Running Head: AREAS FOR GROWTH

Learning Outcome Narrative:

Areas for Growth
Mary Lopez
SDA Portfolio
Seattle University

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(LO 2, 7, 9; Artifacts: C1, C2, E2, F)

Introduction
In growing personally and professionally during the SDA Program, I
have realized there are areas in which I can improve. Some of these areas
are new for me, since I came from a different educational style and culture.
The NASCA/ACPA competencies (Artifact F) and my interest on continuing
working in international programs helped me recognize what areas I need to
develop after graduation. These areas are research, policy and finance and
recruiting human resources. All of these are related with management, which
is the theme for this narrative.
Research (LO 7; Artifacts C1, F)
I faced many challenges during the SDA Program because of the
different educational style. One of the most difficult classes for me was
Introduction to Educational Research (EDUC 5000). I did not have much
previous experience of this through either work or during my undergraduate
studies, so I was not familiar with the different types of research.
I am always curious and interested in learning more about different
groups of students, and I realized that I will use research intensively during
my future professional life. By using research, I learned about some of the
challenges the student affairs space is facing. For example, in studying
current student development theories, I realized many were related to race

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and only applicable to US-born students. During the program, I heard many
times about multicultural competencies, which is the knowledge and
awareness of cultural differences (Pope et al., 2004). However, I realized that
most professionals in student affairs are not fully aware of all the challenges
international students face. Most comments I heard about the topic were that
faculty, staff and professionals in student affairs assume that the biggest
challenge for international students is the language (Artifact C1). Also,
most discussions in class were more focused on students of color, students
with disabilities, LBGT students and so on. I started searching for more
materials related with international students, but unfortunately most of the
information was related to Chinese or Chicano students. However, the
number of countries represented by international students is growing rapidly.
During my Multicultural Perspectives class (EDUC 5150), I had the
opportunity to work with other classmates who were international students
and part of the TESOL program, and all of them were passionate about
international students issues. Most of our research material was obtained by
interviewing other international students and we found that most of their
challenges were beyond the language barrier.
In addition, classes such as Student Development Theory, Research
and Practice (SDAD 5400) made me to realize that I am considered a student
of color here in the US, so I am part of a minority now (in some other
countries, people of color are typically black people only). In my country, I
was part of a privileged group because of my familys socio-economic level.

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This is another challenge that some international students face when coming
to the US.
Finally, the Artifact F (NASPA/ACPA competencies) showed me that I
need to improve my skills in assessment of quantitative designs and analysis
techniques to help me in measuring the impact of the issues mentioned
above. During my second internship at Green River, I did have the
opportunity to assess a survey from the students at the end of the program,
but I certainly need more opportunities to further develop these skills (LO
#7). In addition, technology has been very useful to me in my practice as a
student affairs professional. At Cascadia, every two weeks I pulled data from
a student database to determine how many students per quarter arrived and
enrolled in the different programs, how many came through agencies, their
countries, and so on. I created a spread sheet to analyze trends in
applications and agency performance by country. This analysis helped
International Programs to determine where we should focus our recruiting
efforts. I strongly believe that data analysis is a key tool in understanding
global trends in higher education. Therefore, I need and want to further
improve my analytical skills by learning more tools and participating in more
data analysis projects (LO #7).
Policy and Finance (LO 9; Artifact C2)
Policy and finance is another development area. My first learning
experience about higher education policy was with SDAD 5760 Leadership

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and Governance in Post-Secondary Education. I learned more about

Governance during SDAD 5640 Internship in Student Development at
Cascadia College where I had the opportunity to participate in student
advising and staff meetings. I would like to have had more opportunities like
this to further understand issues related with college policies and students
(LO #9).
As a former international student and now a US resident, I held F1 and
H4 visas for a few years and I am familiar with the J1 visa. I learned firsthand that there are many guidelines, policies and procedures that
international students need to follow and it could become overwhelming and
confusing at times. For example, when international students are required to
transfer their grades, it is difficult to find an equivalent of their educational
credentials in the US, and if there is an equivalence, there is a procedure
they need to follow. In addition, one of the main problems that international
students experienced was the lack of opportunities to find a job after
graduation because the number of work visas (H1) is very limited. As a
former international student, I understand how difficult it is to obtain a visa
and how limited the opportunities are for international students who legally
come to this country to pursue their dreams to have a better education. The
bright side is that some policies have changed. For example, spouses of H1
visa holders are now allowed to work. That was one of the limitations that
prevented me from working for several years in the US. Changes in policies
like this one have been favorable for international students and their

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families. As we can see, immigration is a hot topic for international students

and, while I am familiar with some visa types and procedures, I need to
further my understating of the immigration policies related to higher
education (LO #9). As an advisor, I would play an important role and I need
to be very knowledgeable of these policies because if I made a mistake, the
student could be seriously affected or even have issues maintaining their
visa status (Artifact C2).
Finance is something I have not had experience much experience but it
is important, especially in the case of international students, who dont have
much financial aid opportunities in the US. Actually, when I was a student,
there was no financial aid for international students in my university.
However, some higher education institutions have started to give small
scholarships to attract more international students, which I think is a good
initiative because international students bring their cultural background,
knowledge - domestic students have the opportunity of an enriched
academic experience and financial assets: international students brought
over 24 billion in 2012-2013, resulting in the creation of 313,000 jobs
(NAFSA, 2014).
Recruiting Human Resources (LO 2; Artifact E2)
Now that I work closely with marketing recruiting agencies, I have
realized several countries, including Peru, are not familiar with the difference
between colleges and universities. There are many misconceptions about

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colleges, such as that colleges are seen only as technical institutes when in
fact they have many advantages, including lower tuition and fees.
I would like to work as a recruiter in the future. I had experience
working in the Disney recruiting process in Peru, for the Disney internship
program for college students. In EDAD 5700 Leadership in Education I, in one
of the leadership instruments, I got the highest score in Human Resources. I
was not surprised about this score because I am a person who believes that
everyone in an organization is very important, but of particular importance is
how they fit into the organization. I really enjoy creating a good environment
for people I work with and work for, because I believe everyone should feel
comfortable in order to do a good job. One of the reasons I am interested in
international students is that I can share with them my experience learning
not only how to fit into a new job environment but also how to fit into a new
society (LO #2).
Finally, my ACPA/NASPA competency assessment (Artifact E2) helped
me identify additional areas of improvement. These areas are hiring
techniques and procedures, design of professional development plans that
assess my own strengths and weaknesses and use of technological resources
to maximize my efficiency and effectiveness.

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References
Pope, R. L., Reynolds, A. L., & Mueller, J. A. (2004). Multicultural competence in
student affairs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.