Geoff Roberts
Advising and Supporting
ACPA and NASPA (2015) stated that the “Advising and Supporting competency area addresses the knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to providing advising and support to individuals and groups through direction, feedback, critique, referral, and guidance” (p. 36). Advising and Supporting has been a key aspect of my internship experience over the past two years. My internship was a Program Advisor position in Nontraditional and Military Student Services (NTMSS) at Bowling Green State University (BGSU). In that role, I had the pleasure of serving students of nontraditional characteristics such as parenting, older than 23 years of age, or active military/Veteran status. I would advise these students holistically through their initial interest in BGSU, then through initial enrollment, and during continuing enrollment when necessary. Through this experience, I developed this competency to an exemplary level.
The population that we serve in NTMSS requires a community to support at times. This is particularly true with our military student population. Often, our students serving in the reserve components of the five branches or in the Army National Guard or Air National Guard will experience “call-ups”. This means that they are called to active duty and must formulate plans to complete course requirements early or to temporarily withdraw from courses and continue when they return. As an advocate, I often had to meet the outcome of collaborating “with other campus departments and organizations as well as surrounding community agencies…to address students’ holistic wellness needs in a comprehensive, collaborative way” (ACPA & NASPA, 2015, p. 37). Often, we must serve as the link between students and their faculty members to ensure that they have the ability to seamlessly take necessary action to discontinue or complete academic demands prior to deployment. I also have had the opportunity to create partnerships with the Regional Inter-Service Family Assistance Committee (RISFAC), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) to collaboratively address the needs of these students.
My ability to mentor the students who work within our office has been a central focus of my internship experience as well. Currently, we have one non-military-affiliated student who works in our reception area and three military-affiliated students who are Peer Advisors in our Peer Advising for Veteran Education program. The three students also serve as the officers for our Student Veterans of America (SVA) affiliated student organization: Student Veterans Organization (SVO). I have taken the opportunity to advise these students and mentor them by drawing on many of my own experiences. As a BGSU undergraduate alumnus, I served as the President of SVO and also was a founding member of the organization. I experienced numerous trials and tribulations in trying to gain momentum with the organization. It is through those experiences that I was able to better advise our current SVO student leaders. Additionally, I mentored them through the creation of a business plan. The business plan serves as a guide for them in their operations as well as a valuable tool to present to others around campus about their future goals and plans. I advised them on the best way to utilize their business plan in meeting with the Student Budget Committee as they sought funding for the upcoming 2016-2017 academic year.
Finally, my understanding of student-veteran mental health related concerns allows me the ability to provide meaningful crisis interventions, “mental health consultation”, and “effective post-traumatic response” (ACPA & NASPA, 2015, p. 37). On a few occasions, I will have to begin tough conversations with military students regarding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and other crisis-related events. I regularly utilize campus resources, like the BGSU Counseling Center, or community resources, such as RISFAC or the VA, to help guide these students in situations that require highly-trained intervention. It is through purposeful assessment and active listening that I glean when further help is needed. Several of these conversations have ended with a “warm hand-off” to a campus or community partner and a few have ended in my office with the students strongly declining further help or receiving the level of care that they felt they needed. I am purposeful in following up with these students.
Two of our peer advisors and I outside of Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, IN after I advised them through an SVA Regional Leadership Institute
Student Learning and Development
Student Learning and Development is a central focus of student affairs. I was not knowledgeable regarding all that goes into supporting student learning and development on a college campus prior to my entry into the College Student Personnel program at BGSU. ACPA and NASPA (2015) stated that the "Student Learning and Development competency area addresses the concepts and principles of student development and learning theory. This includes the ability to apply theory to improve and inform student affairs and teaching practice" (p. 32). It is through formal education in the classroom and practical application at my internship site that I gained much needed competence in this area.
My first introduction to student learning and development theory came in the first semester of the College Student Personnel program. CSP 6020: Theory and Assessment of College Student Development was an in-depth and intensive course designed to give an exploration into cognitive-structural, identity-formation, and similar domains of theory. Fitting into Astin's I-E-O model, this is the "Inputs" portion of our course material. We examined the many characteristics that students bring with them to college. Next in the I-E-O sequence, CSP 6030: Theory and Assessment of Educational Environments taught us the many intracacies of environmental theory and its effects on the inhabitants of those environments. These sets of theories are crucial to understanding student learning and development in college. The courses provided me a vital opportunity to become familiar with them and internalize the knowledge of them. It was through my subsequent applications of theory that I was able to begin to understand how to best utilize theory in practical application. One of the limitations of some of the theories, particular the older cognitive-structural theories, is that they were often developed using White men as the primary subjects of study. I quickly realized that purposeful interpretation and critique was necessary to apply certain theories to different populations who identify in ways different than White and as a man. I also had to work to critique these theories to apply to student-veterans in particular, who often develop differently due to the experience of being military-connected. The body of research regarding student-veterans in regard to development theory specifically remains limited, but is growing. Synthesizing existing and emerging research has been a primary activity in my development as a student affairs practitioner in student-veteran services.
A program that I developed both for NTMSS at BGSU and my final paper in CSP 6020 is the Veteran Wilderness Experience (VWE). This program utilizes Schlossberg's Transition Theory, applied specifically to student-veterans transitioning to college, to enhance their ability to identify the transition that they are making as they enter college as well as making them aware of the 4 S's as they apply to their specific transition. The 4 S's are Situation, Self, Supports, and Strategies. These goals were achieved through a few key components of the program. The first was a 5-day hiking trip designed to (1) create an environment where participants can be pushed from their usual comforts to encourage growth and (2) to provide a structured, but fun, experience to encourage learning. The hiking trip contained reflective journaling, discussions intentionally centered on different components of the 4 S's, and opportunity to interact with a junior or senior student-veteran. The second key component was a common read by Cass (2014) titled The Strategic Student Veteran: Successfully Transitioning From the Military to College Academics that was included to support development through awareness of Strategies (within the 4 S system) for coping with the transition to college. Finally, the last component is a semester-long course or seminar designed to provide continued support through transition. More information on the VWE is contained on the right side of this page if viewing on a computer, and below this section if viewing on a mobile device.
Designing the VWE allowed me to develop in a few areas identified by ACPA and NASPA (2015) that are advanced outcomes within the Student Learning and Development competency area. First, I utilized "theory to inform divisional and institutional theory and practice" (ACPA & NASPA, 2015, p. 32). This program was to be conducted between the summer of my first year and second year of my NTMSS internship but was ultimately pushed aside for more pressing issues. I will leave the office with a shell of a program that could feasibly be conducted based solely off the materials that I leave behind. Second, I utilized the program to teach the other staff members in the office the importance of transition theory for student-veterans in particular. Only one other staff member, the director, within NTMSS has significant experience with student development theory, so this was an important professional development opportunity for them. Finally, designing and disseminating this program allowed me to translate "theory to diverse audiences" (ACPA & NASPA, 2015, p. 32). Beyond sharing it with staff at NTMSS, I had to compile information for Academic Affairs to justify why the program was important.
My brother Ryan and I outside of Baghdad, Iraq in 2009 (right) and at a cousin's wedding in 2016
Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
Assessment, Evaluation, and Research is a crucial competency for working in student affairs and higher education. These activities provide us insight into how our efforts, activities, and services affect students. Since our primary focus is to serve students, the importance of AER cannot be overstated. While many can understand the value of these efforts, many are intimidated or fearful of conducting AER. ACPA and NASPA (2015) stated that the "Assessment, Evaluation, and Research competency area focuses on the ability to design, conduct, critique, and use various AER methodologies and the results obtained from them, to utilize AER processes and their results to inform practice, and to shape the political and ethical climate surrounding AER processes and uses in higher education" (p. 20). Assessment was something that I was introduced to during my first two weeks as a Program Advisor in NTMSS.
I had the opportunity to serve on the Assessment Report-Out Committee (AROC) sub-committee for nontraditional and international students. Our main purpose was to learn about the experiences of nontraditional and international students at BGSU so we could make recommendations regarding how to improve our services for these populations. It was crucial to identify the most glaring needs for these student populations that had been unaddressed in the past. ACPA and NASPA (2015) identified these efforts as an advanced outcome by stating that one shows advanced competency when that person can "effectively use assessment and evaluation results in determining the institution's, the division's, or the unit's accomplishment of its missions/goals, re-allocation of resources, and advocacy for more resources" (p. 21). Our AROC committee deliberated as a group what the best way to achieve this would be. We determined that survey instruments would be helpful. We elected not to pursue qualitative methods such as interviewing, document review, or focus groups. On behalf of the committee, I created two separate surveys with the help of a fellow College Student Personnel student who was also on the committee. One survey concerned nontraditional students while the other was meant for international students. Upon receiving the results, I authored a report of our findings on behalf of the committee. This was my first exercise in reporting findings of a real study. My impromptu status of leading the efforts to create the instruments, compile the results, and report the findings ended up being outstanding for my development in AER.
Another effort that I lead at BGSU in regard to assessment was the development of our assessment of the student-veteran population. The Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE), through legislation called House Bill 488, dictated to all public institutions that they must assess their student-veteran population each year. My supervisor was willing to allow me to craft that assessment with little guidance. While this was daunting for a still-new graduate student, I also recognized the opportunity for growth and agreed to take on this task. I began to read about different assessment methods, reach out to other regional campuses to see how they were approaching the directive from ODHE, and researched other institutions' published student-veteran assessment reports or instruments. I then utilized this information to craft the best plan for BGSU. I designed a survey for the student-veteran population by relying heavily on my own experiences as an undergraduate student-veteran at BGSU, the Peer Advisors' experiences, and my knowledge of common student-veteran issues at BGSU. Following this, I communicated the results and findings to my supervisor for her to share with those higher in the heirarchical structure.
Actual assessment and evaluation efforts were often non-existent in NTMSS prior to my arrival. With this being the first attempt to survey the student-veteran population, I knew that this was a great opportunity to educate others within our department into the importance of this assessment. ACPA and NASPA (2015) described this as "[creating] a culture of evidence in which the institution, division, or unit expects AER to be central to professional practice" (p. 21). I firmly believe that I have left my mark in this manner on NTMSS.
In my final semester in the CSP program, I have enrolled in CSP 6800: Assessment in Higher Education and Student Affairs. This formal education is allowing me to see the mistakes that I made in the past regarding assessment as well as the many political intricacies and ethical issues surrounding assessment in higher education. I continually review the work that I have done in the past when I learn new information. One mistake that I made with the AROC design was not considering concrete statistical analyses that could have been utilized. This would have affected the questions that I asked, the measures that I used, and the way in which I reported the findings. I will leave BGSU with a wealth of introductory and exploratory experience in assessment and a knowledge base developed through formal classroom education concerning assessment.
Me standing at the entrance of University Hall on the campus of Bowling Green State University
Photo credit: Reuben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Communications
ACPA: College Student Educators International & NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (2015). Professional competency areas for student affairs educators. Washington, D.C.: Authors