WASC Academic Resource Conference 2016

Term:

 

Spring 2016

Description:

 

The WASC Academic Resource Conference was held on April 6-8, 2016 in Garden Grove, CA. It brought together faculty, student affairs professionals, administrators, and students to examine higher education’s contributions to the public good. It highlighted how institutions address broad societal needs while also promoting individual student success. Presenters shared best practices and ways their institutions are planning for the future of our students, our institutions, and society as a whole. The Titan Dreamers Resource Center was invited to present on best practices to better serve undocumented students in higher education.

 

Learning Outcomes:

SWiBAT apply the information they received from attending sessions to their graduate assistantship and work as a student affairs educator

SWiBAT practice their presentation skills on their own and in collaboration with their supervisor and student assistants

Assessment Rubric:

	Advanced	Competent	Basic	Needs Improvement
SLO #1	Student was able to identify sessions that pertains to their graduate assistantship and their own philosophy of student affairs.  Student was able to relate how the information could be applied to their work currently and in the future as a student affairs educator.	Student was able to identify sessions that pertains to their graduate assistantship.  Student was able to relate how the information could be applied to their work currently and in the future as a student affairs educator.	Student was able to identify sessions that pertains to their graduate assistantship.  Student was able to relate how the information could be applied to their work.	Student was able to identify sessions that pertains to their graduate assistantship.  However, student was unable to relate with the presentations.
SLO #2	Student practiced their presentation skills on their own and in collaboration with their supervisor and student assistants multiple times. Student gave their feedback to improve the presentation and delegated who would be responsible for specific slides.	Student practiced their presentation skills on their own and in collaboration with their supervisor and student assistants multiple times. Student gave their feedback to improve the presentation.	Student practiced their presentation skills on their own and in collaboration with their supervisor and student assistants	Student practiced their presentation skills on their own.

Evidence:

Reflection:

Attending the WASC ARC Conference was a great experience. The theme this year was serving the public good. The keynote speaker was Dr. Kal Alston who is a professor of Cultural Foundations of Education and Women’s and Gender Studies in Syracuse University. She was able to highlight how higher education, has in the past, made mistakes in engaging communities that they serve. She was able to stress the importance of campuses to work with the communities, rather than having an attitude that higher education has all the answers to solve the problems of the communities. It really resonated with me because this is precisely how our cohort approached working with the community of Maywood for the Maywood Education Fair utilizing Yosso’s (2005) concept of Community Cultural Wealth as a framework to take an asset-based perspective in working with the residents of Maywood. It is also how I approach working with our students. I believe that engaging our students and the communities we serve this way, empowers them to tap into the resources that they already have around them. This work, however, must include them. Dr. Alston reminds us to take our time to get to know our students and surrounding communities not only to find out what they need but also to engage them in the decision making process and work together for change. This also reminds me of the how Diversity Initiatives and Resource Centers and the Titan Dreamers Resource Center empower our students by highlighting the resources that they have and help them navigate the campus to be successful students. However, this does not mean that we take action for them or “solve” things for them. We enable them to decide for themselves and take an active role in their learning and development. It really is a partnership. I was able to attend several sessions that examined best practices that help promote access, diversity, and inclusion in higher education. I attended a session on supporting first-generation students by fostering a sense of belonging in higher education. We were asked to participate in an activity where participants were to move from one side of the room or the other based on the statements made by the facilitator. It was supposed to foster connectedness between faculty and first generation students. However, a couple of the statements used felt marginalizing for me and my colleagues. For example, some participants were asked why they were unable to go directly to college after high school. Another statement I thought was triggering was regarding financial aid and waiting for it to buy books. I think it was not her intention to harm or trigger anyone, but the activity definitely triggered me, my supervisor and students. We had to speak up and just remind the presenter that all of our students, specifically undocumented students, are able to access financial aid and to be mindful of the intersections of identities that our students hold. It really highlighted the importance of faculty, student affairs educators, administrators, and students to keep working together to create inclusive environments. It was also a reminder to keep educating myself and being mindful of my own biases because whether or not I intend to harm or trigger students with my words and/or actions the impact can be damaging. I would rate myself Advanced for SLO #1.

I really enjoyed presenting with my supervisor and our student assistants. The process of preparing was also very enjoyable. We met to work on the content and editing the presentation to fit the 25 minute maximum we were given. We divided the slides amongst us and practiced on our own. Additionally, we also met to practice together and it really made a difference in smoothing out transitions but also in our confidence. I went in the day of the presentation very nervous, but it worked out really well. Our supervisor was really impressed in the passion that our student assistants and I showed. He remarked that it was one of the best presentations that he had been a part of. It was really great to see that there are many faculty, student affairs educators and administrators were in the audience to learn from the work we have been doing in the Titan Dreamers Resource Center. They were very engaged and asked very thoughtful questions on how to better support undocumented students on their campuses. I would rate myself Competent for SLO #2.