Now Hiring?-Post 17
Post 17 from Now Hiring?
What's Blastin?: LL Cool J "I'm Bad"
Well, sorry for the delay. I've had some computer trouble here in my world, plus when I got back from my on-campus interview (I'll explain later) all my students came en masse with their questions and troubles. How good it is to be back...
First, the on-campus interview. I had it scheduled before ACPA, so I had a half-day to rest then I was on a plane. The interview went pretty well. The campus is really progressive when it comes to issues of diversity and multiculturalism, which I really liked. Plus, the staff seemed receptive to the things I've done here. The students were really intelligent (they critiqued every answer to my question, even the "Which is better...Coke or Pepsi?") and had a keen sense of what kind of education they wanted. I felt it went pretty well, and I'm just waiting to hear back from them.
One question for ya'll...you work with faculty? How's that like? Because I had an encounter with some faculty members that has me going nuts. Here's the scenario...
The program I work for is a collaboration between multicultural affairs, admissions, and the provost (hence the faculty part). Admissions admits students, multicultural affairs provides student affairs support (and teaching freshmen level courses), and faculty oversee the academic components of the program. Pretty simple, right? Well, the faculty kind of want to take over the admissions and multicultural pieces because...they're faculty.
NOTE! I like faculty, I really do! Many have done some great things and care about their students. Whom I'm speaking about is a small minority of this group.
So, we're presenting to the faculty about some of the student characteristics. Some professors feel our students aren't up to an academic par as their previous counterparts. So, one of the grads (who's getting her PhD in statistics, mind you) gives some numbers that show our students are achieving at the same levels as their former peers. Simple enough, you think...but one professor (in...STATISTICS!!!) starts asking statistical based questions. Ugh. After 10 minutes of that, 2 of my colleagues start talking about some students that are, for a lack of a better term, "at risk". They put up some characteristics (family issues, learning disabilities, personal health issues, etc.)...and the statistics professor asks for numerical data on this. Now, I'm trying to stay cool here, but here's the interaction between him and I
HIM: You have no data to support this?
ME: Well, it's hard to get numbers when we're worried about their well-being.
HIM: But, you're making completely unsubstantiated claims about students, when you could have some bias towards them.
ME (getting pretty angry): Since we don't have that kind of instrument, could you just trust us and know that we...
HIM: No! I'm a statistician, and I need to see numbers to support your claims.
I guess I shouldn't have asked for trust in the very first meeting, but that disconnect between academic and student affairs we learn in class? Yeah, it's there. So I have to get "data" to support our claims. I've tried to learn a lesson of walking a mile in their shoes to see their points, which I do. If I had data, maybe he would't have been the way he was, and they would see the issues more clearly. But, if they actually saw the students and heard their stories, then we'd probably work better. From this, I'll be a little more professional (and a little more calm) the next time we talk. It's all about the students, right?
What's Blastin?: LL Cool J "I'm Bad"
Well, sorry for the delay. I've had some computer trouble here in my world, plus when I got back from my on-campus interview (I'll explain later) all my students came en masse with their questions and troubles. How good it is to be back...
First, the on-campus interview. I had it scheduled before ACPA, so I had a half-day to rest then I was on a plane. The interview went pretty well. The campus is really progressive when it comes to issues of diversity and multiculturalism, which I really liked. Plus, the staff seemed receptive to the things I've done here. The students were really intelligent (they critiqued every answer to my question, even the "Which is better...Coke or Pepsi?") and had a keen sense of what kind of education they wanted. I felt it went pretty well, and I'm just waiting to hear back from them.
One question for ya'll...you work with faculty? How's that like? Because I had an encounter with some faculty members that has me going nuts. Here's the scenario...
The program I work for is a collaboration between multicultural affairs, admissions, and the provost (hence the faculty part). Admissions admits students, multicultural affairs provides student affairs support (and teaching freshmen level courses), and faculty oversee the academic components of the program. Pretty simple, right? Well, the faculty kind of want to take over the admissions and multicultural pieces because...they're faculty.
NOTE! I like faculty, I really do! Many have done some great things and care about their students. Whom I'm speaking about is a small minority of this group.
So, we're presenting to the faculty about some of the student characteristics. Some professors feel our students aren't up to an academic par as their previous counterparts. So, one of the grads (who's getting her PhD in statistics, mind you) gives some numbers that show our students are achieving at the same levels as their former peers. Simple enough, you think...but one professor (in...STATISTICS!!!) starts asking statistical based questions. Ugh. After 10 minutes of that, 2 of my colleagues start talking about some students that are, for a lack of a better term, "at risk". They put up some characteristics (family issues, learning disabilities, personal health issues, etc.)...and the statistics professor asks for numerical data on this. Now, I'm trying to stay cool here, but here's the interaction between him and I
HIM: You have no data to support this?
ME: Well, it's hard to get numbers when we're worried about their well-being.
HIM: But, you're making completely unsubstantiated claims about students, when you could have some bias towards them.
ME (getting pretty angry): Since we don't have that kind of instrument, could you just trust us and know that we...
HIM: No! I'm a statistician, and I need to see numbers to support your claims.
I guess I shouldn't have asked for trust in the very first meeting, but that disconnect between academic and student affairs we learn in class? Yeah, it's there. So I have to get "data" to support our claims. I've tried to learn a lesson of walking a mile in their shoes to see their points, which I do. If I had data, maybe he would't have been the way he was, and they would see the issues more clearly. But, if they actually saw the students and heard their stories, then we'd probably work better. From this, I'll be a little more professional (and a little more calm) the next time we talk. It's all about the students, right?
posted by StudentAffairs.com at 9:43 AM
2 Comments:
Now Hiring, I would have gotten angry, too! His responses smack of a lack of understanding students. It sounds like he's never actually TALKED to a student in need. Then, he might understand how much pain some of them are in and how that affects their ability to perform well.
I'm with you, NH! Good luck, and I'll be thinking of you in your next interviews. :)
Thanks for the encouragement, anonymous. I meet with him next week, so hopefully he won't be so as smug as he was. Good luck to you too!
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