·
Attend veteran briefing with RDs
·
Assist staff in freshman/transfer
orientation session
·
Begin initial examination of Green Zone
training
·
Write draft grant proposals
Reflection
on Practice
Since my last blog post I was able
to complete one draft of a grant proposal and outline another, attend a
briefing session, look over the Green Zone training, and attend the final
orientation session. I have also spent
some time getting to know the staff of the center and what they do on a daily
basis, which has allowed me to understand the culture of the office as well. The office is very student focused and they
make sure that everything that they accomplish is in the best interest of the students. This fact was driven home when Mr. White
showed up at 530 to prepare for orientation, which didn’t begin until 800.
Chapter seven of our
text discusses the importance of striking a balance between our work life and
our home life. Although many in the center are driven and focused upon work, I have
come to understand that they make sure to balance it with a healthy home
life. The text discusses that work life
and home life should augment one another (Blanchard, 2009). Burnout is very real in our field and a healthy
outside of work life can combat burning out.
Reflection
on Theory
Through gathering
information for the grant proposals I learned much about the makeup of the student
veteran population on Mississippi State’s campus. In learning the specifics of this population
I began to think about which of the developmental theories apply to this
population. I’m not sure that there is
one specific theory. If anything applies
to the population as a whole, I would say that Schlossberg’s Transition Theory
would. Obviously, it is the part of
student affairs professionals or offices such as the center to provide the
support (one of the four S’s) which assists the individual in working through
the transition (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, & Renn,
2010). I think that as student
veterans’ move away from the transition from military to college the
applicability of the theory begins to wane.
After they have transitioned, I think that a number of different
theories may become applicable.
References
Blanchard,
J. (2009). Reconciling life and work for the new student affairs professional. In
M. Amey & L. Reesor (Ed.), Beginning
your journey: A guide for new professional in student affairs (pp. 133-145).
Washington, D.C.: NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.
Evans,
N., Forney, D., Guido, F., Patton, L., & Renn, K. (2010). Student
development in college: Theory, research, and practice. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Hey Ryan,
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! I can see that they've got you quite busy there in the office and learning many of the different facets that Veteran's Center covers. I imagine some of those days were exhausting hopping from one project to another.
Looking it over, a couple of questions come to mind:
1. You mentioned that after veterans transition successfully onto campus, different student development theories may apply to them more. Is there a theory (or theories) you feel are more likely to capture their continued development after this transition?
When does the office plan to hold Green Zone training? This is something I feel would be quite beneficial for us as growing SA professional to attend, and have been on the lookout for it to be offered here.
Keep up the good work!
-Matthew
Hi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI took an interest in your post after your attendance at RD training this week with the Veteran's Office. I was interested to see what your perception of the session was. Since you didn't go into a lot of detail, I am just wondering what you thought about the session. Are there things that you think could be improved from the Housing and Residence Life end?
I am glad to hear that the employees of the office each seem to have found a good work-life balance. This is something with which I am constantly struggling but I have found that the employees in the Career Center also seem to have found a healthy balance. I think it is great that we have role models within our practicums who are able to show us that it's possible to live a healthy life in student affairs.
-Amanda
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteThe RD training was an interesting experience and I was glad to be part of it. I didn't say too much for a few reasons, the first of which is that Mr. McRae wanted the experience to be more of a discussion and I wasn't too sure what to say. The other thing was that because we didn't discuss anything beforehand, I didn't want to say anything that they would disagree with. Apparently, my input was effective as they are going to have me do the RA training with Mr. McRae in a week or so.
As for what I think could be changed on the Housing and Residence Life end, I don't think that there's a whole lot that I would change. For me it always goes back to showing each student compassion, patience, and understanding. I think that those three things in combination will meet the needs of almost any student. With that said, I do think that a small selection of single family student housing might really meet the needs of some student veterans. However, that would really depend upon the established need.
This was Ryan btw.
DeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteAs far as what theory I think may apply following transitioning onto campus, I think that Cass's theory would be fairly applicable. I look at it as coming to terms with your identity as a veteran and how you look upon your time in service. Although there is a lot of pride and support for this population, there is also a strong stigma attached to the title.
In terms of the next Green Zone training, they have mentioned that they try to have it once a semester. I am currently editing the presentation, which is currently 98 slides and takes almost 3 hours to accomplish. Hopefully, they agree with my suggestions and the presentation will be shortened and will only take an hour and a half. I'll let you know if I hear a firm date for training.
Ryan