I've always said of staff and advisors that the difficulty is that our work is least noticeable when it's being done well. When we're serving our students and faculty, the campus hums quietly. Excellent work is generally quiet and often hard to see, but when it's absent, it's apparent.
In much the same way, I have to applaud the efforts of the Region 2 Conference Committee. From the outside, I have to say that the conference ran incredibly smoothly and was a tremendous success. Hopefully those on the inside feel that it was a success, but I'm sure they have no illusions about smooth sailing. BUT, their hard work was so well done that the seams and the bumps and the crazy moments (for I'm sure they were there as with any large event) were not evident.
On behalf of those of us who got to use the conference to refresh and recharge, I offer thanks to the Conference Committee. Their hard work and long hours provided the foundation for the rest of us to use the time to be introspective about our processes, and to share our challenges and successes with the larger Region 2 advising community. And I, for one, was grateful for the opportunity!
For those of you who followed my novice blogging efforts, thanks for sharing the journey. I've enjoyed it. Hope to see you in Denver or Annapolis, MD!
Julie Traxler
Rutgers University
Showing posts with label A New Perspective. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A New Perspective. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Trave(b)logue, Part II
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
4:46pm: Whew! Presentation 1 (of 2) is over! There's an odd mix of sweet relief and that taste of adrenaline in your mouth right after speaking in front of an audience for an hour. I can't imagine what my co-presenter and boss, Rachael, must have felt--she had just done two presentations back-to-back! Thank you to everybody to attending our staff's sessions, When High Achieving Students Don't Succeed and How to Write an Effective Assessment (I get a quarter in royalties every time these are mentioned, right?). Please e-mail me at jbirou at coe.drexel.edu if you want copies of our presentation or to share some ideas (you can turn that "at" into an "@", I just separated it out so that my inbox doesn't get flooded by spambot-created adoring fanmail.)
As a side note, the hotel should really advertise those saunas they have downstairs near the pool. I think having a spa is a great draw! Oh, wait...the air conditioning just wasn't working? At least now we know how they keep those cookies warm.
5:00pm: Okay, so my supervisor and I had this weird plan to try to get back to Philly as close to 5:00pm Friday as possible, involving rental cars and Amtrak trains via a transfer on the Knight Bus. To get our car, we scheduled the rental car company to drop off the car at the hotel around 5:00pm. I see the car waiting near the front of the hotel, so I knock on the window to get the rep's attention. He waves at me, so I open the door.
"Are you with ____?" [Name of company removed to protect the innocent.]
"Yep."
"So...we don't fill out any paperwork here? We have to go back to your office?"
"Yep. Hop in."
"Uh, okay."
At this point, any understanding of how I continue to survive living in a city goes right out the window. Didn't I learn not to get in cars with strangers when I was like, four years old? I would've been really excited if he had some Kit Kats or Jujubes with him. Unfortunately, the realization that I had totally lead that conversation and I could've just thrown myself into the trap of a deadly axe murderer (as if there are any other kinds of axe murderers) didn't come to me until we were already down the road. I passed along my Famous Last Words to my boss via text message just in case they were.
6:00pm: Imminent death averted! Huzzah! I'm happy to report that my city-dweller cynicism and constant suspicion of others proved no match for down-home Southern hospitality. To celebrate, my staff heads to the super-cute downtown Charlottesville, to a restaurant called Rapture, which has some pretty delectable food, though I was a little disappointed by the lack of fried and butter combos on the menu. I guess Paula Deen's omnipresence doesn't extend this far north.
10:45pm: Aw, crud. Here begins the nervousness about my second presentation tomorrow. It wouldn't be too pathetic to break open one of those Virginia wines I won earlier, right?
---
Friday, April 8th, 2011
7:00am: Success! An honest-to-goodness hot water shower! If there is a better way to start of the day, I don't know what it--waitaminute! Is that a big vat of bacon they're serving for breakfast? And are they using pieces of toast in those vats to soak up the bacon grease, which I will then describe as "the prize at the bottom" to all those whose who seem repulsed as I eat them? The answer to all of those questions is YES.
[As an aside, I would just like to mention that the hotel was quite lovely and, aside from some minor snags, I had a wonderful time as a guest. Plus, I get a bunch of Hilton HHonors points toward a free night! I'm easy to please--see The Bacon Incidient above for further proof.]
8:55am: My second presentation is about to begin with my colleagues Jenn and Erin. We're admittedly a little nervous, since there is no actually audience yet. It begs the question, "If a presentation happens and nobody's around to see it, did it really happen at all?" Mercifully, we eventually get a great number of people in attendance, who understandably were late due to filling up their NACADA Canvas Bags of Yore with bacon for the trip home. Don't worry, everyone, the bacon meme is here to stay. No one's judging.
To all those that did attend attend our session about Peer Mentorship, please feel free to contact us so we can continue our discussion on establishing academic-based peer advising programs--collaboration is key as we get these programs off the ground!
1:05pm: After racing up 29 and 66, we make it to D.C.'s Union Station approximately 38 sections before our train leaves for Philly. Thanks for the memories, NACADA Region 2! I will remember you...!
Will you remember me...?
Don't let your life...pass you byyyyyy....
...Aaand I think that's all I can share before Sarah McLachlan's lawyers send me a sweet little Cease-and-Desist. Did I learn nothing from those Academic Honesty lessons I give my students? For shame!
Peace out, NACADA Region 2! H.A.G.S. (Have A Great Summer)
Your pal, Jeff
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Transferable skills
As I've been enjoying the conference sessions so far, I've found myself thinking a lot about TRANSFERABLE SKILLS. We talk about these issues with our students A LOT, particularly those of us focused on liberal arts advising. But, I hadn't really thought about how important an awareness of transferable skills is for making the most of conference presentations.
Let me explain. I work at a 4-year state university and have oversight of about 4,000new first year students each year. When I first began to attend NACADA conferences, I focused exclusively on presentations about first year students or from like institutions. What I've found, though, as I've gotten further into this crazy profession of advising is that I can mine real GEMS from sessions that may not seemingly have much in common with my regular advising perspective.
Simply, hearing from other advisers from dissimilar institutions about the realities of their daily lives, I gain a new perspective on my advising landscape, which has become so routine to me. It's helpful to identify the common problems and joys that we have with our students and our administrations, even if it's just to see that the grass is, in fact, of a similar hue over the fence.
Sometimes it's hard not to dismiss sessions with a "we don't have those students/problems" or "they only have X number of students," but I'm making a concerted effort not to do that -- because when I do, I lose new important perspectives which in turn help reflect back (Sankofa, Peter?) to my view of my institution and my challenges with new eyes.
Transferable skills, indeed - just trying to remember to practice what I preach.
Julie Traxler, Rutgers University
Let me explain. I work at a 4-year state university and have oversight of about 4,000new first year students each year. When I first began to attend NACADA conferences, I focused exclusively on presentations about first year students or from like institutions. What I've found, though, as I've gotten further into this crazy profession of advising is that I can mine real GEMS from sessions that may not seemingly have much in common with my regular advising perspective.
Simply, hearing from other advisers from dissimilar institutions about the realities of their daily lives, I gain a new perspective on my advising landscape, which has become so routine to me. It's helpful to identify the common problems and joys that we have with our students and our administrations, even if it's just to see that the grass is, in fact, of a similar hue over the fence.
Sometimes it's hard not to dismiss sessions with a "we don't have those students/problems" or "they only have X number of students," but I'm making a concerted effort not to do that -- because when I do, I lose new important perspectives which in turn help reflect back (Sankofa, Peter?) to my view of my institution and my challenges with new eyes.
Transferable skills, indeed - just trying to remember to practice what I preach.
Julie Traxler, Rutgers University
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Pre-Conference Jitters
Do you ever get that "college exam" feeling before a conference? Like, whatever you do, no matter how much time you devote to polishing slides and verbage, you're never going to feel 100 percent prepared?
Maybe you can liken the pre-conference anxiety to a blind date: you're presenting yourself in front of a bunch of people you probably don't know (but should!), revealing your deepest, more precious best practices for all the world to judge and comment on. I know tomorrow, as I take the 5-hour train ride down to Charlottesville, I'll be nervously twiddling my thumbs, wondering, "Will they like me?"
If you're like me, presenting--especially new, untested material--can be sort of nerve-wracking. You've probably been tweaking the flow, wondering where to insert time for audience questions and feedback, and you'll most definitely be staying up a little too late the night before and getting up really early the day of your presentation to make some overhauls. Maybe you're still working on putting your information together, and wondering to yourself: "Is my topic any good? How am I going to fill an entire hour with useful information?"
Well, I'm here to tell you: you're not alone! My colleagues and I have been combing through our presentation for the last few weeks. Finding quality time to devote to preparing has been challenging, since we just started a new term (we're a quarter school) and our attentions are seemingly divided in a million different directions. When you're adjusting schedules, meeting with students on probation, and fielding hundreds of different questions and concerns, time suddenly starts working against you, especially when you're trying to create a whole new presentation from scratch. We're still making some adjustments, with probably a few more to come before our presentation on Friday, and perhaps you find yourself in the same situation.
We can commiserate...erm, I mean, relate! Part of the reason we're all getting together for this conference is to share ideas, find better ways to tackle our ever-increasing arena of responsibilities. The fact that you may have a few dozen other things to do besides working on your presentation is exactly why you're presenting, and why people will attend your presentation. The Big Idea here, really, is: How do we do more and be better with the resources we have? Your input is valuable, as an advising professional and as a presenter--we want to hear your ideas! Even if you may not feel confident in your presentation, believe me--your ideas, your best practices, your honest concerns, are what are most important. As long as those can be communicated, we can have a productive discourse that everybody can benefit from.
So if you're nervous about your presentation, if you're fretting about this bullet point or that handout, or maybe you just feel like you don't have enough time to get everything done, I just want to say--we're there with you, we're in the same boat, and we'll be there to learn new ideas and discuss innovations with you in Charlottesville!
Maybe you can liken the pre-conference anxiety to a blind date: you're presenting yourself in front of a bunch of people you probably don't know (but should!), revealing your deepest, more precious best practices for all the world to judge and comment on. I know tomorrow, as I take the 5-hour train ride down to Charlottesville, I'll be nervously twiddling my thumbs, wondering, "Will they like me?"
If you're like me, presenting--especially new, untested material--can be sort of nerve-wracking. You've probably been tweaking the flow, wondering where to insert time for audience questions and feedback, and you'll most definitely be staying up a little too late the night before and getting up really early the day of your presentation to make some overhauls. Maybe you're still working on putting your information together, and wondering to yourself: "Is my topic any good? How am I going to fill an entire hour with useful information?"
Well, I'm here to tell you: you're not alone! My colleagues and I have been combing through our presentation for the last few weeks. Finding quality time to devote to preparing has been challenging, since we just started a new term (we're a quarter school) and our attentions are seemingly divided in a million different directions. When you're adjusting schedules, meeting with students on probation, and fielding hundreds of different questions and concerns, time suddenly starts working against you, especially when you're trying to create a whole new presentation from scratch. We're still making some adjustments, with probably a few more to come before our presentation on Friday, and perhaps you find yourself in the same situation.
We can commiserate...erm, I mean, relate! Part of the reason we're all getting together for this conference is to share ideas, find better ways to tackle our ever-increasing arena of responsibilities. The fact that you may have a few dozen other things to do besides working on your presentation is exactly why you're presenting, and why people will attend your presentation. The Big Idea here, really, is: How do we do more and be better with the resources we have? Your input is valuable, as an advising professional and as a presenter--we want to hear your ideas! Even if you may not feel confident in your presentation, believe me--your ideas, your best practices, your honest concerns, are what are most important. As long as those can be communicated, we can have a productive discourse that everybody can benefit from.
So if you're nervous about your presentation, if you're fretting about this bullet point or that handout, or maybe you just feel like you don't have enough time to get everything done, I just want to say--we're there with you, we're in the same boat, and we'll be there to learn new ideas and discuss innovations with you in Charlottesville!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
NACADA friendships
I usually come to NACADA conferences alone. I'm not antisocial and I work with a large team at my home institution, but money is usually too tight and people too busy to take the time. But, I love NACADA conferences - particularly Regional meetings. And, since I'm often the lone wolf from my institution, I thought I'd use this, my first ever blog attempt, to ruminate on NACADA friendships and meeting people at conferences.
I attended my first Region 2 conference in 2006 in Lancaster, PA. That conference was particularly notable because it was my first Regional conference and because I met an advisor from VCU named Art Esposito. We struck up a post-concurrent session conversation in the hallway, bonding about Facebook, which no one else was talking about at that point. We shared the concern that advisors were missing a crucial link to our students if we continued to ignore the growing power of social networking. Since then, Art and I have presented together on the topic, and I've watched in awe as he became the guru of web 2.0 issues in advising.
In meeting after meeting, I've found the NACADA crowd really welcoming, particularly to a lone wolf. At last year's Region conference in Atlantic City, NJ, the Penn State gang, including Janet Schulenberg, Hilleary Himes, and Sean Bridgen, shared dinner, drinks, and an amazing conversation about how to define our profession without artificially limiting the breadth and background of its practitioners. It's a big tent, we decided, and we're the richer for the diverse viewpoints.
I've appreciated that advising practitioners generally practice what we preach. Advisors are a welcoming group - chatty and interested and willing to strike up a conversation with a lone wolf. I've found that I leave each conference with more energy, lots of new ideas, and more than a few new FB friends from the advising community.
This year, the Region 2 conference in C-ville offers something new -- I'm not going to be alone. I'm shepherding some grad students from my institution, Jessica Ha, Gary Panetta, and Rich Sigal. They are energetic and excited and represent great hope for continued excellence in our field. They're at the beginning of their careers, and I'm excited to share NACADA with them.
But, just because I'm in a group this year, please don't hesitate to say hello. I can't wait to meet you.
Julie Traxler
Rutgers University
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