Running head: PRESENTATION & REFLECTION OF PORTFOLIO ARTIFACT #4 1

Portfolio Artifact #4 Presentation & Reflection of An Approach to Engaging Students

Andrees Rivers
PUA 550 Seminar for Public Administration
McDaniel College
Summer 2014










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Presentation of Artifact #4
The fourth artifact is a power point presentation which I utilized to co-present as a
professional development tool at a local conference held recently. This conference was
sponsored by the Mid Atlantic Association for College and University Housing Officers and
focused on New Jersey professionals in Residence, hence the conference name, NJCORE. My
colleague, Danielle Holmes, and I submitted this presentation to a group of twenty entry, mid
and upper level Residence Life professionals. The approximately two hour long presentation was
entitled Bait, Line and Hook, UhhhThere is Nothing to do on Campus: An Approach to
Engaging Students. This power point presentation is the artifact demonstrating my
comprehension of the Executive Core Qualification of Leading Change.
The artifact was developed in response to a need for improvement in the planning of
creative, innovative and strategic techniques relative to enhancing student participation in events
at McDaniel College. During my first year of employment, I discovered an extreme lack of
involvement and engagement from students in the Residence Halls. It was normal behavior for
students to exhibit a disinterest in attending certain programs presented by the college. As a
result, I began to slowly attempt a change in this paradigm by transforming the antiquated
method of advertisement, engagement and programming for students within the Office of
Residence Life. This enhancement included an overhaul of the departments conceptual
advertising which was too traditional and did not effectively reach or engage our target
audiences. Thus, the Bait, Line and Hook theory was developed and gradually implemented to
capture the attention of students and encourage participation. This novel concept was the
inspiration for the artifact and professional presentation.
The concept of Bait, Line and Hook as well as the thought to create a professional
presentation out of the process was also inspired by my vision and coursework in this program.
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During my Foundations of Public Administration and Organizational Change and Development
courses, the importance of participating in professional development and growth opportunities
were stressed in course discussions and work. Therefore, I accepted the opportunity to create this
session and present with my colleague while utilizing my personal vision to enlighten, encourage
and motivate other professionals in the field. It was an amazing opportunity to share techniques
with others at different levels and take part in enhancing the skills of another professional in an
area where I have seen great success.
All these things said, I am presenting this artifact in order to defend Executive Core
Qualification #1 which is that of Leading Change. This artifact demonstrates creativity, vision,
strategy, flexibility and resilience utilized to cultivate effective and innovative techniques to
engage our students in campus programming. The work offers readers an overview into a
complete new model of promotion, advertisement and programming for students which resulted
in higher attendance numbers at events. Through the development and implementation of the
Bait, Line and Hook approach, the Late Nights, First Year Fun on the Weekends, RA
programming, and Office of Residence Lifes department wide programming attendance
numbers increased by 39% compared to the data from the previous academic year (Robbins,
2014). These statistics are shared by Michael Robbins, the Director of Residence Life who is my
superior that tracks this information on a yearly basis. This tweak in our approach to planning,
advertising and engaging students in programming actually demonstrates the effective ploy to
Lead Change within the Office of Residence Life.



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Reflection of Artifact #4
In order to appropriately reflect on this third artifact, a review of each component of the
Executive Core Qualification is necessary. This is ECQ #1 which focuses on Leading Change
and is defined as involving the ability to bring about strategic change to meet goals (OPM.GOV,
n.d.). Furthermore, the ECQ includes the components of creativity, external awareness,
flexibility, resilience, strategic thinking, and vision. Below you can view an explanation in
defense for each area of the ECQ of Leading Change (OPM.GOV, n.d.):
Creativity and Innovation: The creation and presentation of this approach, power point
and session at NJ Core, involved a great deal of creativity and innovation. In addition, the
Bait, Line and Hook approach to engaging students is an effective creation in itself
advancing advertisement and sustaining the attention of a larger majority of students than
previously experienced.
External Awareness: This is a home grown approach created by my colleague and I, but
the work is certainly inspired by previous professional experiences both at Rider and
Widener Universities. Those scenarios have afforded us as external awareness relative to
the types of challenges and solutions that various small institutions encounter with
deficient student engagement.
Flexibility: In order to structure this approach to become effectual at McDaniel College,
maximum flexibility was employed across the board. This was especially important in the
selection of workable ideas for our students at McDaniel, since these concepts differed
from successful techniques with students at previous institutions.
Resilience: Was extremely important initially when facilitating this approach for the first
time at McDaniel as well as in the process of comprehensively mapping out this
presentation for all professionals at different levels.
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Strategic Thinking: I believe that strategy is one of the keys to success with the Bait, Line
and Hook approach. Without strategic and development of the ideas included in the
presentation, the approach would not be acceptable and successful within the student
population.
Vision: This was a necessary ability in regards to the visualization of the advertising and
programming which must attract and excite students to become engaged and attentive. In
addition, without goals to achieve through this new process, there would not have been
much motivation. Therefore, it was important for my colleague and I to have a vision and
see it through to success.
Finally, this artifact illustrates and defends the Leading Change ECQ as well as the
included components of creativity, external awareness, flexibility, resilience, strategic thinking,
and vision. Through presentation and reflection of the artifact, readers should have a clear-cut
understanding of the Bait, Line and Hook approach and the resultant benefits for engaging the
college student of today. Through the utilization of my organizational vision and professional
values as well as our creative and purposeful talents, we established a powerful and effective
practicing tool. The successful accomplishment of the primary goal is evidenced by the increase
in programming attendance numbers by 39% (Robbins, 2014). In addition, successful indicators
of the projects, including the Bait, Line and Hook component have led to a significant revamp in
advertisement, engagement and programming for our students overall. This change would not
have been possible without creativity, flexibility, external awareness, strategy and a strong vision
in mind.


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References
OPM.GOV. (n.d.). Executive Core Qualifications. Retrieved June 28, 2014, from
http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/executive-core-
qualifications/
Robbins, M. (2014). Personal Interview.