Recently in Best Practices Category

Jon Dalton and Pamela Crosby have published an article in the current Journal of College & Character (available to NASPA members) that I plan to share with members of the Penn State Student Affairs Cocurricular Learning Group. Its content fits nicely with the longstanding mission of the CLG and with our recent discussions on developing programs along the themes of character, conscience and social responsibility. Noting the importance of the out-of-class experience, and its many unintended pitfalls, the authors prefer the term 'cocurriculum' (as do I) to help us focus on programs and learning interventions that support and enrich classroom learning. Their recommendations also include the creation of an intentional cocurriculum - again, something we have been striving to achieve here.

As the authors note: "Creating an intentional student affairs cocurriculum involves a more concerted effort on the part of student affairs staff to plan, coordinate, and manage those student activities that student affairs directly sponsor. In order to maximize the positive educational influences of the cocurricular core, student affairs staff should be more intentional about the activities and programs that are selected for inclusion in the cocurriculum core. Without intentionality cocurriculum activities can easily become, as Woodrow Wilson commented, merely "sideshows" that have little connection to the moral mission and educational goals of the institution."

Side shows? Ouch. But, yes, President Wilson was sadly spot on. Step right up.

In their conclusion they write:: "Approaching the student affairs cocurriculum in a centralized, coordinated, comprehensive manner. Student affairs planners should consider how all of the various sponsored programs and activities fit together into a coherent whole that directly advances the mission and values of the institution. Too often student affairs educational programs are approached in an ad hoc manner that can lead to many disconnected individual programs that stand alone without much, if any, connection to each other or to the institution's mission."

I recommend this article and it can be found at http://journals.naspa.org/jcc/vol13/iss3/1/

I'm intrigued by the "Rockstar Nutritionist" Jill Jayne's educational methods.  She presents information about nutrition (which she knows as a registered dietician) via songs she has developed as a rockstar.  Jayne, Penn State class of 2004 presented a lecture "Debunk the Junk" at the State Theatre last Thursday 3/31. 

While I don't think I'll be able to present psychological information via a rock song I create (no talent here except maybe the "singing in the shower" variety), Jayne's work is a reminder to keep it simple and entertaining.  As April Millet says "That's edutainment!"  We all have to be able to "sing that tune" in order to get through to students, especially those who aren't already interested in our topics and messages. 

If you want to learn more about Jayne's methods you can check out this link: 

http://notetohealth.com/?q=content/rockstar-nutritionist-professional-pizzazz-conferences-and-workshops

In case you were one of the few who missed it, or who couldn't squeeze into the packed room, Tuesday's Assessment Brown Bag "Writing Learning Outcomes" was well-attended by a very enthusiastic audience. Dr. Charles Brua, of the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellent, provided some very useful tips for writing learning outcomes and worked with participants on an activity designed to put those tips to good use.

Thirty-three people attended the session, including representatives from almost every unit in Student Affairs and CSA students. Of the 24 people who completed the session evaluation, 96% indicated that the session provided information that they would use in their work! One person wrote, "Thank you for this! We were able to think critically about our unit and some developmental opportunities."

Dr. Brua's PowerPoint presentation and handouts are available for download on SARA's Assessment Resources page at http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/assessment/resources.shtml. Upcoming brown bags in this assesment series are:

• To Survey or Not to Survey?
  Betty Harper, Student Affairs Research and Assessment
  Thursday, February 10th, Noon-1pm, 106 HUB
• Portfolios
  Glenn Johnson, John A. Dutton e-Education Institute
  Thursday, March 3rd, Noon-1pm, 106 HUB
• Reflective Writing
  Barry Bram and Darcy Rameker, Union and Student Activities
  Tuesday, April 5th, Noon-1pm, 106 HUB

Please email saraoffice@psu.edu to register for these events.  

 

 

I was recently introduced to an interesting approach to program design and evaluation being practiced in the College of Engineering at Oklahoma State University. It may seem a little rigid for the average Student Affairs practitioner (they are engineers after all), but it is certainly interesting. I've pasted a blurb below, but it's worth checking out their web site at http://es21c.okstate.edu/resources/Engineering%20Taxonomy.html. They have developed quite a bit of material to assist those that want to use their approach.

"Do students in your program get the experiences that will help them develop into engineers? What is the balance between theory and application?  Evaluating your program using a taxonomy can help you answer these questions.  The resources below can help you to address these issues. 

The Engineering Taxonomy is built from Bloom's Taxonomy.  Although taxonomies, like any tool, can be misused, the Engineering Taxonomy is a tool that helps instructors learn about, frame, organize, and align learning outcomes in courses and programs.  Taxonomies can be broadly applied to many courses since they are generally independent of specific curricular content. If you teach engineering, the material below can help you develop and evaluate enginering courses and programs."

When I came across an Inside Higher Ed article entitled "Turning Surveys into Reforms" I was instantly intrigued. I thought the article would be a case study which demonstrated at least one way in which this might be done. But alas, this article simply focuses on the need to take action based on survey findings - particularly NSSE findings. Despite this dissapointment, it is still a timely article as PSU gears up for another NSSE administration in 2011. Just what have we done with the 2008 data?? 

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/26/nsse

Alison Subasic and her staff in the LGBTA Office did an amazing job of mapping the learning outcomes for the numerous activities that the office puts on each year. They also took another step by indicating which level of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives each outcome supports. Learn more about how to write outcomes using Bloom's Taxonomy here:  https://www.sa.psu.edu/workshops/edprogram/index.htm

Check out the learning outcomes for the LGTBA programming here:  http://www.sa.psu.edu/workshops/learningoutcomes/LGTBA.pdf. Please Note: The font is small so you will need to use the Zoom feature to magnify the text to be able to read it. 

Recently, I attended a conference called "Expanding the Circle: Creating an Inclusive Environment in Higher Education for LGBTQ Students and Studies". Cosponsored by various organizations including The Association for Colleges and Universities Religious Affairs (ACURA), Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU), Campus Climate Index, Global Fund for Women, among others, the conference debuted in its first year to, as the title suggests, creating a welcoming, inclusive space for LGBTQ students on campuses.

 

My interest specifically lies within the intersection of spirituality and sexuality in students' lives and the often divisive nature that LGBTQ students who are religious or spiritual face within the LGBTQ community. To some, the attitude from nonreligious LGBTQ individuals is "why would you practice a faith that has discriminated, ostracized, and punished GLBTQ people because of their sexuality?" To those who are devoted to a spiritual/religious practice, the response may be that they have found their niche within their particular religious denomination which happens to be progressive, welcoming, and accepting of all. In most cases, it can be difficult enough for students to recognize and accept their sexual identities. At the same time, remaining true to their particular faith traditions can alienate them from the very community they rely on for social and emotional support.

 

In my work within the Center for Ethics and Religious Affairs, I have seen religious/spiritual organizations approach the issue of sexual orientation from a variety of levels of acceptance or prejudice for LGBTQ individuals. There is no easy answer to this age-old dilemma. The conference exposed the challenges we, as staff and faculty, encounter in supporting and welcoming these students wholeheartedly. Scotty McLennan, Dean for Religious Life at Stanford University, pointed out that we need to be careful about our own misguided liberal assumptions that LGBTQ students will want to be or should be liberal or have liberal views. There are LGBTQ students who practice within a very conservative, orthodox tradition and would not have it any other way. Their faith represents the foundation of who they are and emphasizes the importance of family and community---the very thing they risk losing if they come out. It's the "Gay or God" debacle where there exists antireligious sentiment in the LGBTQ community and antigay sentiment in many religious communities.

 

The spiritual development of our students is as critical as any other developmental milestone. Within our multi-faith facility, CERA provides an important outlet for spiritual wellness and offering students access to discovering multiple levels of identity. For spiritual/religious LGBTQ students, both identities are part of their story. If they dismiss either one, how do they deal with questions of life and death, ethics, morality, sex, daily behaviors? Wrestling with multiple identities can be challenging, but it is not impossible. Encouraging our students to find the similarities across communities whether they be religious, LGBTQ, racial, and/or cultural can help shape them into confident leaders. And, by including a spiritual component to their education, students can ground themselves in religious/spiritual practices which can ultimately help them navigate ethical decision making---becoming strong, authentic leaders in their communities.

 

The diversity of the student body at colleges and universities lends itself to ensuring that higher education institutions like Penn State raise awareness of spirituality and its contribution in a holistic education. One of the goals of the Expanding the Circle conference was to raise awareness of the importance of LGBTQ resources on campuses and, as they write, while "some colleges and universities have been incorporating LGBTQ studies for decades, courses and programs continue to be pockets of innovation, rather than models of inclusion for all of higher education." Clearly, we have our work cut out for us. But, conferences like this help remind us that support and resources do exist to make it happen.

Here is an interesting blog entry from Glen Baumgart at the University of Texas at Austin about the importance of developing academic rigor in the context of cocurricular programs. Post your comments and thoughts in the CLC Blog.

http://blog.orgsync.com/2009/guest-blog-academic-rigor-in-co-curricular-programs/