Update from Shackouls Honors College - Kelsey Jones

Activities:

- Continue collaboration between Residence Life and the Honors College

Experience:

My formal practicum experience has now ended and all that is left to complete the requirements is the one hour of supervision a week. However, my relationship with the Honors College will continue throughout the school year through my assistantship as a Residence Director. At this point, we have begun RD training and I am now continuing my work with the Honors College by collaborating to strengthen the relationship between the HC and Residence Life. As the Honors College offices and Living Learning Community are housed in my building (Griffis), this collaboration is highly important to the success of both departments. This week, I brought my fellow RD's by the Honors College and introduced them to George Dunn and Becky Gardner. Additionally, I am working on setting up a meeting between the Honors College and the Griffis and North Hall RA staffs so that the RA's will have a clear understanding of the HC mission and values that they are to be promoting through their programs, etc. I am looking forward to continuing my work with the Honors College throughout the year, I feel that completing my practicum with the HC has given me a wonderful understanding of the community they are trying to create within the halls which will enable me to do better work this year in Griffis Hall.

Chapter 5 of the reading this week is directly related to my practicum experience. The chapter is on Collaboration with Academic Affairs and Faculty. The book iterates the foundational discrepancy between the work that academic affairs and faculty members do and the work we do as student affairs professionals. One side views education and academic endeavors to be sole purpose and singular focus of college students, and the other looks at a student more holistically and advocates for the mental, physical, and emotional needs of a student as well as their academic goals. The success of the collaboration between these two types of higher education professionals is of great importance because it is directly reflected in whether or not a student has a positive college experience. The book discusses the importance of understanding both cultures and being able to see the argument from both angles. In years past, Residence Life and the Honors College have struggled to work together because there was no mutual understanding or shared goals. Working with the Honors College this summer has given me the opportunity to learn about their core principles, mission, and values from a blank slate perspective without having to look at their operation from a Residence Life perspective. Now beginning to collaborate with the HC as a Residence Life professional, I understand what the HC is trying to accomplish with its students and can tailor some of the programmatic work I do with the residents to mesh with the work of the HC, as well as support the efforts of the HC. Additionally, I have been able to establish relationships with HC professionals and provide them with a better understanding of how Residence Life functions within the building and how that directly relates to the HC. At the end of the day, because of the mutual understanding that has been created between Residence Life and the Honors College through my practicum experience, collaboration between these two departments will hopefully be a much more positive experience.