Fall 2012 EDAD 503

Title: EDAD 503 - Organizational Leadership

Term: Fall, 2012

Description: The description of the course is noted in the syllabus as: This course focuses on using organizational and leadership studies to understand schools and how to bring about change in the schools. The course includes study of the organization, structure, and cultural context of schools and the study of techniques used to guide, motivate, delegate, build consensus, and lead others in the achievement of goals. With this, I would like to learn about what it means to be a leader and different leadership styles.  I will focus on the Leadership Interview Paper and my Personal Educational Leadership Philosophy paper. 

Learning Outcomes: For these assignments, learning outcomes are based on the course objective

5. Participants will take part in writing activities, cooperative learning activities, and collegial sharing through reading, group activities, and personal reflections, will help shape their development as effective leaders.

• SWiBAT interview a leader in Higher Education regarding his experience as a leader, his leadership style, and frame to better understand what it means to be an effective leader.  
• SWiBAT make a clear statement regarding my personal educational leadership philosophy based on readings, discussions, and experiences.

Assessment Rubric: Due to the learning outcomes being a product of my assignments, I will be using the instructor's grading rubric to evaluate my learning.  

Evidence:  Below are part of my interview paper and personal philosophy paper:

Interview paper:  
Through his various leadership experiences, Hunter’s leadership theory is “know yourself, be yourself”.  According to Hunter, being comfortable with yourself and acknowledging the circumstances and decisions you will be making are critical for being an effective leader.  With this, he stresses how personality enforces an individual’s leadership abilities and styles, that, “leaders are a product of their personality.  Some are warmer and are willing to listen while others enjoy being the authority figure.”  For instance, Hunter was a soldier in the U.S. Army, an occupation of strict nature and demanding of the utmost obedience of its members.  Nonetheless, his leadership style in the Army was not concurrent to this atmosphere of unquestioned authority, and was rather congruent to his style of leadership in the field of Education.  His theory has evidence revealing consistently that a large amount of internal conflict occurs when an individual’s leadership styles are inconsistent with the styles and expectations of that person’s institution.  An example includes when Hunter applied for a job as an Assistant Dean.  Due to his inclusive style, not wanting to make difficult decisions without knowing the views of others, he believed it would be bad for the institution if he was offered the job under the belief that they would be hiring someone with authoritative leadership.

            By reflecting on the challenges he encountered by working as a professional and studying as a student, Hunter is sensitive to the needs of people in the receiving end of services.  Coming from a background of color, he understands the struggles of being discriminated against.  He grew up working his entire life: a bagger at a grocery store, a mail room man, Resident Assistant at UCR.  As a minority member, he was disrespected and discredited of being as bright as he was.  Therefore, Hunter focuses his attention on those who are discriminated against.  Sensitive to the issues of race, gender, and sexual orientation, he discovered and molded his leadership style based upon his experiences working with different people.  Developing his style was not difficult when he distinguished what he liked and disliked about leaders based on the impact they had on others and the organizations they worked in.  He states that his leadership style is servant leadership. By relating to others as an educator, he actively listens and gives advice to his students and workers.  His definition of a leader is based upon the ideas of Warren Bennis, an author of Leadership studies, quoting “managers do things right, leaders do the right things” (Bennis & Nanus, 1985).  He said that leaders have ethical values and set a certain tone in the organization by inspiring and motivating people to buy into their visions.  For instance, he likes to lead from behind by motivating, inspiring, and making things happen without giving direction.  He too provides “…coaching, feedback, and role modeling…(Kotter, 2001)” as a motivational technique.  As a leader, he wants to delegate and empower those he works with and help them grow because the stronger one is, the stronger the team is.

            The frame Hunter is utilizing is the Human Resource frame.  He is very caring of those he works with, building relationships and empowering them (Lee & Deal, 2008) to become leaders themselves.   Like the Human Resource frame, his leadership challenge is to align organizational and human needs.  He found it challenging at times to balance and commit to personnel decisions and financial decisions.  Some difficult personnel decisions he had to make were legal implications such as terminating individuals and reporting unfavorable evaluations.  Honesty was required in these actions, but performing to this standard was difficult knowing that firing his employees or writing negative evaluations about them would decrease the food on their families’ tables.  As for financial decisions, he stated that finance is the lifeblood of the institution, which maintains and creates jobs and outcomes.  There was a time when he worked at Miramar, a college campus that at the time did not have facilities.  There was a bond for millions of dollars and he was responsible of creating an environment to support the bond.  There was trouble with the facilities and he had to make a decision at the moment whether or not to continue with the project.  As the President, he worked with the Vice President and Budgeting Committee to come up with a solution.  By listening and communicating, he was able to negotiate with his workers.   

Philosophy Paper:

My philosophy of educational leadership stresses building strong relationships with students in order to create trust and equal status, allowing both parties to be open-minded and have opportunities to learn and grow from each other.  In addition, I believe that educational leadership should be about empowering students to become leaders themselves. 

All students have the potential to become leaders but some individuals realize their leadership characteristics earlier than others.  When traits and characteristics are discovered, they can become great leaders.  With this, I think every student has certain leadership qualities and the leadership theory best defining my belief is the Trait Theory.  Everyone is born with inherited traits with some traits aligned to qualities of leadership.  In addition, individuals are born with certain level of emotional intelligence skills which can be increased to better their leadership and followers’ performance (Goleman, 2004).    

To help students become better leaders, I must reflect and learn to become a better me.  Through my strengths, I can utilize my philosophy in daily activities to benefit students I assist.  According to the Strengthsfinder 2.0, three of my top five strengths are restorative, developer, and communication.  Being restorative displays my excellence in figuring out problems and resolving them, which is beneficial to student affairs professionals because students turn to them for nonacademic help.  I can assist students in prioritizing their schedule, organizing their notes, and encouraging them to finish their assignments.  With this, as a developer, I can have a personal relationship with the students and see their improvements.  By being able to see potential in others, I am able to give praise and motivate students to strive for the best.  Through my strength in communication, students would not be scared or embarrassed to express their point of views and thoughts.  Conversations in dyads will break barriers when I describe my personal stories and share experiences.  Students can listen and learn from my experiences and mistakes.  They can apply them to their lives if they encounter similar situations or they can freely ask for my advice if their situation worsens.  Through these strengths, students may want to continue building a relationship with me.  I would remind students of their importance in the community and college, as well as offer my availability in helping them in any way possible. 

Reflection:  Interviewing Dr. Hunter was an interesting experience as he shared his experiences as a student and as a leader in Higher Education.  His views on leadership, the definition of a leader, and his leadership style corresponded with my views which made it easier for me to write my Personal Educational Leadership Philosophy paper.  As I reflect on the knowledge he shared with me and as I am building on my sense of what it means to be a leader, I am learning I have much to learn before I believe I am an effective leader.  

Fall 2012 ASHE Annual Conference

Title: ASHE Annual Conference - Las Vegas, NV - November, 2012

Term: Fall, 2012

Description: I attended the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV from Thursday November 15-Saturday November 17, 2012.  ASHE promotes collaboration among its members and others engaged in the study of higher education through research, conferences, and publications, including its highly regarded journal, The Review of Higher Education. ASHE is committed to diversity in its programs and membership, and has enjoyed extraordinary success in involving graduate students in Association activities (ASHE website). 
My primary purpose for attending the conference was professional and personal development in addition to networking with graduate students. 

Learning Outcomes: Prior to attending the conference, I developed the following learning outcomes for the conference:

• SWiBAT strengthen my networking skills by talking with at least three professionals or graduate students and obtaining their business cards.
• SWiBAT attend a session for personal development to better myself as a graduate student and a session for professional development to better myself as a Pre-Professional.
• SWiBAT attend a session regarding a topic I do not have knowledge in.

Assessment Rubric: You can access my assessment rubric at the following link: Professional conference rubric- ASHE National Conference

Evidence: For my first learning outcome addressing professional networking, I gave myself a score of "2-basic", for the second learning outcome addressing personal and professional development , I gave myself a score of "3-competent" and for the third learning outcome addressing expanding my knowledge, I gave myself a score of "4-advanced".

Additionally, a link is provided for photos of the conference ASHE Conference photos and a copy of the 2012 ASHE Conference Program.

Reflection: Overall, I was satisfied with the conference. The ASHE Annual Conference is my first national organization conference and I did not know what to expect especially because I attended the conference alone.  The ASHE Conference provided a Newcomers Orientation to help new members navigate the conference freely without concerns.  There were also graduate events to help graduate students network in an easy manner such as having roundtables with different interests and topics.  

For professional networking, I only obtained one business card because the individual offered it to me.  I was able to approach people and have short discussions but was too intimidated to ask for business cards.  Nor did I think of handing out my business cards to initiate networking opportunities.  With this, I gave myself a "2-basic" as I learned I need to overcome being an introvert if I want to meet new people and build relationships.  In addition, I learned I communicate better when I am in small groups or small conferences such as the Western Regional Careers in Student Affairs Day. 

I gave myself a "3-competent" for my second learning outcome because I did not take the time to reflect on what I learned.  I attended the Graduate Student Event- Writing Presentation and Workshop to better myself as a graduate student.  Even though the presentation was about writing for a thesis, the information was helpful in regards to the tips for writing: share the paper with colleagues, pay attention to major content, form a writing group, and ways to establish good writing habits. As for my professional development session, I attended a session called "The Power of a Second Chance: A View from One Community College" by the keynote speaker for Friday November 16, 2012.  Mike Rose of the University of California, Los Angeles discussed his book "Back to School: Why Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Education".  He explained students in community colleges do not receive the respect they deserve.  He also expressed many students go to school to obtain skills but drop out before obtaining a degree or setting long term goals because they have family obligations.  Society may look down upon these students because they quit school but I learned some individuals have more on their plate than others and priorities are made when students with family commitments sacrifice their desires for the well being of their families.  Through this session, my views of community college students shifted.  I used to see students going to community colleges as lazy and/or were the bad students in high school.  Even if this applies to some students, not all students can be categorized as lazy students or bad students in high school.  In addition, everyone deserves a second chance, whether if they did well in high school or something was in the way of obtaining higher education. 

Lastly, for my third learning outcome, I gave myself a "4-advanced" for attending a session regarding the LGBTQ community.  Whenever I wrote about an issue for my papers or attended workshops and sessions, they were always about racism, Asian Americans, and women.  Since these three topics are something I can relate to, they are easier to understand which makes them more enjoyable for me.  For this conference, I wanted to break away from my comfort zone and learn about a community new to me.  Through this session, I learned transgenders have a sexual orientation and the word "queer" is appropriate to use because "homo" has a negative connotation to it (individuals who were labeled "homo" in the past were considered to have an illness).  In addition, the statement that stood out to me was "Don't assume you know what students need.  Find out and construct what they need."  It is important to connect with students and develop programs best suited for their needs based on their feedback and suggestions because they know what they want and need better than Students Affairs professionals do.  Student Affairs practitioners can help students develop holistically with the assistance from the students input and needs.  

Fall 2012 Student Affairs Day

Title: Western Regional Careers in Student Affairs Day- California Polytech Pomona, Pomona, CA - October, 2012

Term: Fall, 2012

Description: I attended the Western Regional Careers in Student Affairs Day at CSU Pomona on  October 26, 2012 to improve my knowledge in the Student Affairs and have the opportunity to network with individuals in the profession.

Learning Outcomes: Prior to attending the conference, I developed the following learning outcomes for the conference with my supervisor:

• SWiBAT Identify at least three professionals and if possible, collect a business card for networking purposes.
• SWiBAT Investigate the Student Affairs profession by attending at least two workshops.
• SWiBAT Administer and reflect on the knowledge gained by sharing with my supervisor, the Assistant Dean of Students Affairs for the College of Health and Human Development. 

Assessment Rubric: You can access my assessment rubric at the following link: Professional conference rubric- Student Affairs Day.

Evidence: For my first learning outcome addressing professional networking, I gave myself a score of "4-advanced", for the second learning outcome addressing investigation of the profession , I gave myself a score of "4-advanced" and for the third learning outcome addressing sharing and reflection on the information, I gave myself a score of "4-advanced".

Additionally, I have provided links to several photos of WRCSAD and a copy of the conference program


Reflection: Going to my first conference, I did not know what to expect and how to approach individuals especially with my introvert characteristic of being shy.  One of my cohort members introduced me to an undergraduate from my alma mater, the University  of California Santa Barbara.  Even though she was not a professional, we exchanged business cards and the experience helped me slowly want to approach people to introduce myself.  I was able to collect two other business cards in addition to writing down two contact informations.  In total, I was able to get contact information from three professionals, a graduate student, and an undergraduate student.  This exceeded my expectations of my target goal for networking.  It was also a great opportunity for me to know what to expect in bigger conferences such as the ASHE conference I plan to attend next month.

I attended three workshops: "Sculpting Race", "Balancing Life as a Graduate Student and Wellness: Tips and Tools", and "Student Affairs 101".  Sculpting Race discussed Janet Helm's White Identity Model (1993) which explained how white racial identity develops and how racism is abandoned.  There are six phases that individuals go through and the purpose of the theory is to promote diversity in addition to a nonracist society.  In "Balancing Life as a Graduate Student", I learned that I can't help others unless I help myself.  There were types of stressors that graduates experienced (ie time management, academic pressures, and financial concerns) and tips to manage stress (ie surround yourself with positive people, practice positive talk, and reward yourself).  Lastly, I learned about the history and overview of the Student Affairs profession in the "Student Affairs 101" session.  Not only did I attend more than two workshops, but I gained valuable information that will help me in class, deal with racism, and diminish my stress.

My third learning outcome was given an advanced because I wrote a reflection for my supervisor regarding the conference, what I learned, what I liked, and what I disliked.  She asked me questions which were easy to answer because I was engaged in the sessions and typed thorough notes to help me remember everything I learned.  Overall, the conference was worth waking up early in the morning and being stuck in traffic on the way back home.  I couldn't have asked for a better first conference. 

Fall 2012 Dealing with Racism Workshop

Title: Dealing with Racism Workshop

Term: Fall, 2012

Description: I created and conducted a powerpoint presentation for the Student Leadership Institute's "Dealing with Racism" workshop which took place on Tuesday October 16, 2012.

Learning Outcomes: Never having the experience of being a conductor, the following three learning outcomes were created to help me present the material to the best of my ability.  In addition, they helped me learn from the first workshop in order to do better in future workshop opportunities:

• SWiBAT  Educate students about the sensitive topic of racism to the best of my knowledge, initiate discussions, and be flexible if the powerpoint presentation is not presented in order due to the flow of students' discussions.
• SWiBAT Follow up on students' understanding of the material by asking questions, giving examples, and giving students chances to give their input.
• SWiBAT Through the experience, reflect on my strengths and weaknesses based upon the feedback received from my audience and how well the workshop went. 

Assessment Rubric: You can access my assessment rubric at the following link: Dealing with Racism Workshop .In addition, here is the link to the presentation: Dealing with Racism Powerpoint.

Evidence:  Even though there are only eight slides to my time frame of an hour and thirty minutes, the students were engaged in my discussion questions.  Sometimes students went off topic to make their statements stronger but being flexible to change helped me get back to the flow of the powerpoint presentation.  In addition, whenever students asked me a question, I would answer with my point of view but would question their thoughts to challenge them with critical thinking.  For my first learning outcome, I give myself a "4-advanced" because I was able to fulfill all the requirements. 

My second learning outcome is a "4-advanced" too because I gave examples to every bullet point to make sure that the students understood the information.  To make sure that the students were comprehending, I asked the students for their interpretation of the information and/or to provide their own example.  By doing this, I was able to indirectly know if the material was foreign to them.  All students were asked to participate and all students were able to give an answer. 

The third learning outcome was given a "3-competent" because I did not reflect on my strengths, weaknesses, and performance until a couple of days after the workshop.  By then, it was difficult to remember how well I did and I could not recall everything the students verbally told me regarding my presentation.  Nonetheless, I used my emotions to base my performance.  For instance, I was not nervous which made me a better public speaker than usual.  Through reflecting on my performance, I was able to discover some of my public speaking strengths and weaknesses, as well as what I need to do to better prepare for potential future workshop opportunities. 

Reflection: I was very happy with the outcome of my first workshop.  I was a little scared of how my opening would affect the students.  I initiated the discussion by saying my name and asking the students to guess my race.  Then, I told the students to say their name and guess the race of the person sitting to the right of them.  Discussions were in a group but when a student asked me a question, another student would speak up to give the student an answer.  Even though I was cut off from my response, I was glad that students were willing to participate.  

Giving personal examples caught the students' attention because they were able to connect my examples to their experiences.  The connection we had made them want to share their thoughts.  It was a great experience because the purpose of having eight slides was to have a workshop that was geared towards the students' participation rather than a lecture format.  Students understood the material and did not hesitate to ask questions if they were confused.  In addition, one student challenged me and asked "why?" whenever I gave my point of view on a certain topic.  The conversations and engagement were rich and thoughtful.  Seeing the eagerness of the students made me feel like I made a difference in how they originally thought of the topic.

Although the third learning outcome is my lowest grade, I am happy that I had the chance to reflect on my experience.  I enjoyed being a conductor and having the opportunity to discuss an issue that is important to me.  Even though there were only four students including the sit in, the experience helped me overcome my fears of public speaking and it helped students see other people's point of views on racism.

Fall 2012 MSHE Retreat

Title: Master's of Science in Higher Education Retreat

Term: Fall, 2012

Description:  The MSHE Retreat took place at Sacred Heart Retreat Center in Big Bear Lake, California.  The two day retreat was from Friday September 14 to Saturday September 15, 2012.  The description of the event is as follows: The purpose of the retreat is to support and guide the students in developing a cohort base that will sustain them through the program and their profession after graduation, and provide an opportunity for students to explore, reflect, and create a plan for success.  

Learning Outcomes: In order to break free from my comfort zone and learn more about myself, the following learning outcomes were created:

• SWiBAT  Learn and memorize all the names of the members of my cohort and the faculty of the Higher Education program.
• SWiBAT Overcome my shyness as an introvert by approaching and initiating conversations in addition to keeping the conversation flowing as much as possible.
• SWiBAT Discover: my strengths, weaknesses, and goals for the program.

Assessment Rubric: You can access my assessment rubric at the following link  MSHE Retreat Rubric
In addition, here are the links to a skit I performed in and photos of the retreat:
A Disciplined Community Skit,  Retreat Photos

Evidence: An icebreaker that involved learning and memorizing everyone's names helped me with my first learning outcome.  In addition to the activity, I always tried to say the name of an individual before starting a conversation to better help me remember names with faces.  I give myself a "4-advanced" because by the end of the retreat, I was able to remember all nineteen of the members of my cohort and the faculty of the program.

Due to previous experiences this past summer of acting as an extrovert and coming off as an unlikeable person, it was difficult for me to approach people and start conversations.  I was afraid of their judgment if I came off as too opinionated or annoying.  With this, I give myself a "2-basic" because I had conversations throughout the retreat but most of them occurred due to other people's efforts and I rarely tried to continue conversations.  Whenever I started conversations, they were short and simple.  

Through various discussions and activities, I was able to accomplish my third learning outcome.  My strengths were:  Includer, Communication, Relator, Restorative, and Developer.  These strengths were discovered from the Strengthsfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath and were discussed with partners and in a large group.  My weaknesses and goals were found when I reflected on my experiences in the program, especially in the retreat.  With this, I give myself a "4-advanced" because I was well aware of my strengths, weaknesses, and goals to help me become a better leader. 

Reflection: Learning all the names of the members of my cohort and the faculty of the program was a big accomplishment for me because I am good at remembering faces but have difficulty putting a name to a face.  I was happy with the results of my first learning outcome because it was a lot easier than I imagined, especially in the short period of time I had with the cohort and faculty members.

I was disappointed with my efforts to start conversations and continuing them because I thought I would have done better.  My fears of my summer experience as coming off as too opinionated and annoying with the new people I met, held me back from accomplishing the second learning outcome.  It showed that I did not learn from my experiences and I allowed them to affect me and my interactions with others.  I plan to approach more of my peers and faculty members in order to build relationships with them after the retreat.  It is better to be late than to never start at all.

My strengths' common theme lies heavily on assisting and serving others.  Rather than having strengths which display positive qualities of myself, they stress the importance of helping others realize their strengths, importance and comfort.  After  having countless experiences of helping friends and family with their personal problems, I was not surprised that my strengths revolved around the betterment of others but I did not know that those were considered strengths.  After discovering them, I will use them to help me overcome my weakness of a low self-esteem, a low self-confidence, and a sense of insecurity.  With this, I plan to focus on my strengths which in turn would diminish my weakness and help me with my goals of doing my best to finish the program without any regrets.  I strongly believe that the MSHE program will help me challenge myself and give me opportunities to learn more about myself so that I can be a better leader.  

Fall 2012 Graduate Assistantship

Title: Graduate Assistantship for the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs in the College of Health and Human Development - Student Success Center

Term: Fall, 2012

Description: As a part of my graduate assistantship duties working in the Student Success Center, I supervised the center and collaborated with the student Director of Communications of the Health and Human Development Inter Club Council (HHD-ICC) to write monthly newsletters. This fits with the personal development domain because I worked with someone who has different way of finishing an assignment. This also fits with the leadership domain as I answered students' questions and assist with technical problems in addition to writing newsletters on my own. 

Learning Outcomes: After gaining some experience as a graduate assistant, I developed the following learning outcomes for myself:

• SWiBAT learn to multitask between supervising the Student Success Center and concentrating on my work.
• SWiBAT with each newsletter experience, learn from the mistakes to prevent future conflicts and errors.
• SWiBAT take responsibility for my actions as well as those I work with. 

Assessment Rubric: You can access my assessment rubric at the following link:  Graduate Assistantship Rubric

In addition, below are the links to monthly newsletters, a reflection summary, and posters I made for the College of Health and Human Development's Success Center:

CHHD Newsletter 09/2012
CHHD Newsletter 10/2012
CHHD Newsletter 11/2012 
CHHD Newsletter 12/2012 

College ICC Leadership Development Training Reflection

Kinesiology poster
Nursing poster 
CHAD poster 
 

Evidence: I assessed my first learning outcome by tallying on a paper whenever I welcomed a student into the center.  My records were compared to the sign in sheet, where students are required to document their name and date of when they used the center.  I would scored myself with a "3-competent" because I consider myself competent, being able to greet as many students as possible while finishing most of the work for the day.

My second and third learning outcomes were based upon newsletter experiences.  Working with the student Director of Communications for HDD-ICC was difficult because she and I had opposite personalities and ways of getting work done.  My score was low in the beginning, scoring myself with a "2-basic" until the end of the semester when I learned to use my strengths and her strengths to compliment each other.  With this, my score changed to a "4-advanced" when we learned to cooperate with one another.  

Reflection: I am very pleased with how much I have progressed throughout the semester.  My skills in multitasking, communication, and collaboration increased drastically.   

Multitasking between the work given to do in my office and supervisng the Student Success Center was difficult for me. My records and the sign in sheet differed drastically in the beginning but towards the end of the semester, my multitasking skills got better.  It was easier to notice students who came to me for help versus those who quietly entered just to use the center as a place for study.  In addition, I noticed students more on busier days because the center would be louder.  A score of a "3" best describes my progress because in the beginning of the semester, I was too focused on my work that I did not pay attention to the students and the center.  The progression was evident when students began greeting me.  

The student director and I had a difficult time working together when we first started.  For instance, there were communication problems during our first newsletter experience because we were unaware of what our roles were for the newsletter.  This problem carried on onto the October newsletter when we had to interview a Professor who promoted undergraduate research.  Due to the miscommunication between the student director and another HDD-ICC member, the student director arrived at the interview late, and brought the wrong interview questions.  Looking unprofessional, I had the worst interview experience which led to a meeting with my supervisor the next day.  Even though my supervisor was on my side, I reflected on the situation and what I could have done to prevent the embarassment.  My score for this situation was given a "2-basic", because I should have been accountable for my co-writer.  Due to this realization of my mistake as a team member, I learned from this experience and always made sure that my co-writer understood what I was asking of and we tried to compromise if there were disagreements.  By the end of the semester, we did a better job communicating and cooperating despite our differences in work style.  My new score changed to a "4-advanced" for both learning outcomes.