#NASPA11 Tweetup Sign Up Sheet
Monday, March 14 | 8:30 PM
Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Hotel Lobby
1201 Market Street
Meet, greet, and network with student affairs professionals from all over the world. The Philadelphia tweetup is going to be a major event. Don’t tweet? Never used Twitter? That’s okay, there will be plenty of folks to help get you into the Twittersphere. If you want to get a head start on learning how to use Twitter, I would highly recommend that you read this Twitter 101.
I’m guessing that a major topic of conversation will be the upcoming consolidation vote which begins on Tuesday, March 15th.
One of my most favorite student affairs professionals is also one of the most unique SA pros in the biz. His name is Todd Sanders. As the Student Affairs “Web Guy” for the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, Todd is a prominent figure in the higher education web sphere. While I’ve never actually met Todd, I have virtually known him for several years. Having been a commenter on the higher education blogging circuit, I’ve run into Todd’s insightful comments for quite some time.
He’s also one of the funniest people that I “know” on Twitter. If you’re in student affairs and you don’t know Todd, it’s probably because there aren’t that many student affairs web devs in the SA-universe. The #SAtech crowd has had to regularly find communities that are outside of the usual student affairs associations. For example, I know that Todd has been a prominent member of the HighEdWeb crowd. It makes sense. Web Devs/Multimedia Producers/Marketers/Designers/etc. need to hang out with folks who share similar interests, challenges, and opportunities.
So why am I blogging about Todd this evening? Great question! The cool thing about Todd is that he is currently on the cusp of being a veritable student affairs celebrity for his overall amount of awesomeness.
Todd submitted the video at the top of this post for the Mercedes-Benz Tweet Race. His video was selected out of thousands of submissions. I mean, how could anyone resist the Mercedes-Benz logo made out of carrots! In all seriousness, Todd’s videography skills are top notch. I’ve never known anyone else in the student affairs community that can do what Todd does. I am thrilled that his video was chosen for this philanthropic contest.
“The Twitter-fueled campaign (http://on.fb.me/SBTweetRace) will put four two-person driving teams behind the wheels of specially equipped 2011 Mercedes-Benz vehicles – each embarking separately from Chicago, Los Angeles and New York and Tampa — on February 2 and converging on February 4 at Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas, Texas.
Once the race starts on February 2, the driving teams will depart from their respective locations and attempt to generate as much Twitter activity, or “Tweet Fuel” as possible for their journey to Dallas. Over a three-day period, they will earn points not only for collecting Tweet Fuel, but for their performance on a series of social media-related challenges they will face along the way.”
So how do you help Todd, Team S, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital?
It’s simple:
Spread the word about Team S (Short for “StudentAffairs”) and be ready to provide copious amounts of tweet fuel for #MBteamS between February 2nd and February 4th.
I’ve been blogging for Inside Higher Ed (IHE) for 6 months. The word cloud represents the most-used words in the 45 posts that I’ve written for my “Student Affairs and Technology” blog. Twitter has been one of my favorite topics to write about. It’s such a wonderfully versatile social media tool.
I’m thoroughly enjoying my ride as a blogger for IHE. I write at least 2 posts per week. As a seasoned blogger, having deadlines and a post quota has been incredibly motivating. My editor has a fantastic sense of humor. He has been a delightful boss. I can’t wait to see if I can crack 100 posts in 2011.
The only caveat of course has been that this blog has been a bit neglected. I’ve been much more active on Twitter in 2010. With a paid blogging gig and Twitter taking up more of my publishing time, I do try to put something up on this site from time to time. Stay tuned for significant site updates. I plan on incorporating more of my consulting endeavors on this blog as I continue to navigate the “Stoller Coaster.”
Leslie Dare is one of my favorite student affairs techies. I remember reading Leslie’s call to action regarding the NASPA Technology Knowledge Community in 2006: “Technology in Student Affairs: Seeking Knowledge, Craving Community.” Having been present for the disbanding of the original KC, I was encouraged by Leslie’s leadership and insight into student affairs technology.
Leslie has created a poll that I think asks an important question for anyone who works in student affairs. This poll indicates to me that the relationship between technology and student affairs is complicated and emerging. Leslie and I would both love to know your answer to this question:
I was interviewing a potential candidate for the Oregon State University College Student Services Administration program when she asked for my business card. Unfortunately, I had not brought any with me. I found myself saying what has become an inside joke amongst my friends: “Just Google my name.” Trust me, it sounded a little ridiculous when I said it. However, I think it brought up a valuable topic/question for student affairs professionals: Are you searchable and how does it relate to your personal brand?
We’re all aware that people like to Google each other. Prospective employers, current employers, colleagues, friends, family members…any member of our professional/personal network can search for our name. I’m often asked how I was able to get my name, and the sites that I either run or belong to, into the top 10 search results page for the top 3 search engines: Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
The answer is relatively simple: consistency, reach, and connections.
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.
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.
I am thrilled to announce that I’m going to be blogging about Student Affairs and Technology for Inside Higher Ed (IHE). As an avid reader of IHE, I am very excited to join the IHE blogging team. I think that my posts on student affairs + technology will complement Joshua Kim’s blog on Technology and Learning.
Recently, I held a contest via Twitter to name my new blog. The incentive — a $100 Amazon gift card — courtesy of Inside Higher Ed. Several folks came up with interesting/creative blog names. I think the #SAChat Community provided the majority of ideas. Student Affairs folks are uber creative.
Here are my 3 favorite submissions:
Jeff Jackson: The Stoller Strikes Back, Return of the Blogosphere, Student Affairs….I am Your Blogger
Choosing a winner from these 3 has been extremely challenging. Star Wars references, Sanford, and an entire Association…how cool is that?!! After more than a week of deliberate (intentional ;-) ) deliberating I have decided that the winner of the gift card is:
Zack Ford’s submission made me laugh. It’s subtle….and I love subtlety. The obvious nod / homage to Nevitt Sanford warms the heart. Challenge and Support is one of my all-time favorite, and oft-used, student development theories.
It should be noted that Julie Larsen was correct…the official name of my new blog is going to be: Student Affairs and Technology. The name needed to be something that would be simple enough that any IHE reader would know exactly what it was about. The blog also needed to be search engine friendly…”Students Affairs + Technology” is simple and searchable.
Stay tuned for my first official post on Inside Higher Ed!
Conducting a successful student affairs job search requires patience, networking, and technology. That’s right, technology. One particular tech tool that is extremely useful for conducting a search is RSS. Job postings delivered to your feed reader via RSS means that new job announcements are efficiently delivered to your virtual doorstep.
If you aren’t familiar with using RSS, please watch this video for more information:
If you need an RSS feed reader, I would highly recommend using Google Reader:
There are a few student affairs websites that offer job postings via RSS feeds, including:
Remember to look for the RSS symbol – – or for a link to RSS data. Ideally, all student affairs job sites will offer RSS feeds in the near future as this makes conducting a search ultra-convenient.
In addition to the RSS and Email solutions mentioned above, most student affairs associations / higher education news sites offer job listings on their websites. Here are direct links to the student affairs job listings for the following associations / resource sites.
Student Affairs jobs via professional associations:
So how do you help Todd, Team S, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital?
