Gratitude Week

Life is busy during closing at the end of the year, but I wanted to write a quick note about gratitude – an important thing to keep in mind at this time of year!

We don't say "thank you" enough. We are part of a culture of entitlement and instant gratification and many of us struggle to take the time to be appreciative and grateful for the things other people do to help us along the way. We decided to try to do something about that through an online initiative a couple weeks ago at Gustavus.

The Residential Life department sponsored "Gratitude Week" on our Facebook and Twitter accounts during the first full week of May. We encouraged students, faculty, staff and alums to take an opportunity to say THANK YOU to someone who has made a difference in their life. We "featured" a new group each day in order for us to recognize as many groups as possible and to open comfortable pathways for the audience to be engaged.  

The key to gaining momentum for this project was to include others who had a larger audience. The Res Life Facebook page works well for us, but we are a pretty niche market compared to the general Gustavus Facebook page, the Alumni page or the Admissions Twitter account.  I relied on the willingness of others at the college to share in the work of expressing gratitude and it paid off.  The response was very good - particularly for the first time with this event and a still-growing audience on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Responses and comments were wide-ranging and it was evident that alums were some of the first to chime in about things they appreciated about their Gustavus experience.  We had staff and faculty thanking one another and lots and lots of "likes," one of the keys to gauging whether a Facebook message is spreading.

So why be thankful for others? There's very little - if anything - that we do alone. In "The Narcissism Epidemic," Dr. Jean Twenge and Dr. W. Keith Campbell argue that the reliance on others should create in us a need to be grateful. Twenge and Campbell reference the idea that paying attention to your wider social networks also off-sets entitlement. An example is given about a speech the Dalai Lama gave about the myth of independence.  The story is of observations made while listening to the speech.  "If you are so independent, [the Dalai Lama] asked, who grows your food? Who sews your clothes, builds your house, makes sure that water comes out of your showerhead? How were you even born? The fact is, he said, we have not done one single thing alone, without the help of a small army of others, and yet we talk about the necessity and supremacy of independence. It's completely irrational."

Twenge and Campbell also talk about the idea that gratitude mitigates entitlement. Twenge & Campbell reference a study in which people were asked to list the things for which they were grateful once a week for ten weeks. Compared to the group of people in the study who did not do this, those who were intentional about being grateful reported a greater sense of well-being and enjoyed better health.  If we spend more time focusing on being grateful for the things and the people that we do have, we will spend less time being concerned about the things we do NOT have or feel we deserve.

We have a strong network of others on campus who make the work we do possible. The network of others also make up a large part of our social network. We spend hours a day with these people - often more than with our own families during certain times of the year - so our ability to recognize and appreciate others sustains us.

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

Student Affairs Feature

Be sure to check out "Leading Through Change" on the Student Affairs Feature from last week! Honored and excited to have the blog entry posted on that great website. Lots of great articles to read on SA Feature - check it out!

Blogspot. Hmm.

I officially dislike Blogspot. It's infinitely frustrating and will not cooperate with any cut and paste options from Microsoft Word. Sorry for the ugly posts below - there appears to be nothing I can do to make things look pretty. Oh well.

Leading Through Change

Taking on a leadership role in higher education takes courage. An unstable market, rising costs and changing vision of pedagogical practices puts the future of brick and mortar institutions on shaky ground. Think higher ed is too big to fail? You're probably right, but I'm not so sure all aspects of the current landscape are safe. Student affairs and student services in particular need innovation and creative thinking in order to survive budget reductions and meet the changing needs of our students. 

I am surrounded often (both at work and in my coursework) by leaders in higher education who consider themselves change agents. They strive for adaptability and improving services and methods of delivery. But change is difficult, change takes time (particularly in higher education!) and it's often hard to see through the challenges of change to get a glimpse of the benefits.  In a recent class session, we read "Leading Change" by John Kotter (1996). Chapter 2 of the book discussed some key steps required in creating change - Kotter's aim was the business world, but much of the theory and action behind it translates well to higher education.

Kotter provided eight steps to follow in the change process. Admittedly, Kotter noted that these steps can appear over-simplified and generalized, but I still think they are worthy of discussion and application.

Establishing a sense of urgency - The requires an analysis of the situation. What's going on in your office or department that needs addressing? What is on the horizon that you know needs to be addressed? Urgency doesn't mean crisis or even that something is completely broken, though. What needs changing or adapting due to staffing changes? Or due to budget challenges? Or maybe due to shifts in philosophy?

Creating the guiding coalition - Who are your key players? Who has a vested interest and also has enough influence (both in scope of perceived and actual power as well as those with abilities to relate, connect and network). Calling together the super squad to align behind the issue and develop as a team is vital. Who is your super squad? Have your short-list of colleagues prepared - people you can depend on to think clearly through problems and who are motivated by change and hard work.

Developing a vision and strategy - You've assessed the landscape and established a sense of urgency around the issue, so what are you going to do about it? Leverage your group's connections and strengths to create a guiding focus and from that develop strategies to create change.

Communicating the change vision - Kotter said it's important to "[use] every vehicle possible to constantly communicate the new vision and strategies." Kotter included having the guiding coalition model the behavior expected via the change, but this also involves using communication methods at your dispoal - staff meetings, divisional meetings, social media/networking, publicity, etc. Communicating the vision for change can be difficult - it's the method by which we share the valuable information but it also opens us to criticism or doubt. Demonstrating a "united front" and a common message is vital.

Empowering broad-based action - Did you get negative/critical feedback while communicating the vision? Now is the time to change the structures that undermine the change vision, according to Kotter. Move beyond obstacles and empower others to embrace your vision.

Generating short-term wins - Make tweaks to the plan to promote positive aspects of the change. Acknowledge (publicly!) and reward those who assisted in the process of change. Small victories add up...

Consolidating gains and producing more change - Use the positive gains from the change process to inspire more change, including modification of structures or processes that aren't aligned with the larger change you helped make. Hire, promote, reward and develop individuals who can continue to implement the vision and affect change.

Anchoring new changes in the culture - Infuse change into systemic/institutional practices to insure that the change is carried forward and multiplies. Producing successful change gives permission to others to facilitate change. Make the positive gains part of the organizational culture to demonstrate that change can be good and that clear guidance and support through change feeds a culture of strong leadership. A clear connection between positive change and organizational success encourages continued growth and inspires others to take the risks needed to create change. Anchor change into the culture and let it influence the other decisions you make. The place I see this come to life more than any other is through hiring practices. I was once told to hire to vision, not just fit. If you only look for immediate personality fit or a concrete list of specific experiences, you may not get someone who is ready to adapt, change and thrive. Maintaining past hiring practices may limit your potential - seek those who match your vision and the change you see coming - not just for an immediate fix. 

Kotter's first four steps set the stage for change. Steps five through seven introduce the change and the eighth step ingrains the change into the culture and sets the groundwork for future success through change.

So why does change make us uncomfortable? If change is inspired by a departmental or institutional mission and a well-intended, passionate group of change agents can be assembled to create the strategies for change, the positive power of adapting and evolving can create new energy and sense of purpose for your organization. After all, if you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got. A pretty cliche maxim that I've heard throughout my life but one that seems fitting in facilitating change in higher education. 

Embrace change. Those of us in student affairs certainly should be! Tweet

To Tweet or Not to Tweet: Developing Authentic Identity on Twitter

Student affairs professionals strive to provide the space and support for students to create authentic identities. But are we being true to our own identities with how we use social media? Do you have a Twitter account but keep it locked so Tweets can't be viewed publicly? Do you not accept any Facebook friend requests until students graduate? I encourage you to explore the importance of developing an authentic social media identity and the significance that has on developing trusting, meaningful relationships with our students in a rapidly changing digital environment.

Student affairs professionals of a certain age are able to tell stories about the mistakes they made as students - years of life experience coupled with years of watching students navigate life experience allow for some clarity and also some carefully-crafted conversations about decision-making. I made plenty of mistakes as a college student and most memories of those mistakes just live happily tucked somewhere deep in my brain. I talk about these experiences with students from time to time, offering up information that can leave me vulnerable but that also lets students know that I did not have an entirely different experience than they are having. Regardless of my level of detail in sharing stories, what I have are mostly memories - I didn't attend college in the age of Facebook or smartphones - it was only 10 years ago, but not even everyone had cell phones and almost nobody had digital cameras yet (can you believe such a time existed!) Students now may have their transgressions catalouged in cyberspace for all to see. This forces us to have a different type of conversation with students, one that we maybe don't know how to have. 

Sir Ken Robinson delivered a talk that has become an interesting live animation video (http://edudemic.com/2011/10/students-of-the-future/) that discusses the shifting ideas of education and the different world in which our students will ultimately live. One of the interesting ideas in this is the question of how do we prepare students to work with technologies that have yet to be invented? How do we prepare them for jobs that don't yet exist? I think this is a vital part of our ability to have conversations with students - we need to understand that what we don't know is more valuable than what we do know right now. It's easy to say "Don't post those pictures on Facebook!" but we are now telling this to students who have been on Facebook for a DECADE already. This is the only way of sharing and knowing that they have experienced - so it's not as easy as saying STOP! It requires some leading by example - an idea we push on our students on a daily basis.

We as student affairs professionals are past that stage in our life of posting inappropriate pictures or terrible comments (well, we SHOULD be…) so what’s the risk? Are we afraid we’ll say something offensive? If so, perhaps our problem is that we are not being genuine in the workplace - a far bigger problem. Are we afraid we are boring? Maybe it’s okay to show students that their perception of “boring” is actually a healthy balanced lifestyle. And share your small victories! Students ALWAYS hear about the negatives of posting information online - reinforce that posting the positives can be a great outlet, particularly when it's positive aspects of your job or your institution.

Eric Stoller (@EricStoller) has done some great work promoting social media/social networking and technology in student affairs and higher education. Stoller wrote a blog entry for Inside Higher Education last fall about Digital Identity Development (Stoller   http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/student-affairs-and-technology/digital-identity-development ). This is an important piece in a pretty limited area of literature around college student development intersecting with digital identity formation.

Stoller says  "Institutions should be teaching students about the importance of context in online communications, the fluidity of privacy, awareness of nuance, and the power of community-building through social media." Just as we take ownership of educating students on life outside the classroom in the physical world on campus, we need to take ownership of promoting and developing skills in the digital world. Students who have been using Facebook since they were in middle school are prime for the next step in developing - shifting the cognitive understanding of how to use these online tools to understand or re-think the power of social media and social networking. 

Stoller also says that "Social media sites promote sharing. Good, bad, or ugly, we share a lot of our lives online these days. However, it’s important to note that social media are not the cause of our behavior, they are merely the public conduit. Acknowledging mistakes and dissonance is an important aspect of digital identity. Individual development, after all, takes time."  Just as student conduct systems have moved from punitive models to restorative justice models, we need to move our conversations about appropriate or accepted sharing via social networking in the same direction. This is how development happens.

In order to shape those conversations with students, however, we need to be aware of our own identities and the balance involved in sharing information publicly. We must be genuine with what we share and how we share online so that students see us as role models for healthy online presence.
Authenticity is the projecting of one’s identity/indentities – and we live in a society where things are continuously accessible and our students expect us to conform to their ways of being, so it’s a matter not just of projection but of amplification. The way we have interacted and shared is projection. Adapting to new technologies to share who we are is the amplification. If we don’t adapt we run the risk of being viewed as inaccessible and unapproachable. Be authentic with your digital identity - it is a part of who you are and it needs care and development just like all other aspects of your self.

A few suggestions: 

1. Be yourself. Tweet about the things that matter to YOU. Edit appropriately, but be real.

2. Don't just retweet stuff. Say original things. People notice.

3. Mention people (especially students). They love it. I found a great way to pick up steam and followers was to thank each individual person who followed with a shout-out. Oldest trick in the (digital) book, but it works every time. 

4. Talk about your work. Mention your institution in positive ways, brag about people and programs, let the world know you are invested in what you are doing. 

5. Be mindful of who you represent. If you are using an office/department account (i.e. @Gustie_ResLife), keep it to updates and items relevant to the purpose of the office/department or what is happening on campus. You should still be engaging and interesting, but understand the audience. If you are using your personal account, keep in mind you still represent your office/department.

6. Frequency does not equal quality - on either end of the spectrum. Tweeting every five minutes can be overkill, even if it seems worthwhile. And only tweeting once a month is okay to do if you have great things to say once a month, but it might keep you off the radar too long. Find your sweet spot of balancing "productive and helpful" with "fun." Most importantly - keep your presence felt.

Give it a shot and jump into being your authentic self in the digital world. And you can not fake authenticity. Be you. The world – and your students – will appreciate it.

Thoughts? Comments? Find me on Twitter @pottscharlie

Credit: Stoller (2012) http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/student-affairs-and-technology/digital-identity-development

Credit: Robinson (2011) http://edudemic.com/2011/10/students-of-the-future/