Best Practices

Best Practices - Hot Topics

Back to School – ABC’s of Assessment

July 27, 2018 by 0 Comments
Read More

by Dr. Kristin Walker, Clemson University

It’s hard to believe the start of the fall semester is looming.  I know my local stores and ads are shouting “back to school!”  Many of us may have been involved with orientation in a variety of capacities while perhaps counseling students this summer, closing out data from the previous year, and preparing for a new academic year.  Oh yes – and we’re trying to recharge our batteries.  Collective deep breath – inhale and exhale.

All of this back to school chatter got me thinking how it’s also a “back to basics” time for assessment.  Hopefully I didn’t undo that collective inhale and exhale because we got this!  Whether you formally oversee assessment efforts in your area, are part of a committee, or do some individual, informal assessment on programs, events, and/or services, I thought I would share some things that help me prep myself and our center for the new academic and reporting year.

A – Analyze, Ask, and Apply

It’s important to take time to analyze and report data to stakeholders as well as apply the data to the coming year.  To apply, we need to ask questions first.  Can discussions occur about current practices or operations that could be tweaked?  Can counseling hours be adjusted?  Are students requesting specific informational resources be on hand at fairs or networking events?  Are there lingering questions based on last year’s data that need to be further explored with focus groups or interviews?  Can you change a question to be open-ended to learn more without having to coordinate a focus group?  Are evening and weekend workshops yielding the turnout that warrants having a counselor work after hours?  Are there any majors who aren’t seeing as much come to your office?  Are students saying they want more information during counseling on a topic but staff may have forgotten a valuable resource exists on the website?  Or is it possible to bring in a campus partner to retrain staff?  There are plenty of questions that can arise when examining data.  It’s important to carve out the necessary time to bring together the right folks to brainstorm and determine if a pivot is necessary that could improve operations, learning outcomes, etc… Ask the questions.  Don’t leave out ideas.  Identify a potential solution to try for a year and discuss next summer or after the fall semester how it went.  Adjustments don’t have to be permanent.

B – Bolster, Balance, and Believe

You’ve analyzed and identified ways to make some changes.  You now need to determine the best way to bolster your current data collection methods to determine if the changes yielded a positive outcome.  If a survey provided the data to prompt the conversation and make a change, can you revise a question?  If you altered a schedule or developed targeted outreach efforts can you more regularly check data collected by card swipes?  If you’ve developed a new event entirely to address a need, you may need to develop a new way to collect data to determine effectiveness.  Remember surveys aren’t always the answer!  Can you get creative with a two minute assessment using pencil and paper that can give you a clearer picture with a higher response rate?  Regardless of what you do, balance new efforts and tools with existing ones.  Don’t’ overwhelm yourself or your colleagues.  Are there graduate assistants, interns, or peer ambassadors that can help you analyze data and give them a real world project?  Remember certain things may not require assessing every year.  Developing a multi-year schedule could be beneficial.  Finally, if you are relying on others to help collect data, make sure they believe in the data you’re attempting to gather.  Help colleagues understand why the data matters, how it will be used to inform the future, and when it will be shared with colleagues.  Is it possible to bring together everyone or in small groups to share data at year end or when it makes sense during the year.  Timely data can be helpful!  Assessment can take a village, but understanding why there’s value and letting them see how data has informed decisions can help them believe and get on board.

C – Celebrate, Carry On, and Commit  

We must take the time to celebrate accomplishments, student stories of success, collaborations with campus partners that have proven fruitful, and where we’ve moved needles.  As my supervisor says, we do important work in career services.  We have the honor and privilege of working with a variety of students at such an important time in their lives.  Even though I love data, everything can’t be just data.  Celebrate how we felt when working with stakeholders, how the energy at a corporate partner retreat felt, or how a space felt when we reconfigured it?  People get excited when hard work is noticed, especially if being okay with a change or an adjustment wasn’t that exciting last year or semester.  After celebrating it’s time to “keep calm and carry on” before the students return because we can’t lose the energy.  But carry on doesn’t mean business as usual.  Commit to the things that are important for your respective office.  Commit to the tweaks discussed and owned by everyone.  Commit to challenging ourselves like we encourage students to challenge themselves.  We owe our students and stakeholders our best.

 

I hope these ABC’s may have sparked an idea about something each of us can do whether you work independently in this area or with others in a variety of ways.  Assessment can be intimidating, so it’s all in the delivery and attitude.  We may have been the children who was so excited to return to school or we may have been the ones who felt apprehensive.  Could be we have mixed feelings in us and/or our colleagues.  Regardless, if we take time for a deep breath and realize we share the same passion for our work, everything else will fall into place.  We’ll find our cubby, locker, or seat and smile at the school year ahead.

__________

Kristin has 15 years of experience in education and fraternity/sorority life.  She earned her B.S. in English from Radford University, and her M.Ed. in Counselor Education and Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Clemson University.  Kristin currently serves as the Associate Director of Analytics and Initiatives at Clemson University’s Center for Career and Professional Development.  In addition to coordinating the center’s competency initiatives and assessment, she oversees the graduate and off-campus internship area.  Kristin teaches in Clemson’s masters and doctoral programs and has been a volunteer and board member of her sorority, Alpha Sigma Tau.  Through her professional and volunteer roles, Kristin has traveled to and worked with students at over 40 college campuses.  Her research interests include career development, fraternity/sorority life, and STEM education.  

Best Practices - Hot Topics - Professional Development - SoACE Updates

Don’t Miss This Week’s SoACE Technology Boot Camp! No Burpees Required!

July 16, 2018 by 0 Comments

Please join us this week for our Second Annual SoACE Summer Technology Boot Camp! Please see below for the schedule of events. Please register for each session you would like to attend individually. Each session is free and is limited to the first 100 participants so please only register for those sessions which you plan to attend and watch with your colleagues when possible.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 18 (all times CDT):

9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
CareerShift Best Practices
Presenters: Audrey Key & Val Matta
We all coach our students and alumni on how to build their network, but CareerShift allows them to go the extra mile. Because CareerShift aggregates job postings and company info into one website, the student can research a company much more effectively. Learn how CareerShift can help your students and alumni complete a painless confidential job search.
REGISTER

10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Achieving Organization through Asana
Presenter: Katlyn Kurtz
The time of using summer as a way to breathe and get prepared for the next academic year is gone, but that doesn’t mean that higher education professionals have to spend their entire year playing catch up. Asana is a project management tool that can help you get and stay organized from the first day of class until graduation.This webinar will demonstrate the power of Asana and will help participants understand how they can use the tool to benefit their project workflow. This webinar will also show participants how to add team members to projects and tasks, create start dates and due dates, and view tasks assigned to them at a quick glance. This session will review the key differences between the free and paid versions of Asana and help participants make decisions about which option best supports their use.
REGISTER

12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Marketing Pays:  Overcoming a Challenge and Showing Them Who Can Handle It
Presenter: Tara Stevenson
What happens when your institution says, “Guess what?  You’re moving off the beaten path to a new physical location!” Fear sets in, you get the shakes and start sweating as you imagine what your office will be like when leave your current comfort zone and journey into a land unknown.  The Career Development Center at Flagler College was charged with accomplishing this exact feat during the 2017-2018 academic year in addition to taking the plunge into a new CRM platform. In the session, we will take a look at a variety of marketing strategies our office utilized to showcase our physical and virtual moves to not only maintain student interaction in a new location but achieve a 50% increase in traffic through the building.  Strategies and topics to be discussed include:
– Developing Instagram posts and stories to engage viewers in the move
– Documenting student interface with the new location and operating system
– Branding everything with the office name
– Incentive programs utilizing student leaders
– Nontraditional events to continue building the brand of the new office
REGISTER

2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
I’m No Graphic Designer, but I “Design Graphics”: Understanding the Basics
Presenter: Leslie Neal
University Career Centers are establishing brand recognition to identify their importance in the professional development of today’s graduates. In order to accomplish this, marketing initiatives have been implemented nationwide. As these efforts increase, it is important to distinguish between marketing and graphic design. These terms are not interchangeable, but separate entities that complement each other. Although creativity influences marketing, the ability to visually communicate in a clear and concise manner does require basic design skills. Graphic Design plays a vital role in marketing, and by understanding some fundamental principles of design, the production of cohesive marketing elements can be created.

With the high demand on visual identity through social media, web design, posters, infographics, banners, brochures, pens, t-shirts (and the list goes on), it is imperative to produce quality promotional pieces effectively and efficiently by incorporating vector graphics (digital images) within marketing materials. However, a lot of professionals charged with this responsibility lack a formal background in Graphic Design to successfully execute certain techniques such as these. If you are the Graphic Designer of your organization who desires to learn how to use vector images, this webinar is for you! We’ll discuss some basic design principles, the significance of vector graphics, and how to create your own. You may not be a Graphic Designer by trade, but you will be well on your way to properly designing graphics in no time!
REGISTER

THURSDAY, JULY 19 (all times CDT):

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Career Center Marketing: Increase Reach While Cutting Costs
Kelli Gemmer, Florida State University
An important communication challenge in higher education is reaching students through the cluttered media environment that exists on campuses. From the moment they are welcomed on campus and throughout their college journey, students are presented with a flood of information. How can career center marketers navigate this environment to reach their student audience?
REGISTER

10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
If We are More Connected Than Ever, Why Aren’t We Happier?
Presenter: Sonia Gonzalez
If we are more connected than ever, why are we not happier? This session will discuss the increased interconnectivity through technology and social media platformed, juxtaposed by the idea that society as a whole is lonelier, more isolated, and depressed than ever. We will also discuss the difficulty of interacting with others or making new connections when everyone has their faces in their screens. Dive into the feelings of inadequacy and/or insecurity that can be a side effect of this hyperconnectivity and constant comparison on social media. Receive tips to limit social media reliance and seek out meaningful personal interactions and relationships for participants and their students, alumni, and staff.
REGISTER

1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Building Your Own Badging Program
Presenters: Peter Thorsett & Katlyn Kurtz
Using an interactive workbook, this session will outline the key steps in creating an effective badging program for students. Participants will be guided through an exercise to help them develop a badging program at their institution. This session will highlight how the desired educational outcomes of a badging program influence the overall program design. Specific technology considerations that should be kept in mind when developing a badging program will be discussed. This session will also give participants insight into the benefits and drawbacks of using a tool like Badgr and how it impacts how students earn and use badges outside of the program.
REGISTER

Questions? Please contact Kelly Atwood, SoACE Technology Boot Camp Coordinator.

Can’t make some of the sessions? All SoACE members have access to view archived webinars on the SoACE website. Simply log in and view all webinar archives by going to Resources > Workshops and Webinars > Archived Webinars. Most webinars are available online within a few days.

Best Practices - Conference Updates - Hot Topics - Professional Development

Building Your Tribe Through Strategic Relationships

May 18, 2018 by 2 Comments

By Erica Lake, University of South Carolina
College of Hospitality, Retail & Sport Management

Does it seem like everyone has a mentor but you? Are you wondering how to take your career to the next level? This blog post will focus on methods to build relationships that provide mentorship experiences throughout your career; and many are through associations like the Southern Association of Colleges & Employers (SoACE) and the National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE).  When thinking about mentorship, it is often thought of as a one-to-one relationship that is formal and over a long period.  In my recent professional experience, I have been stretched to re-imagine different aspects of mentorship.  In essence, the foundation of mentorship begins with a relationship.  We will explore how to build strategic relationships through formal mentors, peer-to-peer relationships and short-term interactions that can positively influence your professional career. We will also explore ways to make new professional connections that can affect your career through storytelling. In addition, you can learn how to incorporate mentoring techniques during your interactions with students to contribute to their success. I hope that by the end of this blog, you will have a few tools for finding your next mentor.

What is mentorship? Levinson, Darrow, Klein, McKee (1978) describe it as “Career advancement and psycho-social support.”  Based on my experience, mentorship can apply to almost any area in your life.  Mentoring has also been equated to coaching and helping someone along.  Serving as a father (or mother) figure who sponsors and guides a younger person.

It’s important to note that I have had both male and female mentors of different races and ages.  The most important aspect of the mentorship relationship in my opinion is common ground and similar interests.

Mentoring is described as a two-way or reciprocal process, which provides benefits also for the mentor. For instance, the work of Levinson et al. (1978) found that mentoring rejuvenates mentors’ careers since it enables them to assist and shape the professional and personal development of mentees. According to Douglas (1997), other benefits for the mentor include increased confidence, personal fulfillment and assistance on projects. In relation to the benefits for the organization, Murray and Owen (1991) identify several benefits of formal mentoring programs including increased productivity, improved recruitment efforts, motivation of senior staff, and enhancement of services offered by the organization.

One of our USC Sport and Entertainment doctoral students,  Evelyn Jara-Pazmino, is researching mentorship in the sports industry. She is researching mentorship for international student athletes and likened mentorship to having a coach to help you assimilate to the culture of the team and the environment.  The message in numerous professional articles is clear that there are benefits to mentoring relationships.  Everyone wins: the mentor and mentee.

How do I get started?  Find someone, with whom you have a connection and similar goals. Some tips suggest working hard to be noticed.  While I agree, I also believe you can proactively ask to connect on LinkedIn or grab coffee.

What do I need to know?  Check out these tips for the mentoring relationship from the LeanIn organization.

Remember to value your mentor’s time by asking thoughtful questions about challenges you are facing.  Do not just use it as time to catch up.  View feedback as a gift.  Women are more likely to receive vague feedback than men, which disadvantages us at promotion time.  2/3 men said senior leaders helped them advance compared to 1/3 women.

According to Sheryl Sandberg, mentorship and sponsorship are crucial to career progression.  Mentorship can often evolve into sponsorship, as illustrated by Larry Summers’ decision to hire Sandberg early in her career.  She suggests, instead of asking someone to mentor you, focus on making a good impression on that person and allowing a relationship to develop naturally.  A track record of performance and openness to feedback can help motivate mentors to invest further in developing protégés.  Loyalty and honesty are key characteristics of the relationship between mentor and protégé.  When protégés reach a position of power, they can both “pay it back” by helping their mentor when needed and “pay it forward” by helping others.

I love this video from Sheryl Sandberg’s movement #LeanInTogether.  It discusses how mentorship has impacted celebrities in their career: http://money.cnn.com/2016/06/23/technology/sheryl-sandberg-lean-in-new-campaign/index.html

My Mentorship Journey

It’s story time.  When I began my professional career, I didn’t think that I had ever had a mentor, but now when I look back, I realize that I actually had my first mentor at a young age.  As I’ve already mentioned, mentorship needs change over time.  My first recollection of a mentoring relationship was when I was in junior high and a librarian helped me to perfect an essay that I wrote for an essay competition.  We worked tirelessly on it for a while and I was successful.  He coached me throughout the process.  Then in high school, I participated in a speech competition and won at the local level.  When preparing for the regional competition, I had a mentor who introduced me to Toastmasters International and helped me to prepare for the next level of competition.  In my professional career, various supervisors have served as mentors.  And in my current job, I was able to secure a mentor by asking a question in the Director’s Think Tank at the 2017 SoACE Conference.  I’d recently began a new job and wanted information about strategic planning.  I made a comment during the group discussion and talked with this thought leader after the session.  During our conversation, he offered to continue to conversation with me in a mentoring capacity.  This was an amazing opportunity for me and I am very grateful for his generosity!  We speak by phone periodically and he has been very helpful to me in this new role.  I would describe our relationship as a more formal mentorship.

How do you take advantage of short-term mentorship opportunities?  Sign up for consulting sessions offered during the SoACE and NACE conferences.  These conversations with unbiased professionals can provide valuable advice and insight in a short time frame.  They can help plant seeds and move you forward in your career.

Get involved through a Knowledge Group or committee.  These opportunities have provided me with a network of professionals that I can call throughout the country, if I have a question about a certain aspect of the profession.  It is an invaluable resource.  The more you are involved, the more opportunities will be presented to you.

What about you?  What experiences have you had?  What are you trying to accomplish? 

Mentorship seems to be chic now.  What are celebrities and industry executives saying?

“As they say, friendship is essential to the soul.  Find out where people are that you want to meet.  Share advice, talk about having further conversations.  Develop friendships with like minds.  Put yourself out there and share your personal thoughts.” – Steve Harvey

When seeking a mentor, we have to be genuinely curious about the other person’s path and be interested in them.
Former NFL and Super Bowl Head Coach, Tony Dugee, says [we should] think of others before ourselves.

Boeing Executive, Elizabeth Lund, says “as I’ve progressed throughout my career, I think I’ve learned that the key to success is people – your peers, your friends, and your colleagues.”  She tells about a mentor who helped her to be selected to attend MIT on the company to receive her master’s degree in engineering.  This mentor also sponsored her and when she returned, she was asked to take on top assignments and get noticed by leadership.

Who are the individuals who can help you?  Who can you help?  Care and be a friend.  Just ask…informational interviewing, job shadowing, make connections, grab lunch and coffee.

My Mentor’s Story

I asked my current mentor about his experience with mentorship and he shared that a professor saw something in him.  The professor believed in him and encouraged him to pursue a PhD.  He didn’t have any ideas about a research topic and the professor shared that he could help.  He shared that an association that he was involved in could use some specific data and that he would help him throughout the process.  This data was used for his dissertation.  This was a powerful relationship.  He also shared some guidance from Kuz and Posner’s Leadership Challenge.  Mentors share a vision and think about how they can help.  They provide encouragement, but also challenge the process.  They help to breakdown barriers and ask hard questions.  They also empower you to act.

In terms of peer-to-peer relationships, these relationships can be just as powerful as formal mentorships.  Let’s call them frentors.  We often discount these relationships, but they are legitimate learning opportunities.

  • Most of us with a higher education and student affairs background know the value of peer leadership and mentoring. In a recent University 101 workshop, I was reminded of how effective peer mentoring is in the University 101 classroom environment.  This concept also works for professionals.  We can learn a significant amount from our peers who are going through similar experiences.  They can be peers who work in the same field or different fields.  For example, a former colleague put together a monthly lunch for like-minded women. It is so valuable to have this outlet to connect personally and professionally.  Additionally, a former staff member of mine gives me advice on educational goals that I have set.  Relationships evolve and it’s important to keep the lines of communication open because roles can often reverse.
  • During one of my listening tours, in which I sought advice from leaders whom I admire, a leader suggested that I develop my own personal board of directors.  These are individuals who can advise on various topics, and will call you on your BS. I’ve been able to do that primarily through colleagues that I met at the NACE Management Leadership Institute in 2013. These women don’t work or live near me, but we connect a few times a year in person, by phone and online.  These relationships are important.
  • Be sure to get involved in associations and meet people.  It’s so important to have people you can call for advice.  It may be related to a new job or learning from others based on your personal and professional goals.  Some of the people I’ve met have asked me to be involved in regional and national committees. There are people that you may meet that can help you to progress into volunteer roles with boards after you get involved.  The sky is the limit!

Which colleagues and friends could you agree to serve as a sounding board for one another?

 

Frentors at NACE 2016
SoACE 2017

Short-term interactions

  • Someone once recommended that I never eat alone. Although it can be costly, meet people for coffee and lunch.  Consider it an investment.  Go to your colleagues’ offices for meetings to learn about them and make personal connections.
  • At various points in my career, I have interviewed people in leadership roles and asked for feedback and their opinions on career-related topics. Although it may be a little awkward, no one has ever said no.  Even if we don’t establish a relationship, at least they know who I am and what I’m trying to accomplish.  It makes an impression.
At the CEIA Conference 2018 I made new connections and received valuable advice from a new mentor.

 Which events or activities can you capitalize on to build meaningful connections and relationships?

Go up and chat after a panel or formal presentation.  Make a comment about something that stood out to you during the talk and ask if you can connect on LinkedIn etc.  Keep the conversation going!

Social media Utilize LinkedIn and social to make connections.  Comment on articles and share the stories that inspire you. Create digital tribes.  Be interested in what others are doing both in person and online.  Learn from others and share your experiences.

Give back One of my mentors gave me great advice.   Get involved. Give Back. Let’s share with one another.  She told me that she appreciated our friendship.  How awesome is that?

Volunteer event in which I mentored students

How can we mentor our students and help others?

  • In the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management, we are thinking about ways to connect our students with mentors and help them to reach their goals.
  • I am currently coaching one of our students who wants to move to DC, Nashville or Atlanta to do event planning. She invited me to coffee.  I shared my network and we’ve been emailing about her progress.  I want her to succeed and I was happy to help.  Additionally, others were also happy to help… You have to ASK.
  • As you mentor students, I’d encourage you to use the framework of the NACE Career Readiness Competencies. Think about how we can advise students to gain these meaningful experiences.
  • Now I’m thinking about additional ways to encourage our internship supervisors to serve as mentors for our students during their work experiences.
  • Check out the 8 key areas that students need to master to reach their career goals.  These are great topics to discuss in mentorship conversations.


The National Association of Colleges and Employers Career Competencies are:

  • Critical Thinking/Problem Solving
  • Oral/Written Communications
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
  • Digital Technology
  • Leadership
  • Professionalism/Work Ethic
  • Career Management.
  • Global/Intercultural Fluency

In the words of the African proverb, it takes a village.  Let’s build our tribe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdOL5DwVveA

__________

Erica Lake is the director of the Center for Corporate Engagement in the USC College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management. The majority of her 15-year career at USC has been spent building corporate relationships to connect employers with students for internships and full-time positions. Through career fairs, on-campus interviews and specialized networking events, she’s worked diligently to facilitate professional connections.
Lake serves on the 2017-2018 board of directors for the Southern Association of Colleges and Employers (SoACE) as the director for targeted knowledge groups.

Lake is a 2013 graduate of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Management Leadership Institute and a 2014 graduate of Leadership Columbia. A two-time graduate of Mississippi State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications (public relations) and a Master of Science in Counselor Education (student affairs), Lake has presented on best practices in employer relations at both the NACE annual meeting and the Southern Association of Colleges and Employers annual conference. Lake enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with her husband and three children. She is an avid SEC basketball and football enthusiast.

 

Works Cited

  • Levinson, Darrow, Klein, McKee, (1978). Levinson’s Eras Model of Adult Development
  • Jara-Pazmino, (2018). Mentorship as a socialization tactic in the sport industry. University of South Carolina Sport and Entertainment Venues of Tomorrow Conference Presentation.
  • Heimann and Pittenger, (1996). The Impact of Formal Mentorship on Socialization and Commitment of Newcomers.
  • Saks and Ashford, (1997). Organizational Socialization: Making Sense of the Past and Present as a Prologue for the Future.
  • Sandberg, (2016). Women Need to Mentor Each Other.
  • Hansford, Brian C. and Ehrich, Lisa C. and Tennent, Lee (2004). Formal Mentoring Programs in Education and other Professions: A Review of the Literature. Educational Administration Quarterly 40(4):pp. 518-540.