Making the Right Measurements in Higher Education [QUOTE]
Like baseball 10 years ago, higher education is focused on what’s easy to measure. For baseball it may have been body parts, batting averages and the numbers on the radar gun. For higher education, it’s the 3Rs: research, rankings and real estate. Each of these areas is easily quantified or judged: research citations or number […]
Are Linkedin Recommendations for Student Leaders the New Thing?
The first time I asked an advisor of mine to write me a letter of recommendation back in college, he said, “sure, fill out what you want me to say, and I’ll adjust as needed and sign.” At the time I thought that was cheating, but once I realized that he also got asked from […]
Can a Student Leader be too Involved?
Over the weekend, I watched the movie classic, Rushmore. For those unfamiliar, the basic plot is a hyper-involved high school student, Max, falls for a teacher while getting kicked out of school for bad grades and abuse of power. There’s a montage in the movie (see below) of all Max’s extracurricular activities that he’s either […]
5 Keys To Effective Group Decision Making for Student Leaders
Recently, I read “The Wisdom of Crowds*” by James Surowiecki, and it got me thinking about the countless number of times I’ve held student group decision-making discussions that I thought were great, but in reality, and based on the research in this book, were pointless groupthink. Deliberation in a groupthink setting has the disturbing effect […]
Hi World, Meet AlumniChoose.org
As a student leader in college, my club spent a full year fundraising to host a year-end celebration. We hosted bake sales, raffles, and even a “kissing” booth, so we could generate enough funds. The amount of time it took to raise so few funds was ridiculous and had nothing to do with the purpose […]
Am I Hirable in #StudentAffairs?
The #SAchat conversation from yesterday was on credentials in Student Affairs. It was sparked, in part, by an initiative by ACPA to create a Student Affairs Credential Program. Within the first couple of questions it was clear that the relationships between credentials, competencies, qualifications, achievements, experiences, and degrees were confusing. Q1: How are we defining […]
Tangible Team Rally Points
A football team practices set plays over and over again in preparation for the upcoming game. An army works out like crazy in preparation for the battle. Avon Breast Cancer Walk volunteers prep months ahead of time in preparation for their once-a-year walk. Whether a game, a battle, or a walk, they each provide the […]
CoolTool: WhenIsGood – Super Simple Meeting Scheduling
NAME: WhenIsGood URL: http://www.whenisgood.net WHAT IT DOES: An easy way to find out when everyone is free for your next meeting or event. MY TAKE: No one likes to create another account or download software. Sometimes simple is best. WhenIsGood is about as simple as it gets when trying to coordinate multiple people to host […]
International #FreeHugs Day Recap
The Collegiate International Free Hugs Day was AMAZING! We had hug totals coming in via email, Twitter, text, Facebook, voicemail, and even pigeon carrier… Well, ok, the last one is a lie. But boy did you all hug early and hug often. Giving a Free Hug is the first step to developing a culture of […]
Sign Sabotage… [BLENDER EVENT]
While at University of Connecticut the other day, I came across the Sparta sign below, and it got me thinking about a new Blender Event related to the Keynote I wish I would’ve done at the ACUI6 conference. Imagine if once a year, all the student groups partnered with the maintenance people to creatively reconstruct […]