Roger, please describe your path to your current position; how you made decisions about career opportunities; and what, if anything, you might have done differently.
Tell us about a difficult situation that you encountered in the past year or two and tell us how you responded to it.
What would you suggest are the keys to success in student affairs work?
How is student affairs work at an institution like yours unique or different from other institutions?
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Good afternoon,
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit late getting this posted but as I told Tom the other day, I was in a retreat with the President and the other VP's until just a short time ago. Therefore, I wanted to post this to make sure that I’m doing this properly – as I haven’t done this before.
I’ll submit this and once I’m sure it’s been posted I’ll respond to the questions that have been posed and submit those a bit later this afternoon.
Regards,
Roger
Well, it looks like my initial posting was successful so what follows is my response to the first question posed to me – and those who have posted their comments before me. I’ll post my reply and then reply to the remaining questions. I tried to post my full response and found out that there are too many characters so I’ll break this up into sections.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bearing with me!
My career path was fairly typical for many who enter the Student Affairs profession. However, I suspect like many of you, I didn’t have a clue about pursuing a career in student affairs (and didn’t even know such a profession existed) until my senior year in college. I was a student in the 1960’s graduating in 1970 with a major in Sociology and for a variety of reasons, many impacted by what was going on at the time, knew that I wanted to be in a career that helped others succeed.
My wife of 39 years later this month and I went to high school together and while she was an undergraduate at Syracuse and I was at Hobart College, she became one of the few undergraduate RA’s. That’s because of the higher ed. program there – known at the time as Student Personnel Administration – which resulted in most RA’s being graduate students in the program.
Fast forward to my learning about that work and then being accepted into the program which was led by Mary Dewey. I also had the great good fortune of getting to know Ernie Pascarella and Pat Terenzini who were in the doctoral program. I had an assistantship in the Adult Education department while my wife’s was in Housing as a Resident Director.
After completing the program I was offered an RD position at SUNY Potsdam and while there was able to pursue my Ph.D. at the University of Ottawa in Canada, eighty-five miles away, because of supportive supervisors. That led to a position in the Housing department at Kent State University which was responsible for supervising all of the professional hall staff. A couple years later I was promoted to head of the department which also oversaw dining operations on campus.
Housing there was an auxiliary enterprise and reported through the Business VP – not the Student Affairs VP – and as an auxiliary received no state appropriations. That was particularly challenging because after the student shootings on May 4, 1970, enrollment dropped 30% the following year and hadn’t grown much when I got there in 1976. As such, I had a Housing program that had facilities built to hold almost 8,000 students but with only just over 4,000 living on campus.
When I left in 1981 occupancy was over 6,000 which was about capacity as some of our facilities had been converted to other uses. I left and went into private business – in Tulsa Oklahoma coincidentally – largely because of the reporting structure at Kent and the fact that my chain of command didn’t begin to understand the student affairs/student development/student life aspects of a housing program. My wife and I felt pretty adventurous and looking back on it we kid friends and each other that we wanted to get our mid-life crisis out of the way early – so off we went to Oklahoma, which turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made. Read on to find out why.
My reply continues:
ReplyDeleteThe work in Tulsa was aimed at colleges and universities so I was able to stay in touch with former colleagues and build relationships with new ones. After about four years I really missed working with students and accepted an offer to become Dean of Students at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas.
While there the position was redefined as that of Vice President and I left five years later to accept a similar position at Eckerd College in St. Pete. Eight year later I moved to St. Bonaventure University to build a leadership development program aimed at businesses from square one. The success of that in just over a year resulted in my being named Vice President for Advancement. My wife and I anticipated retiring from St. Bonaventure because she was also on the President’s cabinet as VP for Public Relations and family (including all four parents at the time) were in Rochester, NY just 2 hours away.
However, I was presented with the irresistible opportunity to become VP for Enrollment and Student Services here at The University of Tulsa in 2001. Irresistible because, as I mentioned, we had lived here before and loved Tulsa. In fact one of my direct reports was my main contact at TU when I was in private business here after leaving Kent State. The adage “never burn any bridges” comes to mind here!
The other piece that made the offer here so attractive is the fact that our daughter and son both graduated from TU in 1997 while I was at Eckerd – she as an undergrad and he from the Law School. She and her family are here in Tulsa and he and his in Wichita less than 3 hours away. Notice how these same cities keep coming into our lives?!
Now that we also have 5 grandchildren, this really seems like the ideal place to be – aside from the fact that both my wife (who used to be an Associate VP at the university) and I love our work. I also have tremendous support from the current president who is entering his 5th year and hence not the president who hired me.
The decisions about these moves were made jointly by me and my wife and always from the perspective of accepting an opportunity and a challenge that I thought would help me grow personally and professionally. Fortunately, my wife’s career presented her with similar opportunities as we moved.
I’ve thought about what I might have done differently and the only thing that comes to mind is that perhaps I should have considered staying someplace for a longer period of time to see if career opportunities would have presented themselves there. However, since I didn’t do that, I can’t say that I regret any of the moves. In fact each one, even though a couple were hard for our children based on when we moved, offered new and exciting opportunities for all of us.
A difficult situation that I faced – which is not uncommon for any of us – is finding myself reporting to a new supervisor. In this case it was a new president and more than a year ago but I think the experience would be instructive since all of you, if you haven’t already, are likely to face that numerous times in your career – from both perspectives. You will be reporting to a new supervisor and you will be someone else’s new supervisor. And when you serve at the pleasure of the president with no protection of a multi-year contract or a union as is the case on some campuses, you never know what reporting to a new one is going to be like. Fortunately, as you know from my response to the first question, things have worked out just fine but one can never be sure about that during the first few months.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I had great advice from a long-time friend and mentor, Dr. David Ambler, retired Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs from the University of Kansas who I first got to know when I joined the staff at Kent State and had the pleasure to work with him for a little more than a year before he went to KU. His advice: 1) When the new president is selected, send an immediate letter of congratulations pledging support and a willingness to do whatever I could to help him (in this case) be successful. 2) Develop a set of briefing papers for the new president with an executive summary so he (in this case) would be able to understand what you and your staff do to help the institution accomplish its mission. 3) Introduce him to your staff in an informal gathering so personal connections can be made and so he could share his vision for the university and my area of it. 4) Ask for clear expectations from him and keep him apprised on an ongoing basis. These things set the stage for a very close and collaborative relationship and have continued to serve me and my staff well to this day.
The other important piece of advice that was offered by Dave was to remember that everyone has a different management/leadership style and that I might have to approach things differently given his style than I did with the president who hired me. This doesn’t mean compromising on your beliefs or hesitating to give your best advice because the president might have a different point of view. Rather, it means that while one president might like detailed reports – perhaps with appendices – another might prefer a brief position paper with issues identified and suggested ways to address them. Another might prefer having a conversation about the matter without a lot of documentation. However, in whatever manner one chooses to share information with one’s supervisor, I have always found it essential that you are able to support your position on sound theoretical principles.
There are a number of keys to success in student affairs work. For those of us with families, having their understanding and support is essential since, on so many occasions, our “day” stretches into evenings and weekends. In considering our colleagues throughout our institutions outside of the student affairs area, it’s important to understand that we’re all working together to help the institution accomplish its mission. In fact as one of the presidents I worked with told me; “If someone has an idea that he or she thinks will advance the mission of the institution, we need to listen carefully to it.”
ReplyDeleteIt’s also important to have a balanced life that doesn’t overemphasize one’s work at the expense of other aspects of one’s life. If we don’t take time for ourselves and take care of ourselves, we won’t be any good to ourselves and, as a result, we won’t be able to be our best to the students and colleagues we serve. And having a good sense of humor helps in a lot of ways.
There are a lot of ways I’ve thought about what one needs to keep in mind in order to be successful in student affairs work. Some of these are stated in some of the foundational document s of our profession including The Student Personnel Point of View, A Perspective on Student Affairs, and Reasonable Expectations.
Likewise, I have found the writings of John Greenleaf on the notion of Servant Leadership to be particularly instructive in this regard. The key elements of Servant Leadership as described by Greenleaf, which offer much in the way of what we might do to be successful in our work, are the following:
Listening – to identify, understand, and clarify the will of the group;
Empathy – to accept and recognize the unique gifts of others;
Persuasion – to convince others rather than to coerce them through compliance resulting in consensus;
Foresight – to understand the lessons of the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequences of a decision in the future;
Commitment to the Growth of People – to recognize the intrinsic value that every person has beyond their contributions to the organization;
Building Community – to develop a sense of community among those who spend a good part of their daily life together; and
Stewardship – to recognize that we all hold the institutions we serve in trust for the greater good of the society the institution serves and for those who come after us.
As a Peer Reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association one of the things that was quickly reinforced for me is that each institution of higher education has its own unique attributes. As I mentioned in response to the first question, I have had the opportunity to work at a number of institutions – public and private, large and small, urban and rural – and in each the student affairs work is a bit different. That’s because our work is all about the students we serve and student bodies vary from campus to campus. As I like to tell people: the only reason any of us are here is because of the students.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect of the work here that might be shared with other private institutions is the sense of “agility” there is in getting things done. We don’t deal with biennial state budget cycles or “Dormitory Authorities” as we did in New York when we want to build new student housing facilities. We can propose, develop, and deliver new programs and services in a relatively short amount of time.
While similar things can be said of other private institutions, there are also some things that are unique to student affairs work here. When I first came about 40% of the undergraduate student body lived on campus. Today it’s 70%. This was deliberate in order to create a truly residential campus for all the reasons that we know such an environment contributes to the overall educational experience of students. And while it can’t be attributed to just that (because we have also done a number of other things over the past 8 years to help students be successful) we have seen our retention rate go from an average of 76% to 86% last year.
Another unique aspect of student affairs work here is that we have a number of distinct student populations: domestic and international undergraduates; domestic and international graduate students; and domestic and international law students. Representing these students are three separate student governments: undergraduate, graduate, and law which support over 160 student organizations.
Thanks for letting me share these thoughts with you. I look forward to “talking” with you over the next few days. Best wishes in this course and on your program.
And Tom, thanks for giving me the opportunity to interact virtually with your students.
Roger
Hi Dr. Sorochty,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments; they were thorough and very insightful. In particular, I found your advice (on June 11th at 1:58 p.m.) regarding how to handle/prepare for a new president to be refreshing. It seems like many times when a new president (or other senior-level administrator) is appointed, they come to campus with their own team of individuals and may displace existing staff. In light of this trend, I think the general response of student affairs administrators is to assume that they are going to be replaced. And while this may happen, I think that having (and displaying) an optimistic attitude and taking proactive steps to establish a rapport with your new supervisor could go a long way in helping to keep you off of the proverbial “chopping block.” I appreciate the specificity and practicality of the four recommendations you outlined; I will hold on to this for future reference. Thanks again.
Dr. Sorochty,
ReplyDeleteHi!! I wanted to introduce myself. I am Stephen Charles and I am working as an academic coordinator for the College of Medicine here. We are currently undergoing major changes in administration for the Medical School with a new Vice-Dean, Undergraduate Medical Education Dean, and a new Admissions Director. The advice that you give towards Presidents could be applied to these positions. I appreciate the time you have made to write this response.
My question for you is what do you think is the cause of increase students living on campus? Was there a policy put into place? If so, how was the policy received by students, families, and community?
Thanks so much for your time.
Steve
Good morning,
ReplyDeleteLet me first follow up on nglenn’s comments and then I’ll reply to Steve’s questions.
First, I should have been clearer that the suggestions I made for establishing a relationship with a new president could easily be applied to establishing a relationship with any new supervisor. By doing some of those things – and by having built bridges with colleagues (both faculty and other staff throughout your institution) – I think student affairs administrators should rightfully presume that they are valuable members of the campus community. Hence their attitude should be that they are needed and will continue in their positions.
I would really like to hope that the days of the “Attila the Hun” new president (or other supervisor) are behind us. I’m familiar with situations in the past where a new president took office and requested the resignations of all who reported to him or her so the new president can build his or her own team. But I really believe that the vast majority of new presidents (or other new supervisors) believe they can be well served because of the experience and institutional memory existing staff bring to the table.
Having said that, over a period of time you (or the new president) might decide that a change needs to be made. However, even in those situations, if you’ve built a good working relationship with the new president (or new supervisor) you’d likely find yourself in a cooperative situation (with each of you seeing the change as beneficial) rather than an adversarial one.
In response to Steve’s questions let me address the situation at both Kent State and here at TU since I referenced significant increases in the number of on campus students on both campuses.
ReplyDeleteAfter the shootings at Kent State and the decline in enrollment, the senior administration believed that they needed to encourage students to come to Kent. At that time and to this day the university had a two year residency requirement with appropriate exemptions. However, the senior administration felt that if students had virtually no regulations in terms of visitation hours, etc. students would flock to the campus and the halls. That didn’t work and about a year after I was there a new president took office who agreed with those of us in the Housing department that students – and their parents – would respond positively to reasonable regulations.
We also gave students greater control over their living environment by creating a program that allowed them to personalize their private (room) and group (lounge) spaces. This accomplished many things including students wanting to return to the same facility from one year to the next (which enhanced the sense of community) and a reduction in damages because students had a “pride of ownership” in where they lived. All of these things – and others that don’t’ readily come to mind – contributed to an increase in the on-campus population which remains at just over 6,000 to this day.
At TU, we also have had a two year residency requirement with appropriate exemptions but our housing facilities were somewhat dated so the first group of “market quality” apartments was opened in 1997. The next phase opened in 2001 and the most recent phase opened in 2007. Here’s the link to the section of our web site that describes our apartment communities:
http://www.utulsa.edu/student-life/Living-and-Dining-on-Campus/University-Apartments.aspx
With about 2,300 students on campus, we now have more living in the apartments than in our residence halls although all freshmen live in residence halls because so much of the research (most recently identified by John Braxton) supports the educational value of that experience. We also have created learning communities in our halls and apartments and during the course of a year the Residence Life staff together with the Residence Hall Association (government) and the apartment community leadership offer over 500 programs for our residential students.
So, Steve, in this case even students who in the past moved off campus once they became juniors now opt to stay on campus as do a number of our graduate and law students.
Dr. Sorochty:
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for all your insightful and inspiring words! We truly do appreciate your time and efforts in sharing this information with our class! I also appreciated the "tips for the new boss" you mentioned. I will definitely save your thoughts as I move through my career path.
One quick question for you regarding communication with former colleagues and continuing those relationships. You mention that “the work in Tulsa was aimed at colleges and universities so I was able to stay in touch with former colleagues and build relationships with new ones.” I also sense that this is very important, but am not sure quite how to accomplish this. right now, I do facebook with several of my colleagues and former colleagues from around the country. We chat occasionally. Do you attend conferences, share emails, what is your strategy to stay connected?
Thanks again for sharing with us!
Melanie Jackson, South Florida Community College, eLearning Director
Good morning, Melanie.
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of ways that I stay in touch with current and former colleagues. Email is probably the most frequently used means of communication especially for communicating with friends and colleagues at other institutions and those who have retired. For example, the president who hired me here at TU retired about 4 years ago and he and his wife divide their time between Tulsa and Lubbock, Texas where he previously served as president of Texas Tech. We stay in touch via email and get together with them during some of their visits here.
I’m glad you mentioned conferences because that’s a wonderful way to stay in touch with colleagues and develop connections with new ones. A good way of accomplishing the latter is to volunteer to be part of the conference planning committee. Even a local or regional conference needs lots of volunteer support and it’s a wonderful way to make connections with colleagues from other institutions.
Having said that, I suspect that funding for conference travel might be negatively affected at some institutions given the current economic environment and budget cuts that some institutions are facing. Nevertheless, there are still ways you could get involved with some of our state and national professional organizations that would enable you to interact with colleagues from around the country. You could go to the NASPA web site and check out the various roles and positions for your region of the country – Region 3, I think. The same could be said for ACPA and like some state organizations.
Regarding Facebook, I know that many young (and some not-so-young) people use Facebook but I honestly haven’t. There are a couple of reasons for that. On the personal side, I just haven’t found it necessary to keep up with friends and family sharing all that’s going on in our lives through that medium. Instead, as I mentioned, I’ll keep in touch via email and have conversations over the telephone.
On the professional side, I’m sure you know that there is an ongoing discussion in higher education and particularly in Student Affairs about what our role and response would be should we come across certain kinds of information on Facebook regarding our students. I don’t know all of the ins and outs of who can become a friend of a friend, etc. but I know from the experiences of some of my staff that they have come across such information even though it wasn’t intended that they receive it from the person who initiated sending it.
Therefore, I have taken the position that I want to be able to honestly say that I don’t have a social media account and have never gone on Facebook.
Thanks for your questions, Melanie,
Roger
Dr. Sorochty,
ReplyDeleteWhat helpful insight! You mentioned the passing of the "Attila the Hun" phase of leadership...is this shift evident in most of the institutions where you have served? Even as an undergraduate student (mid 1990's), I think I viewed college administrators as somewhat stuffy and staunch. Now we are addressing ideas like servant leadership and a sense of humor. Why,when, and how do you think this shift in leaderhip philosophy changed in higher ed (or education in general since I see evidence of more approachable teachers and administrators even at the K-12 level)?
(It's Jennifer...apparently my husband, Steve, has a Google account too and it used his ID...sorry).
ReplyDeleteJS
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteIt’s hard to say when this shift began to occur. Truth be told, I’m sure it has been evident in many institutions for quite some time. At the same time, there are still crazy things happening related to administrators and presidents making bad judgments. The recent situation at North Carolina State is a good example and I’m sure you’re familiar with some of the upheavals within the state system in Florida in terms of the role the legislature believes it should play at the various campuses within the state. Then there’s all of the turmoil – and law suits – associated with the former president and provost at Florida Gulf Coast University.
That having been said, frankly I think laws have played a role in humanizing the supervisory process at all levels. Individuals simply can’t do some of the things they used to do – and get away with it - because of the protection of various laws.
However, I may be a bit overly optimistic but I’d also like to believe that especially in our profession we value each and every person and the unique talents and gifts they bring to serving our students. As a result, if we truly believe in how we can contribute to the education and development of our students, the same should apply to the contributions we make to each other every day as colleagues.
All the best,
Roger
Thanks! We're actually discussing law in our class this week..a great segue!
ReplyDeleteJS
Good morning,
ReplyDeleteAs a follow up to my comments above to Jennifer, I would encourage you to catch up on what's happening at Texas A & M University literally as we've been blogging. It's a real mess and a sad state of affairs in regard to politics inserting itself in the running of a great university.
Roger
Hi Dr. Sorochty,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your response. That answered my questions. I appreciate your time and efforts.
Hi Dr. Sorocthy:
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm late in the blogging game. This is Maria and I am currently the Interim Director for Student Rights and Responsibilities. I enjoyed reading your posts and actually honed in on something I appreciate. You stated that each of the moves you have made were thought out and taken for the challenge. (at least that was my interpretation) I can associate myself with that since I make strategic career moves as well. My question is: how long is too long at a university/college? I've often found that people say 3 to 5 years at a place in one position is good. I just wonder if you feel that perception is correct or fading as the field evolves.
Hi Maria,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your question. I don’t want to give the impression that I’m trying to dodge answering it, but the most honest way I can respond is to say that it’s different for every individual. I’ve known a number of colleagues who spent virtually their entire career at one institution and were very satisfied with that choice. Others, like me, have had the opportunity to work at a number of institutions in a variety of capacities and have also found that to be very rewarding.
I think I can honestly say that I don’t think I would have had the breadth of experiences in my career if I had stayed at, for example, the first or second institution at which I worked. The best way I can elaborate on this would be to share with you something that I’ve always said to those who have reported to me: Let me know if you don’t feel that you’re growing professionally and we’ll try to find ways to do that in the current environment. However, if that can’t be accomplished I’d want to be as supportive as possible in helping that person find a professional growth opportunity elsewhere.
Also keep in mind that some moves are the result of a move that one’s spouse makes but one of the benefits, I think, of being in our profession is that we can do what we do in any number of locations just about anywhere in the country.
Roger
Dr. Sorochty,
ReplyDeleteThank you again for your wonderful insights and advice! I particularly found your views on negotiating new supervisors very helpful. Regarding that particular topic, you mentioned that when dealing with new supervisors that we must "remember that everyone has a different management/leadership style." Regarding that, in your experience, what has been the most useful method of figuring out a new supervisors/president's management style so that you can learn to be efficient with your communications with them quickly? Thanks again for your input!
Hi Chrissy,
ReplyDeleteThe best way to do that is to have an open and honest conversation with the new supervisor early in the relationship. By that I mean one should ask the new supervisor how she or he likes to receive information. That might be in writing - either in a lengthy analysis or a brief synopsis - or verbally.
One also has to understand when a new supervisor would like to receive information on a scheduled basis and when the supervisor would like to receive it outside of regularly scheduled meetings. Often the guiding premise there is that no one likes surprises. Therefore, if anything ever occurs that I think might reach the media, I always make sure that the president hears it from me first.
There's also a lot of informal - yet effective - communication exchange that can occur literally in the hallways and that usually depends on the proximity of your office to that of your supervisor's. I've seen time and again when those types of communications can help address issues quickly and effectively. However, if your office isn't located near that of your supervisor and the offices of other direct reports' are, they're likely to have more opportunities for such communication than you. As a result you'll need to make an extra effort to "be in touch" on an informal basis.
Roger
Hi Dr. Sorochty,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed your posts and appreciate the advice you have provided for my classmates. However, I have one question. What strategies would you suggest to help a mid-level manager/administrator build a relationship with a key senior-level administrator who is not their immediate supervisor? Please consider the mid-level manager/administrator’s immediate supervisor feels threatened when his staff communicates with administrators above him.
Thank you,
Dyonne
Hi Dyonne,
ReplyDeleteI have some initial thoughts in response to your question but also some additional questions come to mind. First, there may be some situations that would make it easier than others to build the relationship you describe without creating a problem with the immediate supervisor who feels threatened. By that I mean that given the mid-level manager’s position at the institution and that of the other senior-level administrator there could be very appropriate committee assignments that would enable the two to work together and develop a professional relationship that the immediate supervisor wouldn’t view as threatening. As an example, I chair the university’s enrollment management committee that has members from throughout the university as does the crisis management committee of which I am a member.
Similar relationships might be developed by working together if the institution has a committee that spearheads its United Way efforts or similar activities. Other opportunities could present themselves through volunteer activities. An example here at TU is when students, staff, and faculty come together on Saturdays to build houses for Habitat for Humanity. There may also be ways of developing relationships through any number of community organizations in which the two would have a mutual interest that have no connection with the institution at all.
In terms of questions, some that immediately come to mind are these; What is the relationship between the mid-level manager’s immediate supervisor and the other senior level administrator? That may have a bearing on him feeling threatened. On the other hand, does he feel threatened regardless of who the other senior administrator is? Also, do you have a sense of what he’s threatened about?
Roger
Dr Sorochty,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your advice! I have noted all of your suggestions in my "handy dandy" notebook. I am former Greek Life Director. I believe my former supervisor felt threatened regardless of who the senior administrator was. I came to that conclusion because I was instructed to not communicate to anyone above him without his approval concerning the topic and/or the person. Nothing occurred between us prior to his instruction but I was very uncomfortable. I asked him the reasoning behind his decision and he did not provide an explanation.
Hi Dyonne,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the advice was helpful. Hopefully that's an unusual situation that you won't find in the future.
Thanks to you and all of you in Dr. Miller's class for the opportunity to share some thoughts with you. Best wishes in your program and in your careers.
Roger