The University of Utah |
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December 4, 2020

“Reflective thinking

turns experience into insight.”


-John C. Maxwell
  • All supervisors within student affairs must submit the VP approval form for all GAs, both returning & anticipated.

  • All supervisors who plan to offer positions to new GAs during the 2020-2021 academic year should also email Samantha Eldridge position descriptions.

  • New graduate assistantship available Spring 2021! Please share this amazing opportunity to be a GA in the Learning Center with colleagues in the program who are not currently on an assistantship. Download the position description here.

  • Nominate one or more students to be featured in 2021 edition of Student Innovation @ the U by Thursday, January, 7th. 

  • The University will be closed from December 24th-January 1st. We hope you have a safe and relaxing holiday break!

The Power of Reflection

This week in Student Affairs Administration, the first-year cohort was asked to think about one trait that they each discovered about themselves over the course of this term. This simple task made us stop and think, really allowing us to reflect on the past four months.
Reflection is embedded throughout many of the ACPA / NASPA competencies because it is understood to be key to growth and development. Reflection furthers our abilities as professionals by developing the cognitive and moral skills to be emotionally available and empathetic (Boyle, 2014; Kegan, 1994). We recommend checking out Kimberly Kline's Reflection in Action for more insight and strategies related to reflection and social justice.
Though many of us understand the importance of reflection, we may not always take the time to thoughtfully engage in it. We hope that the theme of this newsletter will encourage you to make that time to think about where you have been and where you might like to go. Whether you pause to take a minute to think through some of these questions during your lunch break or you pull out a journal to jot down some of your thoughts, we hope you'll think about sharing this reflection within your synergistic supervisory relationship.
10 Questions to Consider as You Reflect on Your Work this Semester:
  1. What role does reflection play in your work?
  2. How do you facilitate reflection in your interactions with students or staff?
  3. Which accomplishment are you most proud of this semester? Why?
  4. What is the most important thing that you learned this semester?
  5. How did / will you ensure balance & self-care in your life?
  6. What would you like to do differently in 2021?
  7. What is something that you truly appreciate about your graduate assistant / supervisor that you would like to share with them?
  8. Did you reach any of your goals? How / why not?
  9. What might you need from your supervisor / graduate assistant in order to continue to pursue your goals?
  10. How did / will you promote diversity, equity, inclusion, & social justice in your role?

Supervisor Spotlight

Name: Madaline Bird (she/her/hers)
Hometown: Layton, UT
Undergraduate: B.S. Strategic Communication, B.A. Gender Studies, University of Utah
Graduate: Educational Leadership & Policy, University of Utah
Position: Assistant Director, Office of Orientation & Transition
Hobbies: Reading, adding to my sprawling vinyl collection, trying to keep plants alive, and writing. 
Thoughts on Reflection: Reflection plays an important role for me, both personally and professionally. It offers me the opportunity to consider how my lived experiences and observations inform the spaces that I operate in. I have kept a journal for as long as I can remember. If I miss a day in my journal, I usually feel really lost. Reflection has always been imperative in my practice and its role has only gotten larger under the current circumstances. This semester, I have encouraged the students I work with to reflect on their experience with higher education and the global pandemic. Without engaging in reflection, I would have a difficult time understanding how I feel, how I can improve, and how valuable all of our lived experiences are.

GA Spotlight

Name: Feliz Luna (She, Her, Hers)
Hometown: Alamosa, CO
Undergraduate: B.A. in Communication with minors in Student Affairs in Higher Education and Criminal Justice, University of Colorado Colorado Springs
SA Experience: Office Assistant, Student Ambassador, Head Orientation Leader, Internal Review Committee for Student Success, and Student Success Coach/Facilitator 
Assistantship: Office of Orientation & Transition - Campus Life Mentor Program
Hobbies: In my free time, I love sipping coffee with the latest novel in my hand. I enjoy spending some time with two cats, Juniper and Winston. I also watch plenty of true crime documentaries. [Fun Fact: I minored in Criminal Justice and originally planned to pursue this as a major and a career.]
Thoughts on Reflection: I am a strong advocate for taking the time to step back and assess what you are doing well, as well as identifying areas you can develop further. Reflection requires you to be honest with yourself, which can be difficult but it is vastly important. Whenever I work with students, I encourage them to journal, record themselves, or do some type of activity that allows their thoughts to flow out of their head and into the universe. As far as the Campus Life Mentor program, the Mentors write a monthly reflection exploring the highs and lows of their month, what they have been doing well, and identifying ways they can develop their mentorship skills further. Their reflections also provide insight into how I can support them in their roles and encourage their growth as leaders. As the semester concludes, I will personally spend some time journaling about this year and my semester. While I have not fully reflected on my semester just yet, I do know that this year has been unlike any other. However, I am hopeful for the year 2021. 

GA Spotlight

Name: Jessi Gerowitz 
Hometown: Stamford, CT
Undergraduate: University of Delaware
Assistantship: Office of Orientation & Transition - Transfer Programs
Hobbies: Running, hiking, indoor bouldering, reading
Thoughts on Reflection: Reflection to me is essential to learning. Without it, it is hard to truly take away something from an experience. During my one on ones with the Crimson Mentors, we discuss their thoughts on the time they have spent working thus far so that they may find ways to improve in the future. Additionally, each month the mentors review their progress with each mentee to see where there may be gaps so they can identify areas to improve moving forward. As the semester concludes, to be honest, I'm tired and nervous. I hope that everything I have learned in my program and my assistantship will be enough to secure me a job before my program ends. However, I remain hopeful and am looking forward to experiencing the job hunt in student affairs!

Student Activism Scholarship

Please encourage your student activists to apply to our Student Activism $10,000 scholarship by this Sunday, December 6th. The scholarship is open to both undergraduate and graduate students.

I Am U Thriving 

Follow @iamuthriving on Instagram to see the powerful stories that our Notable Faces shared with us at the launch of our I Am U Thriving campaign.
Check out the website to learn more about this campaign and our upcoming open campus photo shoot, so that you and your students can get involved!  
FORWARD TO A FRIEND

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Salt Lake City, UT | 84112 US
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