Let’s Flip our MBTI for Well-Being: More on Conference Pre-Cons

This is the second of three previews of our pre-con sessions.  In today’s blog, we’ll look more deeply into sessions about MBTI, flipped advising, and self care.  For more information about how to register for a pre-conference session, visit: https://nacada.ksu.edu/Community/Regions/Region-2/Preconference-Workshops.aspx

Session name: Beyond Four Letters: The Many Uses of Myers Briggs

Presenter: Gerron Scott Virginia Commonwealth University

Tell us about yourself

Gerron Ryan Scott, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Fun fact: I worked at a reptile zoo in high school and was responsible for such things as getting 10 foot plus alligators and anacondas out of their enclosures. Yup as scary as it sounds.

If you could sum up your pre-conference workshop in one sentence, what would it be?

We will take a deep look into Myers-Briggs and focus on topics that the internet blogs do not talk about.

What inspired you to present on this topic?

My inspiration for this topic was my own personal journey into bettering myself. I strongly believe in self-improvement so I seek out every opportunity to do so. I was fortunate enough to be able to get certified and have been working with groups for the past 5 years.

What are you most looking forward to at this conference?

I am most looking forward to connecting with my colleagues from around the region. I have met some amazing people at past regional conferences and I am excited to connect with them and even more.

What are some of the valuable lessons attendees will gain from coming to your workshop?

Some lessons attendees will gain: a better insight to types other than their own, how to use Myers-Briggs effectively with themselves, colleagues, and students. You will also understand how your type impacts things such as stress, careers, and disposition.

Session Title: Flipping Fabulous: A Model of Flipped Advising for Enhanced Relationships and Student Engagement

Presenter: Robin Lawson

Tell us about yourself 

Robin Lawson

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)

Fun Fact: I have a Darth Maul light saber in my advising office, autographed by Ray Park.  Hopefully, this conveys to my students that I don’t take myself too seriously (or maybe it tells them not to mess with me???).  It makes for a fun ice-breaker with students.

If you could sum up your pre-conference workshop in one sentence, what would it be?

This workshop will help you adapt proven tools and methods to your own advising practice that will enable you to work smarter, not harder, to develop better student engagement with academic advising in order to build more meaningful advising relationships!

What inspired you to present on this topic?

I believe better relationships with students is the key to gaining student buy-in and increasing student engagement with advising.  If I can build better relationships with my students, they are more likely to trust what I tell them and value my advice.  To that end, I applied what I had learned about flipped pedagogy to my advising practice, using simple tools and techniques in a model aimed to optimize my efforts for the greatest results.  These efforts have been so beneficial to my advising relationships that I was inspired to share my flipped advising model with other advisors.

What are you most looking forward to at this conference?

I’m most looking forward to Taco Tuesday on the Spirit of Norfolk, of course!  But seriously, I’m looking forward to gaining insights from presenters from across Region 2, learning new approaches, and adding new tools to my advisor toolbox.

What are some of the valuable lessons attendees will gain from coming to your workshop?

Attendees will learn about the theoretical roots of my model of flipped advising, and they will leave with an array of tools that can be employed or adapted to suit their needs.  We will touch on the student development theories that explain why advising relationships are so important to student retention and student success, and we will explore how the various tools can facilitate building and improving those relationships.  We will workshop adapting specific tools to meet the unique needs related to various institutions, situations, and audiences.  Attendees will leave with tangible tools and examples to begin to implement this particular model of flipped advising to whatever degree works best for them.

Session: Holistic Advisor Well-Being: Developing Strategies for Individual and Team Self-care

Presenter: Liz Sutton University of Pennsylvania

Tell us about yourself 

Liz Sutton, Wharton Undergraduate Division, University of Pennsylvania

Fun fact: I know almost every line of every episode of NBC’s “The Good Place”… and it drives my personal philosophy!

If you could sum up your pre-conference workshop in one sentence, what would it be?

Self-reflection, research, and concrete planning tools to help support and enhance your well-being and that of your advising staff.

What inspired you to present on this topic?

Two years ago at region 2 I submitted a presentation about using mindfulness and yoga to help manage stress. I wasn’t sure that NACADA proposal reviewers would be open to this sort of advisor-focused session that integrated meditation and actual yoga moves. It was selected, and to my delighted surprise was well-attended. To my even greater surprise it was selected for Best of Region 2! I then presented to a packed room at annual 2018 and have been speaking about advisor and student well-being ever since. Response has been fantastic, and it’s part of a larger movement focusing on advisor well-being in NACADA. We’re also working towards becoming our own advising community!

What are you most looking forward to at this conference?

I’m excited to offer a pre-conference session for the first time because we’ll be able to go so much deeper into the research. This is also my last Region 2 conference as communications chair, so it’s going to be bittersweet being the voice of our social media outlets one last time. I’ve really gained a family from being on the steering committee!

What are some of the valuable lessons attendees will gain from coming to your workshop?

Participants will walk away with a stronger understanding of well-being research and a concrete plan that is tailored to their own experiences and professional situation. My goal is that each person feels both empowered to make change back in their office and has the appropriate tools to actually implement these changes.

We hope each of you will take the time to attend one of our pre-conference workshops. Look for an additional highlight on other pre-conference workshops which will be posted on the blog and social media in the next week!  You can find out more about the no cost pre-conference sessions we have for Norfolk here: https://nacadaregion2.blogspot.com/2020/02/free-pre-conference-workshops.html

#ridethetideVA20 

5 Questions with... round 3!

As a sneak peek into some of our sessions next week, the conference committee has interviewed a few presenters about their session and what we can expect!

Enjoy this "5 Questions with..." Brandon Bellamy from Howard Community College, who will present Friday morning: "At the Intersection of our Identities and Transfer".

1.       Tell us about yourself and your involvement in advising and NACADA?

I am currently the Assistant Director for Transfer & Graduation for TRiO – Student Support Services program and Adjunct Faculty in First Year Experience at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland. I have been at HCC for 2.5+ years. Prior to joining HCC, I spent two years at Prince George’s Community College (MD) in Advising & Transfer Services and Retention Services. Additionally, I have worked in pre-collegiate programming, multicultural affairs, financial aid, and student leadership programs.

I earned my M.Ed in Education (Higher Education/Student Affairs) from Iowa State University and my undergraduate degree in Liberal Studies (Culture Change & Social Development concentration) from North Carolina A&T State University. I enjoy long walks on the beach, thinking that I am Irish on the day before my birthday and visiting craft & microbreweries. More importantly, I believe in improving my alma mater and community through service on numerous boards and commissions.

I have been working in advising roles since graduate school when I worked in a multicultural scholarship program & TRiO-Student Support Services. Since graduating graduate school, all of my full-time experiences have been in community college advising and transfer roles. In 2012, my colleague, Johnika Dreher, encouraged me to submit a proposal to the NACADA regional conference in Annapolis. Since then, I have been engaged in the organization, presenting at the International conference in Maastricht (2013) with Johnika and Shelly Caldwell-Bennett and at regionals in Lancaster (2014). Additionally, I co-coordinated a Maryland drive-in conference on SB740 at Prince George’s Community College in June 2014.

2.       What motivated you to present on this topic?

I have a great network of young professionals in our area who are always on top of every major issue. One of the pressing questions was: “How do we advise and counsel students, when don’t understand everything that is going on...” which at the time we were addressing how some of our students of color were asking us very pointed questions after the Eric Garner, John Crawford and Michael Brown incidents. Those conversations and stories led me to think about how our campuses are addressing the issues both past and present. Through more conversation with my colleagues about not only the issues of police conduct, but also the discussion of the role of minority serving institutions and other special segments in higher education, it became obvious that there was more to these conversations.

3.       Tell us about your session. What can attendees look forward to?

The session should be interactive, integrating some familiar student development theories with some of my favorite multicultural and social justice concepts. As advisors, we bring to the table our own identities and they are the lenses through which we see the world and ultimately advise students. I am hoping to encourage attendees to think about how their students view the world, our own campus environments, and ways that we can break down the artificial barriers to transfer.

4.       What is the major take away you hope attendees gain from your presentation?

Taking from the dream & nightmare concept that Dr. Franklin McCain Sr., one of the A&T Four (civil rights pioneer) used to share. Advisors are instrumental in nurturing the dreams and the nightmares of our students. Students dream of things that ultimately may make them happy and could lull them into a false sense of security…while their nightmares are the things that really get them fired up and ready to take on the world. Sometimes these nightmares are repressed because our students have never been made comfortable to highlight that side of their lives. When students are not encouraged to reflect upon their own multiple identities, it is a tacit acceptance societal norms that in themselves can be considered oppressive, divisive or discriminatory.

I hope that attendees walk away with more of a willingness to ask their students more questions, find out more about them and encourage them to use their education as a way to shake up society.

5.       What are you looking forward to most at the 2015 Region 2 Conference?

I am looking forward to connecting with colleagues both new and old from throughout our region…and celebrating the 8th anniversary of my 21st birthday during our conference.

5 Questions With... round 2!

As a sneak peek into some of our sessions next week, the conference committee has interviewed a few presenters about their session and what we can expect!

Enjoy this "5 Questions with..." Ann Lieberman Colgan from West Chester University, who will present Thursday morning: "Think About It: Advisors’ Philosophical Assumptions Matter".

1.       Tell us about yourself and your involvement in advising and NACADA?

I have been a Pre-Major (exploratory/undeclared) Faculty Academic Advisor at West Chester University of Pennsylvania (WCU) for eight years and am completing an EdD in Jewish Education at Gratz College this year.  To my astonishment, advising suits me perfectly, and exposure to NACADA through Region 2 and national conferences helped shape my professional outlook.  Additionally, I developed deeper interest in several areas of research relevant to advising.  As a member of NACADA, I joined the Region 2 Commission for LGBTQA Advising and Advocacy and look forward to becoming more involved.  Before joining Pre-Major Academic Advising, I taught secondary Social Studies, but most of my work experience for the past 20 years has been in higher education.  I also supervised, evaluated, and trained tutors at WCU’s Learning Assistance and Resource Center.

2.       What motivated you to present on this topic?

I strongly believe that we must reflect on our actions and choices if we hope to make improvements.  My graduate coursework involved exposure to philosophies that I realized had application to advising, and I began to want to share those with colleagues.  I’m NOT a philosopher by nature, so I’m always looking for practical and functional uses for esoteric coursework.

3.       Tell us about your session. What can attendees look forward to?

“Think About It! Advisors’ Philosophical Assumptions Matter” will involve interactive discussion and reflection about the underlying assumptions we bring to advising.  We will ask critical questions and examine the implications of our tacit beliefs and the impact those beliefs might have on students. 

4.       What is the major take away you hope attendees gain from your presentation?

 I hope advisors will internalize the need to question their philosophical assumptions because we should be mindful and deliberate about the unstated ideas that inform our advising practices.  This opportunity for critical reflection will result in attendees’ increased awareness of the previously unexamined beliefs they and others bring to advising.

5.       What are you looking forward to most at the 2015 Region 2 Conference?

Since I will have defended my dissertation only days before the conference, I look forward to presentations and socializing with no outstanding academic obligations hanging over my head (except tenure and the publishing required)!  I also look forward to getting to know more NACADA colleagues, becoming more involved, and enjoying the lovely city of Richmond.

5 Questions with...

As a sneak peek into some of our sessions next week, the conference committee has interviewed a few presenters about their session, and what we can expect!

Enjoy this "5 Questions with..." Shannon Telenko, from The Pennsylvania State University, who will present Friday morning: "Is Customer Service a Socially Just Approach to Academic Advising?"

1.       Tell us about yourself and your involvement in advising and NACADA?

I have been an academic adviser at Penn State for almost four years and in my current position in the College of the Liberal Arts since November 2013.  Currently, I advise students in psychology majors and minors only, but I have advised other majors, minors, and certificate programs at Penn State.  Before becoming an adviser I did research on poverty and health care projects, worked in student affairs, and taught at various institutions.  In addition to all of that, I am finishing up a doctoral program in cultural anthropology with a focus on race, gender, and social justice at American University in Washington, D.C.  The topic of my dissertation is not related to this presentation, but people are welcome to ask me about that later!

2.       What motivated you to present on this topic?

When I was doing my graduate work in higher education administration from 1998 to 2000 at Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, my professor John Braxton really drove home the point with us that students are not customers.  I don't think I gave it much thought then, but a couple of years later when I was a professional in student affairs a supervisor kept using that word - customer - to refer to students.  It really got under my skin, and once I realized why that was I emailed Dr. Braxton asking him to remind me why we should not call students customers, and he gave me a few talking points.  Since then, I have tried to use those talking points and allowed them to morph into my own thoughts and words - that education is not a commodity or good or service to be exchanged.  Rather, by being accepted into an institution you are agreeing to become part of an academic community in which you are not paying for knowledge but to join in the continuing emergence of new knowledge and contribute to the common good.  You are not really thinking about the common good if you are only thinking about yourself as a paying customer.  I have been in several other positions where students were referred to as customers, and I wanted advising colleagues to break away from that rhetoric using a social justice framework.

3.       Tell us about your session. What can attendees look forward to?

I will present a brief history of the infiltration of the phrase and practice "customer service" in higher education and then give a definition of what I mean by the term "social justice" as sometimes it can be used as a buzz word.  The academic advising profession was created to advocate for our students and teach students to advocate for themselves, but are we doing enough to teach our students how to advocate for others?  In my session, participants will get a chance to ponder the ways in which we, as academic advisers, can help our students understand the common good while in college and upon graduation. 

4.       What is the major take away you hope attendees gain from your presentation?

That the term "customer" is really a stifling one for education.  It implies that everything in this world can be bought or purchased and that as a student you are a passive participant in something in which you should be actively engaged.  Students can and should be speaking their mind in peaceful and constructive ways, considering the collective implications on their fellow students as well as the faculty and staff.  As academic advisers, we should do what we can to advance the profession and avoid any attempt at simply allowing our work to be labeled in a way that suggests what we do is some kind of business transaction.  Our vocation is to lead others to their vocation, and one's vocation cannot be bought and sold.

5.       What are you looking forward to most at the 2015 Region 2 Conference?

Conversation, networking, and collaboration are what I love about NACADA conferences.  I hope to see some old and new faces!  And perhaps my presentation will excite participants about this upcoming NACADA webinar, of which I am not participating but currently collaborating with some of these nice folks on a proposal for the annual conference in Las Vegas.