Running head: LEARNING OUTCOME NARRATIVE: DEVELOPMENT

Learning Outcome Narrative: Areas for Development Catie Holker Seattle University

LEARNING OUTCOME NARRATIVE: DEVELOPMENT Areas for Development (LOs # 4, 5, 9; Artifacts A2, B, C1, C2, D, E, H, I)

The integrative, macro theme of my areas for development in the 10 SDA Learning Outcomes is interpersonal and institutional awareness. This is apparent through two dimensions including providing individualized support and being familiar with governance/policy. Though the SDA program has significantly improved my awareness of diversity and social justice, I believe there is consistently work to be done for LO #4, understanding and fostering diversity, justice, and a sustainable world. This is directly tied with knowing how to adapt student services to specific cultures and environments (LO #5) and how that can affect law, policy, finance, and governance in higher education (LO #9). This is important to me both personally and professionally because allowing space for students or coworkers to be vulnerable with their identities makes it easier to support their unique needs. LO Dimensions: Areas for Development Individualized Support James Barker said it best: leadership is service, and nothing more (Brown, p. 60). My best leadership is exuded when Im working directly with students. EDUC 520 Social Justice in Education and EDUC 515 Multicultural Perspectives have improved my knowledge and awareness of other cultures and lifestyles, however this learning outcome (LO #4) will require attention beyond the SDA program. Many of my artifacts and work experiences (A1, A2) are group or program focused and Ill need more one-on-one experience in order to successfully break into academic advising. Part of understanding students as individuals means understanding myself, which is something I have to admit Im still in the process of doing. As Baxter-Magolda might put it, Im still on the path to self-authorship and once Ive established a better internal

LEARNING OUTCOME NARRATIVE: DEVELOPMENT

foundation, Ill be able to put my best foot forward as mentor, counselor, friend, and confidant to students (Evans et al. p. 186). Familiarity with Governance and Policy Understanding issues surrounding law, policy, finance, and governance (LO #9) has been a reoccurring area of development for me because Ive always been more interested in the meaning making, the connections, and the 1:1 work. Budgeting, policing, and institutional planning have never been interests or hobbies of mine. The SDA program has helped me learn how to synthesize the data, reporting, and policy with the work that Im doing. For instance, Artifact E contains my outline for a multicultural competency workshop for undergraduate students about to volunteer with the Seattle University Youth Initiative. I created this workshop with a team at the end of my first quarter of graduate school here (SDAD 578 Student Development Theory, Research, and Practice) and I was already forced to connect my coursework with larger institutional initiatives and the community at large. Coming from a small, Midwest, college town meant this was a shift in perspective for me, one that reminds me of Baxter-Magoldas second phase of coming to a crossroads (Evans et al. p. 185). Demonstration of Development in LOs Past Prior to the SDA program, I was even less aware of policy and governance. I didnt pay attention to political gatherings on campus or watch the news very often. I also was unaware of the impact of identity and diversity on a college campus or in an organization. Where I used to value silence, I now more value the opportunity to speak up and fight for change. Present

LEARNING OUTCOME NARRATIVE: DEVELOPMENT

Presently, I feel much more confident in my ability to assess and be aware of institutional climate, especially since the Assessment Certification Program that I partook in over summer of 2013. Mission statements, a concept that I studied in SDAD 577 Foundations of the Student Affairs Profession, now have a greater importance to me and will impact where I decide to apply for jobs in June (B, LO #9). One of the most impactful theories I have learned is Yossos theory of Community Cultural Wealth (2005). My leadership focus is community and empowerment; the best way I can go about supporting people of oppressed identities is to encourage the contribution of cultural capital. Whats more important than financial and social wealth is aspirational, linguistic, familial, navigational, and resistant capital. These are significant contributions of wealth that all students bring with them to campus but arent always acknowledged for it (Bolman & Gyallos, 2011). Future I will continue to grow in this area by continuing to research human and social development. One non-negotiable item for me when it comes to taking on a new job is that they offer professional development. For the benefit of my own skills and the success of the students that I work with, I require to be challenged with workshops, conferences, and projects that will push me to learn more. Student affairs is a constantly changing field because were never through learning about the human experience. Its our job to keep up with it as best we can.

LEARNING OUTCOME NARRATIVE: DEVELOPMENT References

Bolman, L., and Gallos, J. (2011). Reframing academic leadership. San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass Brown, D. G. (2005). University presidents as moral leaders. Landham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield Yosso, T.J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69-82.