I like to think of my blog as my virtual living room. It’s where I sit and ponder and engage with folks on a myriad of issues. Sometimes my posts on social justice issues have resulted in horrid comments being submitted to my site. I moderate all comments from first time commenters so that epithets, hate speech, aggressive hyperbole, and spam does not get to a published state. Recently while I was on vacation, an anonymous commenter left a number of comments on a few of my posts. I decided not to publish their comments because I didn’t want to engage with this person. People who comment without using their real name or email address are almost always visiting my site with mischievous intent. I deleted the comments and continued to enjoy my vacation. Unfortunately, this particular anonymous coward decided that their comments were so important to the world, and to my blog, that they tracked down my work phone number. I received the following email from one of our awesome student workers:

Just to give you a heads up I got a call today from an angry guy who was complaining about his comments being censured from your blog and that it was unethical. I took a message but I just wanted to let you know.

I spoke with the student who had to endure the phone call. I thanked her for being professional and I apologized to her. She should have never had to take that phone call. I was really upset that this had happened. I suppose that due to the nature of my writing that the potential for this has always been a possibility. I was so proud of my student for how she handled herself.

I have never had an official comments policy on my blog. I have never felt that it was necessary until now. Here goes: If you comment on my blog and I decide to delete or spam it, that is my choice. This site is “EricStoller.com.” It’s my virtual living room. I get to decide whether or not you get to hang out on the “couch.”

Photo credit: emdot

Have you ever wanted to embed an individual tweet from Twitter into a blog post? A couple of months ago, Twitter released “Blackbird Pie.” It’s a nifty web-based tool that generates embed code for a single Twitter post that you can paste into a blog post.

Blackbird Pie isn’t perfect. It misidentifies embedded tweets as being posted “less than a minute ago,” when that is clearly not when I posted that tweet. I’ve also noticed that Blackbird Pie sometimes renders incorrectly after it is sent out via RSS.

Note that it is best to stay in the WordPress HTML editing box when using the embed code from Blackbird Pie. If you switch from the Visual editor to HTML mode, then the code breaks and you have to “bake” a fresh version.

Questions: Do you have a WordPress blog? Is it a self-hosted site (a non-WordPress.com site)? Have you ever accessed your blog via a smartphone?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, I would like to introduce you to the WPtouch plugin for WordPress:

“WPtouch automatically transforms your WordPress blog into an iPhone application-style theme, complete with ajax loading articles and effects, when viewed from an iPhone, iPod touch, Android, Opera Mini, Palm Pre and BlackBerry Storm mobile devices.”

WPtouch does a terrific job of stripping out your blog’s sidebar / extraneous features. Your site is instantly optimized for smartphones. Sample screenshots after the jump..

Check out how my blog rendered before WPtouch:

After I installed the WPtouch plugin:

Content is streamlined for mobile readers:

If a reader wants to turn off the mobile version of your site, they can easily toggle the site from mobile mode back to the standard view:

Note: I used the Android SDK to save the sample screenshots from my Droid X.

Full disclosure: I am currently an academic advisor. It’s my first full-time academic advising experience. I actually was quite pro-active about avoiding academic advising experiences when I was in graduate school. I never thought that I would be an academic advisor. I’ve been in my current advising position for 3 years. It’s been an incredible experience. Having said that, this post is not about me. It’s for anyone who has ever been an academic advisor who has dealt with the subject matter of this post.

A friend of mine is an academic advisor. She’s currently looking for a new position within student affairs. Having applied for several positions that have not yielded an offer. She came to the conclusion that having “academic advisor” at the top of her most recent experiences on her resume was resulting in her application being ignored or devalued. We chatted about how her resume could be re-worked to be more of a skills-based document. While I wasn’t happy about the apparent devaluing of academic advising that seemed to be occurring, I could empathize with both my friend and prospective hiring departments.

The state of academic advising in higher education is that it is a field that is predominantly seen as being in academic affairs. What this means is that while academic advisors may do exactly the same kinds of work as their student affairs colleagues, they might not be recognized for this due to the “silo effect” in higher education.

A lot of folks who are in charge of student affairs hires are looking for people with experiences and credentials that match the positions for which they are hiring. For example, let’s say that a student affairs unit is looking for an Assistant Director of Greek Life. Resumes with “Academic Advisor” on them might not be given as much consideration as they should do to the aforementioned “silo” mindset.

I would like to re-introduce anyone who has not thought of academic advisors as “versatile” to the myriad of skills that are required to be an academic advisor:

• Listening and Empathy: The cornerstone of any practitioner’s toolkit.
• Oral and written communication: We talk more and write more than most people…and that’s just the first hour of our day.
• Knowledge of FERPA: Others may make the policy, we are the ones who have to walk the tightrope of privacy.
• Ability to work with ANYONE on campus. Students, staff, faculty, parents, family members, etc.
• Knowledge of student development theory: Academic advisors are the epitome of challenge and support. Thanks Sanford!
• Event planning and management: Workshops don’t come out of thin air.
• Public speaking: small groups to gigantor-sized groups. Hello orientation!
• Collaboration: We have to know everyone on campus. It’s just a fact.
• Career advice: Grad school, career planning, pro school, life..we set our students on the path to success.
• Student Org Advising: What, you didn’t think that we just sat in our offices all of the time. We lead individuals and groups.
• Teaching: We teach students in both individual and classroom settings.
• Learning outcomes and assessment: We not only set goals and strive to reach targeted outcomes, but we also engage in comprehensive assessment projects.

According to the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education: “Academic advising is one of the very few institutional functions that connect all students to the institution.” Academic advisors are versatile. It’s part of the gig. Will someone please hire my friend now?

The next time you see “academic advisor” on someone’s resume, give it a thorough read.

One of my mentors once told me that mentors are everywhere and that all I needed to do was to seek them out. At the time, I had been struggling with finding experienced practitioners who were as into learning / using technology within student affairs as I was. It took me a while to realize that what I had been looking for was the ultimate mentor. I was seeking someone who matched up with every nuance, every interest area, in effect, the “perfect” mentor.

When I woke up this morning, I had a realization. A thought that I had never really allowed to materialize. I currently have multiple individuals who I call “mentor.” No single person. Not a lone individual. I have multiple mentors. Some of my mentors provide professional advice. Some of my mentors assist me in the “apprenticeship of life.” This cadre of mentors provides me with an amazing breadth and depth of learning, experiences, and guidance. A community of mentors who I look to for strength, insight, humor, and caring.

My mentors come from all over the place. They have been instrumental in where I am and where I want to be. Here are a few ideas that I have been pondering about mentoring:

• Sometimes mentors bring mentorship into your life without it being strategic or intentional. It just happens.
• Age does not always equal wisdom. Be open to mentoring from anyone. Wisdom can surprise you.
• If your mentors are well-known, be prepared to spend less time with them. Learn as much as you can when you have access. Maximize your time with them.
• Social media spans the globe. Your access to mentors has just increased…be ready.
• Sometimes mentors and mentees switch roles depending on circumstances, timing, and need. It’s okay.

Photo credit: quacktaculous