Knowledge

Professional Involvement is important to creating a holistic educational experience. Making connections across departments and through interactions with colleagues, you are able to learn more about other areas in the field and better apply those experiences to the work you do.  

Relevant courses, assignments, and experiences that demonstrate knowledge in this area:

1.     Articulate the genesis of major professional associations in the field of student affairs/ higher education

  • EDHE 5304: Student Development in Higher Education
  • EDHE 6064: Higher Education in the U.S.

2.     Formulate and explain a personal professional philosophy

  • EDHE 5304: Student Development in Higher Education

3.     Develop an individual plan for their own professional development

  • EDHE 5304: Student Development in Higher Education

4.     Demonstrate personal commitment to at least one professional associations related to their anticipated career path

  • Membership in:
    • Higher Education Association at Virginia Tech
    • NASPA
    • ACPA
    • NODA
    • ACUHO-i
 

Skills and Experiences

As much as it was important to engage in scholarship and my professional development through my assistantship, it was equally as important to me connect with other colleagues across campus as well as within the field on a national level. To accomplish this, I engaged in several memberships both on a local and national level as well as attend several conferences and certifications. It was through these experiences that I could understand the broader scope of the higher education field and how they are all interrelated.

The opportunities for professional involvement include the following:

  • Higher Education Association (HEA) Vice President

  • Professional Membership

    • NASPA

    • ACPA

    • ACUHO-i

    • NODA

    • HEA

  • Professional Conference Attendance

    • NASPA 2015, New Orleans

    • Today's College Man Conference 2015, University of Richmond

    • VACUHO RA Conference 2014 & 2015, The College of William & Mary, George Mason University

  • Certifications

    • Safe Zone, Virginia Tech

    • Safe Zone Facilitator, University of Alaska Anchorage

    • VT Intercom, Virginia Tech

    • Mentor for Violence Prevention (MVP), Virginia Tech

 

HEA Vice President

Given the opportunity to run for Vice President for the Higher Education Association, I gladly took the position in order to give back to the program and to involve myself in something greater than just the academic aspect of my graduate school experience. My expectation for the position at the beginning was to do what I do best: communication! I wanted to rebrand the association and work on broadening the audience to engage in prospective graduate students as well as alumni of the program. When I started, this focus quickly shifted.

What I discovered was that there was a different need that HEA needed to fulfill within the department. Cohort connection was sporadic and we were tasked with creating a new tradition for the department: the Hooding Ceremony. The executive board and myself took a lot of pride in creating this ceremony which helped the graduating cohort at the time celebrate their time and experience within the program.

While I entered into this role with certain expectations and ideations, what I got out of the experience was more personal. I learned that it is important to give back to the experience you had and important to connect with the next generation of graduate students who might soon become your professional colleagues. Furthermore, I learned how important it is to use your colleagues as a support for one another. While engaging the cohorts seemed challenging at times, it was then that the executive board used each other as a sounding board to reevaluate and move forward. My time serving HEA allowed me to reconsider the need of the group and truly serve the department that has given me so much these past two years.

 

Professional Membership

As a new professional, I wanted to take the opportunity to get involved with as many professional entities I could. On a national level, I joined the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) as well as NODA and ACUHO-i. Locally, I am an active member of the VT Higher Education Association (HEA) where I served as Vice President for one term and have participated in the local VACUHO RA conference.

While it is important to have a knowledge of your own campus, be aware of concepts, and have a theoretical background within the field, it is equally as important to be connected with colleagues both locally and nationally to collaborate and share experiences with. Through my professional membership and involvement, I have been able to stay current on trends that are happening on college campuses and collaborate with professionals. Additionally, my membership with NODA and ACUHO-i helped me obtain my summer internship. While I ultimately chose an ACUHO-i position, I was able to see the scope of connectedness that is displayed when professionals come together through these associations.

 

Professional Conference Attendance

NASPA 2015 (NEW ORLEANS)

My experience in New Orleans for NASPA 2015 was exciting because it was the first conference of its kind that I attended. While it was exciting to be in New Orleans and do a little site seeing, this factor took a backseat to the conference itself. Because I had a lot of connections already in the profession, I was able to reconnect with a lot of my distant colleagues and talk about their job, their institution, and how they feel about the field and tap into their development as a professional.

One of the other aspects I was excited about was attending all of the educational sessions sessions, keynote speakers, and regional socials offered at the conference. Because of my interest area in healthy masculinities development and previous knowledge in communication studies, I focused my experience on sessions regarding those topics. What I quickly found out is that they often skimmed the surface of the particular subjects and did not go as deep with new information as I had hoped. Leaving the conference, I had an understanding that I knew a lot of what is new and recent about those topics, but was left with wanting to learn more.

The NASPA conference, to me, served as a great experience to reconnect with old colleagues and network with new friends. However, because of my experience, I will use the NASPA Conference in the future as an opportunity to engage with new material. Through my trip to New Orleans, I learned that knowing how to engage in a conference is half the battle to maximizing my time and knowing exactly what I want to take away from the experience.

TODAY’S COLLEGE MAN CONFERENCE 2015 (UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND)

The Today’s College Man Conference is a daylong conference hosted by the University of Richmond that serves as an opportunity to engage in conversations about masculinity and various work being done in the field to address the needs of college men. In the Fall of 2015, a group of professional and student staff traveled to Richmond to attend the conference.

Various speakers from Virginia schools and beyond gave presentations throughout the day ranging from how men can engage their communities as feminists, how masculinity is displayed internationally, and personal accounts of the black male experience highlighting the importance for mentorship. The day ended with a performance from Phallacies, Inc., a student group from the University of Massachusetts Amherst that creates and performs skits and monologues from their personal experience and discussions of masculinity issues while in community with each other. 

While I attended the conference at a personal low point of exploration in this topic, this conference inspired me to pursue this area more. Seeing so many people gather for a day to explore this topic truly reinvigorated my interest in the college male experience and the work that needs to be done to ensure their success and provide support that is beneficial to all college students. To me, TCM legitimized my interest area and provided a moment of reflection to develop and ultimately pursue my passion for developing healthy masculinities.

VACUHO RA CONFERENCE 2014 & 2015 (THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY)

For both of my years at Tech, I have had the exciting opportunity to bring a group a students to the VACUHO RA Conference. While I had attended conferences for myself, this opportunity was a chance to be a chaperone. (I finally reached, in my mind, the ultimate sign of maturity!)

My first year, traveling to William & Mary, I served mainly as the second in command. My supervisor at the time took care of all of the travel arrangements and knew what was expected for a conference of this capacity: team cheers, a banner, an opening skit, and decorated clothespins. I assisted where I could, but mostly observed how she engaged with the students and how she utilized her time during the conference to network with colleagues across Virginia. For year two, I assumed the primary supervisor role by communicating my experience with my coworker and delegating the preliminary work amongst the both of us so that he could learn what I had learned just a year prior.

The VACUHO RA Conference was a valuable experience to connect with student staff members across the department as well as connect with practitioners from across the state. Furthermore, through my interactions with others, I was able to broaden my understanding of how other housing offices engage with their students. I used those personal and professional interactions to influence my work when I returned to my own community and continue to foster working relationships amongst the students in Housing and Residence Life. VACUHO reminded me why I enjoy the work I do; to make a difference in the lives of students and provide opportunities for learning, interaction, and growth.

 

Certifications

As a higher education professional, it is my belief that creating an inclusive environment where students can explore their authentic self and thrive is imperative. Thinking about what areas would serve me best, I strategically selected opportunities where I could grow personally in my knowledge and understanding of an area within the field as well as increase my technical and practical skills to bring back to my community.

Becoming Safe Zone certified at Virginia Tech as well as a Safe Zone facilitator at the University of Alaska Anchorage, I learned more about what issues LGBTQ+ students face and how to support those exploring their sexual identity and gender expression. Through VT Intercom, an instruction on inclusive practices regarding racial and ethnic identities, I learned how to strategically and effectively invite students in discussion about race, privilege, and how to create lesson plans that guide student learning in a skillful manner. Lastly, becoming a Mentor for Violence Prevention (MVP) facilitator, I learned how sexual assault and Title IX is an important topic to address with college students and how to open the door to productive conversation about bystander intervention with students.

With all of the certifications I have gained, I can actively see how each of them have influenced my practices as a professional. Because I have increased my knowledge and vocabulary, I have become more skilled in choosing my words and actions carefully in order to foster an inclusive space and educate students on the impact they make on the environment around them. These opportunities showed me that I am constantly learning and that there is always room for improvement. I know I cannot be perfect, but with every opportunity to gain further understanding, I can improve my impact by creating and modeling inclusive spaces and practices.

 

Disposition

There is a fine like you walk as a graduate student in balancing your assistantship with your academics and having some sort of personal time to recharge. However, keeping with my promise to myself of doing anything and everything new, I could not pass up certain opportunities that presented itself to make myself a better professional.

Through my involvement in association membership and involvement, I gained a broader perspective of my impact. I discovered it is not only the work I do at my institution with my student staff, but ultimately the work we do collectively in this field, both locally and nationally, to adapt our efforts and support students. By attending the various conferences, I could better understand what other campuses are doing and foster relationships of collaboration to better improve my practices. Furthermore, through certifications, I could gain tangible skills that I could in turn apply to my community and diversify my professional development.

In the two years of professional involvement, I have learned the importance of making connections with fellow colleagues and intentionally gaining experience to broaden my understanding. After returning from each conference, I reveled in the "conference-high" that reignited my fire for doing this work. NASPA encouraged me to look at the possibilities of job opportunities while TCM solidified my passion for developing healthy masculinities on college campuses. My position and involvement with HEA illustrated the impact of giving back to the program and keeping the relationships between my fellow Hokies open and strong.

It is through my professional involvement that I fell in love with this field and helped me understand that this is exactly where I need to be professionally.

 

Future Plans

My future plans for professional involvement are somewhat tied to factors of how much time I will have to devote to my professional involvement in outside organizations and how much I will be able to financially support these opportunities. Because I know that professional involvement is a key component in being a good professional, I will strategically consider these factors to best accommodate my interests and the impact each will have.

For professional membership, I hope to continue being a member of NASPA and ACPA. While the price for membership will increase as I lose my professional status, I know that it is important to continue those ties to stay current and take advantage of the benefits they might provide. If it comes down to monetary issues, I will most likely side with whatever my new employer is involved in. Additionally, since I will be staying in Virginia, I would like to explore membership and active involvement with VACUHO, the state-wide Housing and Residence life organization. Because I have connections in this organization already, I hope this membership could lead to involvement on committees and events supported by VACUHO.

For conference involvement, I will play a role in producing the 2016 Today's College Man Conference hosted by the Richmond College in October. I am most excited about this opportunity because I enjoy conference implementation and have not had the opportunity to do so in a couple of years. Additionally, I hope to take a delegation of student staff members to the VACUHO RA Conference. Additionally, because of my experience attending both NASPA 2015 and The Placement Exchange 2016, I would like to attend the ACPA National Conference in 2017. My hope is that I will be able to gain a deeper academic scholarship from the sessions that will help me expand my knowledge of the field.

Lastly, I hope to continue gaining certifications in my next position depending on what is offered at the institution. For certain, I want to become Safe Zone certified and engage with the Women's Center (or equivalent) for supporting violence prevention education. I would also like to engage more in communications work, developing my skills in graphic design and video production, specifically by learning new software and equipment. 

In the future, I plan on using my involvement for my own enjoyment but for the benefit of my professional well-being. By adding nuanced areas to my education, I will better be able to understand and develop my next plan of action to shape my career.