Juanita Vivas Bastidas

PROJECT DESIGN January 2017

Final Portfolio
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Contents

Introduction.................................................................................................................. 1
Weekly Work Logs and Reflections.................................................................................... 3
Interview Summary...................................................................................................... 11
Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 14
Updated Resum.......................................................................................................... 15
Site Supervisor Evaluation............................................................................................. 15
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Introduction

My name is Juanita Vivas Bastidas. I am an international student from Colombia

currently in her senior year at Loras College. I am majoring in Sociology and International

Studies and have as goal to enroll in the University of Illinois at Chicago to earn a doctorate

degree in Sociology. During my internship at the Colegio Santa Francisca Romana, I will be

working with its Communication Department under the supervision of the Director of Admission

and Communication, Jhoana Cubillos.

Colegio Santa Francisca Romana is an educational institution founded in 1963 by a group

of Franciscan sisters from Rochester, MN. This educational institution, since its origins, has been

committed to preparing women from ages 5 to 18 to be leaders of light in the world. Colegio

Santa Francisca Romanas mission is the creation of a community of women who spread peace

and good for the benefit of their country and the world, especially those most in need.

When deciding where to intern during this January term, coming back to the school

where I spent 14 years of my life only made sense. As an alumna of Colegio Santa Francisca

Romana, I have always been thankful with all members of the Colegio for their efforts in giving

me the best service I could have ask for. Accordingly, as a way to return the favor, I decided to

come back and offer them now my help.

There are two specific projects I will support in my time here. One deals with the

planning of logistics, and design of a communication campaign for the event Volver al Colegio

(Homecoming) that will take place march 4th in our own facilities. The purpose of this project

is to bring back as many alumni as possible for an afternoon of networking to build a better

relationship between the institution and this group, and to strengthen the feelings of endearment

and support from alumni to the Colegio Santa Francisca Romana.

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Similarly, another specific project I will be in charge of is the construction of a calendar

that takes into account all possibilities the school has of showcasing its advancements. This, with

the purpose of taking advantage of all opportunities the school has to become more attractive to

both internal and external consumers.

Weekly Work Logs and Reflections

Weekly Reflection # 1

Colegio Santa Francisca Romana is an educational institution founded in 1963 by a group

of Franciscan sisters from Rochester, MN. This educational institution, since its origins, has been

committed to preparing women from ages 5 to 18 to be leaders of light in the world. Colegio

Santa Francisca Romanas mission is the creation of a community of women who spread peace

and good for the benefit of their country and the world, especially those most in need.

When deciding where to intern during this January term, coming back to the school

where I spent 14 years of my life only made sense. As an alumna of Colegio Santa Francisca

Romana, I have always been thankful with all members of the Colegio for their efforts in giving

me the best service I could have ask for. Accordingly, as a way to return the favor, I decided to

come back and offer them now my help.

During my internship at the Colegio Santa Francisca Romana, I will be working with its

Communication Department as editor, publisher, and leader in the production of information for

digital and printed media. Pursuing this further, I will be helping with the development of

strategic contents through the understanding of the context, the identification of key elements,

and the development of logical, coherent, and fluid discourse.

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This first week was a complete success. Since the day I arrived, I observed a very united

community always reflecting on how each department can do more to help other departments

further the mission of the school. Pursuing this further, I also observed a very conscientious

community that does not mind taking time every now and then to reflect on what is working and

what is not and how it can be doing a better job serving the girls it educates. This two

characteristics will support my projects success because I now know I count on a very

committed and helpful team which makes me feel comfortable to ask any questions/help if

needed.

I do not think I would do anything differently if I were to rewind. As mentioned before, I

think this week was a complete success. This, as I met all members of this community and was

able to work on the creation of important bonds with them.

Work Log # 1

Worked hours:

Monday NO WORK

Tuesday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, I finished signing all the correspondent paperwork. We had general meetings and

then I worked with my direct supervisor on the specific tasks I was going to be in charge of

during this time.

Wednesday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

On Wednesday, I met again with my direct supervisor and we both started working on my

learning plan. After that I worked on a calendar of opportunities the principal of the school asked

me to be in charge of.
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Thursday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

On Thursday, I started researching on possible candidates that can participate in our Volver al

Colegio event. Later that day, the communication team met with the person in charge of the

alumni database to brainstorm some ideas for the event.

Friday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

All faculty and staff members participated on a spiritual retreat. We had three different

workshops and then we enjoyed a mass.

Overall this was a great week. I think getting to know the people I will be working with

was very helpful. I learned the type of environment I will be immerse in and the kind of people

that will be immerse in it with me. Furthermore, I also learned a lot about team work. Through

helping different faculty and staff members, I saw how everyone has a different style of working

that at the end of the day combines together with the rest to produce great outcomes.

Weekly Reflection # 2

Having studied at Colegio Santa Francisca Romana for approximately fourteen years has

given me a complete idea of what this institution/organizations culture is. Some of the most

important aspects of this organizations culture in terms of its values are: commitment to

excellent quality, leadership, and service to others and to God.

Similarly to its values, when talking about Colegio Santa Francisca Romanas standards I

have witnessed innumerable efforts the institution has to constantly train all faculty and staff

members in the newest ways to either teach or serve as part of the administrative team at a

school. Pursuing this further, Colegio Santa Francisca Romana is also known for its commitment

to serving those in need. Two specific projects that evidence this commitment are: the support
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this school gives to a public one with limited resources, and the dispensario, a project in which

clothes donated by the students are sold at very economic prices to people of low income status.

Regarding the behavior of all members of the community it is evident how serious their

commitment to educate women to be peace and good to others and to serve best quality is. There

are many ways in which this commitment is shown. For instance, the dress code of the

institution. All faculty and staff members are required to dress business casual; on Fridays, we

are allowed to wear jeans; however, for school ceremonies everyone is required to wear smart

casual, or business informal.

Finally, after analyzing Jhoana Cubillos (my direct supervisor) leadership style, I believe

she combines two styles. Firstly, I believe Jhoana is a curator. During our meetings, she makes a

point to clarify what our goals as communication department are so that all of our efforts are

directed to reaching them. Moreover, she also is a sculptor; Jhoana works on different tasks our

projects involve and then sends her product to us all so that we can also give her feedback.

In summary, since the day I started my internship here at Colegio Santa Francisca

Romana I have observed a very united community always reflecting on how each department can

do more to help other departments further the mission of the school. Pursuing this further, I also

observed a very conscientious community that does not mind taking time every now and then to

reflect on what is working and what is not and how it can be doing a better job serving the girls it

educates.

Concerning my specific goals as the communication departments intern, I am almost

done with one of my projects. I have already completed the list I was asked to do with the names

of possible candidates to give speeches at the event Volver al Colegio. Moreover, I have also

created a list with the names of students that participated in the student council during their time
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at the school so that they can help us spread the message and the invitation of the event. My

efforts will be directed now to completing my second project: the opportunities calendar.

Work Log # 2

Worked hours:

Monday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

On Monday, I worked on designing the message we will be sending all Colegio Santa Francisca

Romanas alumni group to invite them to the event Volver al Colegio. Later that day I met with

the Communication Team and showed them the message I had come up with. During this

meeting I was given positive feedback about it.

Tuesday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, we had general meetings and then I worked with my direct supervisor on filtering

the list of possible candidates to give speeches at the event.

Wednesday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

On Wednesday, I conducted an informational interview to my direct supervisor, Jhoana Cubillos.

Later that day, I met with the person in charge of the alumni database and with the

Administrative Director of Colegio Santa Francisca Romana to talk about the logistics of the

event.

Thursday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

On Thursday, I continued researching possible candidates that can participate in our Volver al

Colegio event now with the institutional data base as guide.

Friday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

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On Friday, I worked all day on researching what students participated on the student council

during their time at Colegio Santa Francisca Romana. This because we think reaching out to

those students who were once leaders in their class and asking them to spread around the

invitation of the event can be a successful way to get our desired number of attendees.

Weekly Reflection # 3

During this January term I supported Colegio Santa Francisca Romanas communication

team as an intern. Under my specific projects, I was in charge of organizing an event of

homecoming called Volver al Colegio and of putting together a calendar of opportunities the

school has of being noticed more by potential clients. This internship lasted only three weeks, but

it was a great experience from which I learned various lessons. For instance, during the time I

spent at Colegio Santa Francisca Romana, I learned the importance of having a positive working

environment. In other words, I learned how important is to have a respectful and friendly

relationship with ones team in order to feel comfortable and enjoy the time spent at work.

Given that I now value and prioritize the quality of ones working environment, I believe

my greatest assets to bring to an organization are my humor, my empathy, and my leadership in

service. Firstly: humor; because there is no better way to lighten the tension of busy days at

work. Pursuing this further: empathy; because when working with others it is necessary to

understand others; to value who they are as individuals and as professionals and to respect their

points of view. Finally: leadership in service; because in a team it is necessary for all members to

be willing to help each other, to be proactive in asking if anyone needs help when I know I can

be that help.
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Conversely to those skills I would bring with me to any organization I work in the future,

there are three other ones I need to work on. The three main skills I would like to polish before

formally entering a professional position after Loras are: time management, adaptability, and

punctuality. I believe time management is a skill I need to polish because, even though I was able

to finalize all my projects, I could have used time better (here were various moments in which I

spend longer than needed in finishing tasks). Similarly, I believe adaptability is also a skill I need

to work on because during this experience I realized sometimes it is harder than it should for me

to just let go of an idea and go with the flow of what the team wants and needs. Finally, I believe

I should work on my punctuality because every now and then I was getting a couple of minutes

late to meetings.
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Juanita Vivas Bastidas

Bogota, Colombia
2017
Sociology and International Studies
Colegio Santa Francisca Romana Department of Communication and Admissions

From this experience, I learned that everything in life is about attitude. If you make the most of

your experience at work with your coworkers and projects, your time there will be enjoyable.

You will find yourself waking up every morning excited to go to work.

Work Log # 3

Monday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

On Monday, I worked on designing the message we will be sending all Colegio Santa Francisca

Romanas alumni group to invite them to the event Volver al Colegio. Later that day I met with

the Communication Team and showed them the message I had come up with. During this

meeting I was given positive feedback about it.

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Tuesday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, I worked on a feedback form that will allow the school to assess a) what type of

events CSFRs alumnae would like to see in reunions like Volver al Colegio; b) what frequency

would they prefer for these events (every year, every other year, every five years); c) what day

of the week would you prefer these events to be scheduled .

Wednesday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

On Wednesday, I met with my direct supervisor, Jhoana Cubillos, to discuss if the objectives of

this internship were met. She asked me for feedback about the internship program, and I asked

her for feedback about my performance as intern. We took advantage of the meeting to fill out

the site supervisor evaluation form. Later that day, I met with the person in charge of the alumni

database and with the Administrative Director of Colegio Santa Francisca Romana to talk about

how the process of calling the possible speakers for the event is going.

Thursday 7:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

On Thursday (my last day), I finalized all of my assigned tasks and had a final meeting with both

the communication team and Colegio Santa Francisca Romanas principal. During this meeting I

presented my work and was given final feedback.

Interview Summary

1. What is your job like? A typical day?

My name is Jhoana Cubillos and as Director of Admissions and Communications I lead

the team in charge of acquiring new customers, maintaining the existent ones, and effectively

delivering information to both our internal customers (families of girls already enrolled at
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Colegio Santa Francisca Romana) and external customers (families and girls with interests of

potentially becoming part of our community).

2. What do you do? What are the duties/functions/responsibilities of your job?

Basically, my job consists on coming up with different strategies directed to attract new

customers, build a solid channel of communication with strategic allies (e.g. kindergartens), plan

and execute institutional activities in which our school can be showcased to new customers,

conduct informative meetings with potential customers, and individually meet with interested

parents.

3. What kinds of problems do you deal with?

To answer this question i will talk separately about admissions and communications

because these two are affected by completely different problems. For instance, in admissions the

main problem is time (or the lack of it we have). To accept a girl into our school, she needs to

meet with a couple of teachers, a psychologist, and a child therapist or child counselor.

Accordingly, to make this happen in the least possible time requires major logistics and planning

efforts. Add to that the fact that every single family that comes wanting to enroll their

daughter(s) here at Colegio Santa Francisca Romana is a unique specific case with its own

positives and negatives.

Regarding the communication side of my job, i believe the main problem here is dealing

with emergencies. By emergencies I mean all those favors, tasks that were not planned, but now

have to be taken care of in the least possible time. It makes things around here harder because it

delays our schedules and requires us to meet again to asses our resources and distribute the work.

4. What are the skills that are most important for a position in this field?
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I believe for a position in this field it is necessary to have empathy. Both communications

and admissions are two paths that require a person to be able to relate to others, to make others

feel comfortable, respected and appreciated. Pursuing this further, i also think for a position in

this field it is necessary a background on management because here we handle a big volume of

projects that need to be led by a person capable of assessing the resources we have to our

disposition, and the investment needed to succeed. Other skills I see necessary are: commitment,

responsibility, and creativity.

5. How did you learn these skills?

I learned these skills in different places, really. Ones were learned before starting my

career here at Colegio Santa Francisca Romana, in my university or in previous jobs; others were

polished or learned during my time here. In other words, the training to do what I specifically do

today was almost completely acquired here, even though being an industrial designer has helped

when facing projects that require creativity.

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For this part of my portfolio, I included only 5 questions from the 12 I asked Jhoana. I

decided to include the ones I found the most interesting. The informational interview conducted

to Jhoana Cubillos was helpful to understand what she does daily as the director of Admissions

and Communications. It was also an opportunity to learn how the degree one graduates college

with does not determine what one will be doing for the rest of ones life. As mentioned earlier,

life changes constantly and paths that might not be related to the degree one studied in college

open themselves and create opportunities of constant growth and reinvention.

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Conclusion

During this January term, I supported Colegio Santa Francisca Romanas communication

team as an intern. Under my specific projects, I was in charge of organizing an event of

homecoming called Volver al Colegio and of putting together a calendar of opportunities the

school has of being noticed more by potential clients.

To evaluate my performance at Colegio Santa Francisca Romana, I came up with three

end goals related to my specific projects that if completed would allow me to assess my

performance. Firstly, I decided it would be crucial for the completion of project # 1 to create a

complete list of the alumni that will be participating as speakers and as guests in the event

Volver al Colegio. Pursuing this further, I also believed project # 1 would not be completed if

there was no way we could measure its success. Accordingly, I set as second end goal to create a

feedback form the participants of the event will be able to fill out with suggestions for future

reunions. Similarly, regarding project # 2, I set as end goal to have an advanced version of the

opportunities calendar filled it out with events the school can have students, faculty, and staff

attend to further our name.

Having that in mind, I am glad to say that all three end goals were completed

satisfactorily. During the three weeks I spent at Colegio Santa Francisca Romana, I was able to

finalize both my projects and assess my general performance with the help of my co-workers and

my supervisor when finally handing them the final product of these weeks of hard work. We

were all very pleased with the support I gave the team.

I believe being part of the Admissions and communication team at Colegio Santa

Francisca Romana was an incredible experience. During my time there, I was able to learn two

very important lessons. Firstly, I learned the importance of having a positive attitude towards
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work. Most people think that their job is terrible; they hate waking up in the morning knowing

they have to drive to their work site and stay there for 8 hours. However, this is not how it should

be. This January term, I learned that if we are going to stay 8 hours/day at a place, the least we

can do is make those 8 hours enjoyable. This, we can do by building friendly and respectful

relations with others, and by finding something about our projects that excites us.

Similarly to this lesson, I also learned during my time at Colegio Santa Francisca

Romana that life is full of opportunities of growth and reinvention. Through my informal

conversations with coworkers, and my informational interview with Jhoana, I discovered a

pattern: the degree one graduates college with does not determine what one will be doing for the

rest of life. As mentioned earlier, life changes constantly and paths that might not be related to

the degree one studied in college open themselves and create opportunities of constant growth

and reinvention.

Updated Resum

Attached at the end.

Site Supervisor Evaluation

Attached separately.
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JUANITA VIVAS BASTIDAS

1450 Alta Vista Street MLBX 1422, Dubuque, IA 52001 | (+1) 312-545-
3765 | vivasbastidasjuanita@gmail.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/juanitavivasb

EDUCATION
August 2013- Present Loras College, Dubuque, IA.
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and International Studies (May
2017)
Minor in Public Relations
GPA: Cumulative 3.82/4.0

WORK EXPERIENCE
January 2017 January 2017 Admission and Communication Intern, Santa Francisca Romana,
Bogota, Colombia.
Supported the Admission and Communication team as
logistics coordinator of the event Volver al Colegio.
Assisted with the creation of a calendar of opportunities
the institution has to showcase itself to broader publics.
February 2015 Present Admission Data Assistant, Loras College, Dubuque, IA.
Assisted the Admission team collecting and organizing
data in the Loras College Recruit CRM software. Managed
confidential information regarding prospective students,
and organized confidential archives.
June 2016 August 2016 Social Inclusion Summer Intern, Organization of American
States, Washington, D.C.
Collaborated the Social Inclusion Department on its
research aimed to the establishment of projects tackling
political/social/economic inclusion of minority groups
(Indigenous and Afro-descendant populations) in all 35
independent states of the Americas.
September 2015 May 2016 Management Web Architect Student Worker, Loras College,
Dubuque, IA.
Managed the Loras College official web page. Assisted in
the editing of images using Photoshop. Helped keeping the
Colleges Social Media up to date (Facebook - 6,131 Total
Page Likes / Twitter 3,358 followers).
June 2015 August 2015 Supportive Services Summer Intern, Anawim Housing, Des
Moines, IA.
Furthered supportive services, property management,
facilities upkeep, and marketing and development
departments efforts to serve best Anawim Housings
customers.
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
Languages
Spanish (Native language), English (proficient) and French (basic).
LIFE Award
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Fall 2016 recipient of the LIFE Award for demonstrating through qualitative content analysis
research the LIFE values (legacy, integrity, fellowship, excellence).
Deans List
Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Fall 2014 Spring 2015 Fall 2015 Spring 2016
Loras College Colegio Santa Francisca Romana Scholarship
May 2013 awardee of scholarship to study in the United States of America based on academic
merit.

ACTIVITIES

April 2015 - Present Data Analyst, Loras College Poll Research Group,
Dubuque, IA.
Facilitated the creation, analysis, and dissemination of the
nationally recognized Loras College Poll.
September 2014- Present Treasurer, UNICEF at Loras College, Dubuque, IA.
Met with businesses and companies to raise money. Set up
and participated in 4 unique fundraising events each the
year.