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Professional Development Plan

As a graduate student in student affairs, professional development has been a central focus of my experience.  As I transition into a new role as a new full-time professional in student affairs, professional development will continue to be an integral part of my experience.  In order to better organize my future professional development endeavors, I engaged in a process of reflection on my current knowledge and skill strengths and areas to improve.  The result was a professional development plan that addresses the ways that I will bolster my abilities in my areas of improvement and increase my knowledge in areas which I have considerable proficiency already in my first three years as a full-time professional.  My full reflection and paper can be downloaded here.

Strengths

  • Transfer student advising

  • Student-Veterans

  • Assessment

  • Peer Advising

  • Transition Theory

Limitations

  • Budgeting

  • Service Learning

  • Multiculturalism & Social Justice

  • Traditional Students

  • Orientation

Areas for Growth

  • Assessment

  • Budgeting

  • Multiculturalism and Social Justice

  • Traditional Students

  • Student-Veterans

Year One

  • Read Assessment in Student Affairs 2nd edition by Schuh, Biddix, Dean, & Kinzie (Release: May 2016)

  • Perform job-related assessment duties

  • Review quantitative methods

Year Two

  • Become involved in the NACADA Assessment Commission

  • Join Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education

  • Seek added assessment duties at my institution 

Year Three

  • Attend NACADA Assessment of Academic Advising Institute

  • Search OnDemand NASPA Online Resources

Assessment

Year One

  • Conduct informational interviews with campus administrators

  • Request inclusion on budget information for learning purposes, if allowed

  • Review budgeting chapter in The Handbook of Student Affairs Administration by McClellan & Stringer (Eds.)

Year Two

  • Read Budgets and Financial Management in Higher Education by Barr & McClellan before the 6 month mark of year 2

  • Read into larger scale current events in higher ed funding

  • Administrative Staff Council

Year Three

  • Become a more educated consumer of articles from The Chronicle, Inside Higher Ed, and similar publications regarding the larger scale issues in budgeting and finance in higher ed

  • Attend NASPA Fundraising Conference

Budgeting

Year One

  • Become involved with Multicultural Concerns commission of NACADA

  • Read A People’s History of the United States by Zinn

  • Read The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Alexander

Year Two

  • Attend Social Justice Institute

  • Seek multicultural/social justice organizations/opportunities open to staff members at the institution

  • Re-read Privilege, Power, and Difference by Johnson

Year Three

  • Attend Social Justice Institute for 2nd time or for 1st time if unable to fit into the schedule of year two

  • Craft philosophy of multiculturalism and social justice for department that I will run in the future

Multiculturalism

& Social Justice

Year One

  • Join High School to College Advising interest group in NACADA

  • Scan the Michigan College Access Network (MCAN) website for information regarding trends in students coming to higher education from high school

  • Volunteer to work at orientation sessions as much as possible

Year Two

  • Attend NASPA or ACPA; focus on sessions that are pertinent to traditional students

  • Utilize any worthwhile NASPA OnDemand resources available online

  • Become more involved with MCAN

Year Three

  • Attend NASPA or ACPA

  • Read as many student affairs-related books and articles as possible concerning traditional college experiences

Traditional Students

Year One

  • Volunteer for the veteran committee at the institution for which I work, if it exists. 

  • If committee does not exist, begin conversations about creating one, volunteer to chair, if need be

Year Two

  • Become more involved in the NASPA Veteran Knowledge Community

  • Present at NASPA Veteran Conference

  • Create webinar content for the campus

Year Three

  • Present at NASPA or ACPA

  • Reach out to consider research opportunities with faculty members on campus, time permitting

  • Utilize knowledge and experiences to apply for PhD programs (Year 3-5, roughly)

Student-Veterans

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