Liz Moak (2 posts in one- better late than never!)

Multicultural Student Affairs at Southern Methodist University



Activities:
Developed and collaborated on Learning Contract
Successfully utilized multiple means of communication to complete tasks



Reflection 1:

  Over the past week, I have worked with my site supervisor on my learning contract. I was
very comforting to see how quickly he responded to emails and phone messages so that I could get
this task completed in a timely manner. This is hopefully indicative of a strong working/
professional relationship once I arrive on campus. While talking this week, we also got some
housekeeping things taken care of. My housing has been confirmed, and I was please to find out
my apartment will be completely furnished. We also confirmed my dates on SMU campus. I will
arrive on campus on July 13, and report to the office on July 15 (a Monday). I will stay through
the end of July, return to Starkville to take care of some personal business, and return to Dallas
around August 10 if needed for a few days. This addendum is not set in stone, but the dates are
available should I be needed to help with anything I might have been working to implement.
I feel as though I will have to make mountains out of molehills until I actually get on campus because there is only so much I can do from Starkville in regards to my practicum experience. Since I do have this time, I will do what I can to become familiar with campus culture, how the Student Affairs office is structured, and increase general familiarity with the university. That way I won’t be overwhelmed when I arrive on campus.



Reflection 2:

When developing my learning contract, Steven informed me that I would be working on learning community research efforts and implementation, and I am beyond excited about this. I've worked with learning communities throughout my entire higher education experience: observing one in my building freshman year, being an RA for LLC students sophomore-senior years, creating an assessment project for the MSU Engineering LLC, and now I'm embarking on a state-wide research study on LLCs. Although Steven and Creston are not aware of this yet, I already have a good deal of research done on LLCs, so hopefully I will be able to walk in the door with useful information.