The Reflection Series A Guide to Professional Development By - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
The Reflection Series A Guide to Professional Development By Michael Geroux & John M. Martinez Goals of our Pre-Conference Session The Hows and Whys of the Reflection Series The series as a Mini-Workshop Self
A Guide to Professional Development
By Michael Geroux & John M. Martinez
The “Hows” and “Whys” of the Reflection Series The series as a Mini-Workshop
Self – Reflection Being Myself Growing Up
What we learned Why it is important You can do this too!
Michael Geroux
Academic Advisor / Peer Advisor
Manager
12 ½ years in higher education 10 ½ years in academic advising NACADA Member Since March 2011 Graduate Networking Event Co – Chair NYS Liaison: March 2018 – March 2020 UAlbany Community for Academic
Advising Co – Chair
John Martinez
Academic Advisor / PhD Student
5 ½ years in higher education 2 ½ years in academic advising Graduate student for 5 ½ years NACADA Member Since March 2017 UAlbany Community for Academic
Advising Co - Chair
Sharing activity
Name School Years in advising / higher education
Why did you choose this pre-conference session?
57% 13% 12% 7% 4% 7%
Caucasian African American Hispanic Asian International Other
52% 48%
Male Female
SUNY (State University of New York)
One of the ‘four centers’ Over 13,000 undergraduate students Over 150 undergraduate programs
Full-time Academic Advisors: 17
Advisor Caseloads Range from 280 – 350 students Total full-time staff: 23 Specialized Support
Pre-Med Pre-Law Advising Plus
Part-time Peer Advisors: 24
Upperclassman assisting with registration process
Centralize Advisement Center that services UAlbany
students
Intended majors are advised in ASC Declared majors are able to see the Advisor-On-Duty for
general questions
We alternate this responsibility
Mandatory advisement for all four years
Students cannot register for classes without speaking to
an advisor
Whether in our office or in the other departments
Undefined
Academic Advising-Non Traditional Job
How do we advance professionally?
Meetings Bred Questions
Found ourselves running in circles
Change was needed to facilitate transitions
Professional Development Committee Was Created
Used to better understand the advancement
process
Elephant In The Room was a way to work through difficult advising issues.
Working lunch series Designed for Open and Safe Dialogue
Step One: “Spiders”
These are things we as advisors have trouble dealing with
Step Two: Turn “spiders” into facilitated lunch discussions
It was assumed that we would only have a few “spiders” The reality…well…
The list was very long…
“Spiders…”
Scheduled a few lunch discussions…however there were:
No clear outcomes
We would talk about what bothered us, but it would be left unresolved More of a venting session
We were getting stuck with comparisons amongst each other
Too much time was spent focused on what others were doing rather than
Started as a question:
So many spiders So many conversations Not enough movement
Problem – still no clear professional development path
Advisors were struggling with…
Appropriate time for advancement? Is it okay to remain at current level? How do we figure this out?
Series stemmed from our (Mike & John) ongoing conversations Guidance & encouragement from fellow advisor – Rachel Moody Generated several ideas based on reflection and development
Here is what it originally looked like…
We wanted to take a step back
Before dealing with “spiders” we needed to understand our motives
What bogs us down Work through who we are professionally (and personally) “What do we really want from our profession?”
We developed a series meant to get at the deeper issues
Can’t help others if we cannot help ourselves
Then this happened…
Designed specifically for the Reflection Series Used to organize and catalogue our thoughts Connect our ideas from workshop to workshop
We planned a three-part series
Each part was a two-hour session
Started with an introduction of the current discussion point Followed by group discussion Ended with a takeaway for the session
We sent reflection topics in between each reflection session
See handouts
Let’s Dive Right In!
To progress, one must remember how far
We begin by looking at our path to this point
Speaks to who we have been
Can point to what still needs to be done
This is how we begin reflecting on what we want
“How did I get here?”
Reflection #1:
How did you get to where you are now? How did you land in your career? What was your journey?
Take a few minutes to reflect and write
in your journals…then we will all share. “How did I get here?”
We termed this stage: “Growing Out”
The process by which we spend time developing ourselves
Initiatives Training Work Ethic
“What are you spending your time doing?” “Who are you spending your time being?”
“Growing Out”
Authenticity is about realness and being…
Honest about ones goals and abilities Open to new ideas and criticism
Steps you take in being authentic are unique to
you…there is no road map!
Authenticity takes Courage To be vulnerable…
“Growing Out”
Who we really are… What we show to
Authenticity
What we show the world is clearly visible
This makes us vulnerable
What we keep to ourselves is not
This makes us feel safe
The waterline represents the point at which what we show matches who we really are
The challenge is knowing where to draw the waterline
Authenticity is the relationship between what we show and who we are inside…
Mike Robbins TED Talk “The Power of Authenticity” (16:15 – 19:44) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4iFAAUscVA
Reflection #2:
What is a meaningful story from your time in advising?
Take a few minutes to reflect and write
in your journals…then we will all share
Reflection #2:
What is a meaningful story from your time in advising?
Take a few minutes to reflect and write
in your journals…then we will all share
"You don't set out to build a wall. You don't say 'I'm going to
build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that's ever been built.' You don't start there. You say, 'I'm going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid. You do that every single
Reflection #3:
In thinking about your own department/office…
“If you really knew me, you would know this about me…”
Take a few minutes to reflect and write
in your journals
This is our way of gearing up for what comes next
Different for everyone…not one path is necessarily the same Authenticity is at the core of how we grow
Examples of options in the Academic Support Center
Peer Advisor Manager (currently one) Pre-Law Advisors (currently three) Pre-Health Advisors (currently three) Professional Development Committee Project My Story UAlbany Community for Academic Advising (UCAA) Reflection Series***
Reflection #4:
While reflecting on advising…
What is something you do well? What is something you are looking to improve?
Take a few minutes to reflect and write
in your journals…then we will all share
Advisor Classifications & Internal Identities (Freitag, 2011)
Advisors have the freedom to choose to be at one of four levels Blending of Self-Reflection, Being Myself, and Growing Up together
Four Levels
Academic Advising Practitioner Academic Advising Emerging Professional Academic Advising Professional Academic Advising Scholar
NACADA Opportunities – Some Ideas
Volunteering Committee Work Presenting Emerging Leaders Program Conference Attendance
Reflection #5: To think & write about this week…
Reflect upon why you are attending the Regional Conference How are you being authentic while at the conference What new opportunities will you pursue for your own professional growth
To reflect is to be uncomfortable
Not everyone reflects often on their journey Not everyone reflects openly
To enact change requires motivation
Not everyone sees their job as a career Not everyone wants to advance in the same way Not everyone believes they have something to offer Not everyone believes they can make a difference
We saw positivity emerge from reflection
Our co-workers embraced each other’s stories
We saw encouragement
Self-critique was met with compliment Co-workers discussed strengths of their colleagues
We saw a lowering of the waterline (Iceberg)
It can be a starting point for advancement by identifying…
Paths for improvement
Goals and ambitions
Limitations
It can help advising teams/departments by…
Strengthening co-worker ties
Building trust
Breaking down the idea of a one-size fits all
It can bridge other difficult conversations by…
Developing future reflection series which can touch upon topics that would otherwise be difficult to discuss openly
Does anything like this exist at your school? How about in your current office? Is this something you think you’d like to implement at your school and/or in your
Michael Geroux Academic Advisor & Peer Advisor Manager (mgeroux@albany.edu) John Martinez Academic Advisor (jmartinez3@albany.edu)
Aiken-Wisniewski, S., Johnson A., Larson, J., & Barkemeyer, J. (2015). A
Preliminary Report of Advisor Perceptions of Advising and of a Profession. NACADA Journal, 35(2), 60 – 70.
Freitag, D. (2011). Freedom to Choose: Advisor Classifications and Internal
http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Academic-Advising-Today/View- Articles/Freedom-to-Choose-Advisor-Classifications-and-Internal-Identities.aspx.
Freitag, D. (2011). Creating a Personal Philosophy of Academic Advising. Retrieved
from NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources Website: http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Clearinghouse/View-Articles/Personal- philosophy-of-academic-advising.aspx
Justyna, E. (2014). Developing a Professional Identity. Academic Advising Today,
37(1). Retrieved from: http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Academic-Advising- Today/View-Articles/Developing-a-Professional-Identity.aspx.
Paul, W. K., & Fitzpatrick, C. (2015). Advising as Servant Leadership: Investigating
Student Satisfaction. NACADA Journal, 35(2), 28 – 35.