[inside student affairs]an insider’s guide for those helping students reach their goals toward optimal health and well-being, engagement with learning, and sense of belonging at PSU
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Join the Student Affairs Connection Crew
New employees already have so much to learn and so many people to meet. To support our new colleagues’ success in Student Affairs, we are launching the Connection Crew. Seasoned PSU employees will be assigned to incoming employees from a different department to help them get acquainted with PSU, be a familiar face, and provide tips and connections along the way. If you are interested in bridging connections for our new employees, please fill out this form to get involved.
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Updates from the Equity, Belonging, and Inclusion (EBI) Team
The Student Affairs Equity, Belonging, and Inclusion (EBI) team emerged from PSU's commitment to becoming an antiracist organization, focusing on dismantling structural and institutional racism within the division. Co-chairs Nic Francisco-Kaho’onei and Chris Bullard recently returned from the NASPA Racial Equity and Social Change conference in Washington, D.C. where they absorbed valuable insights. Dr. Bettina Love's keynote criticized performative DEI efforts, advocating for authentic equity work and the need for co-conspirators leveraging privilege for justice. Sessions encompassed restorative practices, diverse staff hiring, fostering psychological safety for racially marginalized employees, and promoting socially just leadership education. The conference culminated in a panel, "Navigating the Dissolution of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion," emphasizing actionable steps over mere concern, focusing on the most marginalized on campus. Nic and Chris are eager to share these takeaways with the EBI team and incorporate them into the division’s developing action plan! To learn more about the EBI team, visit the EBI webpage.
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Faculty Portrait of Mary H. Cumpston from 1978
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Call for Cumpston Award Nominations
The Mary H. Cumpston Award for Service to Students--named for a colleague whose contributions to PSU and the community enhanced the development and delivery of student services--is an award given annually to an unclassified academic professional or university administrator, without academic rank, who has demonstrated excellence in the area of service to students. The recipient will receive a citation and a $1,500 taxable honorarium. If you would like to recognize an employee who has served students well and inspired others, please consider submitting a nomination. For more information, visit the PSU Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards webpage. Completed nominations are due by February 9.
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Winterize Your Wardrobe
The Women's Resource Center, Basic Needs Hub, Queer Resource Center, DREAMer Resource Center, and Transfer Resource Center are hosting Winterize Your Wardrobe, a donation drive taking place on the 4th-floor of Smith Memorial Student Union. Please bring any hats, scarves, gloves, ear warmers, and jackets to donate at any of our drop-off sites. Then, on January 24 from 11 am to 2 pm, please join us in the 4th floor skybridge between Smith & Cramer for a big event where all donations will be distributed to PSU students! There will be food, drinks, and information about other resources on campus for students in need.
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Donate to Shop for Free
The Resource Center for Students with Children is seeking gently used items such as toys, children's books, housewares, school supplies, and clothing of all sizes (including adults!) If you have gently used items you no longer need, please bring donations to SMSU 462 by Tuesday, March 5th. And don't forget to pick up some "new to you" items at the Shop for Free event on March 7-8!
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[student activities and leadership programs]
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Winter Fest 2024
Cold days are made warmer by friendship and community! Organized by the Student Activities and Leadership Programs and PSU Campus Rec, Winter Fest is Portland State University’s annual decentralized winter engagement fair. Join us February 14-16 for three days of fun and informative events hosted by student organizations and campus partners, and learn about how to get involved with clubs, find leadership opportunities, on-campus jobs, internships and more. Once the complete festival schedule is made available, you will be able to find it on the Winter Fest website.
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Building Bridges: Expand Your Communication Toolbox
To connect with people across a variety of situations and modalities, today's leaders need a diverse portfolio of communication skills. SALP’s upcoming Leadership Conference will explore a range of topics that is sure to expand attendees’ communication toolboxes. The conference offers a unique opportunity to connect with student leaders and educators from multiple institutions, build networks, and gain practical skills. Registration closes January 18. For more information, please visit the event website.
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[student health and well-being]
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Rec Buddies Program
Want to get moving at Campus Rec, but aren’t sure where to start? Rec Buddies is a program that matches you with a Rec Expert to help you get comfortable at the PSU Rec Center. Free and open to all Campus Rec members. Find movement that brings you joy, explore the Rec Center, and challenge yourself. Now you have a buddy to experience it with! Register by Friday, January 12 for Priority Consideration.
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Night at the Blazers
Rip City! On Friday, January 19, Campus Rec members are invited to join the 9th annual Night at the Blazers as they take on the Indiana Pacers at 7 p.m at the Moda Center. Transportation is not provided, but it's a quick trip on the MAX. $10 tickets are on sale at Campus Rec’s Member Services desk. Limit of 2 tickets per member while supplies last. More details can be found on the event page.
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[university housing and residence life]
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Student Leader Applications
Know a student who can make a positive impact in their community? Applications for Resident Assistants and Learning Community Assistants are open for the 2024-2025 Academic Year. Students are compensated with housing and a meal plan, plus the leadership opportunity of a lifetime. The application deadline is Monday, January 29 at noon.
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UHRL Open House
PSU students, faculty, and staff are invited to University Housing and Residence Life's Open House from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 21. Housing staff will be available for exclusive room tours and to talk about on-campus housing options for this summer and the 2024-2025 academic year. Check in at Montgomery Lobby if you would like to participate, or visit the UHRL website to learn more about the various residence halls.
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SHAC and School of Social Work
SHAC is partnering with the School of Social Work to facilitate Care. Ask. Connect. viewing and discussion sessions for each seminar class during Spring term. Care. Ask. Connect. is a suicide prevention training that provides PSU affiliates with the knowledge and skills to support someone who is experiencing thoughts of suicide. If your department is interested in providing this learning opportunity to your students, staff, and faculty, connect with Arielle Hacker. You are also encouraged to self-enroll in the 2-hour asynchronous course.
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Basic Needs Hub and PSU Eats
The Basic Needs Hub and PSU Eats are working together to address food insecurity while also reducing waste. Once an on-campus event concludes, catering staff collects certain leftover foods that would otherwise be thrown out and redirects them to the Hub where students needing food assistance may be able to appreciate them. Catering director Jancarlo Caballero says, “I’m thrilled for our new partnership… This collaboration opens new opportunities to lower our carbon footprint by offsetting any overage, unused foods and making them accessible to our students with basic needs.”
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Student Activities and Leadership Programs and University Market
When India beat New Zealand to make it to the Cricket World Cup, the Indian Student Association scrambled to find a location to watch the final match four days later. Because matches can last over seven hours in addition to the time zone difference, ISA needed a space overnight that could accommodate 100 people who RSVPed. In order to make this opportunity happen, Fifth Avenue Cinema offered the group the theater on short notice, and University Market provided staff to keep the cinema open. With coordinated effort and people willing to step up, we were able to help this student group watch the historic cricket match.
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This fall, I had the opportunity to address a group of student leaders like I've done hundreds of times over the last three decades working in higher education. I don't know if I've ever felt more strongly about the importance of this work. Now more than ever, we need these students to emerge from our institutions ready to take on the difficult challenges that have beset our world. Here's part of what I told them (to read the full text, visit the VPSA webpage):
“I consider myself an optimist, though I know this is not a binary, and some days I don't feel as optimistic as others. My hunch is that there are lots of fellow optimists in this room. People who raise their hand and say I’m willing to be involved; I want to put my effort into working together with others toward something greater than myself… that sounds like optimism and hope to me.
I have 3 pieces of good news for all of you… even those of you who aren’t so sure you feel like an optimist on this particular day. This news comes from some intensive reading and listening I’ve been doing about the amazing things being discovered in the science of neurobiology--how our brains work—how does the biology of the brain work?...
First- that activity we just did, interacting with people we don’t know, meeting strangers and sharing a bit about ourselves—actually gives us a happiness boost…
Second- In a recent podcast, Andrew Huberman talks about the Anterior Mid-cingulate Cortex section of the brain, the neural basis for willpower and tenacity resides here. Huberman also has found that this part of the brain is bigger, and has more White Matter Tracts, in people who engage in doing hard things. Why does this matter?
Well, the really amazing finding is that we can actually grow this part of the brain and increase the number of White Matter Tracts in our brain the MORE HARD THINGS THAT WE DO. And therefore, we can increase our willpower and tenacity for the next go-round when making those hard choices will serve us well.
This leads me to the final bit of good news, and I didn’t need to listen to a neurobiologist or a happiness researcher to know this, and that is…Not everything in the world is going great right now. There’s lots of stuff that’s broken and needs optimistic, courageous leaders who are looking for hard things to do…
So to recap: One--Doing icebreakers is not only boosting your happiness, but also saving your life—even if you think of yourself as an introvert and really didn’t even want to be here today. Two--Doing hard things, like eating broccoli instead of cookies, is increasing your Anterior Mid-cingulate Cortex and increasing your willpower and tenacity, strengthening your ability to do other important, hard things. And finally (and I recognize this is sort of a good news/bad news kinda thing) there’s lots of broken stuff right now. And there are lots of opportunities to do hard things... right here at Portland State University and in the broader world.
Thank you again for all that you’ve already done in order to be in this room today. Thank you for the commitment you have made to our year ahead. I can’t wait to be there with you and to see the amazing, transformative ways PSU will change and all of our Anterior Mid-cingulate Cortexes will change as we do hard things together!”
-Michele
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[office of student affairs]
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[future editions]If you want to include something in an upcoming Inside Student Affairs, please email studentaffairs@pdx.edu. Archives of past issues can be found here.
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