Category Archives: student affairs

Worth the Price of Admission?

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I never expect to see perfect work from an imperfect man. ~Alexander Hamilton

Middlesex University (U.K.) was in the news this week for falsely sending 2,500 admission acceptance letters to students who had not yet been accepted. I began my student affairs career as an enrollment services professional, serving as director of admissions for two small private colleges. On several occasions, I likely admitted a student that never should have been in college. I am not perfect. But I am certain that I never mistakenly notified 200 students or 29,000 students that they were admitted to college. Our students deserve better.



Tornado Watch: Assessments for Student Retention

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As a resident of tornado alley, there is a summer tradition of dusting off the Twister DVD while scanning the afternoon skies for possible wall clouds. The film takes place in Oklahoma, but was filmed near my current home in central Iowa. The story follows a team of meteorological students and scientists as they attempt to place weather sensors in the path of a tornado to measure readings inside of the storm. After many failed attempts, injuries, and even fatalities, our protagonists successfully launch the sensors and save humanity. Err, save their research. As the flick can also be caught at least three times a week on cable during the summer, I catch up on all of my favorite lines.

Jo: [cow flies by in the storm) Cow.
[cow flies by in the storm]
Jo: ‘Nother cow.
Bill: Actually, I think it was the same one.
Watching the segment as the sensors rise into the F-5 tornado and begin generating data, I am reminded of our students, particularly those in the first-year. If we could read their minds and extrapolate the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, surely we could develop better methods for student success and retention. Fortunately, there are a variety of assessments to assist in this process.

The College Student Inventory™ (CSI) from Noel-Levitz allows students to answer questions regarding their strengths and challenges before they even arrive on campus. I ask my incoming students to complete this assessment after summer orientation and use the information to frame our beginning of the year 1:1 appointments. The student and advisor reports are handy for discussion and the group summary reports provide great information for planning our first-year seminar course and programming topics.

MAP-Works® offers a similar tool to discover student transition issues early in the semester. Students develop a personal profile based on their initial campus experience that is measured for potential barriers to success. A web-based report is generated immediately for students and faculty or staff advisors that compares with all first-year students on our campus. Campus resource services are suggested where needed.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) helps demonstrate theory that there are distinct patterns to individual psychological types even though persons exhibit these patterns in different ways. Helping students to understand their type preferences and how they affect personal learning styles provides a common ground for understanding differences and the transition to college. I provide an MBTI learning styles assessment for each student in our first-year seminar each fall. Students do not always grasp the type concept, but do find meaning from discussion of the transition to university style learning.

It is common knowledge among student affairs practitioners that students enter the college or university with varying degrees of emotional intelligence. Additionally, those familiar with retention issues will cite non-academic challenges as the frequent impetus for student attrition. Assessing emotional intelligence using the EQ-i® allows students to see potential areas for growth that may enhance adaptation and coping skills leading to academic achievement. I find the EQ-i particularly helpful for students seeking direction in their academic or life plan.

While no assessment tool can foresee every difficulty faced by our students on the path to graduation, I have found these tools to be helpful for communication, planning, and advising. Not a certified MBTI or EQ-i user? Check with your human resources office for recommendations.

Have you tried these assessments? Other tools you suggest?

Enjoyed Twister and need a good summer read? Check out The Stormchasers.

Tortoise and the…Tortoise

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Unlike the hare of Aesop’s Fable lore that mocked and ridiculed the slow tortoise before losing a race to him, the tortoise featured in this video knows what it means to help someone when they are feeling down. Or upside down.

Our work in student affairs, particularly in the first-year, is about up righting students when they need it and giving them a nudge in a new direction. Some days it is not about the race, but instead it is about the journey and who we can help along the way.

Be a tortoise today.

First-Year Experience Prep: The Quiz

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Our dean of students office contributes to sessions throughout the university’s fifteen summer orientation programs including a welcome, faculty panel, family program and resource fair. Prior to the faculty panel that I facilitate most mornings, our orientation staff shares a list of discussion questions, a quiz of sorts, for parents and families to share with their student on the ride home from orientation. This quiz is a handy tool for any prospective first-year student and for the families they leave behind.

What is something you learned at orientation that surprised you?

What are your academic and social expectations for the first semester of college?

How will you handle things if your expectations aren’t met?

How often do you think we’ll talk and communicate during your first semester? What
will be the best times for us to connect?

How do you feel about your class schedule? Are you excited about your major?

What will you do if you get yourself into a jam?

How we should approach discussing money while you’re at school?

What information will we share through third-party access at the university?

What kind of meal plan do you think will be best for you?

How will we prepare for move-in day?

What will it be like to say goodbye?

When you think about beginning your first day at the university, what are you most excited about? What are you most nervous about?


What other topics should first-year students and their families discuss before the fall semester?

Oh, The Places You’ll Go

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Congrats to our new Hixson Scholar graduates and everyone else celebrating their academic achievements this month. Special props to one of our 2004 award recipients, Tyler Dohlman, who just completed his DVM.



But the unfortunate, yet truly exciting thing about your life, is that there is no core curriculum. The entire place is an elective. The paths are infinite and the results uncertain.

~Jon Stewart (2004 commencement address to The College of William and Mary)



So…get on your way!




photo credit Christopher Gannon/TheRegister

I’ve gotta feeling…

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There was a day last week when my work day began at 5:45 a.m. with a two and a half hour drive to a meeting and concluded fifteen hours later in a final class meeting with our very talented peer mentors. And I was smiling. Because on days like that, I’ve gotta feeling that I have the best job in the world.

Little Engine That Could

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April is what it is in Student Affairs.
Without doubt, it is one of the most challenging thirty day stretches
that those of us in the field face annually.



A holiday, one campus festival, and an out of town soccer tournament.


I think I can, I think I can.


57 graduation notes to send.


I think I can, I think I can.


Three budget forecasts to review.


I think I can, I think I can.


Two graduate assistants to hire.


I think I can, I think I can.


Two annual reports to complete.


I think I can, I think I can.


One birthday party to plan.


I think I can, I think I can.


562 scholarship applications to read.


I think I can, I think I can.


One research paper to write.


I think I can, I think I can.

Token of Appreciation

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The peer mentors that work with our scholarship program make me exceedingly proud. They are a selfless, giving, hardworking bunch, doing what they do for recogntion only. They are students of character.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired and success achieved. ~Helen Keller

April is the cruelest month?

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In the next thirty days, I will read more than 550 scholarship applications and help 100 students afford a college education. April is my busiest month, and by awarding nearly $1.5 million in scholarship dollars, also the most significant. We find students who wish to fulfill their dream of a college education. Every minute counts as we finalize application files, review FAFSA information, and crunch through committee reviews, all before May 1.

Ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu has a good reminder for me this time of year.

Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.