Running Head: 300 HOURS OF A KALAMAZOO EXPERIENCE

300 Hours of a Kalamazoo Experience

Eric Hilldorfer
Western Michigan University

Title of Paper

300 HOURS OF A KALAMAZOO EXPERIENCE

The Field Experience allowed me to grow as an individual and as professional. I was

able to gain a great amount of skills and experience from this opportunity. For this experience I
had the privilege of being able to work at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, MI. It is a small,
private, liberal arts institution that has just around 1,400-1,500 students. The mission of
Kalamazoo College is to prepare its graduates to better understand, live successfully within, and
provide enlightened leadership to a richly diverse and increasingly complex world (Introduction
& Mission, n.d.). I was able to work in the office of Student Involvement at Kalamazoo
College, K or K College as the members of the institution refers to it. This office is devoted to
promoting leadership and preparing the students for the world after college. My role within in
the office was to work with the student organization advisors and develop a training manual for
current and new advisors. This experience allowed me to enhance my ability to be an effective
student affairs practitioner.
The Project
My main objective with the Office of Student Involvement was to construct a manual for
the advisors of student organizations. The student organizations on Ks campus are not always
the most stable because there is interesting dynamic on the campus. A high percentage, almost
80% of the students take study abroad for at least one semester. The students typically go on
their experience during their junior year and this leaves the leadership roles up to 2nd year or
senior students whose main priority is to graduate. The lack of leadership and experience leads
to organizations dissolving at a high rate and starting at a high rate as well (B. Dietz, personal
communication, May 5, 2014). One of the ways the office has devised to combat the turnover
rate is to require student organizations to have an on-campus advisor to acts as a guide to ensure
the success of the organizations and hold the students accountable.

300 HOURS OF A KALAMAZOO EXPERIENCE

The Work
The majority of the work was not with the student organizations, but it was with the
advisors, conducting research, and connecting to other sources on how to develop an effective
training manual. Looking back I thought my work would mostly improve my advising and
helping skills because I am assisting the community, but this is not the case. The biggest area I
was able to improve upon was Assessment, Evaluation, and Research (ACPA & NASPA, 2012).
I conducted my work by researching training manuals that had been already developed
and contacted peer institutions to see if they had resources similar to what I was developing and
how they approached creating their materials. I also interviewed faculty and staff that were
currently advisors for organizations to receive their input on how the organizations operated,
what their role(s) where within the organizations, and what they need to be a more effective
advisor. From these interviews I able to compile my first needs assessment. Was able to assess
the advisors needs, develop and assess the culture of student organizations, and assess the
outcomes the advisors wanted from working with the organizations (Schuh & Upcraft, 2001).
These organizations can be difficult to assess because they are so different and they all operate
and have their traditions just like Greek organizations (Schuh & Upcraft, 2001). Being able to
meet with an array of members helped validate the assessment that I compiled because each
advisor conducted their work differently with each organization.
How Work Gets Done
Being a small, private, liberal arts college the way I conducted my work was a little
different than I would a Western Michigan University (WMU). I am encouraged to be creative
in my work at WMU, but there are limits and I need to follow certain guidelines as there would
at a public research or comprehensive institution (Hirt, 2006). Over at K College I was fairly

300 HOURS OF A KALAMAZOO EXPERIENCE

autonomous in my work and was allowed to use my creativity in accomplishing my work as long
as it was completed (Hirt, 2006). It seemed that all of the students and staff are encouraged to be
creative in their work. This can be displayed in their work spaces that are decorated and display
their own personality. Also, there seems to be less red tape to go through at this institution (Hirt,
2006). For example if I needed food for an event, I could just ask and an order would be placed.
The staff also is very relational and is welcoming to everyone that works in the office and
through the college. It made it easy to reach out to individuals when conducting my work.
Collaboration
The faculty and staff that I had the pleasure to work with all came from different
backgrounds and were at least advising a student organization that aligned with their values
and/or passion. One of the themes that was seen throughout was being able to have the students
collaborate with other student organizations and seek the chance for diverse programming. As an
advisor they are they need to explain the advantages of engagement and encourage them to
collaborate with other student organizations to promote student learning, development, and
diversity (Harper & Quaye, 2009). There were students that were part of different organizations,
but they would not have those organizations collaborate with each other. To assist the advisors in
how to properly address this matter I used the research I found and worked with my office to see
how they encourage collaboration through their office and with organizations. I was able to use
some of the materials they had already developed and create a section specifically for effective
on campus collaboration.
Reflecting on the Experience
This experience allowed for me to grow as a student affairs professional and develop and
improve upon an array of skills and competencies. I was able to work on my Assessment,

300 HOURS OF A KALAMAZOO EXPERIENCE

Evaluation, and Research competency area by creating a needs assessment to see how to
construct the manual for advisors. I was also able to work on my Human and Organizational
Resources competency when creating the manual and working with advisors, while also
developing my Advising and Helping competency (ACPA & NASPA, 2012).
Human and Organizational Resources
This area is all about improving knowledge and skills used in supervision, motivation,
and evaluation and the resources and people that can help (ACPA & NASPA, 2012). The manual
I have developed is a resource for the advisors to utilize and improve upon their skills. The
creation of the manual allowed me to focus on how I am a resource to others in my work and if I
am utilizing my resources effectively. One of the areas that the advisors might stress is
motivation and how to keep the students morale high. Looking back I think of the resources and
materials that I have used for motivating others. I referred them to Kouzes and Posners (2007)
Five Exemplary Practices of Leadership and how this form of transformational leadership is
focused on connecting with the students through meaningful relationships and there are multiple
ways to encourage others to act (Northouse, 2013).
Advising and Helping
Being able to help others is the basis of student affairs work and is one of the reasons I
enjoy my work and the field. The one person that I would neglect to help sometimes would be
myself. While working at Kalamazoo College, I was also working at WMU, taking summer
class, and maintaining a strong relationship with my partner. Like most helping advisors I was
dealing with environmental and individual stress on a daily basis (Reynolds, 2009). Being able
to constantly be in different environment every day never affected me before, but the amount of
work in each place contributed to the stress. Also being in a long distance relationship and

300 HOURS OF A KALAMAZOO EXPERIENCE

making time for my partner, whom I became engaged to, added stress on communicating how
my time was being divided between my work and them. I am working every day, but I am also
planning my life and future with someone else and that would run build upon my stress. Just
being able to talk about the issues and stress with my supervisor, even if they did not offer advice
helped me to balance and stay on task. Sometimes being a good advisor or helper means just
listening and let the individual do all the talking (Reynolds, 2009).
A Solid Experience
The field experience was a great opportunity for me to work in the area of student
activities and involvement. It is an area that I am passionate about and would like to continue
my work there after graduation if the opportunity presents itself. I was able to improve upon the
areas of assessment, advising, and helping through my work at Kalamazoo College. I had the
privilege of working with a great staff and community. I feel the experience at this institution
will contribute greatly to my success after graduation from the Higher Education and Student
Affairs program at Western Michigan University.

References
American College Personnel Association (ACPA) & National Association of Student Personnel

300 HOURS OF A KALAMAZOO EXPERIENCE

Administrators (NASPA). (2012). ACPA/NASPA professional competency areas: For

Student affairs practitioners. Washington, DC: American College Personnel Association.
Harper, S. R. & Quaye, S. J. (2009). Student engagement in higher education: Theoretical
perspectives and practical approaches for diverse populations. New York, NY:
Routledge.
Hirt, J. B. (2006). Where you work matters: Student affairs administration at different types of
institution. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Introduction & Mission. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.kzoo.edu/college/?p=about.
Kouzes, J. M. & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The five practices of exemplary leadership. In The
Jossey-Bass Reader on Leadership (2nd ed.). ppg.63-74. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA.
Northouse, P. G. (2013) Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Sage Publications Inc.:
Washington, D. C.
Reynolds, A. L. (2009). Helping college students: Developing essential support skills for student
affairs practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Schuh, J. H. and Upcraft, M. L. (2001). Assessment practice in student affairs: An applications
manual. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Wiley.