Joann Zhang

A. Articulate knowledge of historical and philosophical underpinnings of past and current issues shaping the field of student affairs and the student experience

 

            In our first term of graduate school, I took a history course in American Higher Education. During the duration of this course, I learned about how origination of American higher education (starting with Harvard University in 1636) and the movements since then that had led us to where we are today. Movements like the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, which allowed black and white students to be integrated in the same higher education institution, the Civil Rights Act of 1965 which protected people from discrimination based on their race, color or national origin, or the development of FERPA which protected students’ educational records; have all shaped the field of higher education including student affairs and how students experience higher education today. Today, our campus is more diverse than ever. We have individuals from all diverse backgrounds learning in the same classrooms, men and women are allowed to play sports together, access to support programs are available for marginalized communities and gender-neutral bathrooms are becoming more common on college campuses. Due to our diverse community and the experiences students have lived, student affair professionals must be prepared to engage and support students from all backgrounds and beliefs. Over the duration of this course, we researched and shared current events through our Historical In-Box discussions. Current events including LGBTQ rights, gender-neutral bathrooms, and safety measures for our Middle Eastern students are all current issues that shape our role as student affair professionals. I believe, we need to prepare our students to engage and articulate their ideas in regards to current events so that they can be most prepared for life on and off campus. In order to create well-rounded students, we must challenge all students to think critically, to engage with individuals whom they do not necessarily share the same identities with and to be active citizens on and off campus. By doing so, we are taking our history underpinnings and progressing rather than reliving our historical struggles. 

            One of my biggest takeaways from the American Higher Education course was my research on Student Life: The Past, Present, and Future assignment. For my research, I choose to explore a topic that played an important role for most students, how The Impact of Student Aid and how it Impacted Student Life: The Past, Present, and Future. Through the development of financial aid, scholarships and grants, access to higher education have increased. In my paper, I discussed the development of scholarships, work-study, and loans and how they influenced student life and students’ experiences on campus. When working with students, it is important to remember that not all students have financial support, and thus, student aid can impact students’ lives differently. For an example, not all students can afford to take part in extracurricular activities on campus, and that some students may have to work outside of their study and class time. And as a result, their ability to get involved on campus and form a connection with their peers are affected. Through this paper, I have learned about the necessity of student aid and how much of an impact it plays within students’ life and experiences on campus. Most students need to complete their degree within a certain timeframe due to their student aid or scholarship, and thus, as a student affairs professional, I want to support these students so that they are graduating with a degree, rather than withdrawing and in debt due to their student aid.

            Higher education has changed in many ways but some things still remain the same. The increase in college access has created the understanding that “everyone can earn a college degree.” This saying does not take into the consideration of our historical underpinnings such as racial discriminations, gender biases or discrimination against the LGBTQ community, etc.  The means of going to college and graduating with a degree is nowhere equal. Some students have more societal barriers such as the lack of financial access, not having the institutional knowledge to navigate the college system or adequate resources during K12 education that properly supported and prepared students for college success. As a result, not everyone can earn a college degree and the support one receives in school can be influenced by your background and experiences. Athletes versus non-athletes, international students versus domestic students, students of color versus white students; our society continue to live in the ‘us-versus-them’ historical underpinning mentality. In my Social Inequality course, we had discussions around the concept of ‘us-versus-them’ and how it creates social hierarchies. I focused my final research paper on understanding Rural Students and their Pursuit of Higher Education. By understanding various communities and their experiences, I can better support students who are from rural communities. Within my research, I learned that rural students like most students struggle to adapt in college due to their transition to college. However, for rural students, a college campus is often their first exposure to different backgrounds, cultures, beliefs and socioeconomic backgrounds; and as a result, they can often struggle in their academics and social life because of the difficulty to form a connection with their new community (Ast, 2014). As a student affairs professional, I want to focus on bridging the gap between the different communities of students on campus, eliminate what was once and still continue to be a segregated campus. In order to bring different communities together, I believe higher education administrators (including faculty) need to create purposeful programs or engage in conversations that encourage students to interact with others who may have different identities so that they can become more knowledgeable about our diverse community. I hope students can begin to develop awareness, understanding, and empathy towards others who are from different backgrounds and experiences.

 

 

B. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the range, scope, and roles of different functional areas within higher education

 

            During our Programs and Functions course, we encountered all the different aspects of student affairs, resources on campus, and functional areas that can make up a higher education institution. Each week, we learned through a panel of guest speakers about their functional area and the role they have in their department. By listening to their stories and asking questions, I developed a deeper understanding of what it meant to be a student affair professional and the responsibilities that come with it. One highlight of this course was our Student Affairs Internship Fair summary. Through this assignment, I learned about the regulations around spirituality on a campus at a public institution. By engaging with the program coordinators at Spiritual Life @ OSU, I also learned the difference between spirituality and religion and how student affair professionals can support students with their spiritual explorations. For an example, in my summary, I discussed how one could be spiritual (belief in a higher power) without having to be religious (believing in a god or specific gods). And that more often than not, students will be exploring and developing their identities throughout their college education. As a result, student affair professionals need to be prepared to support students who are exploring different identities. Prior to this assignment, I thought spirituality was not something public institutions engaged in but as I learned through Spiritual Life @ OSU, it is important that we support all students and their development, including their curiosity in spirituality and religion. Another take away from this assignment was learning about some of the struggles certain functional areas encounter, such as the Veteran Services office. With numerous communities lacking proper resources on campus, the Veterans Services office at OSU is no exception. Through my conversation with a Veterans Services representative, it made me reflect on our institution’s overall mission and which communities on campus they provide more or fewer resources and support too. Our society is not currently structured around equality and equity, and although higher education strives for equality and equity, I think due to financial constraints and institutional goals; higher education can sometimes recreate systems of hierarchies where some communities are given more resources than others. Based on my conversation with the Veteran Services, their office lacks proper resources which could be the result of institutional politics. As a student affairs professional, it is important to play my part in helping the institution be more equitable with practices, allocating resources properly and ensuring my daily interactions are fair. Ensuring equity is important but it is not always the easiest thing to do. To ensure equitable practices, it will require constant reflection and partake in purposeful actions. For an example, rather than simply repeating programs that are done each year, we might engage in different programming that involves other communities on campus. Having programming that focuses on more than one community can also be impactful as it creates an opportunity for cross-cultural or cross-community engagement. An event I attended during my second year titled: Food Transformed was a perfect example of what I’d like to do in the future as a student affair professional. This event on campus was opened to all students and was sponsored by the Asian and Pacific Cultural Center and the Human Services Resource Center, and as a result, it provided an opportunity for the Asian & Pacific Islander (API) community and students who may be experiencing or are interested in hunger and homelessness to interact and engage about food insecurities. By understanding the different roles within the various functional areas on campus, student affair professionals can collaborate and create meaningful programs that enrich a wider range of students. Collaborations with other departments on campus are something I plan to take with me throughout my professional role in student affairs. A final thought on the importance of student affair professionals being knowledgeable around the different resources on campus is so that they can do proper referrals for their students whenever it is necessary.

            Also, within our Program and Function course, we were given the assignment to interview One Functional Area across Three Different Campuses. Through this assignment, I learned how institutional size can greatly influence the roles professional staff has in their department and on campus. For an example, at Western Oregon University, one full-time staff member was splitting their FTE by serving in the Conduct Office and in the Career and Service Learning office. Due to the nature of the campus, the Conduct Office often required more time and so their role in the Career and Service Learning office would be negatively impacted. Whereas, at Washington State University, their Center for Civic Engagement had multiple full-time professionals and numerous graduate assistants, and student staff members and thus, their center was able to sponsor multiple service learning projects each week. Being able to understand the culture of each institution and campus size can greatly influence the roles of professional staff in each functional area and the range of their responsibility in each area.

            During one of my internships with the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) internship, I focused my internship hours around the Implementation of International Service-Learning at OSU. I met with individuals from various functional areas on campus (Global Opportunities, Risk Management, and International Programs) in order to get specific details about their department and the services they offer to students or departments who are looking to send students abroad. I was also able to decipher whether or not their department would be a necessary resource for CCE when implementing international service-learning trips. I learned that within Global Opportunities, Risk Management and International Programs, they all focused on similar services, but given a few variables, they all provide different resources and support to the various stakeholders on campus. As a student, understanding the different resources on campus can be overwhelming, especially if they offered similar support. And as a result, students might not get the proper support they need. As I transition to a new campus as a professional, I plan to take the time and learn about the different functional areas on campus so that I can make sure my referrals are proper. Though I’m not sure if this is currently being practiced at institutions, I think by having an internal ‘campus resource fair’ for all campus professionals to come and learn about all the different functional areas, programs, and resources departments has to offer, professionals on campus can gain a better understanding and up-to-date knowledge from all the different functional areas on campus. As a result, the institution could be greatly benefited as it could create a more cohesive team feel between all departments on campus. During this time, departments can also share what they’ve accomplished over the last academic year and thus, everyone on campus gains more awareness in regards to what other departments are doing on campus. By attending this internal campus resource fair, everyone can be more informed with what is happening around on campus and share what they learn with the students they work with.

            Lastly, I learned about the different counseling/conflict management resources on campus through our Counseling class. We discussed the difference between counseling, advising, career counseling and even academic advising; and how those functional areas might look on a college campus. Understanding the difference between similar functional areas and knowing which resource should be used for which specific conditions are important. For our Referral Guide, we researched relationship counseling. I learned about Ombuds and their role at OSU. It was interesting to learn that there is an Ombuds office at other institutions and that they are an external office to Oregon State University. Ombuds offers services for those who don’t know where to go to get help, and thus they are a good initial contact for those who are seeking support. They tend to be familiar with most conflict resolution/counseling resources on campus and thus can do proper referrals if necessary. Through this project, I also learned about the Human Service Resource Center and how they can support students who are being impacted by hunger and homelessness, the Academic Center and how they can best support students during their first two years of undergraduate school and provide resources who are struggling in school academically.

            Understanding the different roles and functional areas on campus are important for a student affair professional. The students we work with will require different needs and guidance, and thus, in order to be prepared, I hope to do my due diligence in researching and understanding the different resources on campus.

 

C. Understanding the primary challenges and opportunities being presented to student affairs professionals

 

            One of the primary challenges I witnessed on campus and was echoed throughout the nation was the safety and inclusion of students of color on campus. As a result of this challenge, higher education administrators have taken opportunities to ensure students of color feel heard. Here at Oregon State, events such as the Speak Out, Town Hall Forums, and Speak Up events were organized to give students of color a voice and higher education administrators (including student affair professionals) an opportunity to listen. I attended these events as a student of color and a professional of color. I felt that it was important for me to attend these events, to listen to students’ stories and experiences and to empathize with their experiences. I learned how complex our social structure is still currently, and how much more we still have to go. I was also able to analyze my own identity being an Asian-American woman, in the field of higher education. I began to analyze my privilege, and think about things I never thought of as a privilege but have begun to do so after listening to the experiences students of color were facing. As a new professional, I want to develop support groups, programs and facilitate spaces where students can converse about their experiences so that we can better support students of color and their experience on campus.

            During my Multicultural Issues course, I analyzed the critical issue surrounding cultural awareness and competency and how that impacts students and their ability to relate and interact with others. The division amongst students of color and white students or white faculty on campus needs to be addressed, and in my Analysis and Recommendations paper, I addressed a possible solution for increasing cultural awareness and understanding between the different communities. My paper indicated the importance of service-learning and how it can transform members of society from being members of society to being active conscious citizens. By engaging students from different cultural backgrounds in service-learning, members will have an opportunity to work towards a common goal while being able to interact and learn about others they may not have had an opportunity to do so otherwise. Through conversation and engaging in the same service project, students will engage with the community and hopefully develop understanding about others individuals they served with. By doing so, my goal will be for them to begin to empathize with others who come from other backgrounds. This may require more than one community engagement opportunity, but my intentions are to plant a seed in their brain about other cultures and identities coming together.  Awareness and understanding of different cultures may occur naturally for individuals who are doing service together but may also require intentional reflection activities and identity development.  For an example: during my internship with the Center for Civic Engagement serving as an Alternative Break site leader, I was able to see students from different backgrounds engage with each other about their own culture, language, and traditions. The week-long service trip provided participants an opportunity to get to know each other while engaging in learning and serving in projects around critical societal issues. In order to foster this type of cross-cultural understanding and awareness, I facilitated numerous team bonding activities, icebreakers, exercises that related to their identities and opportunities to reflect personally and as a group. By doing so, I could see students develop a relationship and engage in a way that was different than when they first met. The service projects we were doing provided students an opportunity to share their perspective on the issues we were learning about and thus allowing more opportunity to share their identity/experiences. It was noted that it was okay if we don’t share similar perspectives, or that we have conflicting opinions but the key was to be open-minded so that we can learn about other perspectives and experiences. I thought this week-long service trip provided just that. The importance of cross-cultural collaboration is important as it can increase cultural awareness and competency. Student affair professionals have the opportunity to support students who are experiencing challenges while on and off campus, such as, students of color feeling marginalized on campus. By creating meaningful and engaging ways that can challenge all students to better understand the world they live in and begin to think about the world in which others live in.

            Another challenge that became more apparent was after the 2016 presidential elections. The impact of this election took a toll on the country, especially those who identify as international students, Middle Eastern students, and LGBTQ.  As a result, student affair professionals must be prepared to support all students regardless of their personal beliefs. Student affair professionals need to be able to facilitate discussions between students who have opposing views while checking their own biases. This is easier said than done. To engage in critical dialogue, I believe one must be able to challenge each other while remaining respectful and open-minded. “At Oregon State, differences and dissenting viewpoints are not only tolerated but encouraged as part of the educational process,” (Oregon State University, 2016). Acknowledging students' freedom of expression is important as it can really foster critical thinking and create new values. However, educating others on the difference between freedom of expression and hate speech is something I believe is essential, especially on a college campus, where there are so many individuals who are developing at a different rate and exploring different identities. I believe people often misunderstand the difference between freedom of expression and hate speech. There are some speech or expressions that are simply not acceptable (for instance, when one threatens a certain person or community) and thus, by understanding the difference and discussing what is freedom of expression and hate speech, we can better prepare our students for life outside of higher education. I appreciate OSU's Freedom of Expression web page and believe that this is something we all need to keep in mind when working with students. This can sometimes be difficult as we are wearing our student affairs hat while also having our personal beliefs. We discussed these issues during our Legal Issues course through our In-Box discussions. Through that class, I learned about the legality matters of executive orders, federal and state constitutions among private actors and state actors, and legal cases that have shaped our current society and higher education system today. Something I would still like to inquire about in my future is how the current administration will affect our students from underrepresented backgrounds, and how we can best support their needs when in fact we do not have all the answers ourselves.

 

D. Understand systems of privilege and oppression and the impact of these on institutional systems or organizations

 

            Our first day of our Student Development Theory I course, our instructor asked whether or not being in school was a privilege. That question really stuck with me, because here I am secretly complaining about being in school again without really reflecting on the privilege of what it means to actually attend graduate school. Within that course, we discussed our salient identities and what privilege really means in today’s socially constructed system. I analyzed my own identities and experiences through my Personal Narrative essay. In that essay, I talked about some of the struggles I had experienced while growing up which made me reflect in my Final Developmental Analysis paper, the oppression I never realized I was facing because I wasn’t able to draw a distinction between what was just and what I naturally accepted because I was naïve. By analyzing our personal narrative using the theories we learned in class, it made me realize all the privileges and oppressions students’ experience prior to reaching college, in particular, students of color. I was able to relate to Kim’s Asian-American Identity Development Model (1981, 2001, 2012), Phinney’s Model of Ethnic Identity Development (1990) and Torres’s Model of Hispanic Identity Development (1999) theories in my Final Developmental Analysis paper. These theorists helped me connect my experiences to research and relate it back to the development of students of color living in America. It made me realize that my experiences growing up were valid and that the oppression I encountered was based on societal structures that were not merely coincidental. Our institutional or societal structures has created the idea of eurocentrism as being the focal point and thus, superior to all others. The concept of eurocentrism has developed the hierarchy of members within society, which has affected our students and campus climate today. It is important for student affairs professionals to be able to recognize and understand the systems of privilege and oppression so that we can best educate our students on what it means to be equitable and equal. By using the privilege and power I have as student affairs professional to redistribute what it means to have power and to engage students in conversations about privilege and oppression. I think our society has been traditionally taught to accept the teacher as the one with all the answers, and students are there to listen and learn. I plan to use my role as the ‘teacher’ to let others share their knowledge while encouraging everyone, including myself, to learn.

            I recognized my privileges and my salient identities during my role as a teaching assistant for my internship with Emerging Leaders class. I sensed the ‘teacher with all the answers’ type of privilege when co-teaching an upper-division leadership course. However, as we discussed the role of identity in relations to leadership, I began to feel my salient identities in effect. Being that I am a person of color and a woman, I explained to my students how my identities could affect how I lead and whether or not my voice is heard. For an example, in my Internship Reflection paper, I discussed how my leadership style was dependent on the environment and situation I was in. I think this relates back to the institutional structures of privilege and oppression, as I sometimes struggle to be a ‘leader.’ Not having the privilege to always lead with confidence and to know my voice is being heard depends on if I’m in a room full of white identified individuals versus a room full of my peers. Due to my identity, I recognize the privilege I don’t have when hoping to speak with confidence regardless of who I am around and to speak without fearing judgment or anxiety. This is something I continue to struggle with but plan to overcome once I establish my place in the professional world. In order to work on this struggle, I plan to become more knowledgeable within my field. Thus, by focusing on building authentic relationships, asking questions related to my work and researching current issues; I hope my confidence will reflect my level of comfort within my field and department.

 

E. Identify goals, trends, and key issues related to the future of the student affairs profession

 

            A key issue that has been trending for students in higher education is access to higher education. As highlighted in my Impact of Student Aid on Student Life in American Higher Education: The Past, Present, and Future paper from my American Higher Education course, the majority of the students have to rely on scholarships, work-study funds and student aid to gain access to higher education. In my paper, I addressed the difference between merit-based scholarships and financial need scholarships such as the Pell Grant. Pell Grants have been scrutinized by policy makers on whether or not we are seeing students who receive this form of student aid, actually graduate and within the allotted time. If policy makers decide Pell Grants are not effective, then access to higher education becomes more of a barrier for low-income students. Students who tend to receive Pell Grants are often identified as students of color, which relates to another key issue of higher education: the lack of ethnic or racial diversity on campus. Gaining access to higher education even with the assistance of student aid doesn’t necessarily account for social barriers that relate to access to higher education.  In my CSI project, I discussed the relation between first-generation students of color and the affordability of higher education. In this presentation, I took into consideration the different forms of affordability, whether psychological (allowing oneself to be away from home and to earn a degree) or financial (being able to dedicate time not working to education). A takeaway from my CSI project was the importance of intersectionality and what it means to have access to higher education. There are many factors that influence whether or not a student is successful in college, and thus as a student affairs professional, I will work with students to identify personal goals that will work for them. Although I will support all students, I want to focus on those who have faced barriers in terms of access and affordability. It is important to ensure that the time students spend on a college campus is enriching and positive so that they want to continue each year. By doing so, we can eliminate other key issues such as dropout trends or failing classes, and that they are leaving campus with a degree. Though academic affairs are one side of higher education, I personally believe the student affairs provide more engagement, hands-on, and personal connections to higher education. I believe it is my responsibility as a student affair professional to ensure students are being connected to their campus and the community.

            Another trend related to student affair professionals includes the need of assessment and how a budget that can correlate with whether or not assessments and evaluations were met. In our Budgets and Finance class, we looked at the budget of specific departments on campus, such as the Diversity & Cultural Engagement (DCE) or Memorial Union (MU). By analyzing it from a student affair professional, we were able to analyze how our money comes in, how money is spent, the role of student fees and expenses being made throughout the fiscal year. Our Final Project consisted of analyzing revenues and expenses for a large department, managing salary increases and creating a Memo for the Vice President of Student Affairs which highlighted the fiscal year. For this assignment, we had to identify trends from the last few fiscal years and make necessary projections. A big takeaway for me from this assignment was learning about all the different things that were considered expenses. It is important to allocate money for emergency funds, which includes building maintenance. I enjoyed being able to write the memo to the Vice President, as it provided me an opportunity to summarize my budget, my reasoning and what my goals would be for the next year. Though I do not plan to manage a large department’s budget anytime in my near future, I do see myself managing a small budget eventually, and I think this project gave me the knowledge to do so effectively.

            Learning about a department’s budget relates back to the things we learned in Research and Assessment. If our programs are not meeting our learning or program outcomes year after year, the likelihood of our budget being affected is high. Thus, as a student affairs professional, I need to know how to create SMAART goals and to assess it using the right methodologies. We were given the opportunity to create learning outcomes and program outcomes through our Inquiry Projects. The likelihood of me having to work with a team to create a program (with learning and program outcomes) is very likely. Thus, a big takeaway from these projects was the importance of being able to work well in a team, to compromise, and to communicate effectively. As discussed in our CSSA classes, assessment is essential for student affair professionals. Assessment is a key trend will continue to drive our departments and programs.

 

F. Identify legal issues that impact higher education, field of student affairs, institutional policy and the student experience

 

            Through an internship with the Center for Civic Engagement, I engaged in conversations with various departments on campus around the legal issues concerning international service trips. I talked with someone from Risk Management, International Programs, and Global Opportunities and learned about the types of legal issues that may occur when sending students abroad. Through this internship, I was able to identify best practices based on research that protects students, staff, and institutions when traveling abroad. In my Reflection Paper, I addressed the complexity of creating a new program that has an international component.  As highlighted in my paper, I do not believe there is streamline processes when wanting to create an international service-learning program. Here at OSU, depending on your role on campus, and your intentions for traveling abroad, the process in which you’ll go through to create an international program varies. This makes me think of my role as a student affair professional, and how important it is to have a main streamline for processing similar things. I value transparency, and thus, strive to be as transparent as possible especially when dealing with possible legal complications and managing risk.

            In my Legal Issues class, I revisited the topic of international travel and risk management by applying it through a legal lens. My Legal and Policy Memorandum addressed legal issues that were related to students and staff who partook in an international trip through a school program. A takeaway from this assignment was the importance of contracts, being as clear as possible, and utilizing legal counsel whenever you have a doubt. I also began to develop a better understanding of what ‘duty of care’ is in relations to student affair professionals. And that duty of care can mean different things depending on what type of campus you work for. In my future role as a student affair professional, I think it will be important for me to look at legal cases and possible legal issues when addressing best policies. It is important to try to prevent as many legal issues as possible, but also be mindful that we can’t predict everything.l issues when addressing best policies. It is important to try to prevent as many legal issues as possible, but also be mindful that we can’t predict everything.