4506Phil

WAIT... WHAT DO YOU DO, AGAIN? While no one would argue that students will absorb some type of academic knowledge from sitting in a classroom, I believe that Student Affairs administrators are responsible for fostering a metacurricular environment focused on student learning, personal growth, and development. Based on the mission and vision of an institution, administrators create, implement, and facilitate experiences that incorporate academic learning and personal experience. In this way, administrators are educators and help students learn about their own identity, their place within their immediate community, and their role within society. How this learning actually plays out depends on the mission, values and structure of a higher education institution, and the immediate responsibilities of the administrator. With the multitude of Student Affairs functional areas, students have an opportunity to interact with administrators with expertise within residence life, student activities, career centers, accessibility services, international education, finance, multiculturalism and much more. While each administrator has tasks that need to be completed based on his/her position and the overall needs of the institution, Student Affairs administrators should focus on providing resources to help students become accountable for their actions, learn ethical decision making skills, and be able to see the world from multiple perspectives.

EACH STUDENT IS AN INDIVIDUAL Students enter college with a variety of personal experiences, cultural backgrounds, and objectives. It is clear when interacting with students that although there may be physical or personality similarities, no two students are completely alike. As an administrator, I believe that in order to help students successfully grow and develop during college, students need to be treated and viewed as individuals. Using the Student Personnel Point of View, I believe that being treated as an individual means being viewed as a holistic being, considering... "his intellectual capacity, and achievement, his emotional make-up, his physical condition, his social relationships, his vocational aptitude and skills, his moral and religious values, his economic resources, his aesthetic appreciation" (American Council on Education, 1937). As an administrator, I strive to create relationships with students in order to learn about where they see themselves presently and where they would like to go. By doing this I will be able to offer an individualized approach for students when providing challenge and support.

TOGETHER, WE WILL MOVE FORWARD As a student affairs administrator, I see myself enacting change and becoming involved in decision making processes on both a small and large scale depending on my position and set of responsibilities. In a situation I always try to take into consideration the big picture while simultaneously thinking about the small details that will be necessary for large ideas to come to fruition. I make decisions based on who and what will be affected and in what qualitative and quantitative way. To determine this, it is important for me to gather facts and information regarding past decisions and gain a historical context of the problem. However, administrators do not work in isolation but instead rely on collaborative partnerships with other administrators, students, faculty, and the outside community in order to achieve their goals and make decisions. While I have my own values and decision making behavior, I believe that no leader is successful without the use of a team and other relationships. When working as a team, each person lends a certain skill set and different perspective to a problem and offers individual strengths and weakness. These different perspectives are needed when determining the most effective solution along with its benefits and implications. I also believe that as a leader I should provide my team with the opportunity to share and build knowledge as a means to empower them to seek new and more creative ways of thinking.

IN THE END, IT'S ALL ABOUT FIT The beauty of American higher education lies within the wide range of institutions to choose from. Public, private, 2 year, 4 year, liberal arts, research, urban, rural... the characteristics and personalities of higher education institutions are endless! For students, finding an environment that best matches their goals, values, and personality while offering opportunities for challenge and development can be an exhausting task. For professionals, this task is just as exhausting and just as important. I believe that it is crucial for administrators to articulate their own values, beliefs and preferences in order to find a "perfect fit" with an institution. Culture in higher education can be defined as: "the collective, mutually shaping patterns of norms, values, practices, beliefs, and assumptions that guide the behavior of individuals and groups in an institute of higher education and provide a frame of reference within which to interpret the meaning of events and actions on and off campus" (Kuh & Whitt, 2000, p. 162). As an administrator I need to believe what the institution is "selling" in order to be a representative of the university and take pride in the work that I accomplish. For me, finding the perfect institutional fit may be accompanied with a decrease in salary, distance from family, or loss of benefits that may associated with other institutions. However, in order to continue to offer effective metacurricular experiences for students and remain invested in the field of Student Affairs, these sacrifices are necessary.

Throughout my graduate and professional experiences I have been intentional about working with different populations of students and in various institutional types. I have found that I am drawn to students who are academically oriented and have a passion for learning. These students know where they are going and are aware of the steps that they have to take to get there. I find it rewarding to teach students about the possibility of exploring other options and informing them about professional and personal balance in their lives. Although these students are driven and intellectually capable of many great things, I enjoy being able to present a different type of challenge to them as they discover that there are other things to be worried about besides their career and academic ambition. As for institutional type, I believe that I will feel most comfortable in smaller Student Affairs units and those that bridge the gap between different departments under the Student Affairs umbrella. I appreciate when I can have a phone conversation with someone and are able to picture the other person's face. I also value the opportunity to pass by and meet colleagues within the campus setting to work on projects. From these observations, I believe that a small to mid-size campus will be the best fit for me because of the relationships that I'd like to form with others who work at the institution.

References: American Council on Education. (1937). The student personnel point of view, 1937. Retrieved February 25, 2009 from []

Kuh, G.D., & Whitt, E.J. (2000). Culture in American colleges and universities. In M.C. Brown II (Ed.), //Organization and governance in higher education// (5th ed.). (pp.160-169). Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing.