VanHorn-Week 7- University of Utah Recruitment

So, I’m finishing up my last few days here in Utah. I have really enjoyed being off campus and seeing and experiencing the differences in the institution and the overall culture.

This past week I have worked a good bit with the assistant directors. They are trying to begin a program that is similar to Miss. State’s Roadrunner Program. Last year was the first year they did the program and it went pretty well. They are trying to enhance and grow it from currently 8 students to 20 students. Their plan is to have half of the students stay on campus at the U and do strictly on campus visits and torus. The other ten will go off campus to area high schools and do off campus recruitment. It is an unpaid position and that is obviously one of the biggest struggles so we have spent a lot of time talking about how you make an organization, such as our Roadrunners, something that students want to put time into without pay. They are also working on a new name for the program, which is currently called Recruitment Intern Program. (Real catchy….RIP). They are wanting something that is special to the U and not something like “Ambassadors”. So, if you have any ideas of a marketable name let me know.

Thursday, I was able to join two of the counselors in going to a high school counselor meeting. High school counselors meet with Univ. of Utah admissions and recruitment for an afternoon before school starts to talk about any changes in the process and what their students are going to be required to have to attend the U. It is the same basic presentation that is given to the students but of course with much more in depth questions. One thing we talked about on the way back to campus is that there are very few audiences of twenty that you will every present to that everyone is truly interested and high school counselors is one of those groups. It is also somewhat disheartening thought he number of high school counselors encourage students not to take college prep courses in high school because they believe certain students “just can’t make it”.

I have really enjoyed this last week because I have been able to be involved in some of the behind the scenes of the office and see things that I never knew or understood went into the recruitment process.

Thompson - Week 7

Team Practicum,

Hello hello! I am up and running with my computer. I accidentally spilled Gatoraid on it and needless to say, it stopped working.  Thanks to the Geniuses at the Apple Store they fixed me right up.  Anyway, last week was a very interesting week for me because I used the time for a significant amount of personal reflection.  I also managed to finalize all the details for the mascot policy manual.  Lastly, I assisted in Saint Leo's final orientation.

As far as the personal reflection goes, I walked outside one night to the sunset pictured.  The sunsets here are phenomenal! -- jaw dropping, if you will.  The sunsets also have had the ability to make my worries, concerns, and fears drop by the wayside.

Sometimes in student affairs we need to find our sunset.  Don't get me wrong, we need to be proactive and accomplishing our goals as professionals.  However, the less we are consumed by our pressure to succeed and the more we embrace our desire to serve the better we will be both professionally and personally.  I challenge each of you to find time in your life to sit back, relax, and reflect on why we got into student affairs.  Find your sunset!  I'd love to read or discuss with you what you discover.

Moving forward, I'm loving my experience at Saint Leo.  I have been privileged to work with some great people.  The students, staff, and faculty all have a desire to see this school succeed.  This was very apparent while I assisted in developing the mascot manual/policy.  Some of the most interesting and productive conversations I have had at Saint Leo have dealt with the mascot.  The student leaders know they have a duty to represent the student body's  opinion, and the staff/faculty know they have a duty to ensure that the students' ideas align with Saint Leo's core values and mission.  This cooperation can be related to any school regardless of the size, demographic, or history of the institution.

Working with both sides during the policy development has allowed me to see what student affairs professionals undergo while working with students.  Yes, student affairs practitioners want to provide students with every resources available.  Yes, they want every students'  event to happen.  And yes, they want to carry out all student idea.  However, they must keep in mind the institution that they serve.  Every institution is different.  That's what makes higher education so unique.  Each institution has their own mission, their own values, their own purpose, and their own culture.  Professionals must know this information in order to fully serve their students.

At Saint Leo, their core values are rooted in every aspect of Saint Leo life.  From their orientation (community style), types of water fountains they install (promotes reusable water bottles), to the relationships they have with their students (my supervisors are called mom and dad).  It has been an interesting 4 weeks, and I hate that my time is drawing close to an end.   I'll take what I have learned here and apply it to my both my professional career and personal life.  Because I really believe that this experience has shaped me into a better professional and person.

Week 7-Hall-Close to the end

Hi!

So, it’s Monday night, and I am blogging once again. This is the last week of my practicum, and I am very close to completing my hours. I have settled into my practicum site and a huge part of what I do now, is working with the TracDAT software. The process by which individual units on campus complete their institutional effectiveness reports has long been a paper process. This process is very slow, yet effective. The dilemma that the OIRE is facing is how we streamline this process without losing the effectiveness.

Since I have been working here, I have had the opportunity to convert many of the Institutional reports from word documents to pdf files. By converting these word files to pdf files, the OIRE will be able to load all files onto the j: drive and give each department access to their individual report. By giving these departments access to the j: drive with their reports, it cuts down a lot on the paper process which gives some efficiency to the process.

 I am also responsible for inputting every degree offered into the TracDAT software, this is a somewhat tedious process, but it does allow me to see every degree that’s offered on campus, and in what unit/department it is housed in. The information that I am inputting will be used in years to come as each department logs into their TracDAT software account and accesses their degree program.

Jeremy.  

Week 7- Hall

Hello Guys/Girls!!!

I’m super excited about the upcoming week being the last week of practicum.  This past week was particularly rough for me, because now that I am settled into my job here at practicum, things have sort of settled down and I have daily responsibilities when I get to my practicum site. These daily responsibilities are usually only interrupted by IE help sessions or on the spot interviews.

The interviews I conducted this past week were very educational in learning about student affairs, university organization, and also just seeing how each individual brings their own dynamic to the culture of the office as a whole. I sort of struggled when deciding how to talk about the interviews. To be more specific, each person that interviewed, I typically asked the same questions. What’s your name, your job title, how long have you been on the job, what do you feel you contribute to the office, and what advice would you have for a young professional beginning to enter the job field. There were times when I was impressed by answers, motivated, and even disappointed. I realized very quickly as a director of a department, you are in command. This command isn’t a power hunger command, but it is an awareness command. As director you should have knowledge of each person’s strengths as well as their weaknesses.  Through interviewing close to ten people, and each interview lasting close to two hours, some almost 3 hours, it gave me an idea of what each person brought to the department.

Jeremy.

Thomas - Week 7 - MSU Admissions

With the Admissions office closed this week, I saw that as my opportunity to plan a short vacation that was definitely much needed. My boyfriend, Brad, and I traveled to Fayetteville, AR, for the weekend to visit his dad who lives here.

I won’t be blogging about MSU Admissions this week, but I thought I would discuss two colleges I’ve visited while vacationing in this region.

On Saturday, the three of us actually made the two-hour ride to Branson, MO – a town that is definitely geared towards the typical tourist family. While touring the city, I spotted the College of the Ozarks. This is a small, Presbyterian liberal arts college that was founded in 1906 as School of the Ozarks. It transformed into a junior college in the 1950’s before it eventually became a four-year institution in 1965. This college has been nicknamed Hard Work U because they have a private work-study program where full-time students must work on campus in order to pay for their tuition. Loans are not possible here at CofU because the college does not participate in any governmental loan programs, and alcohol is prohibited on and off campus. It is truly amazing to compare this institution to MSU and see the outstanding differences.

In addition to College of the Ozarks, I was also able to see University of Arkansas for the second time. UA and MSU are both land-grant, research institutions but the culture seems much different. Even though I did not receive an official tour from a university representative, a few differences are evident just from traveling through the campus. For instance, it is extremely hard to distinguish where UA starts and the city of Fayetteville begins. The campus blends into the city making it feel like there isn’t really much an actual campus. It does not feel welcoming and “homey” like Mississippi State does.

Even though I wasn’t able to tour these campuses with a guide who would be able to answer my questions about the institutions’ cultures, traditions, and histories, I still earned a great amount of information just by witnessing the two distinct institutions. These two colleges just go to further exemplify how diverse higher education institutions really are and how each of us needs to know what institution type fits us best.

Megan

Lane-MUW- Almost at the End

This has truly been a journey there has been so much I've discovered about myself and gained a greater appreciation for my future profession through this process. Before going into major details, I wanted to let you all know that the retreat was a major success and the students have continued to talk about the fun they had on the trip but they appreciated the wealth of information received at the retreat. During many of their planning session, it was warming to see the students embrace change and not be stuck on what has been done in the past. Many of the students asked me about programs and activities that I participated in undergrad and grad school. Even more impressing is how the students embrace constructive criticism. They were sincere in their want to change the program for the better. After completing the planning and training stages of the retreat, the students were able to take part in some of the extracurricular activities like shopping, relaxing, and going to the beach again. As you can see I did a little shopping myself.




Overall the retreat was a success. I gained so much from this process of planning and implementing.On Sunday we returned back to Columbus. I really look forward to returning to the "W" this week to finish up my hours. Looking back on this experience, I do not think I could have asked for a better practicum location. I had the opportunity to take par in some campus-wide events and to plan a weekend retreat, while being able to advise and mentor students. This next week I will be completing a guide for individuals who come after my site supervisor. This guide will tell them how to plan and execute a successful retreat. Wish me LUCK!!

Tate - Dept of Counseling & Ed Psych - Week 7

Hi all - In our text for this Tuesday, we read about some words of wisdom as we finish this experience and head into our next ones. One author says that from the moment we meet someone, we're working on the "terms" of our relationship (pg. 210). I like thinking that I have begun working on quite a few "terms" during the last four (sometimes loooong) years. :)

I've learned a lot from working with so many students during these past years, and I was reminded of that this weekend as Reggie, Megan, Jason, and I worked on our call for programs. Getting to put our ideas together, getting to laugh together over shared experiences, and getting to talk about future plans and goals really makes for a special bond that I hope will continue once we're in the workplace.

Looking forward to more experiences together! L