involvement

Letters from the President

Letter from the President: Mark Colvenbach

March 15, 2019 by 0 Comments

Hello SoACE members,

It’s hard to believe that we are already close to, or at, spring break for many of our schools. In addition, we are past the peak season for a good number our employer members. What a crazy and fast-paced semester I am guessing we all had.

We are now three-plus months past the annual conference in Atlanta. I would like to offer all members another challenge. Whether you attended the conference in December or not, I would like to suggest you consider making a small change or enhancement to what you are already doing. Each conference, webinar or phone call with a colleague offers an opportunity to implement a small nugget that can lead to a huge change and opportunity for your organization. With that, pull out your notes from the conference. Identify something you wrote down back in December that can possibly kick-start an idea you had always wanted to try in your office but never took the time to consider. In addition, there are a large number of opportunities SoACE has to offer via webinars, Knowledge Group conversations on Slack and member chats that can assist you with something you may be considering. Take this opportunity to take a deep breath, focus and test an idea out.

We want to hear from you. Share your best practice or idea with others. Get feedback and insight to this idea through the various SoACE channels to enhance and reality-test. It’s a great time of year to test out something new and use the summer to fine tune. In the meantime, please consider several other great avenues to gain insight to the best practices out there. Don’t forget to consider the Employer Relations Summit or webinar-based Technology Boot Camp. These annual programs can be an amazing resource to gain the latest and greatest to take your programs to the next level.

Please remember to share, seek feedback and make the most of the remaining Spring semester. We look forward to hearing about it.

Mark Colvenbach
2018-2019 SoACE President
The University of Tampa

Letters from the President

Letter from the President: Mark Colvenbach

November 16, 2018 by 0 Comments

The holiday season is a wonderful time to reflect on family, friends and the many blessings from the past year. It also marks the countdown to the Annual SoACE Conference taking place this December in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference committee has put a tremendous program together full of best practice breakout sessions, engaging keynotes and numerous opportunities to network with new and old friends. The coinciding social events will showcase the great city of Atlanta and provide a platform to continue the dialogue that is sure to ensue throughout the conference. We look forward to seeing so many of our members soon.

As the Fall semester winds down and Spring planning begins, I want to challenge SoACE members to try something new…even if it’s just a slight variation on something from the recent past.  It’s critical for our professional mission to continually seek new and diverse opportunities to meet the ever-changing needs of our students and key stakeholders. By engaging colleagues at the conference and throughout the year, you create an opportunity to find that extra “nugget” that may take your program to the next level. As a member, you have 24/7 access to like-minded professionals via the Knowledge Groups (KGs), frequent webinars, resources to serve diverse student populations and more.

At many of our organizations, the time is now for our profession to take that next step. Career Services and Talent Management are at an all-time high on the priority lists of many leaders. The more we embrace our critical roles, the more success it will ultimately lead to for our students; especially as career readiness and competency development envelops campuses and the world of work. I am confident SoACE, in strong collaboration with our state associations and consortia, is positioned to deliver the relevant content and best practice sharing that will help you achieve your ultimate success. Your SoACE “Family” wishes you all the best this holiday season and beyond.

Happy Holidays,

Mark

Knowledge Group Updates - SoACE Updates

Slack: Your SoACE and KG Connection

October 23, 2018 by 0 Comments

by Alicia Smyth, Director, Communications & Marketing, SoACE Board

It’s no secret that one of the greatest benefits that SoACE has to offer are the Knowledge Groups. There are eight in all: Administration, Assessment & Data Analytics, Career Advising/Counseling, Employers, Employer Relations, Experiential Education, Small Colleges & Universities, and Technology. There is a KG for pretty much everyone (be sure to read Erica Lake’s post from last week to learn about the KGs and how to join, if you don’t already know)!

For years, SoACE used MemberClicks’ Circles as a means for KG leaders to communicate with members. The Circles offered a lot of nice features but because members had to go to the SoACE website and log in to access them and there was no mobile app, very few people used them. Last year, a task force (Charlie Wilder, Alex Anderson, Corinne Earle, Ashley Motley, and Mark Colvenbach) set out to explore alternate options that would make it easier for members to communicate with one another in order to to ask questions, engage in conversations, and collaborate. Their solution? Slack.

If you’ve never used Slack, it can be a little intimidating at first because the terminology isn’t completely familiar (e.g., hashtags are channels and channels are groups). But the more you play with it, the more you will love it. Especially the sheer convenience of it. There is an app for your phone and a desktop version as well. You can opt to get notifications or not. It helps reduce the number of emails going back and forth between people while keeping them informed. Personally, what I love most about Slack is that it is bringing members together in ways that don’t usually happen outside of the conference. It allows people to get to know other members before they ever meet them in person so that by the time the conference does come around, they feel like old friends.

I have seen it used for quick questions, to share resources and best practices, to ask and receive favors (thank you for the Handshake sticker, Sara Johnson!), to stay in the loop, to brainstorm, and to get and give help, among other things. SoACE members can belong to one KG channel or all the KG channels, though it really is best to stick with those that are the most interesting and/or relevant to you so you are more likely to use Slack.

But what is Slack?. Slack is a “cloud-based application that connects teams of workers, allowing them to collaborate in real-time on projects and share documents, images, videos, and other data necessary to do their job.” It is most certainly all that, but there is also an element of fun to it, especially if you decide to join the #random channel (hint: animated gifs).

Kristin Walker, Chair of the Assessment & Data Analytics KG, uses Slack frequently to communicate with members. When asked why she has taken to using Slack, Kristin responded, “Slack is a great way to ‘ask your colleagues.’ When you’re sitting in a meeting or alone at your desk and thought ‘I wonder what others are doing?,’ Slack is a great way to ask the question and get quick answers, ideas, and feedback. For example – someone in the Assessment & Data Analytics group asked, ‘What technologies are people using to measure student learning outcomes in real time?’ Folks were able to respond and get a brief dialogue going. It’s like your own consulting group or listserv without adding emails to your inbox because someone replied to the WHOLE listserv. It’s also great for sharing upcoming professional development opportunities within SoACE and outside of SoACE. Easy to give folks a link to learn more if they are interested.”

Charlie Wilder added, “I am so glad that the KGs are now on Slack, because, just as Kristin says, it’s like having instant access to so many experts across the region. Something I can add: since implementing Slack with SoACE, we’ve started using it in my office. It’s been so helpful for streamlining communication, reducing emails (especially those times when you wonder if you should reply with a quick “thanks”). We’ve started a meeting agenda channel where we can all suggest items for the coming week’s agenda while making everyone aware of them at the same time. We are getting more accomplished with less effort!”

Ashley Motley also uses Slack for both work and SoACE. She shared, “My favorite way to use Slack is during an event. On a smaller scale, the Experiential Education KG has Slacked our channel for feedback on a webinar immediately after it happened. Specifically, we asked if participants could share something they learned. On a larger scale, during our All-University Career Fair we use Slack to ask event questions among our staff. Specifically, our IT crew provides updates on the number of students we’ve checked in so far, staff at the fair location can communicate with staff in our office if employer questions about next day interviews, and we can provide quick customer service to employers calling the office with questions about the fair because our office reception staff communicates those questions on Slack. This year, because of that level of communication, I was able to seamlessly add in three employers that would have otherwise been frustrated to miss the fair. It’s a really effective tool that allows you to communicate in real time.”

Check out these articles regarding the benefits of Slack and some of the super cool things it can do to enhance your SoACE experience (not to mention your productivity):

If you haven’t received an invite to join SoACE’s Slack workspace yet, make sure that you are a member of a Knowledge Group: https://www.soace.org/about-kgs. Once you join at least one KG, you will receive an invite and from there, can get in on the conversations (and fun). If you have any questions about using Slack, feel free to reach out to me.

We look forward to seeing you on Slack!