National Leadership Symposium Proceedings 2014 by Melissa Rocco

EXPLORING STUDENT LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES

PROCEEDINGS FROM THE NATIONAL LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM JULY 14-17, 2014 UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA

WELCOME TO NLS 2014 Sponsored by the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs (NCLP) and the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA), the 2014 National Leadership Symposium (NLS) was held July 14th-17th at the University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida.

This year’s Symposium focus was “Leadership Competencies from Research to Results.” As student leadership development professionals, the task of assisting students in the development of their leadership competencies seems to be a much harder task than the theoretical framework on which we base our craft. What leadership competencies are most critical for students to develop? How do we create meaningful experiences to assist students in developing those competencies? And, how will we know they have developed the intended competencies? This year’s symposium introduced participants to the world of leadership competencies; how they are conceptualized, utilized, and evaluated. The proceedings shared in this document serve to summarize the content and learning from this year’s Symposium. On behalf of NCLP, NACA, and the co-chairs, scholars, planning team, associates, and participants of the 2014 session, we thank you for reading!

The Symposium is a professional development experience designed for faculty members, student affairs professionals, and other educators involved with promoting leadership education at colleges and universities. It includes a variety of formats, exercises, and conversations to engage different learning styles and preferences, and is designed for an intimate collegial learning environment of approximately 50 participants. Participant engagement involves intense periods for learning in the large community, small group, and individual levels.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome to NLS 2014

Co-Chairs & Scholars

Planning Team & Associates

Scholar Presentation Highlights •  Jeff Horey, M.A. •  Michael Preston, Ph.D.

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•  Corey Seemiller, Ph.D.

•  Richard Voorhees, Ph.D.

•  Darby Roberts, Ph.D.

•  Four Corners Activity

•  Roundtable Discussions

•  Scholar Panel

•  Competency Model Project

Participant Highlights

Photo Album

NLS 2015 & Contact Information

Participant Activity Highlights

CO-CHAIRS & SCHOLARS Co-Chairs Dr. Michael Preston Director, Office of Student Involvement University of Central Florida Dr. Corey Seemiller Director of Research & Assessment OrgSync

Scholars Jeffrey Horey Manager ICF International

Dr. Darby Roberts Director, Student Life Studies Texas A&M University Dr. Rick Voorhees Principle & Senior Scholar The Voorhees Group

PLANNING TEAM & ASSOCIATES Planning Team Shannon Calega Director of Leadership Engagement University of Tampa Dr. Craig Slack Director, National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs University of Maryland

Associates Corinne Bernstein Masters Student & Graduate Coordinator, Co-Curricular Leadership University of Maryland

Melissa Rocco Doctoral Student & Graduate Coordinator, Leadership Studies Program University of Maryland Lillian Rosen Masters Student & Graduate Assistant, Academic Advising and Living Learning Communities Miami University

LEADERSHIP & COMPETENCYBASED LEARNING MR. JEFF HOREY

Calling upon his experience in human and organization performance improvement with all four branches of the U.S. military, Jeff worked with the Symposium group in a two-part session to introduce competency-based learning for leadership. Part One: Leadership and Competency-Based Learning In part one, Jeff laid the primary foundation for the focus of this year’s Symposium: leadership and competency-based learning. Jeff led the group through a series of idea-generation and participation exercises to introduce us to the term “competency” as it relates to leadership education, address the importance of competencies and how they facilitate learning, and provide an overview of the various ways competencies can be measured. Jeff began by sharing this quote: No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. At our institutions this often comes to fruition as we try to enrich students’ lives. We need to think about who our clients or customers are in leadership education. This includes students, alumni and advisors, parents of students, faculty and staff, affinity groups, employers, donors who are funding programs, state legislature, community partners. Keeping these audiences in mind, Jeff helped us generate a list of reasons why the Symposium on competency-based leadership education would help us serve our audiences better. •  •  •  •  •  •  •

Making sure competency models for leadership education reflect greater institutional mission, competencies, etc. for the student experience Aligning competencies clearly with activities and lesson plans Using competencies for more appropriate and accurate assessment Learning about competencies in areas outside of the academic curriculum Best practices in competency modeling and choosing outcomes/structures to use over others Battling politics and fighting for competency models specific to leadership How to choose competencies that are developmentally appropriate for our students and how to then teach those

LEADERSHIP & COMPETENCYBASED LEARNING MR. JEFF HOREY

What is a competency? Per David McClelland at Harvard, competencies are “underlying characteristics which allow one to deliver superior performance.” Today, competencies are now more often defined as: “the combination of skills, abilities, and knowledge needed to perform a specific task” (Jones et al., 2002, p. 8, U.S. Department of Education report). It is important to note that competencies are representative, not comprehensive. Five important components of competencies include: •  •  •  •  •

Label/name Description Behaviors Measures Optimal developmental methods

Learning from the U.S. Army’s approach to competency-based leadership The Army looks for some of the same leadership competencies that we look for in student affairs and higher education. •  Leads others and leads by example •  Extends influence beyond chain of command •  Communicates •  Creates a positive environment •  Prepares self •  Develops others •  Gets results The Army clearly communicates their leadership competencies, and the actions which indicate development of those competencies, via tools such as manuals, rubrics, etc. We can also use a variety of activities and tools to help individuals develop competencies, including: lecture, group discussion, behavioral observation, simulations/games, conferences, readings, role plays, case studies, internships, and multi-source/360 feedback. Demonstration is key. Students have to be able to demonstrate those skills, actions, and behaviors. Competency development can also be measured using a variety of tools, including: resumes/experience records, interviews, observations, supervisory ratings, self-assessments, and situational judgment tests. 6

LEADERSHIP & COMPETENCYBASED LEARNING MR. JEFF HOREY

Part Two: Are We All Saying The Same Thing? In part two, Jeff discussed the findings of his latest research project analyzing leadership frameworks from the United States Military, Coast Guard, and Civilian Executive Core Qualifications. Through his research, Jeff dissected the structure and content of each groups’ leadership model to look for similarities, unique features, and broad consistencies. Jeff then connected his research findings to leadership education in higher education. Research Overview Jeff compared six leadership frameworks/models from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Department of Defense. He analyzed type, structure, and content of models, categorized similarities and differences of models, made recommendations for improvement based on his observations and analysis. Through this process, he determined that a competency-based framework is useful across contexts, as it specifies what leadership looks like and how it is manifested in an organization. Competencies help us by providing a common vision of leadership as well as tools to create organizational processes for developing and assessing leadership in others. Language and categories specific to the six frameworks studied: •  •  •  •

Army: Values, attributes, skills, actions, performance indicators Marine Corps: Principles and traits Navy/Air Force/Coast Guard: Competencies Civilians: Executive Core Qualifications

Consistencies across all six frameworks: •  •  •  •  •  •  •

Decision Making/Problem Solving/ Decisiveness/Judgment Effective Communication/Keeping Informed/Oral and Written Communication Learning/Adapting/Know Self and Improve/Flexible/Continuous Learning Performing/Executing/Operating/Driving Execution/Accomplishing Mission/ Results Driven/ Self/Interpersonal/Tact/Personal Leadership/Professionalism/Interpersonal Skills Aligning Values/Loyalty/Respect/Duty/ Selfless Service/Honor/Integrity/ Personal Courage/Justice/Unselfishness/Lead by Example Technical Proficiency (all except Air Force) 7

LEADERSHIP & COMPETENCYBASED LEARNING MR. JEFF HOREY

Overall, leadership competencies should be: •  •  •  •

General, but useful Memorable Consistent Comprehensive

Applications outside of the military Military services and colleges/ universities are similar in a number of important ways, for example: •  •

Dependent on hierarchies Opportunity for maturation: train, mold, and prepare for the future

•  •  •

Provide community, “culturization,” and cohorts Conduct orientation processes Offer tracks/specialties/majors

Yet we also need to consider fundamental differences that may chance the leadership competencies we choose for a given context. For example, academia values individual freedom of thought and expression, while military services focus more on group loyalty to a specific philosophy or espoused value. Still, competencies help develop leadership in any organization because they establish common language and can help us determine leadership development needs to address future challenges and change (i.e. threat conditions, technology, personnel, policy, etc.)

Q&A WITH JEFF Tell us about your experience at the National Leadership Symposium 2014. It was outstanding and I learned a lot about college campus activities, opportunities for leader development and the folks working in this field. I enjoyed the format, the participants and the learning opportunities. It was an "11â&#x20AC;?! What new insights did you gain as a result of your personal conversations and large group discussions at the National Leadership Symposium 2014? I would say the issues are the same in colleges/university settings as in corporate and government sectors. It's all about time, resources and opportunities for development and assisting in helping people conceptualize and implement developmental solutions. I was happy to learn about resources available in terms of exercises, course modules and rubrics. How have you seen military leadership competencies change over time? Refinement and extension of competencies into new areas for research. In some cases, re-labeling things but certainly more focus on self development, awareness, cognitive skills and cultural issues in ambiguous situations. The world continues to become more complex and military leaders are responsible for understanding and operating within that complexity and for developing their subordinates to deal with this ambiguity. Part of your message is that in order to determine competency we need to look for demonstrated behavior. What tips do you have for educators that struggle to explain competencies in terms of behavior instead of knowledge or learning? Ultimately, all knowledge and learning is expressed in terms of behaviors. All learning objectives are stated in terms of what the student should be able to do, whether it's in terms of actual tasks, Bloom's dimensions or outcomes. So, I would recommend that educators make the connection between the individual KSAO (knowledge, skill, ability, other characteristics) elements and competencies by considering competencies the functions or outcomes of why one is learning the elements. Then, if competencies are solely expressed as behaviors and actions the student will understand how one leads to the other.

MAKING THE CASE FOR COMPETENCIES DR. MICHAEL PRESTON

Michael helped us better connect the competencies we help develop in students to the challenges of after-college life our students will inevitably experience. As they prepare for careers, graduate school, and beyond, our students need to be aware of the skills and competencies linked with their curricular and co-curricular experiences so they can be more intentional in their own developmental processes during college. Michael began by pointing out how college student educators are increasingly called to prove how their curriculum and activities both increase student retention and prepare students for the workplace. Attention has moved from what students know to what they do. It is key that we are able to reframe the value of cocurricular experiences and leadership experiences for employability after college. This shift makes our leadership education landscape ripe for competency-based curriculum. Effective Practices and Desired Skills The National Study of Student Engagement (NSSE) Clusters of Effective Practice show us key ways in which students develop important skills for after college: •  Academic Challenge •  Active and Collaborative Learning •  Student Interactions with Faculty Members •  Enriching Educational Experiences •  Supportive Campus Environment Interestingly enough, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employee skills such as ability to work in a team, make decisions, solve problems, plan, organize, and prioritize work, and verbally communicate were ranked more important by employers than technical and jobrelated skills. When considering the NSSE and NACE lists together, it becomes clear that competency-based education is key for the college environment in both curricular and co-curricular settings. Aligning Student Affairs and Academic Affairs in Competency-Based Education We have to combine efforts and resources in academic affairs and student affairs in order to teach desired competencies. While student affairs practitioners know the student involvement and development research for effective ways to engage students, faculty and academic departments have the weight and pull to convince students of what is important. 10

MAKING THE CASE FOR COMPETENCIES DR. MICHAEL PRESTON Student Affairs Goals

Academic Affairs Goals

Involvement/Service Outcomes

Student Learning Outcomes

Strategic Initiatives

Course Objectives

Student Persistence

Student Learning

Michael challenged us to consider a few different program ideas for better aligning student affairs and academic affairs in the pursuit of better competency development in students. •  •  •

Service learning programs—faculty might give course credit Developing learning outcomes—partner with faculty, add legitimacy Reflection activities in curricular and co-curricular programs

These types of programs and efforts provide students with the opportunities to: •  •  •  •  •

Interact with peers and faculty/staff on substantive matters Experience diversity at a higher rate Get more frequent feedback and reflection opportunities Discover and integrate learning in new ways Discover the relevance of their learning

Learning and development increases, and students are also able to more clearly see connections between their college learning and after-college skill development. Tips for Helping Students Develop Competencies Michael shared that using competency guides such as that provided by the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) can help communicate clear intentions and expectations for student competency development. For example, we should communicate not just the desired competencies, but also: •  •  •

The varied programs and courses students can participate in to enhance particular competency development Why each competency is particularly important to develop How to engage in reflection on various educational experiences in order to make greater meaning

Q&A WITH MICHAEL Tell us about your experience at the National Leadership Symposium 2014. I feel like we opened a new door for leadership educators. By tackling the concept of competency-based education I think this has begun a real conversation that will extend past our experience in Tampa. What new insights did you gain as a result of your personal conversations and large group discussions at the National Leadership Symposium 2014. That we (higher education) are behind in this area. We are just beginning to understand what groups like the military and corporate America are doing. It's exciting. Why is it important to investigate the student involvement experience before developing competency models? To put it simply, it feels like that is the best way to help students connect their experience to career development. This learning helps students fit the pieces together. How do we better tell the story of student learning and growth from cocurricular opportunities in a way that better aligns with academic affairs learning outcomes and priorities? Through treating the co-curricular experience as an academic experience complete with assignments and exhibitions.

CREATING COMPETENCY MODELS DR. COREY SEEMILLER

Corey helped the group pull together our session learning and prepare us for group projects by walking us through step-by-step considerations for creating competency models within a particular department, function, or even a specific program. Using her work at the University of Arizona and strategies from her book The Student Leadership Competencies Guidebook, Corey provided excellent considerations and specific examples for how to apply our Symposium learning to our own practice. Leadership competencies are prevalent across hundreds of academic fields and disciplines, thus indicating the importance of leadership development in higher education.. When deciding on a list of appropriate competencies for student leadership development, consider standards, competencies, and values from higher education and the student affairs field, as well as those from academic disciplines. For example: •  Council on the Advancement of Standards •  Learning Reconsidered •  Student leadership models such as Social Change Model of Leadership Development, Relational Leadership Model, Five Practices of Exemplary Student Leadership •  Academic accrediting bodies •  Professional associations across majors, fields, and disciplines Consider campus-specific factors are important as well. Pay particular attention to commonalities across programs within your department and outside of your department. Commonalities are strong indicators for potential competencies to include in your final list. Take a look, for example, at the following: •  University mission statement •  Competencies and learning outcomes from academic schools and colleges •  Competencies and learning outcomes from student affairs departments and other co-curricular programs Potential competencies for student leadership fall into four main categories, or dimensions: •  Knowledge Dimension: A student’s ability to understand how to do something. For example, a student knows how to write a mission statement. •  Value Dimension: A student’s ability to convince someone of a topic’s importance. •  Ability Dimension: A student’s skill and motivation to demonstrate a competency. •  Behavior Dimension: When called upon in a situation, can a student exhibit that competency?

CREATING COMPETENCY MODELS DR. COREY SEEMILLER

Considering a balance of the four dimensions, it is important to narrow down your list of competencies to focus on for a particular program or department. For example, Corey narrowed her long list of potential leadership competencies at Arizona down to thirty-five. Here we outline her basic process for establishing the competency model, as well as using it to redesign curriculum and to assess student learning. Determine your organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s essential competencies. To do this at the University of Arizona, Corey mapped competencies used across programs and departments, and also examined college success predictors, alumni surveys, external standards, and best practices, etc. Use your essential competencies to modify your existing curriculum. For example, if â&#x20AC;&#x153;taking initiativeâ&#x20AC;? is determined as an essential competency, how can you alter an alternative break trip experience or leadership studies classroom environment to allow students the opportunity to practice taking initiative? You may also need to create new curriculum to help students develop competencies not adequately addressed by existing programs. Remember to tailor curriculum to particular student audiences as needed. Share your competency model with your students! Develop rubrics based on these competencies. Point out which competencies students should focus on developing through which programs, and ask what competencies they feel they need to further develop. Let the students use the model to track their own growth and development. Check in periodically and conduct and overall analysis of progress at the end of a program or experience to gauge student development and learning in a particular competency area. Provide an opportunity for students to evaluate your programs based on how helpful they found them to be in developing particular competencies. Make adjustments to curriculum, logistics, facilitators, etc. as needed. Tell the story. With the data at your fingertips, you can show how students are developing their competencies through your curriculum. You can also utilize reporting tools for students to show their competency development over time. E-portfolios and cocurricular transcripts are good ways for students to document their accomplishments and demonstrate learning to future employers. 14

Q&A WITH COREY Tell us about your experience at the National Leadership Symposium 2014. I found the 2014 Symposium to be such an amazing professional experience. To be able to network, collaborate, and learn from such an exceptional group of educators is an experience I will cherish. I truly loved the learning community that was created and the collective wisdom of the entire group. What new insights did you gain as a result of your personal conversations and large group discussions at the National Leadership Symposium 2014? Our conversation on mastery was very insightful for me. As we try to measure competency development, is there truly an end to learning? Can a competency be mastered or is mastery an aspirational goal that gives us motivation to continue to develop? What is the distinction between a learning outcome and a competency? I believe a learning outcome is what someone (a student) should be able to do as a result of participating in a particular learning experience. Competencies are the knowledge, values, abilities, and behaviors that can contribute to an outcome. When advocating for leadership competency modeling at an institution, what are the primary selling points? Competencies provide a universal language that is understood across Student Affairs and Academic Affairs so that language, measurements, and marketing materials can be consistent throughout the institution. In addition, using the Student Leadership Competencies clearly defines curricular competencies necessary for accreditation. This is language that resonates with administrators and accrediting agencies. How did you determine what constitutes a leadership competency? It must answer this question: Could it [whatever the competency in question is] make someone a better leader if they develop it? 15

DESIGNING COMPETENCYBASED CURRICULUM DR. RICK VOORHEES

With years of experience working and consulting in higher education organizations, Rick helped us better understand the landscape of competencybased design in education. His eleven principles for competency-based design help us to understand how to develop a solid educational framework with competency development, demonstration, and assessment as the foundation. Momentum in Competency-Based Curriculum Rick shared that momentum began in the 1960s with the behaviorist movement in education. More recently, a few institutions have been forerunners in competencybased education, including a mix of online and traditional universities. In 2013, the federal government clarified that competency-based programs are eligible to participate in Title IV aid programs. Then, this summer, Congress passed a bill to create a demonstration project for competency-based programs (HR 3136). As the focus on outcomes and behavior becomes increasingly valued, it is important for educators to understand how to design programs and courses using competency-based frameworks. Design Principles We can learn more about curriculum design from those who work in instructional design. Making this connection, Rick shared the following model as the foundation for his eleven design principles. Principle 1: Competencies are based on learner performance. Principle 2: Competency-based instruction begins with end in mind: What do you really want to happen? Put forth front end effort to achieve desired outcomes. Principle 3: Competencies clearly define desired behavior that is observable. Principle 4: Competencies use active and specific language. What does exercising this competency look like in action? Leave out the jargon. Qualifying words aren’t helpful, i.e. “good, effective, etc.” Avoid ambiguous statements like “in terms of.” Principle 5: Competencies are measurable. Principle 6: Competencies define assessment. Not the other way around. There are various types of assessment to measure and help elucidate desired outcomes that have been discussed by the other scholars at this Symposium. Principle 7: Competencies accelerate the development of new learning experiences.

DESIGNING COMPETENCYBASED CURRICULUM DR. RICHARD VOORHEES

Principle 8: Assessment balances the use of locally- and commerciallydeveloped instruments. We do not teach people how to create competency models in graduate preparation programs. No instructor, student affairs professional, or other type of educator knows how to do this without doing their own homework and helping each other learn. Principle 9: Scaffolding supports the achievement of the entire set of competencies. This is where the model shared above becomes particularly helpful. Students and educators alike can see the sequential skill building that helps move an individual through the model. It’s important to understand the framework. Principle 10: Evaluation determines the effectiveness of competency-based models. Check your evaluations not just for student results, but for things that might be misstated or confusing in your model or design. Principle 11: Competency-based models require flexible methodologies and techniques. It is important to consider learner differences as well as varied activities, courses, and experiences. There is no “one size fits all” for helping students develop competencies. Implementation Challenges It is important to get ahead of challenges that often arise with developing any sort of curriculum. For example: •  •

•

•  •

Shifting roles for instructors and learners as we implement competency-based curriculum. Managing competencies at the organizational level, making sure all are speaking the same language and committed to the competency approach chosen. Balancing interoperability, or how we help the competency-based system work as a whole, with granularity, or the details of individual programs, offices, and departments. Tracking competency attainment over time, rather than within singular programs or experiences. Measurement error, reliability, validity, and competency assessment. Making sure that we have internal consistency of our measures and that we are measuring what we think we are measuring. It’s also important to properly train those individuals who work with assessment and evaluation of our competency models and curriculum. 17

Q&A WITH RICK Tell us about your experience at the National Leadership Symposium 2014. Ridiculously fine. What new insights did you gain as a result of your personal conversations and large group discussions? That people involved in student leadership are selfless and driven to do good. I appreciate the work that they’ve done to date and that to come, especially the hard business of establishing competencies that are meaningful and measurable. What are some suggestions for educators that are looking to create more flexibility and variety in their assessment techniques? Read and consider the literature. Too often we lock into what we believe are tried and true measures when many alternatives are available. I especially think that role playing and virtual reality simulations would be fruitful in helping Generation Z learners demonstrate competencies. In the same way that competencies can transform the learning process by providing multiple pathways to desired ends, we also believe that the methodologies and techniques by which they are assessed should be flexible and provide educators a framework to experiment. When it comes to designing instruction or assessment, there can be no “one size fits all.” Please share examples of active language competency statements that include specific language and avoid qualifiers. Verbs such as apply, integrate, implement, differentiate, and formulate imply deeper engagement with the instructional content. Moreover, “enhance” and “improve” as operative verbs in a competency statement imply hope but are largely meaningless. Given specificity as a goal for developing competency statements, certain qualifying words should be avoided: good, effective, appropriate, quickly, slowly, immediately. Instead, the instructional designer should assume the task of finding other words that can be quantified so that the learner can see what is required to master a given competency. This task is closely tied to determining and specifying levels of learner performance if not synonymous. In the same vein, avoid qualifying phrases within competency statements. For example, the phrase “reading with renewed insight,” can only obscure what the learner or facilitator might expect from their efforts. Developing competency statements requires only words that are necessary and provide clarity. Moreover, hackneyed phrases including “in terms of,” “so as to say,” and “with respect to” add nothing of value to competency statements. 18

COMPETENCY MEASUREMENT DR. DARBY ROBERTS

With extensive knowledge and experience in student affairs assessment, Darby helped us understand how to tell the story of our students’ competency development. How do we know that students are developing the intended competencies? What tools and strategies are needed in order to uncover, understand, and talk about the learning and development that is happening in our students as a result of our competency-driven curriculum? Determining what data to collect and who to collect it from, how to collect it, how to analyze and make sense of it, and how to present it to key stakeholders were all discussion points in Darby’s session. Darby introduced the Assessment Cycle (Adapted from Bresciani, Zelna, & Anderson, 2004). Mission, goals, and outcomes for a particular department, program, etc. sit at the center of the cycle. The process for assessing those center items is illustrated in the surrounding arrow. In choosing an assessment method, Darby notes the difference between direct and indirect assessment for student programs •  •

Direct Assessment: Student demonstrates a measurable skill Indirect Assessment: Student’s perception about an ability to do something

Darby also shared a variety of methods of assessment and gathering data, including: •  Rubrics •  Pre/Post Survey •  Interviews/Focus Groups •  Case Studies/Observation •  Learning Contracts •  Reflection Darby then helped us gain a better understanding of rubrics as assessment tools What is a rubric? •  •

“A scoring tool that lays out the specific expectations for an assignment.” “A description of what constitutes acceptable or unacceptable levels of performance of component parts.” (Stevens & Levi, 2005, p. 3) 19

COMPETENCY MEASUREMENT DR. DARBY ROBERTS

Why use a rubric? •  Can be completed for self-assessment or by supervisor, advisors, peers •  Can be a repeated measure •  Provides a tangible description of observable behavior goals •  NLS Participant asked: How much is too much rubric-ing? 2-3 times per year is adequate How do you develop a rubric? •  Identify the learning outcome(s)/ competencies you want students to achieve •  Determine how you will obtain evidence •  Develop the tool •  Test the rubric •  If applicable, train evaluators •  Collect and analyze data What are the parts of a rubric? •  Task description (the assignment, outcome) •  Scale •  Dimensions of the assignment •  Description of what constitutes each level of performance What does a rubric look like? Scale Level 1 (i.e. “beginner”)

Scale Level 2 (i.e. “intermediate”)

Scale Level 3 (i.e. “advanced)

Dimension 1 (i.e. “listening”)

Description

Dimension 2 (i.e. Context)

Description

Dimmension 2 (i.e. “clarity”)

Description

Darby also discussed several different analysis tools including: •  •  •  •

Pre/Post Survey: Good opportunity to test knowledge over time, note that students are often over-surveyed Interviews/Focus Groups: Can gather rich information that reflects students’ ability to synthesize what they learned. Strong facilitation skills are a must. Learning Contract: Student-defined plan for development in a certain area. Needs a student who takes initiative. Reflection: Students synthesize and articulate their learning through journaling free writes, etc. Reflections may not be as productive if you are measuring behavior.

Q&A WITH DARBY What new insights did you gain as a result of your personal conversations and large group discussions at the National Leadership Symposium 2014? I really was struck by the different ways to look at student leadership and the importance of language that we use. It's so important that we speak the same language, both among leadership educators and then with academic affairs. Leadership programs transcend institution type and professional associations, and it's something that is relevant to all of us. We need to overtly engage students in those programs and conversations. We also need to challenge them to reflect on their learning to be able to articulate it at a deeper level. So many institutions are doing great programs for their students that are unique and cutting edge. We need to be open to using resources from inside higher education as well as out of higher education. Sharing those promising practices motivates all of us to do better. You highlighted a number of different assessment tools. How do you select the best assessment tool for analyzing a given competency? There are many factors that go into selecting an assessment tool. I'll highlight several here. One, the tool needs to fit the outcome or competency (you probably do not want to use a survey to measure oral communication skills, but using a rubric to evaluate a presentation would make more sense). Two, the tool needs to fit the time for the intervention (a single one hour diversity presentation will probably not address very many outcomes/competencies, nor would it probably be expected to cause deep change in an individual. Participants will probably not be willing to devote a large amount of time for the assessment). Three, you have to consider your participants (the amount of time they are devoting to the competency development, the amount of time they will commit to the assessment method, their willingness to be assessed, etc.). Four, you have to consider your audience for the results (you, supervisor, accreditors, etc.). What is important for them to know? Five, you have to consider your expertise (or ability to get expertise) in the assessment method and analysis/interpretation. Sixth, and maybe most important, is determining how you will use assessment results to make change in your program or service. The purpose of the assessment should guide the methods, not the method guiding the purpose. You want the right information that will guide your practice. You have to think about using the results before you develop the method. Overall, your assessment needs to be meaningful, manageable, and measurable.

Q&A WITH DARBY Many assessments analyze one particular experience in or out of the classroom. How can we best measure growth and learning over time? In an ideal world, we could work with students throughout their college career from beginning to end. In reality, students flow in and out of programs and have a variety of experiences. We may work with as students for a day, a week, a month, a semester, a year, or several years. On an institutional level, there is opportunity to assess students over time using national or local instruments. There are instruments that focus on pre-college experiences and expectations, end of the first year experiences, and senior year experiences. Although those instruments do not necessarily attribute competence to specific experiences, they are a global picture of growth and development over time. Specific programs and experience can be measured over time, depending on the time frame of interest. A student leader may hold a position for an academic year, a leadership course may last a semester, and a certificate program may span several semesters. I am also a proponent of following up with students several months to a year after an experience to determine the long-term impact (have they applied their learning, changed their perception about an issue, sought out more learning experiences, etc.). Sometimes learning takes place after the experience, and we need to be more mindful about gathering that information.

FOUR CORNERS ACTIVITY Symposium chairs, Michael and Corey, posed the following statements and asked participants to physically move to a corner of the room to indicate whether they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed, or strongly disagreed with each statement. Once all participants had moved to their respective corners, participants were asked to discuss their reasoning with other people who had answered similarly. Two spokespeople from each corner then shared their corners’ collective rationale with the larger group spread out among the room. The statements and a summary of group responses are included below. Statement 1: Competencies can be mastered. Strongly Agree: Competencies set forth and define behavior. Perfection is not necessary. There are plenty of masters of their craft, but they have not performed at 100% achievement all the time, in all situations. Agree: Mastery does not necessarily mean “perfection”. Mastery is situational. A student may find themselves in a new context where a skill they had mastered previously does not carry over to the new context. Disagree: A student can lean towards mastery, but never achieve it, similar to an asymptote on a graph. Mastery might mean that you stop learning because you have already achieved something. Students still need to work, practice, and learn in order to improve. Students fail to learn from others if they have already “checked a box” for mastering a skill. Statement 2: Person can demonstrate a particular competency in one context, but cannot demonstrate that same competency in another context. Strongly Agree: A change of context may change a student’s demonstration of knowledge. A student’s same level of skill may not work at all in a different context. If a student’s interest is low in a certain context, this could change their competence. Outside factors beyond a student’s control could also influence competency. ...Competencies beget more competencies. Students need more experiences because confidence impacts competence. Strongly Disagree: A student can still demonstrate a competency in any situation or context, it might just not be to the best of their ability. For example, a student may be a good listener, but in a particular context the student becomes distracted more easily. 23

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS Participants were invited to engage in three, 20-minute roundtable discussions in which they could learn more about a particular competency-related subject. A total of five roundtable discussions were offered over the course of an hour, allowing participants to rotate through all areas of interest. Guest scholar, Dr. Susan Komives, joined our other scholars to facilitate each conversation. Below is a summary of the topics covered in each roundtable discussion. Using Gamification with Competency Development, Dr. Rick Voorhees Session topics: certificate programs, online badges, and learning management systems. •

Is there a need or a desire for some sort of nation-wide competency recognition system? •  Students could wear lapel pins for varying levels of completion of programs/ requirements. •  Tangible benefits for students being a part of a given program (i.e. all students that complete a certain competency level have access to exclusive career events with employers). Challenges and barriers: •  •  •  •

How do we assess the competency levels of students who we do not see all the time, but who want to get involved in our programs? Challenges in assessing incoming skills of students who are not involved in our programs, but have experience and an established level of competency. Are you giving badges/recognition for completion of a program or mastery of a competency? Or a combination of both? Need to consider competency levels, exit points, and individual tracking for students.

Tying Competencies to Career Preparation, Dr. Corey Seemiller Employers are looking for students to work better with others and take initiative. How do students leverage their competencies for employment? How do we educate students about what to say in a job interview so they can speak about their accomplishments? •  •

Use artifacts to trigger stories to tell in an interview and demonstrate competencies. Practice interviewing with a staff person.

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS •

•  •

Communicate back and forth with the Career Center (The Career Center may not be interested in the development of competencies, but perhaps in the articulation of them as they pertain to career fields). Have students think about their biggest learning accomplishment to date. Build a portfolio of experiences or a co-curricular transcript -- helps students organize their experiences in one place so that they can better articulate their story.

Can we make individualized competency plans for students? (i.e. a list of competencies that are specialized for what students want to gain or by major) •

•  •

•

Yes -- Gather student job descriptions for executive board positions within student groups (President, Secretary, etc.) and then develop competencies to frame that particular position. Fuse a specific competency plan into a learning contract. Use the Jossey-Bass Student Leadership Competencies Database as a resource for major-specific competencies or any competencies that are being taught. Supplemental courses or other development opportunities can be offered to help students get the competencies that they are missing -- Send students to other departments and programs on campus.

Would competencies ever stand side by side with GPA? •

In the far future, yes. At some point, performance will not have to do with GPA or seat time. Students should be able to demonstrate their competencies for grades.

Using Competencies in Program Marketing, Dr. Michael Preston The students who choose to get involved stay involved. We want students to recognize the Office of Student Involvement as a place they could go to work on competencies. Student marketing: “You wanna get the job? Get involved.” Telling the story of how involvement helps develop the competencies employers are looking for. How does a large campus let students know that everyone has an opportunity to get involved? How do we create an institutional message? •

Collaborate with faculty and their classes -- Students could work on research or study abroad.

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS •  •

•

Marketing campaign: Coding programs for specific competencies and outcomes. Use icons or colors that denote types of programs. Professional staff involvement consultation. 15 minute conversation with students during orientation: “What are you interested in? Here is how I can connect you with students interested in the same thing.” Online database where competencies are connected to particular clubs. Students could select their interests from a menu. Database could generate a list of involvement opportunities. Peer to peer consultation and upperclass student guidance

How do we battle students who want to work on competencies or get involved solely because it looks good on resumes? Marketing needs to be about being good on the job because you were involved, not about getting the actual job. If we aren’t hitting the desired competencies, then why are we doing the event? Try reverse-engineering programs. Start with the why of the program and go backward to design something fun and useful for students. Infusing Competencies Across Campus, Dr. Darby Roberts What can we do to add value to the mission or quality enhancement plan of the institution? •

•  •

•

Reach out to faculty members and ask the following questions: How can we help you? How can we help you accomplish x, y, z? Here is what our office provides; what can we do together? Is there someone else I can talk to who might be interested in partnering? Explore course syllabi. What competencies do you see? Understand the language being used and build a consistent, common language. Determine which competency areas are meaningful and manageable for all offices involved. Clearly delineate what you need to know, not what you want to know. Involved offices could start by concentrating on three competency areas and then pick x number more as time goes on. Every unit could select additional competencies that pertain specifically to their work. Narrow down competencies and evaluate: What is the institution’s focus and are we doing it well?

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS Challenges and things to consider: •

Everyone is “busy” and until the institution makes competency-based initiatives a priority or a norm that has been set and practiced, campus-wide follow-through is hard.

•  •  •

You cannot be everything to all people. Do fewer things well and set priorities. Be strategic in your partnerships -- Who are the university influencers? Developing partnerships will be difficult in the beginning. You will be bending to other people’s needs in order to gain buy-in.

Using Competencies with CAS Standards, Dr. Susan Komives CAS “promotes standards to enhance opportunities for student learning and development from higher education programs and services.” Standards are revised every four years. How do you see competencies fitting in with CAS outcomes? •  •

CAS outcomes inform competencies. Sequencing of CAS outcomes and competencies, building basic skills that are sequential for learning and competency achievement (i.e. do you need to experience delegation or know how to delegate before you can actually facilitate teamwork and higher order team engagement?)

Can competencies be mastered? •  •

Yes, some competencies can be mastered. But, in human relation competencies, you are always growing. Do you set a level that you want people to reach (i.e. 70% of first-year students can lead discussion)? Or do you want to say they are going to master it?

How do you select CAS standards or competencies for a given program? Are there competencies that we want to practice specifically with women or other identity groups? •

Select the parts of a model (Leadership Identity Development Model, etc.) that apply the most to a given identity group.

•

Blend and adjust leadership models and frameworks to fit the mission and language of your institution (i.e. Marquette University adjusted the Social Change Model to appear as concentric circles with additional Jesuit values included). 27

SCHOLAR PANEL Scholars, Jeff Horey, Rick Voorhees, and Darby Roberts, answered a series of pre-selected and participant-generated questions during the Scholar Panel. Question topics ranged from competence mastery to leadership identity. Below is an abbreviated transcript of the scholars’ responses to each question posed. Question 1: Can competencies be mastered? Jeff Horey (JH): It depends on your definition of the word “mastery”. If “mastery” means “perfection”, then no, competencies cannot be mastered. Mastery is “less than perfect” on a rating scale and can be measured objectively and reliably. Rick Voorhees (RV): You cannot separate mastery and competency. Mastery and competency go hand in hand. Darby Roberts (DR): The more you perform a skill, the better you get at it. There becomes a point at which you have mastered a skill. Question 2: What did you notice throughout the symposium that you would like to highlight for the participants? JH: We probably overwhelmed participants with some of the presentations and by talking about a large number of competencies. However, any movement toward teaching students about competencies, leadership constructs and how they are measured, and how they learn at different stages of their college experience is important and valuable. Don’t be discouraged by this process. Use the resources around you and the people that have worked on this before you. RV: We could invent a series of a million competencies, but more is not better than less in this case. Be intentional with what you choose and develop, and how it applies to your overall purpose and the purpose of your programs and courses. That is more important than quantity. Get away from the idea that everything is equally important. When developing competencies for a specific purpose, every competency is not equally important. Have these deep conversations back on your campus and seek support from your learning community because you are not an island unto yourself. DR: What does competency-based learning look like for students postgraduation? We need to prime students to reflect on their competencies so that they can become productive members of society. Students have learned things, but they have also learned how to learn and how to do.

SCHOLAR PANEL Question 3: How do we as educators know the difference between competence and mastery? How do we know what to assess? JH: I think we are a little hung up on word “mastery.” Students are going to do things that fall into different competency categories and they will want feedback on their performance; students want to know about their strengths and weaknesses. The weakness of competency scales is that people focus on the number score and do not focus on their strengths and opportunities for growth. We need to focus on providing valuable feedback to students. RV: Educators tend to think dichotomously, but the two words, mastery and competency, are entwined. Either something is happening, or it is not; it is demonstrable. Soft-skill behaviors are developmental and sequential and help to draw students toward adulthood. DR: Educators have to determine a goal and what they are defining as a level of success. For example, “I am looking for ‘x’ level of success” so that I have some sort of measure for whether or not success happened. It is important to understand who you are assessing and where they are at. Question 4: How do we need to change as educators to utilize competencies to develop a competency-based learning curriculum in a teaching environment? JH: Students want to know what they need to learn to get a good job. It would be great for professors to show how their course is going to make students marketable on the job and what skills they will learn. Competencies are a way to do that. Even if the course content does not apply, the learning experiences and group dynamics will apply. RV: There is a big gap in the practice of learning and how people are trained in graduate schools. We need to help students demystify what the purpose of our work is together. Learning is measurable and competencies should be supported by shared principles. DR: What is it that we want students to learn? How do we provide that? We need to be realistic; we cannot provide everything to everyone, but what pieces can we provide? How do we fit into a bigger puzzle with the rest of the offices on our campuses? What do we do collectively to help students learn some of the things that our entire institution wants them to learn? We need to come back together and ask “Did we do that well?” and “What do we need to continue doing or changing?”

SCHOLAR PANEL Question 5: Where do you see leadership identity fitting into competencybased models? JH: Competencies are helping to provide the building blocks needed to be a leader and develop a leadership identity. We are creating proficiencies that are creating a person. We are able to gauge performance and provide information to enhance performer learning. RV: We need to challenge ourselves to think about our own skills and competencies and build portfolios displaying how we exemplify those skills and competencies. DR: Your leadership identity is your internal voice, which influences and is influenced by your actions. The two inform each other. Question 6: What parting words of wisdom do you have? JH: Good luck and use the resources you have available to you. Your life will be simpler that way. RV: If competencies are going to happen, they are going to happen in the student affairs world. Keep in touch with these people to work smarter, not harder! DR: Just do it. Your work may not be perfect, but give it a go.

COMPETENCY MODEL PROJECT Small group work to apply learning is a key component of the National Leadership Symposium experience. Throughout the Symposium, participants worked together during “table time” to eventually develop their own student leadership program and accompanying lesson plans, competency models, and evaluations. Below is a summary of the groups’ charge. 1.  Individually, put together a list of ten critical leadership competencies that students need to engage in effective leadership. Be specific. Communication is too broad; narrow down. How do you know they need these competencies? 2.  As a group, come to consensus on ten critical leadership competencies. 3.  Using the competency list developed, select a leadership education topic and design a 15 minute lesson plan that incorporates 3-5 competencies. 4.  Draft competency statements for each of the 3-5 selected competencies for the 15 minute lesson plan. Then, design/select curricular activities related to these selected competencies. 5.  Develop an evaluation/assessment/rubric to evaluate competency development for the 15 minute lesson plan. Prepare to facilitate your 15 minute lesson plan. 6.  Facilitate curriculum from your lesson plan with the large group and then administer your evaluation. Each small group used information from the scholar sessions, competency model examples from various associations, and the Systemic Curriculum and Instructional Development (SCID) and Developing a Curriculum (DACUM) processes to assist them in their group project. The resulting presentations including lesson plans and competencies related to verbal communication, problem solving, ethical decision-making, inclusive leadership, self-awareness, integrity, resilience, and collaboration. We are so proud of all of our small groups from this year’s Symposium! 31

PARTICIPANT HIGHLIGHTS The information and materials from the Symposium have provided a map, so to speak, of how to evaluate the programs I work with and the direction(s) ahead. Specifically, I see this idea of competencies providing guidance in my desire to create a clearer purpose and set of goals for my team. I appreciated the layering approach between content and our projects. We were not overloaded with content and then have to sift through everything. The pace of content, project, more content, project, etc. worked very well. I think having the resources to really experiment with the competencies we were learning was really helpful and hands on. [I appreciated] the depth of the conversations and the rigor of the scholarly work discussed. I found that learning more about student leadership assessment and measurement greatly challenged how I think about leadership. It made me think in more detail about how we use the competencies to build our programs, and also challenged me to think about how to assess a leadership curriculum. I really enjoyed the concept of introducing a project at the beginning that would build as we progress through the Symposium. This was a great model for what we should be doing with students and allowed us to get the experiential learning as well as abstract theory. It was affirming to know that there is not one correct way to implement competency-based education. That was a major takeaway for me do what best meets your programmatic needs/learning objectives.

A sampling of the fun and learning from the National Leadership Symposium 2014!

PHOTO ALBUM

A sampling of the fun and learning from the National Leadership Symposium 2014!

PHOTO ALBUM

A sampling of the fun and learning from the National Leadership Symposium 2014!

PHOTO ALBUM

A sampling of the fun and learning from the National Leadership Symposium 2014!

PHOTO ALBUM

JOIN US IN 2015! National Leadership Symposium July 20-23, 2015 University of Louisville Visit NCLP and NACA websites for more information 37