aren’t given a seat at the table. I believe it

is our role to be their advocate in these situations. As someone with a vast amount of privilege

who will often have a seat at the table simply because of the privilege I hold, I have to remember

to use this power and access to advocate for students.

I believe that student learning doesn’t just happen within the classroom. I believe in

focusing on the education and development of the whole student (American Council on

Education, 1949; Keeling, 2004; Keeling, 2006).

When I reflect back upon my experience in higher education utilizing the framework of

“transformational learning” as outlined in these defining texts, I begin to recognize how much of

my learning and growth occurred outside of the classroom. As such, it is important to advocate

for the role that student affairs professional’s play as educators. It is also important to remember

it is our responsibility to develop the whole student—not just their intellectual capacity—in order

to ensure higher education is a transformational experience. I believe that students should walk

away from their educational experience being better people, too.

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I believe students should walk away from their higher education experience with a

deeper understanding and respect for diversity and human dignity.

Building upon the previous statement: I believe that, in order for students to become “better

people,” we have a responsibility to be social justice educators and advocates. This starts through

encouraging student growth and identity development. We must encourage students with

privilege to understand their privilege—to learn how to use it productively rather than

oppressively. And, student affairs professionals must also be allies and advocates for those who

have been underrepresented in higher education and have experienced other forms of systemic

marginalization. It is part of our job to work to change these systems and empower students.

I believe that all should have access to higher education and that all humans should

experience the professional, intellectual, and personal development which is a result of

higher education. However, I do not believe that a college education which results in a

bachelor’s degree (or higher) is the only path to obtain this development or these rights.

(Gardner, 1995).

I do not believe that everyone has the right to attend college in the sense that everyone

should attend college. I do believe in access and that everyone who has the drive and ability to

attend college should. However, more importantly, I believe there are other respectable paths in

life in which one can develop oneself professionally, intellectually, and personally. Through

working at Front Range, I have had my eyes opened to these different paths to a full life that may

not include a Bachelor’s degree. We must, as a society, increase access to all developmental

experiences including but not limited to higher education. As student affairs professionals it is

our role to both continue to increase access to higher education and encourage a continued

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educational experience that is the best fit for the individual, recognizing that a bachelor’s degree

is not the only path for everyone.

Addendum 5/1/2015

I believe that access isn’t enough.

Throughout my time in higher education, I have noticed that most conversations about social

justice in the sphere of higher education fall short of actual social justice work. In fact, most

conversations about social justice merely appropriate the term, which allows universities to

continue to miss the mark when it comes to serving marginalized students, ultimately further

perpetuating inequity. Conversations about social justice are really merely conversations about

diversity—they are a numbers game where universities count the number of “diverse” students in

attendance or within their employees. University administration then utilize these numbers as a

means of illustrating how socially just they are as an organization— patting themselves on the

back for opening the gates of higher education to those who have historically been denied access.

Access however does not equate with inclusion into the higher education system and it certainly

does not equate with systemic change which is the hallmark of social justice work. I believe that

opening the doors higher education without providing students with the means necessary to

succeed is the antithesis of social justice work and is an immoral act of violence which can

further oppress students. (On a side note: I use the term violence intentionally as a means of

illustrating how this is an act of power over marginalized students which results in psychological

and sometimes even physical harm. Violence as defined by the World Report on Violence and

Health by the World Health Organization (2014) is defined as “the intentional use of physical

force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or

community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death,

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psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation” (n.p.). I therefore believe that access

without inclusion is an act of violence which places students in climates which result in physical

and psychological harm). Additionally, I believe that opening the doors to higher education and

providing students with tools for success is merely inclusion because it allows the current

oppressive system to remain intact. Make no mistake, inclusion is not social justice work.

Although “inclusive excellence” is more moral than access alone because it is not an act of

violence against students which results in harm, it still falls short because oppressive systems

remain intact. Inclusion therefore is not social justice work. I believe in working toward real

social justice in higher education. Doing social justice work as student affairs professionals

means overhauling the current system in favor of a new one which allows the full and equitable

participation of marginalized students within a climate which is shaped to meet their needs,

ultimately resulting in a higher education system which benefits all students.

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Subject Name

Count Percent

1 100.00% Erin Mross

1 Respondent

Date

Count Percent

1 100.00%

Count Percent

1 100.00% 9/4/2014

1 Respondent

Demonstrates an understanding of individual, group, organizational and leadership theories

Count Respondent %

Response %

0 0.00% 0.00% Unaware of goal

0 0.00% 0.00% Progress toward goal needed

1 100.00% 50.00% Making initial progress

0 0.00% 0.00% Meets goal occasionally

0 0.00% 0.00 Meets goal consistently

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Count Respondent %

Response %

%

0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00%

I have studied identity theories in Undergrad. I do however feel like I would like more context.

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)

Mean 3.00 Std Deviation 0.00

Median 3 Std Error 0.00

Mode 3 Confidence Interval @ 95% 0.00-0.00

Demonstrates a working understanding of assessment and evaluation, methodology, and interpretation as it applies to student affairs practice

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Count Respondent %

Response %



0 0.00% 0.00% Meets goal consistently

0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00%

I have NEVER done any real assessment! I already feel like this would be helpful in my assistantship!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)




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Demonstrates an understanding of basic legal, contractual, and liability issues involved in college student affairs practice

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00%

I have only had one legal class ever before. I understand a basic concept of protected classes, title 9, VAWA, and affirmative action. However I KNOW I need a lot more of this!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)



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Count Respondent %

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Demonstrates an understanding of cross-cultural and diversity related issues within the context of higher education

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00%

I have studied diversity and higher education but KNOW there is sooooo much more to learn.

1 Respondent

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Count Respondent %

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2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




Demonstrates an understanding of higher education systems, history, and how student affairs roles, responsibilities and systems are infused into the larger educational picture

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00 Comments

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Count Respondent %

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%

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1 100.00%

similarly, I have studied Higher education systems and history. However while at FRCC I am learning how little I know about other institutional types and their contextual history, roles, big picture etc.

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)




Demonstrates an understanding of how diverse student learning, developmental theory, and research are relevant to students' education and development

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Response %



0 0.00% 0.00 Making initial progress

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Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00%

I have started learning about theory but know there is so much to learn still!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)




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Demonstrates an understanding of students' diverse characteristics, demographics, and attributes and how they influence students' education and development

Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00%

similarly, I have studied identity and on a basic level feel like I understand how identity can influence a students' education and development

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




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Demonstrates an understanding of student affairs standards and practice and professional ethical standards

Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00%

I have looked over some CAS standards and have read the Student Personnel Perspective. but that is it.

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)



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Count Respondent %

Response %


Demonstrates an understanding of current issues and practices in the student affairs profession.

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00%

I feel like through being in higher education recently this has come up a lot.

1 Respondent

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Count Respondent %

Response %

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




Demonstrates the ability to perform administration functions and services in selected student affairs functional areas (at least two distinct areas).

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.0 Comments

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Count Respondent %

Response %

0%

Count Percent

1 100.00% I have started this, with my assistantship, however I need this!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)




Demonstrates the ability to develop, implement and evaluate educational and student service based programs.

Count Respondent %

Response %




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Count Respondent %

Response %



0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% Assessment=something I need!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)




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Demonstrates the ability to utilize various forms of technology for data collection, analysis, communication and presentation of information.

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00%

I have NEVER done any formal data analysis outside of my statistics classes in undergrad. AHH!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)



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Count Respondent %

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Demonstrates the ability to formulate goals; implement strategies for achieving goals through efficient and effective use of resources and evaluation of goal attainment.

Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% More evaluation. I also feel like I am pretty good with goals.

1 Respondent

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Count Respondent %

Response %

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)




Demonstrates the ability to meet deadlines and produce quality results.

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.0 Comments

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Count Respondent %

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0%

Count Percent

1 100.00% I have met all of my deadlines thus far...we shall see what happens!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




Demonstrates adherence to and value for personal and professional ethical standards through ethical practice.

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Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00%

I am still uncovering my ethical standards. I feel like they are firmly in place however I need to uncover the why behind the what still.

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




Demonstrates personal and professional confidence.

Count Respondent %

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1 100.00% 50.0 Progress toward goal needed

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Count Respondent %

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0%




0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% Eh... I am still learning!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)




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Demonstrates inquisitive, self-motivated commitment to learning and self-development.

Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00%

Yes I am here! I am ready! I am excited to be challenged and supported throughout this developmental process.

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 100.00% (1) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)



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Count Respondent %

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Demonstrates a commitment to personal and professional growth in the area of diversity and social justice.

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00%

I know I can grow with my SJ and diversity stuff however I feel like I am in a pretty good space with it right now.

1 Respondent

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Count Respondent %

Response %

2 Responses

Top 2 100.00% (1) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




Demonstrates ability to work with others within a team context.

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.0 Comments

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Count Respondent %

Response %

0%

Count Percent

1 100.00%

I am still learning how to work with teams. Especially the cohort since I don't really know everyone yet.

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




Demonstrates ability to make appropriate modifications to behavior based on self-monitoring and constructive feedback.

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Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% Feedback is a struggle for me. I know i need to work on this!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)




Demonstrates ability to teach and model a respect for shared community values, including establishing and maintaining an inclusive community promoting civic education.

Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00 Unaware of goal

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Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

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1 100.00%

yes! I believe in an inclusive community and promoting civic education. However I feel like I need more tools to actively teach this.

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)



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Count Respondent %

Response %


Demonstrates a willingness to engage in sustained dialogue in order to reach an understanding of the issues presented.

Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I am willing to sit in the dialogue and in the discomfort.

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Count Respondent %

Response %

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 100.00% (1) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




Demonstrates the ability to use sound, effective written and oral communication techniques and strategies within student affairs practice.

Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00 N/A

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Count Respondent %

Response %

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1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% Still working on this. DAMN APA!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




Demonstrates the ability to communicate in an inclusive manner.

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Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

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Percent

1 100.00%

I know there is a lot of holes in my inclusive language still however I have been working on this for four years and have been consistently learning.

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 100.00% (1) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




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Demonstrates the ability to relate effectively to a wide range of people and appreciate individual differences, with cultural sensitivity.

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

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Percent

1 100.00% I have been working on this a lot. I hope I can learn more.

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 100.00% (1) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)



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Count Respondent %

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Demonstrates the ability to build rapport, show compassion and understanding for others, and establish and maintain mutually satisfying relationships.

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

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Percent

1 100.00% I have been working on this a lot. I hope I can learn more.

1 Respondent

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Count Respondent %

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2 Responses

Top 2 100.00% (1) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




Demonstrates the ability to supervise and train diverse student affairs staff, students and/or professionals.

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.0 Comments

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Count Respondent %

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Percent

1 100.00% I NEED the supervision sessions STAT!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)




Demonstrates the ability to advise student groups and organizations.

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0 0.00% 0.00 Meets goal occasionally

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Count Respondent %

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

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Percent

1 100.00% I NEED advising STAT!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)




Demonstrates the ability to apply student learning and developmental theory to student affairs practice in a specific context.

Count Respondent %

Response %

0 0.00% 0.00 Unaware of goal

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

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1 100.00%

haven't had too much of a chance yet however I am looking forward to it!

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)




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Demonstrates the ability to develop creative solutions to complex problems and see opportunities where others see obstacles.

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1 100.00% yes? I mean I am working on this.

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)



Mode 3 Confidence 0.00-0.00

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Count Respondent %

Response %

Interval @ 95%

Demonstrates the ability to engage in the process of change instead of defend against it.

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

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Percent

1 100.00% the discomfort. Yes. I engage. No I don't like it.

1 Respondent

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2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




Demonstrates the belief that personal actions can make a difference.

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

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1 100.00%

I do believe that personal actions can make a difference. Need a little modeling on this though.

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 0.00% (0)




Demonstrates the ability to engage in systematic inquiry, research, analysis and interpretation.

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0 0.00% 0.00 Meets goal consistently

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Count Respondent %

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1 100.00% I haven't done research in the field before but have done research

1 Respondent

2 Responses

Top 2 0.00% (0) Bottom 2 100.00% (1)




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End of the Semester Reflection

Erin R. Mross


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End of the Semester Reflection

My fall semester of SAHE got off to a somewhat rough start. I was not receiving emails

from the program, meaning I spent the majority of the first couple of weeks trying to catch up on

any missed information and discovering how to fix this problem. Because of this, I started SAHE

already feeling behind. It wasn't until August 27th, after working with I.T. for weeks, when I was

subscribed to all listservs and began receiving communications. Because I wasn't integrated into

the program and the division, I found myself feeling excluded and disengaged from the program.

However I think this introduction into SAHE also really set the tone for my experience in the

sense that it helped me realize how much of my SAHE experience was on me to create. I think it

can be really easy to believe that the SAHE program is designed by the faculty and our program

administrators rather than something that we, as students, have the ability to shape as well. I

think this realization was very important for me, and has become an underlying framework for

the first semester of my SAHE experience. I believe that learning is more than passive

assimilation of knowledge but rather a dynamic process in which I, as the learner, have the

power to construct my experience. This reflection will look at moments in which I either failed

to realize this power or utilized it to the best of my abilities within my classes, my assistantship,

and my relationship with the cohort.

Classes

Classes overall have gone fairly well for me this semester. In all honesty, I was expecting

master’s level classes to be more academically challenging in some respects. I would say the

biggest challenge in regards to classes therefore was making sure that I had enough time to

complete what I needed to get done rather than the work itself. The most challenging class

overall has been Introduction to Research Methods. This is also the class that I am doing worst in

academically. This class has been difficult for me because I have felt like the instructor team has

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very little commitment to our learning. In short, they don’t really seem to care about us learning

anything and being able to apply the concepts to our practice. This comes across through

haphazard lectures and assignments which were not being taken seriously by the instructors.

Throughout the semester, stories from the cohort began surfacing about the academic rigor of the

classes. Someone infect even turned in an assignment which was incomplete and still received

100% on it. I found it very difficult to stay motivated to engage in class and to put attention or

care toward these assignments because I felt like the instructor team ultimately didn’t care about

the assignments.

However upon reflecting in my academic performance in this class I feel like this is an

instance in which I have failed to recognize my power to construct my own SAHE experience. It

became abundantly clear to me that I was failing to do this during the fall break. During break I

was working in the computer lab on my final research paper. While working, I ran into the TA

for the class. He was asking how I felt class was going and how my paper was going. During this

conversation, I admitted that I felt a little disappointed in the level of learning which was

occurring in the class. He said that I was right, I would likely do well on the assignments for the

class without putting in much effort (including the large research paper I was working on).

However, he challenged me stating that I should always dig deeper in order to find a personal

motivation for finishing the paper. This inner motivation would be something that I would

personally get out of the process not just doing it for the final grade of the paper. I then thought

back to the first day of research methods class in which Dr. De Miranda gave this exact same

advice to us when he assigned the research paper to us. I realized that it had been the expectation

all along to search for something of greater meaning in our work. I had merely lost sight of this

because it was less applicable than some of my other classes.

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Speaking of which, in terms of our other classes, I have really valued a lot of what we

were learning and found it all very applicable to student affairs. I think in this respect I began to

realize how little I actually knew about the field I was committing myself to. For example, I was

unaware of all the foundations of student affairs as a profession and the context of the history of

higher education in the U.S. These are some major take aways from CSPA. Although much of

Student Development Theory is very intuitive, I have already found many instances in which it

has been very powerful to name or contextualize a student’s development through using theory.

And, as reflected upon in my professional competency reflection, I have realized that making

assumptions about where a student is developmentally without critically reflecting upon where

they actually are can cause harm. Ethics has made me think a lot about how utilize my

professional and personal values as a student affairs professional. I already used a lot of what I

have learned in Ethics in my assistantship.

Assistantship

My assistantship has been a lot of work, however it has been extremely rewarding. I often

find myself wanting to spend my extra time working on projects for my assistantship because I

really do love what I do. I feel like my assistantship has a lot of purpose. What makes it

purposeful is the fact that I am the first person to have this assistantship, meaning I have a lot of

ownership over and responsibility in what I am doing. I think the biggest challenges in my

assistantship have been discovering how to handle the politics of working at a university in

general. Because a lot of people on campus have stakes in my work as Graduate Assistant for

Diversity and Social Justice there are often multiple players and perspectives I feel like I need to

consider when creating programs or trainings. I have found it very important to make sure that

the majority of the political players have buy in with my programs. This has been difficult

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because a lot of the work surrounding Diversity and Social Justice Education can be contentious

and missteps can do a lot of hurt to marginalized communities. For example, this semester I put

on a program in which we hung door tags on all of the doors around campus with information

about sexual assault and consent. We got a wide range of responses back. A student reached out

to me feeling like they had been invalidated by the program because I used the term “sexual

assault” rather than the term “rape” for the program. On the other end of the spectrum, I was

approached by a professor who was upset with the program because they felt like we shouldn’t

be talking to our students about sex at all. I have come to realize that it is almost impossible to

ensure that all political players feel positive about the work that I am doing, however I can do my

best to include people in the planning process and ensure their voices or concerns are heard. I

will not however allow the politics to hinder me from putting on a program or starting a

conversation that I feel like needs to happen on campus.

Outside of programs, I have learned a lot in my assistantship through supervising Freyja.

I was initially a little hesitant to supervise Freyja because she is a non-traditional student and is

actually older than me. I was expecting her to not see me as an authoritative supervisor because

of this. This insecurity became a very strong motivator for me in the work that I do at my

assistantship to ensure that my programs are well thought out and credible. Additionally, beyond

being a source of personal motivation, I have also learned a lot from the action of working with

Freyja. First of all, Freyja identifies as a student with a learning disability. Although I love to be

creative in the work that I do, often this means working up to the last minute and relying heavily

upon flexibility. Freyja however needs more processing time in order to feel like she is secure in

doing her best work. Because of this, I have discovered how I can adjust my working style in

order to give her a rough framework for her work week so she can thoroughly process through

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her work before she has to do it. The quality of work has increased exponentially since I made

these accommodations. In addition to learning about how to work with Freyja specifically, I have

learned a lot about supervision in general through working with Freyja. Although we had fairly

well outlined expectations for each other at the start of our positions, I had never supervised a

student who was consistently not meeting expectations before yet was wholeheartedly invested

in the work that they did. This caused me to initiate a lot of difficult conversations about

improving performance in a way which still honored all of the hard work Freyja was already

doing. Through these conversations Freyja disclosed that she was dealing with a lot of personal

things that were carrying into the work place. We discussed how when you show up to work, you

show up to work as a whole person and often carry with you the baggage of the other aspects of

your life. This caused us to have a lot of conversations about how to find balance in life as well

as how to prioritize self-care in a way that allows one to better handle the stresses in all aspects

of ones’ life.

Cohort

I really appreciate our cohort. I feel like we have a very cooperative cohort and I feel very

grateful for that. I have heard from former and current SAHE members that cohorts are often

very competitive and I feel like I would struggle if I felt like I didn’t have the cohort’s support.

We somewhat informally set an expectation that we would be supportive of each other through

the fact that we created a “groupme” texting group in which we can communicate with everyone

in the cohort at once. This group text is used to remind each other to complete assignments for

class as well as to socialize with each other, setting up dinners and other bonding activities. It is a

nice way to ensure that everyone is being included. I haven’t had too many conflicts with anyone

in the cohort which is amazing when you think about how much time we all spend together. I

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have however had a couple of difficult conversations with people in the cohort. I have been

approached twice, by different members of the cohort, that sometimes I don’t always fully honor

the connections I have with those in the cohort. One person approached me about how I appeared

like I had no interest to get to know them personally. I was completely unaware that I had ever

paid less attention to cultivating a relationship with them when they first approached me. I soon

began to realize though that I hadn’t reached out to them as much as some of the other people in

the cohort, oddly enough, because we had similar identities and interests. Because of this, I had

made a lot of assumptions about their story and didn’t take full stock of their individuality. The

other member of the cohort that I had a difficult conversation with discussed with me that they

trusted me with some very personal information and that they felt like I didn’t fully appreciate

the weight of what they had shared with me. In both of these instances I realized that I was

unaware at how inaction and inattention can cause affect a relationship as much as harmful

actions.

Concluding thoughts

Overall, I am amazed at how much I have learned through my SAHE experience thus far.

As I move forward with the program I would like to continue to intentionally reflect upon the

meaning of my experiences. Thus far, I have found that when I am faced with a challenge I have

the ability to move forward through understanding the power I have to turn challenges into

learning experiences. I am excited to build upon the lessons I have already learned and to take a

more active role as constructor of my own learning. I think through being able to take this

proactive approach, I will be able graduate from SAHE with a multitude of meaningful

experiences to guide my role as a student affairs practitioner.

Addendum 5/1/2015

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My first semester was much more difficult than I expressed in my reflection. I pushed

myself to my limits and never really felt like I managed to do anything which mattered. This

semester left me with a deep sense of purposeless. Even though I was working hard and doing a

lot of things, I felt like very little of what I doing mattered. I think it is interesting that this

reflection talks about having the power to construct my own experience—and to make meaning

out of my own experiences—however this was something I was unable to actually do my first

semester. In fact, I find super ironic that I talk a lot about making meaning and finding purpose

without being able to admit that I had lost a lot of my own purpose. A lot of this reflection is

filled with hallow words. And rather than admit that I was feeling purposeless, I wrote a nice

reflection about ultimately finding purpose even though I never did. Through re-reading this

reflection it becomes clear that I struggled reflecting and making any meaning out of my

experiences my first semester. Even though this reflection is about 7 pages long, I feel like it

never really expresses anything. I am keeping the reflection intact because I believe it is a good

illustration with my inability to authentically reflect on my experiences and my inability to admit

my struggles even to myself.

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Academic Reflection: Today’s College Student Paper

Erin R. Mross


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ACADEMIC COMPETENCY

Name: Erin Mross

Class: EDHE 673: Student Development Theory

Product(s): Today’s College Student Paper

Purpose: To develop skills in research, critical analysis, organization, writing, editing, and

utilizing APA format to communicate theory knowledge, application, and understanding through

writing a paper on a specific aspect of Today’s College Students (i.e. values, attitudes,

demographics, trends, etc.).

Primary Competencies Addressed:

KNOWLEDGE COMPETENCIES

Demonstrate an understanding of:

F: how diverse student learning, developmental theory and research are relevant to students’

education and development.

G: students’ diverse characteristics, demographics and attributes and how they influence

students’ education and development.

I: current issues and practices in the student affairs profession.

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE COMPETENCIESII. Managing Self

C: inquisitive, self-motivated commitment to learning and self-development.

F: ability to make appropriate modifications to behavior based on self-monitoring and

constructive feedback.

III. Communication

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C: the ability to use sound, effective written and oral communication techniques and strategies

within student affairs practice.

V. Mobilizing Innovation and Change

D: the ability to engage in systematic inquiry, research, analysis and interpretation.

REFLECTION

Today’s College Student Paper

The Today’s College Student paper for Student Development Theory was one of the first

major academic products produced within the first semester of the Student Affairs in Higher

Education master’s program. For this paper, we were instructed to select a topic that we believed

was a significant aspect of the experience of today’s college students. This topic was broad and

could include anything as long as it was topical—it could have been written on current values,

demographics, or trends. The first challenge with this process was therefore to select a topic.

When selecting my topic, Jody and Jen suggested it was important that we picked a topic

that was of interest to us in order to ensure that we would stick to it, throughout the four week

process of completing the paper. I thought instantly to my assistantship and wanted to write on

diversity in community colleges and how student affairs support this diverse demographic of

students through creating an inclusive learning environment.

The first thing I learned when I started researching this topic was that there is currently a

lack of research on community college students. It was therefore very difficult to discover where

to find unbiased sources that focused on a community college sample population rather than just

traditional four year students. I feel as though the field of student affairs needs to step up to fill

this gap. As my paper illustrated there is a growing community college student population in

general which means that a large majority of student affairs professionals will be interacting with

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community college students either at a community college or once they transfer to a four year

school. Because of this, more research needs to focus on community college students so we as a

field can best support these students. In order to deal with this significant hole in our scope of

knowledge as a field, I had to broaden the scope of sources. I therefore attempted to find sources

that focused on non-traditional experiences like those of commuter students or those of transfer

students.

Once I opened up my scope I started thinking about the significance of my topic. My

topic had implications that were significant to student affairs as a whole based on the fact the

community colleges are access based institutions. Therefore they often serve a larger percentage

of underrepresented students than four year schools. Community colleges therefore serve to

increase access to higher education for many students who have to make the choice between

going to a community college or not going to university at all. This means that community

colleges are a critical environment for student affairs. We must as student affairs professionals at

community colleges understand the significance of our roles in supporting these diverse students.

At this point, I was feeling pretty good about my topic and my research—I felt like I had

a pretty good grasp on how my paper was going and that I was on track with the four week

process of completing this product. Then life happened. The Sunday before our draft of the paper

was due, I got a concussion. I was outside looking over my sources for my paper and was injured

as a wind gust blew a gazebo onto me.

I don’t think I actually understood the gravity of the situation until I was in my first class

of the day on Monday—research methods. I had managed to pass fairly easily as someone

without brain damage up until that point. As I was sitting in class my attention wandered. My

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brain could hear what Dr. Di Miranda was saying but couldn’t really comprehend the complexity

of the concepts he was saying. I went home that day and quite literally cried myself.

Sleep was the only thing I found myself motivated enough to do or capable enough to

perform. Throughout the week I kept sleeping when I knew I needed to be working on my draft.

I felt guilty having to put myself before my academics, fully knowing that what I really needed

to be doing was to be working on my draft. The night before the draft was due tables turned, now

faced with an imminent deadline I had no choice but to just write my draft. I wrote it all night

and was proud at how I was progressing with my injury because I was able to turn in tangible

product in Theory Tuesday.

Once drafts were turned in we received peer edits and feedback from our instructors on

our papers. It was through this process that I learned the most. My feedback was very critical, as

it should have been, due to the fact that I turned a barely coherent product for review. I however

have always been growing in my ability to receive feedback and fully recognize that I am a

person that doesn’t take feedback as well as I should. As you can imagine, my heart sank when

my paper was returned, marked up the wazoo with feedback.

There was however a note of encouragement on the back of my draft. It stated:

“Feedback=love.” It was in that moment that I learned the most from this assignment. Rather

than pouring myself into every minute detail on the page I took a breath, put the paper in my bag,

and saved the process of looking at the feedback until I was in a space where I took it in with full

validity. Which for me was at the end of the day Thursday, after my assistantship was over, and

once I was done with all of my classes for the week. I made myself a cup of tea, snuggled up on

the couch with an open mind and my feedback.

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And, through reading my paper, I fully understood the draft of my paper was pretty

terrible. The Erin who was more resentful of feedback would have explained away the feedback

by saying the shortcomings of the paper were because of my concussion or the limited sources.

Although these were certainly challenges that I faced when writing my draft, they didn’t explain

the lack of adherence to APA format or lack of direction for my topic in general. Rather than

getting defensive, the process of receiving feedback on my paper turned into a process of action.

I started looking for new sources and wrote a new outline for the paper over the next week.

These new sources and outline helped me receive a grade that I felt like I deserved and

one that I felt like I had actually earned when I turned in my final paper in class. The outcomes

of this product in some ways were therefore what I was hoping when I first approached writing

this paper: A good grade. However I feel like the true successful outcomes of the paper came in

some unexpected ways. I first and foremost learned how to deal with an unexpected challenge in

life. I think I have learned more through the process of having a concussion than most things in

life. I think I am now more prepared to deal with the unexpected—a skill that is rather important

to have as a person in general and is moreover important as a student affairs professional because

we are often on the front lines of crisis management. I secondly learned how better strategies to

respond to feedback. These strategies I will use as a student affairs professional to try to

remember that feedback=love and not attack the person who is giving me feedback or instantly

invalidate their feedback because it makes me uncomfortable. Less abstractly, I feel like I

learned about a hole in current higher education research and support through discovering that

little attention has been paid to understanding how to support the community college student.

Although the process of completing my first theory was a difficult one I am appreciative of all

the things I learned personally, professionally, and academically throughout the experience.

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PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCY

Name: Erin Mross

Product(s): Supervision of Students in an employment setting

Purpose: To develop skills in supervision through applying an understanding of student

development and theory to a situation in which a student has been injured while a work. This

reflection will address the legal process of submitting a workers compensation form as a result of

the injury as well as the communication involved with understanding the complexity of the

situation in which the student was injured.

Primary Competencies Addressed:

Competency Reflection and application of competency

Knowledge Competencies

A: individual, group, organizational and leadership theories and their relevance to student affairs practice.

C: basic legal, contractual, and liability issues involved in college student affairs practice.

G: students’ diverse characteristics, demographics and attributes and how they influence students’ education and development.

In this situation I was able to reflect on how to better use theory and understanding of a students’ unique identity development in the context of a legal situation. The student I supervise recently was injured at work and these competencies all came into play. I first and foremost learned a lot about risk management and the worker’s compensation system. I secondly learned a lot about how to apply theory and student development in a way to better explain and understand student’s actions.

Professional Practice Competencies

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Managing Self

A: adherence to and value for personal and professional ethical standards through ethical practice.

In this situation I was forced to reflect on my personal and professional ethical standard of malfeasance or the principal of “do no harm” which CAS subscribes to.

Communication B: a willingness to engage in

sustained dialogue in order to reach an understanding of the issues presented.

This situation required a lot of difficult conversations as well as a lot of dialogue to uncover all of the particulars of the student injury.

Working relationships with others

B: build rapport, show compassion and understanding for others, and establish and maintain mutually satisfying relationships

C: supervise and train diverse student affairs staff, students and/or professionals

E: apply student learning and developmental theory to student affairs practice in a specific context.

This situation required a lot of compassion and understanding between the student I supervise and myself. This compassion lead me to better understand how to apply student learning and development to my supervision.

Mobilizing Innovation and Change

A: the ability to develop creative solutions to complex problems and see opportunities where others see obstacles.

This situation has been a major, complex problem which the student I supervise and I have turned into an opportunity for growth and development for both of us.

REFLECTION

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October is LGBT history month. To celebrate, I created an elaborate display in the Longs

Peak Student Center with a timeline, facts, and banners hanging from the ceiling of the student

center, lining the pathway of the building entrance. While this was a valuable experience in

itself, as it developed my skills as a passive programmer within my role at Front Range in the

Student Life Office, the real learning occurred after the program was finished. On October 20th,

the student I supervise was taking down the display and hit her foot on the ladder required to

reach the ceiling—severely damaging muscles, bones, and tissues in her foot. This reflection will

address the process of supporting my student through the process of applying for workers

compensation as well as the growth that occurred within myself as a supervisor as a result of this

situation. Because of this situation, I learned a lot about how to adapt theory and student identity

development to my role as a supervisor. Additionally, as a result of this situation, I also was

forced to reflect on whether I had violated the ethical principal of malfeasance because I felt a lot

of guilt about the fact that a student was harmed by something I created.

The first thing that I learned throughout this process was the legality of applying for

workers compensation. This was a process which I had never had to apply for personally and one

which I never had to deal with for any of my supervision roles thus far. Because I was never

trained on what do to for the Human Resources practice prior to coming to Front Range and was

never introduced to the intricacies of the system when I came to Front Range, I quickly found

myself attempting to navigate a system with no context or guidance. Because of this I know I

was unable to support the student the way they needed. They ended up not filling out all of the

required paperwork right away and not going to one of the health care facilities which was in

network with our workers compensation system. I know feel like I know the workers

compensation process well enough to navigate however this situation taught me that at the end of

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the day, universities are systemic and it is important to understand as many of the systems and

processes as possible in order to be successful within the university context.

I also learned a lot about supervision throughout this process. After the injury occurred, I

had a one-on-one meeting with my student. In the meeting the student disclosed that they

bumped their foot on the ladder, however they never disclosed the extent of the injury or the

scope of their pain. It wasn’t until I left the office of the day that the student sought treatment for

their injury. Upon reflection, I feel like my role as supervisor was a barrier to the student feeling

like they could communicate about their injury. In theory, we learn a lot about student

development. I feel like the student was in developmental stage Kohlberg’s theory of moral

development in which they were motivated by the fear of punishment from an authority figure.

In other words, as the authority figure in this situation they feared that punishment would be my

response to this situation, which I feel like was the reason why the choose not downplay the

extent of their injury with me as well as why they choose to address their injury only after I had

left for the day.

Once I identified that the student was in this stage of moral development, I felt like I had

possibly done them harm by not identifying sooner that they were in the stage. I should have

understood sooner that they were in this stage and thusly could have better handled the situation.

This caused me to feel a lot of guilt about the situation because I felt like I had done the student

harm and acted unethically due to the fact that I had done the student harm.

In the end, this situation taught me a lot about how to not react to a situation. I hope that

in the future if I am ever in a similar situation again I will be able to utilize my knowledge of the

legal systems involved, my knowledge of student development, and my adherence to moral

principals in order to better serve the injured student.

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81

Subject Name

Count Percent


1 Respondent

Evaluator Name

Count Percent


1 Respondent

Date

Count Percent

1 100.00%

Count Percent

1 100.00% 1/31/2015

1 Respondent


Count Respondent % Response %






0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

82

1 100.00% Working on this in Org. Behavior

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I am fumbling through this in my assistantship right now, however I dont really know how to do this yet.

1 Respondent

2 Responses







83


0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I am fumbling through this in my assistantship right now, however I dont really know how to do this yet. I interacted with this a little with freyjas injury this last semester and really realized how little legal stuff I knew

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I have had prior diversity training and I am working on how to apply this to a higher education context

1 Respondent

2 Responses


84







0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I feel like CSPA was helpful for this one.

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I feel like theory last semseter was helpful for tis one.

1 Respondent

2 Responses

85

Demonstrates an understanding of students' diverse characteristics, demographics, and attributes and how they influence students' education and development







0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% Theory.

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% Ethics

86

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I feel woefully underrepared to deal with the current issues in the field.

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

87

Count Percent

1 100.00% I am starting to understand how to perform admin functions in campus activities in my current assistantship

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I dont have all the piecee of this one yet, however am working on it in my assistantship

1 Respondent

2 Responses






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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% Research methods helped with these pieces.

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I still have a lot to learn about strategic goals and resource allocation

1 Respondent

2 Responses




89





0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I meet my deadlines and have quality results but often feel very rushed.

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% Ethics

1 Respondent

2 Responses


90







0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I feel like I am very good at being an authentic professional

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% This last sesemter really pushed me to make sure I was pushing myself. I really realzed how important the self is in the learning process. Often it is up to me to make meaning.

1 Respondent

91

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I know there is always more to learn bout diversity and scial justice and am constanlly craving more

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

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1 100.00% The group projects help with this one.

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I want to seek out and solicit more feedback. I do however feel like I am getting much better at processing feedback

1 Respondent

2 Responses







93


0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I believe in inclusion

1 Respondent

2 Responses








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I want to get better at difficult conversations and vunerabe dialogue

1 Respondent

2 Responses


Count Percent

0 0.00% Unaware of goal

94

0 0.00% Progress toward goal needed

1 100.00% Making initial progress

0 0.00% Meets goal occasionally

0 0.00% Meets goal consistently

0 0.00% N/A

0 0.00% Comments

1 Respondent


Count Percent






0 0.00% N/A

0 0.00% Comments

1 Respondent


Count Percent






0 0.00% N/A

0 0.00% Comments

95

1 Respondent


Count Percent






0 0.00% N/A

0 0.00% Comments

1 Respondent








0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I am learnng that there is a lot that I can learn about supervision

1 Respondent

2 Responses

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0 0.00% 0.00% N/A

1 100.00% 50.00% Comments

Count Percent

1 100.00% I am currently advising a student org but dont really know anything else abut it.

1 Respondent

2 Responses


Count Percent






0 0.00% N/A

0 0.00% Comments

1 Respondent

97


Count Percent






0 0.00% N/A

0 0.00% Comments

1 Respondent


Count Percent






0 0.00% N/A

0 0.00% Comments

1 Respondent


Count Percent





98


0 0.00% N/A

0 0.00% Comments

1 Respondent


Count Percent






0 0.00% N/A

0 0.00% Comments

1 Respondent

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SAHE: Spring 2015 Semester Reflection

Erin R. Mross


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SAHE: Spring 2015 Semester Reflection

What has changed

I feel like I caught my stride during this semester of SAHE and I really began to feel

comfortable about my place here. I found my purpose. Last semester I was floundering and did

my best to not show it. And, even though I questioned whether I belonged in SAHE, I only ever

voiced these questions to my very close friends in the cohort. Because I felt more comfortable

this semester and felt like I belonged—that I was “enough” to be a SAHE Grad because I was

doing purposeful things—I was able to be more authentic even when I was struggling. People

constantly ask me if I like SAHE. Last semester, I always said that I liked SAHE, even when I

wasn’t sure if I did. This semester, when I say I like SAHE, I really meant it. And when I don’t

like SAHE, I honestly express that I am overwhelmed. In short, a lot of what made SAHE more

manageable for me this semester was the fact that this semester has forced me reflect—to do a

lot of personal work which has brought me to find more purpose in my life.

Semester of Academic Reflections: Doing the personal work

I have heard a SAHE maxim that those who do well academically the first semester,

struggle more the second semester and vice versa. I found last semester to be not as academically

rigorous as I was anticipating, meaning I was preparing myself for the struggle this semester. In

general, I don’t really like reflecting too much either, meaning that I knew this semester was

going to be a stretch for me. As such, I knew that I would have to really dig deep in order to be

successful this semester. Almost every assignment from this semester required a minimal level of

reflection. As such I had two choices: try to fake my way through it or devote myself to the

process of reflecting. I devoted myself to the latter.

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Although it was—and still sometimes is—uncomfortable to sit with my own feelings, I

managed to be fairly academically successful this semester because I leaned into the process of

reflecting. There was one reflection after my friend passed away in a car accident that I did not

turn in because I didn’t want to “go there” however all of the others I feel like I was able to do a

good job reflecting this semester. Most importantly, through becoming more comfortable with

reflecting I was able to more deeply understand my identities and how my past informs my

present.

The identity I was able to explore the most in depth this semester was my race—my

whiteness. This process was mainly facilitated by activities and assignments we did in Inclusive,

however it began outside of the classroom for me. During the first week of February I took a

group of students to the Creating Change, LGBT Task Force National Conference in Denver.

The conference, which was centered on sexual orientation and gender identity, opened up with a

Racial Justice Institute which set the tone for a very intersectional experience. The first night of

the conference, a group of activists took the stage to protest the recent police shooting of Jessica

Hernandez in Denver—a queer youth of color. Some of the protesters were organizers in

Ferguson and activists within the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The remarks they made the first

night of the conference was the first time I think I really began to feel something other than

numbness about racism. This sounds very heartless and is difficult to admit. However prior to

this conference, I really only could conceptualize and intellectualize racism. Throughout the

conference the Ferguson organizers presented several times and I began to not only think about

racism as a concept but began to feel racism as a reality. Coincidentally, the Thursday of the

conference week also happened to be our white caucus group in Inclusive. It was one of the first

times I had been in a room with all white people talking about racism. And, it was also the first

103

time I was appalled at how few feelings were in the room. I am still angry at our White group’s

inability to stay focused on racism itself. We talked a lot about “giving” people of color space

and airtime rather than anything that relates to either marginalization of people of color or

naming (and not perpetuating) the dominance that we have. This is experience taught me how it

will take much more than intellect to really begin to do the work to dismantle racism. And, that

even though someone may have all of the right words to say, it doesn’t mean they understand.

All of the work: Assistantship and two practicums

This semester in my assistantship I feel like I Freyja, my student coordinator, was finally

at the level I needed her to be. As such, I was able to move into the role of supervisor for most of

the programs, rather than programs last semester where I had to actively coordinate all of them.

Some of my most successful programs were: an Activism Week, taking students to both Creating

Change and the Higher Education Diversity Summit, Holocaust Memorial Field of Flags, better

passive programming, and bringing Dear White People to campus. However, because I didn’t

have to do all of the programming myself, I had more time to work on bigger projects. This

opened up my time to begin to make more connections with students and to find the purpose in

my work. I was able to work with students who were interested in bringing diversity and social

justice issues to our campus community. This included being able to do a couple of focus groups

as well as to have multiple one-on-ones with students who were struggling with the exclusive

campus climate at FRCC. The feedback that I have gotten from these students has made me even

more driven to make FRCC a space for them.

Although the bulk of my assistantship stuff went well this semester, I feel like I still need

to improve upon my planning. I always get everything done, however sometimes I know I

procrastinate until the last second in order to make it happen. In a couple of instances, this made

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a program I put on more rushed or of less quality than it should have been. Although I had a full

plan this semester—a major improvement from last semester—I can still improve by starting

sooner on my programming. Additionally, for next semester, I would like to continue to do more

focus groups and work with marginalized students. I am also looking for ways to do more

trainings and fewer programs. I would like to do trainings for faculty and staff as well as for

students.

In addition to working my assistantship this semester, I also fulfilled two practicums. I

served as a Leadership Coach for the Rams Engaging in Active Leadership (REAL) Experience

and as a TA for the online Theory Class. For my REAL experience practicum, I had two, one

hour meetings with a case load students who were in the REAL experience. These meetings were

required for these students to complete their Leadership Certificate. As such, I got to work with

an extremely diverse group of students: first year students, graduating seniors, on campus work

study students, students running for a student body government position, international students,

first generation students, and non-traditional students. These students also had a variety of

experiences: some experiencing suicidal ideation, domestic abuse, eating disorders, substance

abuse, anxiety, depression, prejudice, and coming out to their family. As such, even though I

wasn’t expecting it from this practicum, I really was able to use a lot of the skills I had learned in

HR in order to be there for these students and then refer them to other resources on campus. I

firmly believe that I can work with almost any student now because I worked such a diverse

group of students who were dealing with such diverse experiences within this practicum.

Through TAing with Jody and Jen for the online theory class I also worked with a very

diverse group of students. We never however were able to meet these students in person which

made for an interesting experience to figure out how to serve them. There were six of us on the

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teaching team and it was still difficult to give all of our students the attention they needed. The

experience that taught me the most in this practicum was coordinating the peer review

assignment and the racial identity presentations. Both required a lot of logistics and being

responsive to student needs. For the racial identity presentation, I also was able to grade the

presentations. This was a great experience to be able to actually grade something. Although I am

not sure when I would be able to do so, I am still interested in teaching at some point during my

career which made this a very relevant experience.

Overall, both of my practicums took up way more time than the 60 hours each I was

anticipating, however, I got more out of each experience than I was anticipating as well. I

learned a lot and grew a lot in both experiences. I felt like they complimented my SAHE

experience well and gave me experience in competencies which were different than the ones I

use in my assistantship regularly. And, in terms of future work experiences and future

competencies to address, I am looking forward to continuing to learn through a NODA

internship at UC Berkeley this summer.

Conclusion

Overall, this semester was extremely valuable. I feel like I grew a lot in all aspects of my

life: personally, professionally, and academically. Although I am currently in a mindset that is

ready for this summer in Berkeley, I can’t help but look back on this semester with a strong

sense of appreciation for all I have gained. This certainly was a hallmark semester for me. Spring

2015 will be the semester in which I grew to actually like my SAHE experience and began to

intentionally reflect on the meaning behind my experiences for the first time.

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KNOWLEDGE ACADEMIC COMPETENCY

Name: Erin Mross

Product(s): Ethics, Theory, CSPA Combined Class Presentation

Purpose: Work with a team in order to produce a 15 minute presentation on Thursday December

11th, 2014 and a one page handout both conveying the importance and relevance of student

affairs to an assigned audience. For this project we were asked to essentially answer the question:

What is student affairs and why does it matter? The assigned audience we were to covey this

message to was parents and families. We therefore, through interviewing constituents in the

Parent and Family Programs office, tailored our message accordingly. Our answer was to be

informed by the learning we had done in Theory, Ethics, and CSPA throughout the first semester

as a collimating educational experience.

Setting the Scene: Primary Competencies Addressed:

Competency Reflection and application of competency

Knowledge Competencies A: individual, group,

organizational and leadership theories and their relevance to student affairs practice.

This project required us to pull knowledge from Theory class and adapt it as if we were talking to parents. We therefore argued that the existence of theory in our field is significant because it represents that our work is grounded in research, empirical evidence, and professional experience. As such we specifically pulled information from: Bridge’s (2003) Transition Model and Chickering’s (1969) Theory of Identity Development as examples of Student development theory. We choose these theories because we believed they were two theories that would resonate well with the parent’s experience of supporting their student during college.

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E: higher education systems, history, and how student affairs roles, responsibilities and systems are infused into the larger educational picture.

This project required us to pull knowledge from CSPA and adapt it as if we were talking to parents. We specifically leaned on information that described the requirements for a legitimate profession as a framework to covey our message to the parents.

F: how diverse student learning, developmental theory and research are relevant to students’ education and development.

As mentioned above, this project required us to synthesize information from Student Development Theory.

G: students’ diverse characteristics, demographics and attributes and how they influence students’ education and development.

As mentioned above, this project required us to synthesize information from Student Development Theory.

H: student affairs standards of practice and professional ethical standards.

This project required us to pull information from Ethics class and adapt it within the context of relaying relevant information to parents. Because we were illustrating why student affairs practice matters, we thought it was most significant to touch on the CAS Standards Statement of Shared Ethical Principles (2006) because the existence of standards are a specific criterion for determining the relevance of a profession.

I: current issues and practices in the student affairs profession.

This project required us to understand the specific and current context of parent and family involvement in student affairs through the interviews we conducted. We discovered that parents of Millennials are more likely to be involved in their student’s lives and that it was therefore important for student affairs professionals to discover how to use them as allies and teach families how to be appropriately involved in their student’s life.

Professional Practice CompetenciesI. Administrative FunctionsE: meet deadlines and

produce quality results.

The prep for this project occurred primarily after fall break until the presentation on December 11th. This required a lot of work due to the fact that we were balancing multiple deadlines and final projects at the same time.

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II. Managing SelfB: personal and professional

confidence.This project required a lot of professional communication and presentation skills.

E: ability to work with others within a team context.

This project required to work with three other group members as well as collaborating with outside partners to conduct interviews.

III. Communication C: the ability to use sound,

effective written and oral communication techniques and strategies within student affairs practice.

This project required a lot of work honing in our presentation skills.

IV. Working Relationships with Others

B: build rapport, show compassion and understanding for others, and establish and maintain mutually satisfying relationships.

Because this was a group project, it was essential to discover how to work together. Throughout this extensive project, group dynamics were easier to navigate at certain times rather than others thanks to each of our complex personal, professional, and academic circumstances.

REFLECTION

The first thing that this project required was to come together as a group—to form—in

order to map out what we wanted the rest of the project to look like. I sent an initial email to my

group in order to kick things off. At this meeting, we strategized the best division of labor for all

of the tasks. This project required us to synthesize the majority of what we learned in our classes

throughout the semester, tailor it to a specific audience, and then boil it all down to a 15 minute

presentation. It was clear during this first group meeting, that we were all a little overwhelmed at

the moving pieces that this project required. And, to add another layer of complexity, we were

entering into a very busy academic schedule, in which there were several weeks throughout the

project that we had assignments due every day. This meant that we not only had a lot of work to

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do, but that we didn’t necessarily have the time or attention necessary to devote to the project.

Therefore, the division of labor within this project was key. There was no way we could have

finished the project without being able to lean on each other to finish our own components of the

project. This however was also something that required a lot of growth from me. I consistently

have been in groups—academic and work related—in which members are unable to complete

their assigned tasks. Because of this, I am often a little wary of working within a strategy which

required us to function independently. I therefore, first, before I even started to dive into the

project, had to learn how to trust the fact that the other members of my group were going to get

their work done. And, that they would not require me to hold them accountable for getting their

work done.

During this time of “independent functioning” it was my role to look through the content

that we had learned in Ethics and apply our learning to our project. I ended up with about 10

pages of notes for a section of the presentation which was supposed to be under 2 minutes long.

It was in that moment when I realized that I had to pair down my information to the bare

minimum and include only what was absolutely necessary. This made me feel a little anxious

due to the fact that one of the basic requirements of this project was to illustrate clear

connections to what we had learned in the classroom. I also realized while looking over my

extensive notes that very little information mattered to the specific context of the situation we

were presented with: talking with parents and families. This was an important moment of

learning because I realized that I was so focused on being able to prove what we had learned

throughout the semester that I forgot the actual purpose of the presentation. When I reframed my

role in researching the relevant concepts to parents in relation to Ethics I decided that it was

likely most important to them to merely know that we, as a profession have ethics. This was a

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movement away from the complex into the simple. And, a shift in thought from an overly

academic framework, to one that was more appropriate for the situation. I realized that our

parents and families don’t necessarily care that we are able to think about multiple ethical

rhetorical frameworks but rather that they should trust student affairs professionals with the care

of their students because we are ethical people.

After we all concluded our personal research, we met again to synthesize our findings

and turn them into a presentation and handout. We met the day before the presentation to do this.

As I mentioned above, this was quite literally one of the few times we all had on our calendars to

meet up. However, the last minute nature of this meeting sent our group dynamics into a tizzy.

There was a lot of tension within the group because, as the hours ticked off the clock, we

continued to work away on the project, feeling frustrated with the lack of progress we were

making. I think the majority of the frustration within the group stemmed from the fact that this

project was massive. And, we ultimately didn’t have enough time to complete it to the extent that

we wanted to. The frustration—and storming—in the group therefore gave us the opportunity to

navigate the complex group dynamics of the situation. I learned a lot about being understanding

when working with others because of this storming. I had made a lot of assumptions that we

were running into brick walls as a group because some members of my group had not completed

their work. And, that my peers didn’t complete their work because they didn’t care.

After the meeting as we all were leaving our meeting with extensive individual to-do lists

for the night, one of my group members approached me and apologized for not being better

prepared for the meeting. They let me know that they were struggling a lot with something that

was happening in their personal life. This personal event was acting as a barrier for them to even

focus in class, let alone successfully complete the project. I was in shock when they shared this

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news with me. I often forget while we are learning all of this stuff about student success, that we

are students ourselves. I realized that I failed to approach this group project with the full learning

of the semester because I failed to recognize the student affairs context of the situation itself.

Instead of utilizing classroom takeaways to understand where my peers were at with their

semester, I realize I jumped straight to a place of judgment.

As I reframed my judgment to understanding, I began to let go of a lot of the anxiety I

had about this project and was able to enjoy the experience of working with my awesome group.

Although our presentation was perfect, in the end, I firmly believe we did the best we could have

with the time and resources we all brought to the table.

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Professional Competency: Higher Education Diversity Summit

Erin R. Mross


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Some things are more important than SAHE…

Addendum 5/1/2015

I will address this in my next steps however as you can see, I still need complete this

reflection. Feel free to look at my competency matrix or ask questions about this experience in

my preliminary defense in order to gain some insight into what I have learned. I did not write

this reflection because when I sat down to write this reflection I received a phone call that my

friend had passed away in a car accident. I have tried to write this reflection several times now

and still cannot bring myself to write it. I am still getting over the trauma of this experience and

unfortunately associate this reflection with my friend’s death. I hope to write this reflection over

the summer.

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1. Complete my GS6 form

2. Finish my professional competency reflection about the Higher Education Diversity

Summit

3. Revise my Resume to include most recent work experiences including my NODA

internship this summer

4. Continue to revise my semester reflections in order to begin writing my Overall SAHE

reflection. This includes looking over my competency matrix in order to discover which

experiences I need to include in order to make sure that my competencies are all

addressed. This also will need to include working on writing an overall reflection on my

self-assessments.

5. Write at least 6 reflections over the summer – three knowledge and three professional in

order to stay on top of all of the reflections I will need to include in my portfolio.

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