Good Students:
This is to introduce you to Alicia Keating, CSA '04, who currently serves Florida Atlantic University as assistant director of student involvement and leadership. All of you are expected to follow the blog and pay attention to Alicia remarks and the questions and comments from your peers. However, only the first third of you, alphabetically (that's folks with last names between Applegate and Gonzalez), are supposed to actively participate in the exchange with Alicia.
Alicia, let's start by your reacting to some of the questions below.
1.) Describe your path to your current position. What led you to make the choices (staying and leaving) that you did? Were there any triggering factor that motivated your choices?
2.) Think of a difficult situation that you've faced in your career. How did you respond to it? Would you have done anything differently if you could have?
3.) What would you say are the keys to success in the field? What do you like most about the work and what do you like least?
If there are other points of advice you'd like to offer, feel free. This is a bright and eager group, poised for succes and still anxious to learn.
Warmly,
TEM
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Hello USF CSA!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to be participating in this experience with you all and so honored to be asked by Dr. Miller to be a part of this neat project!
I commit to having all of my responses posted by the end of the day, today. Throughout the week, I'll have an easier time checking in during the day, so expect speedier responses!
Looking forward to this "online" week with you all!
Alicia
My first professional position after graduating from USF was as the Director of Student Activities and Leadership Development at Northwood University. Northwood is a small private school located in West Palm Beach, Florida. I accepted my position at Northwood for several reasons (in the order of importance to me below):
ReplyDelete1) Position description. I realized as soon as I read the position description that this job was perfect for me. Not only was I responsible for advising the programming board on campus, I also got to oversee all student organizations, coordinate volunteer projects, teach various classes and facilitate leadership development programs. It was the perfect blend of all the departments I loved at USF and now I got to do it all.
2) Supervision. I instantly clicked with the Dean of Students at Northwood during my phone interview and continued to love her as I participated in my on campus interview time with her. Once I found out I reported to her, I knew I had to get the job just to have the opportunity to continue to learn from her.
3) Size of school. I completed my undergrad degree at a small private school in the Northeast and after my experience at USF, was excited to return to a small school environment. Although I do have to say, I got a lot of flack from my fellow CSA-ers about going to a school no one has heard of… they were all looking at big, well-known universities (Texas A&M, Univ of Washington, UNC, etc), but to me, that was never important. I graduated from a college no one had heard of and I had an incredible experience there, so what did it matter to me if my school was Division I in football?
4) Location. I loved the idea of continuing to stay in Florida, especially the thought of living in West Palm Beach. I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t an important factor in my decision.
5) Students. You may wonder why students are so low on my list of reasons to take a job. Students are the reason I’m in this field, but in all honesty, I know I’ll love the students anywhere, so to me, it was a moot point.
6) Pay. My concern with pay when I was looking for my first job was just that I would have enough to live on. If pay were at all important, I never would have taken the job at Northwood (the pay definitely wasn’t there)!
I think one of the most important things to evaluate as you begin your job search is what your values and priorities are. Is the position description most important, or the location? The pay scale, or the responsibilities? If you make a decision based on your own values, I have to hope you’re more likely to be happy because you’re more likely to be living in congruence. If I had gone after a higher paying entry-level job, but the position wasn’t as inspiring to me, I don’t think I would have been nearly as happy.
I remained at Northwood University for four years, and absolutely loved it throughout those four years. I had an amazing position I was able to learn so much from. My first year was just figuring it all out, particularly how to balance it all. I always thought my first job was going to be a breeze. As a graduate assistant at USF in the Office of Student Activities, I worked WAY more than my 20 hours a week (probably closer to 40) plus I was a straight A student in grad school, which took some time. I thought by getting rid of the schoolwork, I would have so much more time on my hands. I learned quickly that I was wrong! Being a professional in the field is very different from a graduate assistant, and there is no extra time.
My second year I was able to take what I had learned from the first year and change to mold my programs to how I thought they would be most effective. I changed the structure of my programming board, homecoming week, student organization registration, etc. I loved it. I had the wonderful support from my supervisor who trusted I could create change in my department to affect students positively. It was awesome and I felt so successful in my second and third years.
ReplyDeleteBy the time my fourth year had rolled around, I was still enjoying my job, but I knew it was time to move on. I had impacted Northwood how I knew I could, but I was starting to get stale there and I knew I had to move on that year in order to get reenergized. Something I know about myself as a student affairs professional is that I like to create change. I would so much prefer going to a university where significant change is needed, than accepting a position where things are already set in order. I knew my time at Northwood was over because I wasn’t excited by change anymore. I felt I had done what I was capable of and it was time for me to move on.
It was at that time I decided to conduct my second job search, but for this job search, my values and priorities had changed immensely. This time, location and pay were much more important to me. I wanted a new job, but I wanted to stay in West Palm Beach, and I wanted to make more money. I interviewed for several jobs in the area and got offered a few… all jobs that would be keep me in West Palm Beach and pay me a lot more, but as much as I valued location and pay in the job search, the position description always trumped them. The stars aligned the day I was offered my most recent position at Florida Atlantic University as Assistant Director of Student Involvement and Leadership. Not only was I able to stay in West Palm Beach and get paid more, I was also inspired again by my job description!
I’ve been in my current position at FAU now for 20 months and am very happy. I have been able to take all that I learned at Northwood and apply it to my current position (mainly in the area of work/life balance) and realize that I love being a specialist in student activities. At Northwood, I was able to gain experience in all areas of Student Life. At FAU, I’m able to specialize in what I’m best at, programming and leadership development. And in my second year, I’m in my favorite stage of a position, initiating change!
Thanks for sharing your experience Alicia. I appreciated what you said about being a change agent. Can you offer some advice how you can be an agent of change? I also liked what you said about work/life balance. We have been discussing this alot in our Wellness class. What do you see as keys to success for work/life balance?
ReplyDelete2.)Think of a difficult situation that you've faced in your career. How did you respond to it? Would you have done anything differently if you could have?
ReplyDeleteI have certainly had my share of difficult situations professionally. I think the one that affects me the most often, especially since I began my time at FAU, is my emotional response to situations. I’m an extremely passionate person, hence am often extremely passionate when it comes to my work, particularly when I believe those around me are not working in the best interest of my students. I have a tendency to fly off the handle from time and time and some of my relationships at work have been negatively impacted by this behavior.
I have been in a few situations in the past year where I’ve been at odds with some people at the university. I’ll give one example… last spring my Program Board was coordinating a Battle of the Bands event. They received over 20 band applications and were in a position where they had to choose the top 6 bands to perform at the Battle of the Bands competition. Obviously many bands were not chosen. A fellow university co-worker of mine (not in the Student Affairs division) decided to host a competing Battle of the Bands in another venue on campus with some of the bands who were not chosen by us at the same time of the Program Board event (it turns out his son’s band hadn’t been chosen by Program Board). When I found out this news I was furious. Not only had my students worked hard to put on this event, now they had to compete against another similar event on campus. My first reaction in this situation was to march directly to this co-worker and make it known I was not happy, which I did, in a very heated manner. I didn’t get anywhere in the conversation, besides just more frustrated. Looking back at it, I know I should have spent some time thinking about the situation and coming up with a plan on how to deal with it, rather than reacting emotionally to the situation by yelling at someone. Regardless of who was right in the situation, my emotional reaction was unnecessary and non-productive. Rather than make any progress, my reaction only caused tension between my department and my co-workers department.
I’ve made a conscious decision in the past few months to try to put strategies in place to not deal so emotionally with situations. Two things I must do when I get heated about a situation are to reflect and to discuss with my supervisor. By using these strategies I’ve been so much better dealing less emotionally with situations. I know to take a day before I initiate conversations about matters I feel passionately about. I also am lucky to have a great supervisor who understands my personality and can help me through this process. Most times, my emotion, my passion, and my fearlessness in dealing with conflict and challenging those around me has helped me serve as an effective change agent in my position, but at times, particularly when I react quickly to a situation, without a plan, without strategizing a potential outcome, I regret my emotional reaction. Instead, by being more deliberate in my approach, I can be even more effective.
In my mind, there are so many keys to success in the field of Student Affairs. Here are a few that come to mind (in no particular order):
ReplyDelete1) Writing. Never underestimate the importance of being an effective writer. I can’t tell you how many times my writing has been critical to my job success and has also opened up new doors for me. I’ve been invited to serve on some neat committees because of my ability to write effectively. Pay attention to all the feedback your CSA professors are giving you now! I’m constantly writing reports, emails, summaries, budget requests, vision statements, etc. I actually even had to write a paper to get my position at FAU… APA style and all.
2) Staying inspired and energetic. As I wrote in an earlier entry, I knew I had to leave my first job after four years because I wasn’t energized or inspired by my work anymore. I needed a new challenge. If you’re bored in your job, either find a new one, or ask for some new responsibilities.
3) Being a constant professional. I believe it is very important, especially as a young professional, to be very aware of your relationships with students. I have always been close to students. In student activities, it’s a natural connection, but I’m very aware of my advisor relationship with students. My students may refer to our relationship as a friendship, but in reality, that is not what it is. I may know a lot about my students, but they don’t know a ton about me, personally. They may know that I’m a tennis nut and I live with my boyfriend, but they don’t know what I’m doing on a Saturday night or when I get in a fight with my mom. We’re not shopping together at the mall or going out to a bar for some drinks. There is no need for that. Too many times, I see student affairs professionals telling their students about their latest fight with a boyfriend and asking for advice or sharing shots with students at a club downtown. I think in order to be looked at as a professional and respected by your students, you must treat your position with respect and not cross that line.
4) Work/life balance. This is something that has taken me years to figure out, but something I think I’ve finally become good at. The reality is that your work is never going to be completely done. No matter what time you go home, there will always still be a pile waiting in the morning for you. Even though I knew this, it was still hard for me to understand until very recently. I’m sure you all understand the importance of work/life balance, so I won’t philosophize on that here, but I will touch on some strategies that work for me.
ReplyDeletea. Leave the office two days a week at 5 pm. As a Student Activities professional, I work a lot of nights, but the days I don’t have meetings or events, I make sure to leave the office at 5 pm. I also try to make the nights I do have events more time effective for me. For instance, most of our events begin at 9 pm, so I don’t need to be there until about 8 pm to check in on set up with my students. I use that time from 5 – 8 pm to close my office door and bang out a bunch of work. I used to spend that time from 5 – 8 pm with my students helping them set up or prepare for events, but I’ve realized in the last couple of years they don’t need me there for that set up time, rather they are fully capable of it all themselves. Instead, I can use that time to get other things done.
b. Be effective with your time. I try, as often as I can, to be productive with every minute I have at work. I don’t pull up facebook every 30 minutes or surf the web. I can do that stuff at night when I’m not at work. Even though its fun to check in on those things, it is ridiculously time-consuming and I would so much rather spend that time at home with my boyfriend, or out to dinner with friends, or going to bed earlier!
c. Find something that pulls you away from work. For me, it was signing up for tennis lessons. I have a boyfriend that works late like I do, so it’s not a big deal when we’re both at work all the time, except for the fact that work then consumes us both. We decided to sign up for tennis lessons because we knew that would be something that would force us to leave at least a day a week.
d. Take a lunch. I always bring my lunch to work and usually eat it at my desk, while either working or meeting with students. Within the last year, I have changed my lunch patterns. I still often times eat at my desk, but instead of working on work, I’ll use that time to pay my bills online, or read the latest celebrity gossip, or even check facebook! I find taking this short 30 minutes to myself helps me to be more productive in the afternoon.
e. Evaluate your commitments. Be careful with what you say yes to. I participate in so many things that are above and beyond my job description. For instance, I advise a bunch of student organizations that are not part of my position within the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership. Rather I became involved in these organizations because I got to know students who ran the organizations and then asked me to serve as an advisor. Saying yes, once or twice, to this is perfectly okay, but when you’re up to 8-10 organizations, of course it’s going to take away from your ability to balance things. I learned this the hard way and had to work that out this year.
Offering some advice on how to be a change agent… hmmmm that’s a tough question.
ReplyDeleteI would consider myself a visionary leader. One of my natural talents is to create a vision and for me, in order to create change, I first must begin with a vision of what can be. I’m not sure how I fully realize a vision, but I can think of some little things I do in order to get there. One of my first steps is to take time out to be creative. Creativity is such an important aspect of anything and most of us just don’t take enough time out to be creative and let our thoughts flow. We want to make time at work to be creative, but it never happens… there’s just not time for it! I actually put time aside in my life to “be creative”. I will often go on a walk to just let my thoughts flow. I also sometimes go to the beach, not with a radio or friends or for a typical beach visit; rather I just bring down a chair and a notebook and let my ideas take over me. I’m sure others have strategies that work for them, but for me, I have to put specific blocks of time aside in order to be creative.
Along with trying to find ways to spark my creativity, I also love to talk to people about what could be. I’ve been lucky to have had awesome supervisors to bounce ideas off of, also some superstar students that love to talk about the ideal way a program could be run. I also have some friends I value in the field who, as often as I can, I ask for feedback about what they’re doing or what they think about what I’m doing. One of my most trusted friends actually works at USF now and hopefully lots of you know her, Mrs. Jennifer Brack Espinola! She has always been someone I call to discuss things with and much of my development as a professional is due to her amazing feedback.
Being able to articulate your vision and ideas of change is also important. I think this comes from fully understanding where you want to end up and being able to share that concept with others. I also think a characteristic of mine that has helped me articulate and share my vision and ideas with others is my energy and enthusiasm. I could have the best idea in the world, but if I’m delivering that idea with a monotone, bored tone, I’ll get nowhere. Rather, by making it apparent you believe in an idea through your ability to explain it well and get excited about it, you win over those around you. And in order to create change, you need support!
Another thing critical to success as a change agent, in my opinion, is timing. For instance, from the time I interviewed with FAU, I knew the Program Board had to be completely dismantled, restructured and reenergized, BUT I also knew I couldn’t do that in the first year. Instead, I took my first year to fully understand the environment at FAU, the key people I would need to support my ideas of change, and fully create my vision for what it could be. If I had moved in right away and tried to change everything, regardless of my intent or results, I would have offended those I needed support from and not been as successful. By waiting a year to initiate my plan, I was able to fully understand what I wanted to work towards and get those around me on board to understand what we could accomplish!
If you haven’t already, I would recommend reading the book The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner. I read this book in a leadership course I took as an undergrad and since then the book has framed my way of looking at leadership. In this book, Kouzes and Posner write about 5 leadership practices that are shared among exemplary leaders. Two of these practices include “inspiring a shared vision” and “challenging the process”, which are both critical to my success as a student affairs professional.
You mentioned responding emotionally to some difficult situations and how you are trying to work through this by reflection and disucssion. Have you ever been in a situation that challenged your professional ethical standards? We are currently working on a paper on this very topic, and I am curious to know if this has ever been a reality for you. If so, what would be your advice in responding to such a situation?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for participating, Alicia. Your responses are very insightful, and I really appreciate them. Looking back on your journey as a new professional, it is easy to trace your path from a graduate student to your current position as assistant director of student involvement and leadership at FAU. But can you talk a little bit about that period of time between graduate school and your first professional position at Northwood. At that point, you didn't know exactly where the job search would take you. Was the anticipation of finding the "right" job overwhelming at times? Do you have any suggestions for those of us, the "worriers," who may not deal very well with the issue of uncertainty?
ReplyDelete-Amanda Cutchens
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great question! I can tell you I’ve definitely put the “job searching” semester at USF out of mind. I remember it being a stressful time and never wanting to go through anything like that again, however, I also know I got through it and it worked out for all of us in my grad class.
I participated in the placement exchange at ACPA in the spring of my second year of grad school, which I’m sure most of you will be participating in soon enough. I can honestly tell you I hated that experience from beginning to end and would not wish it upon anyone. However, it is a necessary part of our field and something we all go through. I can also tell you that some of the members of my cohort loved the placement exchange. So it’s certainly a matter of personal preference, so please don’t be influenced negatively by my experience, rather, learn some things from my experience and make up your own mind when you go through it yourself.
My first piece of advice is to be PREPARED. I was not at all prepared and probably hated placement because of my lack of preparation. By being prepared, I mean more than just having a good resume… I mean being prepared with answers to common interview questions, knowing about some of the schools you’re interested in, figuring out what sorts of positions you want to apply for, and wearing dressy clothes and shoes you are comfortable in (heels are great for women in interviews, but make sure you bring some back up flats for the long walks from your hotel room to placement – I didn’t and I’m pretty sure my feet still haven’t forgiven me).
It’s so important to be prepped for common interview questions. I remember the first interview I had at placement and it was a nightmare. It was for my dream job in student activities and I was so confident going into the interview, until I sat down and realized I didn’t have good responses to any of the questions that were asked of me. Instead I stumbled and couldn’t even communicate why the position seemed so intriguing to me, never mind anything about why I might be qualified for the job. It was terrible and I could have avoided all of that terribleness if I had just practiced a little bit with some sample interview questions. In almost every interview you are going to be asked to “tell us a little bit about yourself”. You are going to be asked about your strengths and your experiences and your goals. Make sure you know the answers to those questions! It’s not cheating to prepare! And it makes you sound so much better. The first thing I did when I got back from ACPA was to fully prepare for upcoming interviews and I became a different candidate.
ReplyDeleteI will also tell you that nothing happened for me after ACPA placement. I got a couple of follow up phone interviews, but nothing really. And at the time, I remember it being hard to handle that I didn’t have a lot of placement action because it seemed everyone around me was getting calls left and right to come on campus interviews. I had nothing, but I kept at the job search and quickly realized there were new jobs being posted everyday that were not available at NACA. I just kept applying to those new jobs and that’s where I had all my luck. I would recommend not comparing yourself to others in your graduating class. If someone is getting more interviews than other people it doesn’t mean he/she is any better, it could mean he/she is applying to more jobs or has a couple more years of experience than you do prior to grad school. No big deal! Focus on your own job search and your experience.
I’m not sure the anticipation of finding the “right” job was overwhelming for me. I chose a career in student affairs because I wanted to have a positive impact on students and knew I would be able to do this in any position. Of course it was stressful along the way, the uncertainty and not knowing, but I’ve always had an inner faith in myself that things would work out, so I just focused on that. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the process, but I felt better surrounded by friends who were going through the same experience. I know that isn’t any clear advice nor does it comfort the feelings that occur during the job search, but I’m not sure I have any secret answers to this.
Have you ever been in a situation that challenged your professional ethical standards?
ReplyDeleteYou all ask such challenging questions! I’ve definitely been in several situations that have challenged my professional ethical standards. I have to figure most people have, at some point or another. For me, if something doesn’t feel right, or I’m questioning something, I always try to talk it out with one of my “trusted” co-workers. I think it’s critical to have a couple of people on your campus with whom you can be completely honest and ask for feedback. I think this helps to give you greater perspective in a situation.
Something I think I have really learned over the years is how important it is to not have conversations about others. If you have issues with someone, bring it to that person. Don’t complain and go on and on about others unless you’re willing to address issues to their face. Of course we all need time to vent about people and things happening on our campus, but be careful to only discuss these issues with a trusted co-worker instead of blabbing to anyone who will listen. I learned this quickly as a grad student and am so glad to have learned that lesson in grad school rather than as a professional.
Thank you for taking this time to talk with us Alicia. You mentioned in one of your earlier posts during your second job search that you were offered a few positions that fit most of what you were looking for in a new position. Could you talk a little bit about how you came to the decision they were not "right" for you, and how you professionally declined the offer? Hopefully we all will be offered a few jobs during this job search season, and this may be beneficial to know.
ReplyDeleteHi Shaun!
ReplyDeleteWhen I conducted my second job search, my priorities were much different. Rather than focusing on the position description, I was more focused on finding a job that paid better and would let me stay in West Palm Beach. At the time, I thought I would take any job that would allow me to fulfill those two wishes. I was tired of being in the low $30’s for my salary and had a great life in West Palm that I wasn’t ready to leave. I interviewed at a few different universities, mainly for jobs that weren’t in student activities. I also interviewed at a couple of universities that were non-traditional, in a sense (for-profit institutions). I learned during this job search that in order for me to find a higher paying job, because I was so geographically limited, I would need to settle on some other things (i.e. maybe the position not being ideal for me or working at an institution I didn’t necessarily believe in). Luckily, I never had to make the choice of money over the position. I was offered three different positions at three different universities, all during the same week, and lucky for me, FAU was one of those universities. It took me a couple of days to make my decision, but I didn’t have to deliberate long and hard. Although the other two universities were offering me more money than FAU, FAU had the perfect student activities position to make up for any extra money the others were offering.
Once I accepted the position at FAU, I soon called the other two schools to tell them I wouldn’t be accepting their offers. I don’t remember too much about those calls, but I do know I called them as soon as I had accepted the position at FAU. I’ve been on the hiring end of a job search so many times that I knew I prefer to know as soon as possible if a candidate is going to accept the position or not, so I wanted to make sure I did that.
I also think as you all are hopefully getting multiple job offers this season, it’s important to make a decision and then stick with it. I know a few people that accepted job offers and then were still participating in on-campus interviews at other universities in case something better came along. I think that is dishonest and an unethical way to conduct a job search. I also believe once you make your decision, it is up to you to make it the right decision. Don’t go back and forth and say to yourself, “what if I make the wrong decision”? In my mind, there is no wrong decision. YOU make it the right decision.
Thank you so much for your time. I am also interested in student activities and work in the Office of Student Programs at USF right now.
ReplyDeleteStudent activities is an area where the life/work balance can be difficult but can you speak a bit about how you stay current on the field. Like what sort of professional development have you been able to be a part of and what would you recommend as a way to stay up on current trends without drowning in work.
Alicia,
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of the cohort and Dr. Miller, I also want to thank you for your comments and participation in this exercise. I had a chance to follow this blog with a bit of a different perspective than my classmates. I am currently a working professional and a graduate student in the CSA program. As my classmates have heard me speak about my experiences all too often, I won't bore you with further detail. But, it is evident that you are a product of this wonderful program and truly embody the passionate and dedicated professional that I believe my classmates will soon become. I wish them all luck at placement exchange and have no doubt that your words of wisdom will be put to good use. Again, thanks for putting so much time and personality into this beneficial experience for the CSA class of 2010!
Alicia!
ReplyDeleteOh My Goodness! Thank you so much for the time you have been putting into responding to all of us so diligently. Your answers have been both reassuring and incredibly informational and as we all head into placement exchange next week I know that my cohort members and I will take so much from what you've said. I noticed that you mentioned coming from a small private in the North East and returning to a small private for your first professional position. Would you be willing to speak a little about the differences you found going from the graduate assistant role at USF to a professional role at a Northwood. I know that there are several of us that have only had large public experiences outside of practicum and it would be interesting to hear your take on making the transition both from grad to professional and from large public to small private. Thank you so much again!!
~Vince Applegate
Hi all! Sorry to have been out of touch for a day or so… the end of my week is always craziest as we prepare for weekend events!
ReplyDeleteI’ll be honest and say I don’t participate in a ton of “traditional” professional development. The only professional organization I am involved in right now is NACA and even with that organization I only attend the regional conference in the fall. When I was at Northwood, there was no money for professional memberships or conference travel, so anything I wanted to do was out of my own pocket (one of the negatives for being at some small really schools). And FAU has been on a travel freeze until just a couple of months ago, so conferences haven’t been a reality for me in quite some time.
Although my “traditional” professional development hasn’t been so great, I have participated in several opportunities through my universities. At Northwood, my supervisor held monthly professional development workshops where we would put aside two hours to discuss various areas such as student development theory, supervision, budget management, etc. I also participated in a reading circle where every term a group of us would read a few chapters of a leadership-oriented book every few weeks and the come together for discussion. At FAU every month, Student Affairs Institute sessions are offered to give our staff the ability to spend the day working on a particular area (similar topics to Northwood: supervision, budget management, etc.).
I feel the way you go about professional development is absolutely a personal choice. Some love the conferences, where others prefer keeping up on the reading in the field. For me, I take what I can get. I haven’t had the money to be able to travel a ton for professional development, but I have taken full advantage of the opportunities provided to me by my institution.
Thanks to all of you who have shared such kind words throughout my writing. It is much appreciated! And I’m glad to offer any insight based on my past experience…
ReplyDeleteI definitely had an interesting experience transitioning from being a graduate assistant at USF to a professional at Northwood. USF was worlds bigger than Northwood and that fact was so evident in my first few months at Northwood. First, just in the size of the campus… at USF I was used to being lost on campus even after being there for two years. At Northwood, there were FIVE buildings. That was quite a transition. There was one cafeteria at Northwood; no Starbucks, or Chick-fil-A, or convenience store that I was used to at USF. It was so different. And Northwood was even different from my undergraduate experience because of its size. Western New England College had 2400 students when I was there, Northwood had only 600, so it was quite a change.
For me, the great things about being at a small school are numerous! I love seeing the same students frequently and really getting to know them in and out of the classroom. I love knowing the faculty very well, as well as all the other staff members on campus, including athletic coaches, maintenance staff and business services. I never experienced that at USF. I didn’t even know all the people I worked with in the Marshall Center at USF. Also, the politics at Northwood were very different from my experience at USF and now at FAU. To me, it seems much easier to accomplish things or create change at a small university, but that could have been unique to my experience at Northwood as well.
As much as I love small institutions, I have to tell you how much I love being back at a large university! There are so many more resources for students, as well as for departments. I went from a student activities budget of $30,000 at Northwood to a budget of just over $650,000 at FAU. Now that was nice! The scale of programming is so much grander at FAU and something I really enjoy. I also have the ability to affect so many more students at FAU, which motivates me to constantly seek out new students. I’m always meeting students and staff members that I’ve never met before.
I am the kind of person who will always make the best of any situation I am in… therefore I can’t say which I prefer, a small or large school. They are vastly different in so many ways, so I’m excited to be able to say that I have experience in both.