Advising & Supporting (A/S)

Initial Reflection

Through this class I should be able to collaborate with other campus departments and organizations as well as surrounding community agencies and other institutions of higher education to address students’ holistic wellness needs in a comprehensive, collaborative way. I should also be able to develop liaisons with community providers and support systems to ensure seamless and coordinated holistic care (e.g., with hospitalizations, transfer of care, public benefits, support groups, family/parent/ guardians, etc.). Lastly, I should be able to assess responses to advising and supporting interventions, including traditional campus- based as well as virtual interventions. 

Competency Reflection

Through the Advising and Supporting class I was able to put more of a gauge on where I was when it comes to advising and supporting my students. I have noticed that some of the things that we were educated on in class were things I already have been doing, which makes me feel like some of the support and advising comes very natural to some. It was exciting to put a name to the technique so that I could better explain it. Something that I really put into action with my students is that they are a person first, a student next, and a cabbie last. I had a couple of instances where my students came to me in some sort of distress, typically mental distress, and I was able to use the ALGEE method to help them. I have a deeper knowledge of resources on campus and some of the staff and faculty within those departments that I can easily reach out to. I have posted the new mental health number on my door, so that when my student as well as other students walk by my office they are reminded of that number in case it is needed. In my special topics class on Campus Ecology, having signs like that can tell a student that I care and am willing to help them. I have tried to change the way my office looks and things that are displayed as it helps students feel more comfortable when they walk into my office. This semester, I have also had the chance to mentor more students and with that came more responsibility. I have also been able to mentor new grad students that are working in University Centers, at UWL and help them effectively advise their students and help them feel more comfortable doing so. I would not have really been able to do this if I did not have the deep knowledge that I have received from the readings and techniques of the week that were taught in class. 

I have gained new ideas on how to challenge yet at the same time support my students to grow. I have noticed many of them struggle with change but in a way I kind of force change upon them because it forces them to grow maybe when they do not even know it. Some examples of this is making students go up and take the lead when we have performers and having them do most of the coordination and I will only step in when they really need the help. I will not let them flounder. I also push my students to think outside of the normal typical things we do when it comes to event planning. That means looking at past events and what went really well and what did not do so well and making changes to the things that could be improved on. My artifact will be a transcript of a meeting I had with a student who is struggling with some medical needs and asking them what I could do to help get them through the semester the easiest and the advising I did was learned from my advising and supporting class. Some of the techniques I used is the SOLER method. I sat squarely with the student, and had very open posture and made direct eye contact. This student really trusts me and I use that to drive the advising so that we can really talk about how they might be feeling on our 1:1s. To me having the trust and relationship really means a lot, because I think students that you do have a relationship with feel connected to the university because of the connection you share with them. For instance, one student has been struggling with academics and changing majors and their mom wanted them to transfer to a school closer to home, they had told me they did not want to do that because of the connections made through CAB. I think that says a lot about what we do for the student body but as well for the students that are on the board. They also make deep connections with one another. I still feel like I have a lot to learn on this competency but I really have found a passion for advising students.

 In my artifact I removed the video for privacy of the student but left the transcript as well as my advising notes, and critiques for myself and things I thought I did well on.

Final Reflection

Throughout my graduate assistantship at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, I have had the opportunity to really grow my skills for advising and supporting students. I came into the position with Campus Activities Board not really knowing how to advise students and what their needs were. It was a learning curve me for to understand the dynamic each student needed at the time and although I am still learning, I have gained so much from working with students. There is a major difference in the way I advise students this year compared to last year (21-22 academic year). One example of something I have improved on this year is having more in depth event preparation discussions. My first year as the graduate advisor I was still learning along side my students and over the course of the year I was able to develop my skills and learn the process of events. This year I have been able to go deeper in the questions I ask my students when thinking about events. I also encourage them to think about accessibility in their promotions and other ways that they can provide more events that include other organizations across campus. Working with all seven students has provided me the opportunities to help each individual grow in their roles with CAB. Working with each individual has shown me that they are all different. They learn and receive information differently as well. I developed the agenda for the Spring 2023 semester and kept these things in mind while creating it. 

In the recent past the CAB students have struggled to work on conflict management with one another. Through these situations I have gained better problem solving skills but also have thought long and hard on ways that I can fix the problems we are having. I have incorporated group activities that are intentional for the unspoken dynamic that the team has. I have established rapport with these students as some I have been working with since I started here at UWL. Ways I have done this include, talking about what is going on in their life such as school work, other activities, family, and friends. What I have recognized is that follow up from previous conversations means a lot to students because they then know I was listening to what they said and that I care. 

I feel that there will always be room for growth in this competency. Some things that I will work on improving or excelling is collaborating with others on and off campus. I think bringing more organizations into the realm of student activities could be very beneficial to the students at UWL and can help CAB put on more intentional events that support diversity, equity, and inclusion. Sometimes I feel like I can be unorganized when working with campus partners but what I want to do in the future is create some sort of check list or guide on how to work with campus partners so that we all have a smooth event. I will also need to keep in mind the crisis response part of this competency. I have not had to deal with anything that was critical but this will be important to develop skills in, just in case there is a crisis of some sort. So that will be very important to think about when continuing my work in student affairs. 

Lastly, for my artifact I have provided the agenda that I created for the Spring 2023 semester. In this semester we have a new team staff, so some of them are just starting on the team and there is a more in depth training compared to Fall semester training.