Running head: Learning Outcome Narrative: Strengths 1

Learning Outcome Narrative: Strengths

Collin Nail
Seattle University
Learning Outcome Narrative: Strengths 2

Learning Outcome Narrative: Strengths

(Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 5, 6, 7; Artifacts A, B, C1, C3, D, G)

Throughout my time in the Seattle University Student Development Administration

(SDA) program I have been given many opportunities to reflect and understand how I approach

my work in student affairs. When reflecting on all of my experiences during the program I

discovered an overarching theme of student advocacy. Over the last two years, I have seen

myself grow as an advocate for student’s personal well-being, academic success, as well as

policy development. Three sub-themes that embody my work around student advocacy are

student centered learning, adapting to student needs, and assessment and research. The following

section of my learning outcome (LO) narrative highlights these sub-themes and how they show

up in my professional practice around student advocacy during my time in the SDA program.

Student Centered Learning (LO 1 & 6; Artifacts A, B & D)

I understand that my work should always be student focused. Students come from a

diverse range of backgrounds with various intersecting identities. I listen to their stories and

work to advocate on the issues that are facing my students. One way of accomplishing this is by

building authentic relationships with others across campus in order to achieve the common goal

of student success. When I reflect on my theme of student advocacy the first thing that comes to

mind is how I support student centered learning in the work that I do. Ensuring students have

equitable opportunities to learn and develop to their fullest potential is essential to student

centered learning.

The first step in this work is understanding the foundations and emerging nature of higher

education in student affairs (LO #1). This learning outcome requires us to examine higher
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education’s original and exclusive purpose of serving wealthy white males, the current

challenges facing higher education, and how the field of student affairs continues to evolve as the

student population changes. Higher education is not designed for all students to succeed but

through student centered learning I can help to eliminate barriers many students face. One of the

reasons I chose the SDA program was to better understand the role that the student affairs

profession plays in the development of students. The successfulness of student centered learning

is an institutional effort that requires leadership and collaboration (LO #6). This learning

outcome is about collaborating with other departments to improve the student experience,

leading through empowerment, and a commitment to personal growth. Our work should

demonstrate to students how we show up and support them every day.

In SDAD 5300: Foundations of the Student Affairs Profession, I learned about the

various functions higher education serves and how I as a student affairs educator play an integral

role. This course provided me with a basic understanding of the inequalities surrounding higher

education and how barriers still exist to keep marginalized students from succeeding. The

textbook Student Services: A Handbook for the Profession provides a good overview of the work

that happens in the field of student affairs. Chapter 3, “Philosophies and Values” and Chapter 30,

“Designing Programs for Engaging Difference” were particularly enlightening because they

illustrated the purpose of higher education to the education of students and that a part of our job

is preparing students to engage with a diverse world (Schuh, Jones, & Torres, 2017).

My commitment to promoting student centered learning is demonstrated through my

integrated mission statement, Artifact B. In this artifact I share how my professional mission is

to help support, challenge, and inspire students through advocacy, equitable practices, and

innovation to ensure the work I do will support the student population with whom I work with.
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With my own understanding of how higher education creates barriers for marginalized students, I

see my work as a means to eliminate barriers and make college a more attainable option for

anyone seeking to educate themselves.

My experiences in various functional areas (Artifact A) have taught me that high student

interaction helps to energize the work I do in student affairs. This was made evident to me during

my first-generation (first-gen) internship experience with the Outreach Center at Seattle

University. During this time, I was engaging with students daily and learning how institutional

lingo or practices such as going to office hours were unknown to many first-gen students simply

because they lacked the navigational capital to understand common held institutional knowledge.

Additionally, during my first-gen experience internship with the Outreach Center, I was

able to participate in the First-Gen Partners Meeting. This was a committee comprised of various

campus departments who handle work with the first-gen community at Seattle University.

Instead of only working independently, these colleagues meet quarterly to develop and carry out

initiatives that will benefit all of the departments and the students they serve. This group of

professionals truly inspire my future work in this field. That experience has shown me what

meaningful collaboration can look like in order to make processes and procedures easier for the

student population I serve. In Artifact D I demonstrated this undertaking when I reached out to

the University of Portland’s own first-gen mentoring programming to share ideas and begin a

connection for the Seattle University First To Soar peer mentor program. Through all of this, I

hope students can see that my core work focuses on supporting and advocating for them and that

I will be there to listen and learn from them.

Adapting to Student Needs (LO 2 & 5; Artifacts C3 & G)

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Adapting services to meet the needs of the ever-changing student population show the

importance of understanding students and student issues (LO #2) and how we learn and adapt to

different students and environments (LO #5). When thinking of LO #2 I see it as meeting

students where they are in their development, knowing about campus resources, and knowing

what a student needs to be successful at my institution. When reflecting on LO #5, I use

feedback to develop programs or information for unique student populations, the timing, and

scheduling of programs, and how to utilize research and best practices in our work.

In SDAD 5400: Student Development Theory, Research and Practice, we learned about

the various theories that guide our framework for student affairs. Our final group project was a

presentation on the incorporation of Baxter Magolda’s self-authorship theory in the Seattle

University Youth Initiative program as seen in Artifact C3. This theory describes the

transformation humans go through as they understand the meaning of their life experiences

(Patton, Renn, Guido-DiBrito, & Quaye, 2016). In my work, I have to remember that students

will come to me on various levels of their self-discovery and I must be willing to meet them

where they are at and assist them through their development.

One example that I have seen this show up has been in my professional practice during

my graduate assistantship in Orientation Programs. When designing the Orientation Advisor

(OA) spring training I asked for input from the previous OA’s on what was beneficial from last

year and what would have made it better. Through this activity, we learned that OA’s would

benefit from more team bonding time during spring training, and moving some of the campus

partner presentations to summer training which is closer to summer orientations.

During SDAD 5590: The American Community College, our group project consisted of

adapting a student resource to a specific student population on the community college campus.
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We created a board game for the various resources available to students with disabilities at a

local community college. This was a chance to think outside of the box when it comes to

destigmatizing resources for disabilities as well as educate others on the various invisible

disabilities that the institution provides services for.

One of my projects during my first-gen internship was to create a peer mentor program

for the Seattle University first-gen community called First To Soar (Artifact G). This project

was adapted from research and best practices on peer mentor programs for first-gen communities

across the country. First To Soar pairs a first or second-year first-gen student with a junior,

senior or graduate student who identifies as first-gen. Since it is a volunteer position, the

requirements are flexible enough to allow students with busy schedules to be a part of the

program without sacrificing valuable time in their schedules. This program is my distinctive

contribution and lasting legacy that I am leaving at Seattle University. I hope that it continues to

grow and develop over the years to come.

Assessment & Research (LO 7; Artifacts C1)

Another skillset I have developed in the SDA program has been assessment and research.

When advocating for students I want to have data that will articulate why changes need to occur

through the use of assessment, evaluation, and research (LO #7). This learning outcome

embodies understanding what is needed to gather data, evaluate data to recognize trends, and

using the data to inform decisions that will improve our work.

In SDAD 5990: Student Development Graduate Project, I honed my skills surrounding

assessment, evaluation, and research. I created a quantitative survey focusing on Seattle

University international student engagement as alumni which is demonstrated in Artifact C1.

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From this data I was able to discover several trends that international students deal with both as a

student and as they graduate and become an alum. This data includes wanting more information

on career opportunities and lacking the feeling that they belong on campus. I used the data, along

with literature reviews and research of current practices from other institutions, to come up with

recommendations for the International Student Center. These recommendations include creating

a formal exit survey for all international students and a forming a committee between the

International Student Center, Alumni Engagement, and the Career Engagement Office to focus

on career and engagement opportunities before students graduate. This will help the International

Student Center to provide programs that could help the international student population be more

successful as students and ideally become more engaged members of the growing international

alumni community.

Additionally, my internship at Seattle Central College is looking at what are the best

ways to communicate and engage with students about important information and campus

resources. I will have the opportunity to administer a survey to assess the various communication

needs for this specific student population. I will use this data to develop recommendations for the

Student Leadership Office and the college about the most effective communications methods to

utilize with their college student demographic. By utilizing assessment I am better able to

support students and policy changes with evidence to back up programmatic changes.

I often have a difficult time talking about my strengths and the Student Development

Administration program has given me the opportunity to be vulnerable and explore who I am and

what my strengths are. I chose this profession because I have mentors who inspire me to help

support students as they navigate some of the most transformational years of their lives. For a

brief moment I get to be a part of that journey and I can use my strength of student centered
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learning to assist them in their development. Our world is changing every day and students will

bring with them new challenges. I will utilize my ability to adapt to the changing student needs

to continue to make sure my students are getting what they need to be successful in college. To

do this I will be a lifelong learner who stays up to date on the latest research and trends in higher

education. As well as developing assessment tools to collect data to inform the direction of my

work. While I will never be perfect, my strengths will lead me to be the student advocate I aspire

to be.
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References

Patton, L. D., Renn, K. A., Guido, F. M., Quay, S. J., Evans, N. J., & Forney, D. S. (2016).

Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice (3rd edition). San

Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Schuh, J. H., Jones, S. R., & Torres, V. (2017). Student services: A handbook for the profession.

San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.