Alma Mater: Coming Home to Work

What's it like to return to work at your alma mater? I returned to Gustavus about 18 months ago to serve as the Director of Residential Life. I was 10 years removed from my own graduation from the place and was excited to return. I have now worked in the Director of Residential Life role here for about 20 months and there are so many advantages to being back... and the challenges are plenty.

According to records kept by our Alumni Relations office, there are currently 112 alums working at Gustavus. Considering there are about 750 employees on campus (around 620-630 are full-time), there is a noticeable influence of alums working here.

My institution is one that values tradition and places an emphasis on belonging.  I often hear that a student “is totally a Gustie,” or someone describing an alum by saying “Oh, she is such a Gustie.”  There are certain qualities and values that we hope our students have.  Do they all? Of course not. Do they have to have these qualities to be successful or feel at home? Certainly not. But I think part of this tradition is passed along by alums returning to Gustavus to work and those employees then continue to pass along notions and ideas about the collegiate experience.

Coming back to my alma mater, I heard about the challenges.  “Things aren’t like they used to be!” or the always popular “This is the way we’ve always done things – you know that, you’re an alum,” which can be challenging to any change you try to implement.  But these are just things I have personally experienced in my brief time back at my alma mater.  I was interested in hearing more from others who had returned to their alma mater to work in student affairs. I connected with colleagues via Twitter and did an email interview with three student affairs professionals to get their perspective – what I found was pretty interesting.

I reached out via Twitter to inquire about research that might exist about experiences working at your alma mater. What I got was a few quick responses offering to do interviews to provide some anecdotal information about the experience.

The first respondent was an entry level residence life professional whose first job was at her alma mater, which is a small, private institution. She will be referred to as EL for “entry level.” The second respondent was a mid-level professional whose job is primarily in technology support for student services at a mid-size, public institution that is part of a large state system. He will be referred to as ML for “mid-level.” The third respondent was a vice provost and dean of student affairs at a mid-sized private institution. He will be referred to as SA for “senior administrator.” Each was sent an email with interview questions.

In one sentence, why did you return to your alma mater (or stay on...) for your current professional position?

EL: “I stayed at my alma mater for my current position because of my knowledge of the institution and that [the college] values the whole development of students.”

ML: “Working for UCSB Student Affairs gives me professional and personal fulfillment with the work I do for/with students and my colleagues in a supportive and challenging environment that allows me to learn every day.”

SA: “I was lucky enough to have great mentors who, during my senior year, encouraged me to stay at [my institution] and earn an MA degree -- which ultimately led to my first professional job here and the rest is, as they say -- history!”

What is one challenge you find in working for your alma mater?

EL: “I started working [at my alma mater] pretty quickly after graduating. Holding on to what you know as a student and now what you know as a staff member [makes it] challenging to move forward without holding onto your experience as a student.”

ML: “[The] typical challenges faced by anyone working in higher ed – expectation to provide service with limited resources in a bureaucratic institution.”

SA: “There are certainly times when I don't agree with the direction of things or…what I think is in the best interest of the students, but I also understand that people make decisions for all kinds of reasons, and while I may be more connected and see the decision as hurting a campus tradition, I also recognize that people and places continue to change and evolve.”

Are alums working at your institution viewed differently than non-alums? (i.e. - are you known as the "insider")?

EL: “I believe alums working at my institution are viewed differently. Alums know many different people and have information that can provide insight and further development and ensuring that a change isn't something we have already tried. At a place like my institution where tradition is highly valued, students connect with alum staff in a different way because of the shared experience.”

ML: “For those who have known me since I started working here in the mid 1990’s and as a student leader, I suppose I could be considered as an “insider”. Because I’ve been here for a while and I’ve been so involved with my volunteer work (TA, org advisor, committees, etc), I know a lot of folks and I think a lot of folks know me as well, not just in student affairs but in other divisions as well.”

SA: “There is certainly a culture where there is a strong, active cohort of alums working here. They tend to know how to get things done (navigate campus culture) in ways that might be slightly quicker than others who come in to work at [this institution] from the outside. That being said, having new perspectives is always important and while I bring one voice of history, others bring new ideas and fresh perspectives from other places that often help us continue to improve and enhance what we do on campus.”

Are you ever expected to do more (or do things differently) than a colleague in a similar position on campus because you are an alum?

EL: “As an alum, you know the place that you are working and because of that you not only represent yourself, but you represent the traditions and values of your campus. You expect to help the current student body have the same experience and value the institution as much as you do. As an alum you… know the institution inside and out. It is often your job to teach non-alum colleagues how things work on campus.”

ML: “I don’t think so. For one, unless mentioned in some conversation, we don’t typically know who are alums/non-alums so expectations are not differentiated based on this.”

SA: Probably now [as a senior administrator] -- but people tend to look at the alums as having a really good sense of the place, including the traditions. As a result, I probably am a person people do ask about the community if they have a question or… they may expect me to know the fight song more than other folks - and be willing to teach it to the new staff.

What advice would you give to someone hoping to work at their alma mater?

EL: Be open to change. The pieces of your institution that you value and love might be different because you might see them from a different perspective. Make an intentional effort to meet faculty and staff that may have come when you were gone. Reach out to them individually to learn what they love about your institution.

ML: “Hopefully, you cultivated positive relationships and built some networks when you were once in your alma mater. Use these connections to find some opportunities that may not be generally available to the public.”

SA: “As long as you can balance the fact that things will change, sometimes for what you might perceive as less successful or a different direction than you would, then you will be fine.  I have a lot of pride in my campus and working with students. I often remind them that it is my alma mater, too - so we all share a special affinity for campus.”

The responses from the three interviewees provide a glimpse into both the challenges and rewards to working at your alma mater. All express a deeper care or love for their institution. While it is absolutely possible to have your affection for an institution grow over time without having attended the place, there is a certain connection one usually feels with their alma mater (a connection that is strong whether they had a good experience or not-so-good experience). Two of the respondents mentioned change – and being open to change by those who you may feel do not understand the place like you do.  In fact, the “outsiders” may very well have fresh perspective that will greatly enhance what you are doing – so be open to change.  I interviewed folks from three very different institutions, and I think the answers spoke to the differences – perhaps smaller schools or private institutions that are not affiliated with a larger state system create a stronger identity that carries through to alums working there. Regardless, each individual has an affinity for their alma mater and had a strong enough desire to continue their connection that they stayed (or returned) to continue the work they benefited from as students.

There is an advantage to coming home - to walking into a situation that lives within a context you recognize and understand. This position I have at my alma mater is by far the most challenging professional position I have had, but aspects of it have been made easier by my knowledge and "feel" for the place. Did it change in the decade I was gone? Absolutely; but not at its core. The values and the ethos of the place remain the same... and adjusting to new language or new faces has made the challenge all the more adventurous.  I try to anticipate change while remaining in touch with the reasons I love my alma mater – and while most of those reasons were formed while I was a student, they are renewed – and new reasons are born – nearly every day.

Scott Russell Sanders is a terrific writer who is well known for his essays that often deal with the ideas of “place” and “home.”  In his 1993 book "Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World,” he writes about home. And while he is referring to something other than one’s alma mater, I think it has a transferable message. Sanders writes:

"One's native ground is the place where, since before you had words for such knowledge, you have known the smells, the seasons, the birds and beasts, the human voices, the houses, the ways of working, the lay of the land, and the quality of light.  It is the landscape you learn before you retreat inside the illusion of your skin.  You may love the place if you have flourished there, or hate the place if you suffered there.  But love it or hate it, you cannot shake free.  Even if you move to the antipodes, even if you become intimate with new landscapes, you still bear the impression of that first ground."

This quote has long stayed with me as an important way to view home.  It is the place we know and understand.  It is often the first opportunity we have to rationalize "place" and understand how the world works around us - physically, socially, emotionally and politically.  Even moving away cannot remove the presence of home - or alma mater, the equivalent for many - and some of us are fortunate enough to return to it.

Thoughts? Feedback? I'd love to hear it! Find me on Twitter @pottscharlie or email cpotts@gustavus.edu