The Graduate Abilities

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The Graduate Abilities

Integrative Interaction: Exercising professional accountability in the learning environment.

Strength: Stimulating learners to question and respond

I am successful at being a learner and affecting other learners around me. Any endeavor that I participate in as a learner, facilitator, or teacher is usually something that I am pretty excited about. My sheer excitement for the last volunteer opportunity I had with my family's church became contagious. I felt that my unbridled enthusiasm was successful in getting many people to also volunteer for the event. Typically, the same people do the same things for the church picnic, year after year, but this past summer there was a change. I gave an impromptu speech explaining that we could purchase new books for the catechism program, some new Bible's to replace the worn out ones, and provide a discount on classes for parishoners who had multiple children in classes offered by the church. This information helped people start a productive dialogue about how everyone could help out. We had a successful event by my pointing out that we are all a part of this community and we all need to lend a hand. Many parishoners who were never involved before began to provide ideas and ask questions about how they could help out.

During my most recent position I was able to present company goals to learners and facilitate an open dialogue regarding how we were, as a team, going to meet the company goals. I encouraged learners to take ownership for the processes we would implement to achieve our goals. I was able to determine their motivation for meeting goals and provide accompanying rewards if the goals were met. By being an integral part of the process, and being motivated by rewards, learners were excited to ask questions as well as respond to any questions or comments I had regarding the process.

I am such an avid proponent of questioning your environment, authority, expectations, and dissecting expecations in the learner/teacher environment. I did not consider myself a "teacher" when I initially started the process of my career change, but now I do. I have realized that being a teacher does not necessarily mean you are in a classroom. The only way I am going to be able to teach students in their optimal learning environment is if I am able to create a comfortable and trusting environment as the teacher. I will need to take the time to consider where the student is coming from. What is "normal" for them at home and at school? What motivates them? I know I can do this successfully. I am genuinley interested in people and I know how important it is to consider cultural differences in order for each individual to be successful.

Area of Growth: Making connections between/among different cultural groups

In my new role it will be very important that I am able to make connections among different cultural groups. There are many extracurricular activites provided by colleges that promote the celebration of culture(s) and ethnicity. Often, there are opportunities for campus clubs to work together. I intend to emphasize the importance of extracurricular activites to propspective undergrads. College is a great time to really get to know yourself by getting involved in campus activities. I plan to find out what each campus club has to offer so that I am in a better position to "sell" the clubs to new students.

Communication: Reinforcing learning processes with the use of various modes of communication.

Strength: Recognizing the need to adapt communication for diverse groups

Often, when I am volunteering I am in situations where I am speaking with children as well as adults. In the past, I have helped with Thanksgiving dinner through a few local free meal programs. Every participant is very grateful, but sometimes there is a bit of embarassment or shame that is displayed by the adult dinner guests. Usually this is not evident with the children attending the dinner. My purpose with the adults is to comfort them and let them know that each one of us will fall on hard times at one time or another, and that we are happy to help with a dinner for their family, especially if it can brighten their holiday a bit. With the children it is acceptable to joke around and be a little bit more fun and lighthearted. They do not carry the heavy hearts that the adults do, and they do not need to. They are happy to eat something and play a game.

I have held positions in companies that had bilingual environments. There were always a few people that were bilingual individuals, and they helped everyone bridge the language gap, but I did take time to learn common phrases, questions, and comments in the language that was foreign to me. I knew it would benefit the relationships I had with other employees. There were many helpful ways to save time and effort when there is a language barrier. Graphics, photos, and pictures were helpful in situations when I was in a group where the primary language spoken was not the same for everyone.

I am aware that college campuses are diverse. I put myself in many different situations in order to expose myself to various demographics. There is a great need for people to be comfortable communicating in multiple ways (oral, written, media) especially when there is a language barrier. It is important to know that not all college students have been exposed to the technology required to do well in a college setting. While I am adapting I believe it is also important to consider skills that students may be lacking (computer, interpersonal, written or oral communication) so that the student is set up for success.

Area of Growth: Demonstrating skills in self-presentation in professional contexts

I am working on my self-perception and the way others perceive me. Typically, I have a tendency to let my sense of humor get the best of me, or I am inappropriate in some fashion. Usually, people take to me and in informal situations it is fairly acceptable; however, if I am going to be the go to person for many students considering college I will need to put on my teacher, mentor, I can be serious face. I am currently working on this downfall.

Coordination: Efficient and effective deployment of resources to support educational goals.

Strength: Effectively drawing upon resources

Last year I volunteered for the Rube Goldgerg event that was being hosted by Waukesha County Technical College. I was very excited, but I had never even attended this event before much less "worked it". As soon as I was given my assignment I began talking to everyone at the event. That included students who were competing and their families, other volunteers, and the event coordinators. By the start of the competition I was very confident that I had learned about the history of the event, how the kids decided to get involved, and what it would mean to win. My experience turned into me rooting for these kids and wishing I had been interested in something like this as a kid. I could have just been the girl that timed the experiments. I could have just hit the button on my stopwatch as instructed and then left. Instead I turned my experience into something I was really excited about.

In researching my career change into higher education I have used almost every resource I have been able to find. I have explored every workshop available at Workforce Development in Pewaukee, I have done five informational interviews, I have casually interviewed friends and ex co-workers who now work for a college or university. I have looked at U.S. labor statistics to determine how financially secure I can expect to be with this change in career, I have explored trends that are affecting higher education as a U.S. institution, and I have attended many different activities and engagements offered by local colleges. I have also joined a student club on campus at Alverno, and recently subscribed to an online resource for academic advisors. I am determined to not only get a clear picture of the "big picture", but I also want to learn about all of the little things firsthand that make up the "big picture".

Currently I am in training to provide campus tours at Alverno. While I am only required to go on two "practice " tours with a trainer who will lead the way I have chosen to take part in a few more. I am participating in more trainer led tours so that I am able to observe how all Ambassadors conduct a tour. This way I am able to take the pieces I believe each trainer did especially well and incorporate them into my tour.

Area of Growth: Creating variety in learning activities

I am very excited to begin my work in Admissions here at Alverno. While Alverno boasts an alternative ability-based curriculum, I think there may be room for the admissions process to make some changes that do less mimicking of all the other undergraduate programs in the area. It would make more sense to assess the actual abilities of the prospective students based on what Alverno values. I do not have any of the details worked out, but I am very motivated to put my thinking cap on. It would help students determine what is different about Alverno. It is explained in the literature and at the Open House events, but I think it would really drive it home if some of the assessment materials determining acceptance were based a bit more on the undergraduate Alverno abilities.

Diagnosis: Linking observations of behavior and situations using educational structures to nurture learning.

Strength: Collecting information through observation of interaction and through questioning

As a student I am pretty comfortable asking questions. Alverno is very adamant about learning through interaction with other students. So far, my graduate classes seem to be great forums for questioning, observing, and generally learning from each other's experiences. I have definitely been thinking about all of the different people I will be working with in an administrative position at a college or university. I spend a great deal of time with undergraduates throughout the week to help me paint a clearer, all inclusive picture of the student body at Alverno.

I recently attended a weekend long event with a student club. I am new to the club, so I did not have any expectations for the event. I do not think I would have even attended had I not felt a strong sense of inclusion when I joined the club. By the other students making me feel as if I belonged I was able to attend the event and observe, ask questions of the veterans, and participate when I felt comfortable. I now have a very clear idea of the club's mission and purpose.

I remember an incident with a previous employer when I was sure I would be receiving an amazing performance review. I did not. This prompted me to discuss very specific situations where my superior and I did not see eye to eye. I understood that he had a different perception of how I performed a few specific responsibilities, but in order for me to improve on them in hope of a better review the next time I needed him to spell out his expectations. He did, and I repeated them back to him. I also wrote them down. This is a practice I emphasize with others. Documentation of situations along with an inquisitive mind can clarify specifics and provide clear goals for the learner and teacher. This practice also leaves very little room for misinterpretation.

Area of Growth: Developing frameworks to understand the information coming in

My career change will provide me with the opportunity work with prospective college students as my learners. While I believe I can easily apply Bronfenbrenner's ecological thory to determine a learner's influences, and I should be able to determine a college student's "mindset" there are other, more elusive theories that I will need to study a bit more to gain a full understanding, and how it applies to my learner's environment. I have just begun to consider my own philospohy of education and how my personal theories will play out in practice.

Conceptualization: The process of constructing ideas that theoretically incorporate many fields of study and educational structures. These ideas are rooted in a basic understanding of human development, and assist in planning and implementing learning processes.

Strength: Recognizing the impact of differences in order to plan learning experiences that meet the needs of individuals and the group

I have had many group assignments as part of my graduate coursework. I truly appreciate the diversity in the classroom environment. It is refreshing to incorporate multiple perspectives within an assignment. I believe it is also necessary that everyone be heard and allowed to contribute each time we are given a group assignment.

As a new member of a student organization at Alverno I have taken the time to get to know some of the seemingly quieter members of the club. I have been a successful liason between the board members and a few individuals who have shared their ideas with me, but are not yet comfortable sharing at our public meetings.

In my last position as a supervisor of a diverse group of learners I was proactive about getting to know each individual on a personal and professional level. This allowed me to successfully create acomfortable learning environment for all of us individually and collectively as a group.

Area of Growth: Becoming aware of probelmatic issues inherent in the system

As I work towards a permanent position on the administrative side of higher education I am spending time observing others who are currently in a role I aspire to be in one day. I am diligent about asking questions regarding the structure and systems in place, but also the challenges that are facing specific departments, and the institution as a whole. It will be important for me to know what challenges higher education institutions are facing. I will be of more value to my future co-workers. It will also help me to be honest and forthcoming with students regarding the limitations or issues they will be facing as students of the institution.