Job Shadowing Experience 2

Ashley Adams, Director of Student Affairs for World Campus, was kind enough to invite me to sit in on her team meeting. There I met a few of her staff that help run the student affairs services at World Campus. I was particularly interested in job shadowing Ashley for a several reasons: her position was brand new when she came on board approximately 2 years ago, so I was curious about the challenges she faced developing the position; and she is one of a very small group of women of color holding leadership roles at Penn State, and potentially the only at World Campus. I wanted to know about her experience as a woman, and particularly a woman of color in a predominately white male dominated arena.

I enjoyed sitting in on the team meeting and learned that there are responsibilities that fall under student affairs that I was not aware of. For instance, student conduct. I had only been thinking about student affairs as operating in the realm of engagement and inclusivity, not student behavior issues. Ashley and her team have been working to pull all relevant teams together to work under the umbrella of student affairs. Right now, it is my understanding that the Student Affairs unit is made up of members from Student Conduct, Care and Concern team, the Mental Health team, and Career Services.

One of the best things I learned from watching Ashley in action was her ability to make everyone at the table feel important. Additionally, she employed a little exercise that I thought was really fun and a great way to get to know her staff on a more personal level. She called it “Pew, pew pew” (you have to say it like a stormtrooper’s gun in Star Wars). Basically, it’s an exercise in which each meeting attendee is engaged by answering a question that she poses. Meeting participants are to respond rapid fire, (hence the name, “pew, pew pew”), without much thought, just the first thing that came to mind. This time, the question was, “When you think of your childhood, what did it smell like?” Think about that for a second – whether she meant to or not, she instantly transported us all back to our childhoods and, inevitably good memories (or at least, hopefully, good memories). So, not only were we all then nostalgic, we were also in a totally different mind set. It changed the tone of the meeting from all business, to more of a calm vibe. As we went around the table I heard stories of first houses, oceans, grandparents and other childhood memories that gave me some insight to the people I was sitting around the table with. I really liked the exercise, and hope to employ it as a leader myself someday!

After everyone left, Ashley and I met individually where I peppered her with questions about her career path and her experiences here at Penn State. She outlined the World Campus strategic objectives and priorities and framed the role of Student Affairs within that strategy. Some of the goals specifically for the Student Affairs unit are still being developed by Ashley and her team, but she did list the following as considerations:

  • Moving student affairs from advocacy to action
  • Expanding Co-curricular partnerships
  • Encouraging student leadership development
  • Advancing scholarship of student affairs

We talked a lot about retention and also the demographics of World Campus students. The number of students of color is low, and the stop out rate for those students is high. This is a real issue and something Ashley feels passionately about addressing.

I asked her about her experiences here at Penn State World Campus and if she had encountered discrimination. She was very positive overall, stating that the support to get her unit up and running was good and that she’s been able to build a few key partnerships that have really helped her accomplish her vision for the unit. Regarding my discrimination question, Ashley provided some examples of microaggressions and challenges that she’s faced as a result of her gender, race, and/or appearance. I can’t say I was surprised, given the historical environment of higher ed, however, I was still disappointed that we aren’t doing better as a University, as a community. I too am guilty of not doing enough, not being a productive advocate. I realized this when in a PSEL training a few weeks back in which we were asked “What do you do to promote/support diversity here at Penn State.” While I do not do anything in active opposition, I can’t honestly say I’ve done anything to support those that look different than me, live a different lifestyle than me, or have different religious beliefs than me. By not doing anything, I am not helping the issue, and perhaps, I may be unknowingly contributing to the lack of diversity problem. This is something I do hope to change in the near future by first participating in the diversity training offered through the University and then by getting involved. More on what that involvement will look like in a later post.

 

Leave a Reply