The newsletter of the Ontario association of college and university housing officers February 2020
20 Things
Creating Interview Rubrics
Building Towards Collaboration
Board of Directors PRESIDENT
Valerie Bruce Ryerson University vbruce@ryerson.ca
PRESIDENT ELECT / FINANCE DIRECTOR
Diane Rawlings University of Windsor rawlin1@uwindsor.ca
PAST PRESIDENT
Ian Crookshank Humber College Ian.Crookshank@humber.ca
CONFRENCE DIRECTOR
Lauren Gouchie University of Ottawa lgouchie@uottawa.ca
CORPORATE PARTNER RELATIONS DIRECTOR
Shaun McCracken Trent University shaunmccracken@trentu.ca
ADVANCED MEMBER AT LARGE
Steph Cullen University of Waterloo slcullen@uwaterloo.ca
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
MEMBER AT LARGE
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
MEMBER AT LARGE
MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR
ASSOCIATION MANAGER
Daniel Brisebois University of Guelph dbrisebo@uoguelph.ca
Stewart Grunwell University of Guelph sgrunwel@uoguelph.ca
Kamadchi Karunanandan University of Waterloo Kamadchi.karunanandan@ uwaterloo.ca
Derek Worden Western University dworden@housing.uwo.ca
Stacey Phelps University of Waterloo sphelps@uwaterloo.ca
Carol Ford OACUHO info@oacuho.com
Presidents Message On
Collaboration
Hello! Welcome to our January issue of the Pulse, where we are exploring the theme of collaboration. When I think about January and collaboration, a few things come to mind. It’s a busy time of year filled with budget planning, student staff hiring and application recruitment planning, all projects that require collaboration to succeed. One of my favourite examples of collaboration is related to our open house/recruitment strategy. Our department ensures big events (such as our open house/tours) require the input and involvement of all functional areas within our department. Over the last few years, these events have been organized through a committee structure with representatives from all areas, (including our student leaders) in an effort to develop an event that provides prospective students the full experience of living in residence from a residence life, facilities and application lens. This has been impactful in providing our guests the best experience, and creating excitement and buy-in from both the student leaders and professional staff. Collaboration is key to success for many, and thinking outside the box to consult or invite areas that normally wouldn’t be a part of a process and/or project are key to creating buy-in, placing another lens on the project and finding potential gaps to completion. One way to explore collaboration in the future may be through consider hosting a OACUHO event on your campus, it’s a great way to engage lots of folks within your department or potentially the broader institution community! ;) As you read through this edition of the pulse and learn some other ways to encourage collaboration, I hope you will be inspired to find ways to bring collaboration into some of your upcoming projects. Best, Valerie
This month we decided to ask four members within the association to answer the following questions: “What are 5 things that you think OACUHO members should be focusing on in 2020, this could be personally, professionally or anything else that you think is relevant.” Our members shared their answers through providing some advise as well as posing some reflective questions to consider while moving into 2020. Here is what they had to say: 1) What are some strategies or practices that you can use to prioritize your wellness? Schedule them into your days, evenings, weekends, and don’t compromise. 2) Residence life is the best life, but it is not your only life. This is a great reminder that although working in this field can be very rewarding, be sure that you are also fulfilling all aspects of who you are. Are there loved ones that you haven’t connected with lately because you have been too busy? When you get home at the end of the work day, do you still have energy to do other activities, or are you just dragging yourself home? A mentor once mentioned to be aware of who/what gets the “best of you” and who/what gets the “rest of you”. 3) Academic Partnerships We are being really intentional with our relationships with faculty members by engaging with various Teaching and Learning groups on campus. We are thinking about how we can be supportive partners and recognize faculty who regularly go above and beyond to support our programs! One way we are doing this is through the creation of faculty recognition letters. These letters can be added to a faculty member’s portfolio to be utilized in the PTR process as examples of educational leadership and service. 4) Be Curious Ask questions and think critically about the work that we are doing. What are things that you’re doing really well? What are things that your institution is doing really well? With that, also ask yourself the harder hitting questions, what are some areas that we can improve on and what are some gaps in our approach? Let that curiosity drive you to continue to push the limits of yourself and your institution! 5) How can you show up for your team in ways that demonstrate trust, respect, and genuine interest in their personal or professional lives? Your team atmosphere and culture is a choice that everyone makes every day. Choose wisely!
6) Busyness as a badge of honour. Life Lesson: When you are asked “How are you doing?” and the answer is “busy”, this could be perceived as “I have an inability to prioritize.” When a mentor said this to me, it really hit home since so many of us feel busy. Reflect on your personal management and choices you are making. Some questions to ask yourself: · Are you using busyness as a way to prove your value or worth? · When do you feel most busy? Why? · What values help you make decisions? · How do you stay present in the moment? · How do you slow down? 7) Curriculum Development If you haven’t already, try to engage more staff in attending the curricular institute and/or learning about it. There is a lot of inspiration to be found at this conference and many ways that curriculum can be applied once staff are excited about it (and excitement is the key)! 8) Explore PD Invest in yourself, spend some time thinking about the PD that you want to get this year and explore some ways that you can accomplish that. There are a ton of PD opportunities out there no matter if it is through a professional organization, through a training, further education etc. There are a ton of great opportunities out there waiting for you. Always continue to focus on your own learning and growing. The more we expand our horizons, the more prepared will be to continue to support the growing needs of our staff and students. 9) Are there ways in which your daily operations create barriers for some students to succeed, thrive and be their best selves while living in residence? Identify some barriers and raise them with your team to discuss more inclusive practices. 10) “Comparison is the thief of joy” –Theodore Roosevelt. Often when we see others who we perceive are successful, we compare ourselves to them. This might evoke feelings of inferiority or inadequacy. This might mask your own happiness, your own value and your own strengths. When we compare ourselves to others, this shifts the focus from what we should be honouring within ourselves. Remember: you are on the path that you, and you alone, are supposed to be on. 11) Keep Learning Reserve a part of your day to learn. I have the first 30 minutes of my morning blocked off to read articles and research (I am a subscriber to many a listserv). If I ever find anything that is relevant to other people on the team, I will pass that information along to them as well.
12) Engage in OACUHO OACUHO has so much to offer. This year engage in the conferences, drive ins or consider joining a committee. If those aren’t options for you right now, consider reaching out to a colleague at a different institution to talk about common issues that your institutions are facing. Through collaboration, common issues can lead to unique solutions and learning opportunities! 13) What processes exist in your workplace that “are just how things have always been done”? Identify some processes that could use an update and create space in your team to explore alternatives. 14) Don’t bring me a dead raccoon, bring me a dead raccoon and a shovel. This is something that I will often ask of my team. In essence, please don’t dump a problem on my lap. I am more than happy to help in any way I can, but think about the options and how this challenge can be navigated. Demonstrate that you have critical thinking skills and problem solving capabilities. This approach has changed our conversations with each other. Often I will hear “I have a dead raccoon for you, but I also brought the shovel” as people approach. (I heard this quote at a conference, and it originally was a cat instead of a raccoon, but the team had many cat lovers, so I had to change it.) 15) Strategic Planning Should never stop! Once a month, our (small, but mighty) residence education team has scheduled planning days for us to talk about the big stuff. We are in a time of growth, so these consistent check-ins have allowed us to move forward quickly and collaboratively on many new projects. 16) Dream BIG One thing I often reflect on is an interview question that I had been asked a couple years ago. ‘How do you want to be remembered when leaving this department?’ My answer surrounded leaving behind a legacy of some of the great work that I had hoped to do. How will you leave your legacy this year? Start a new project or take on a new initiative. Follow a passion that you have and find a way to bring that into your day-to-day work in your department. 17) How do you speak to yourself when only you are listening? Pay attention to the language you use with yourself when you think about your interactions with others, your impact at work, and your relationship with yourself. It’s so important to get out of your own way in order to embrace your personal and professional journey. 18) Invest in You- aka Create your own professional development, and be creative with it. Investing in yourself is one of the best return on investments you can have. You need to give to yourself before you can give to others. This means, take control of your own learning and connect it to your goals, values and career aspirations. You are the one responsible for your own career. Setting aside time to reflect on your journey and where you have been can help you decide where you want to go.
· Think outside of conferences when considering your professional development. What are your consuming in your day to day that will provide you opportunities for growth and development? For me, my commute to work every day is my own time. I love using this time to listen to podcasts, audio books, and current events on the radio. I will also swing by the library on my way home to pick up the latest book (or cookbook) I want to read. This way, I can “test drive” it to see if I really want to purchase this book and add it to my own library. I am also aware of what I am seeing on social media and try to curate it so that it is also a learning tool for me. · Share your learning with others. Each week, during our Residence Life pro staff meeting, we start with “what are you learning that will help students?” This is a great way to share with your team what you are reading, listening to and watching. This conversation starter also grounds us in the bigger picture when we can easily get lost in the finer details of our work. · Some prompts to think about: · How do you best learn? · What professional development strategies can you engage in besides attending conferences? · What are some unique ways you can engage others in your learning? · What learning partnerships are you looking to begin and/or amplify? · How will you share your learning with your team members? · Who are your mentors, or “Board of Directors” who can help you on your journey? When looking ahead to the remainder of 2020, you might want to focus on one of these ideas. I would love to hear your thoughts, and if you do want to make them part of your goals, having an accountability partner is great. Let me know how I can be an accountability buddy for you!
19) Fun At the end of the day, we get to do some really creative and impactful work, and that is amazing. Enjoy that truth by adding laughter and positivity to your work environment whenever you can. This is always a good thing.
20) Reflect On Progress Made Its easy to get focused in on what we want to accomplish and its even easier to measure up how we might not have met the mark we were hoping to attain. Ensure that this year you are taking intentional time to reflect on the progress that you are making on all of your goals no matter if they are personal or professional. Set aside some time each month to really critically look at the progress that you have made and recognize that change doesn’t happen overnight. Every step you take towards a goal is a step in the right direction!
Jennifer Tabar Case Support Coordinator Answers: 1,5,9,13,17
Laura Mammone Supervisor, Residence Education Answers: 3,7,11,15,19
Natalie Allan Assistant Director, Residence Life Services Answers: 2,6,10,14,18
Daniel Brisebois Residence Life Manager Answers: 4,8,12,16,20
When “Nursing” New Collaborations, There’s No Place(ment) Like Home With an ever-growing pressure and the desire to continue to further develop the educational and learning opportunities for students living in residence, it is essential for residence professionals to seek alternative and innovative methods and solutions rather than accepting the status quo. One method that is being used to support the educational goals of several residence systems is bringing in students, often from outside of residence, to complete their practicum/preceptor/internships placements for academic credit. These placements provide additional human resource without having the department incur additional staffing costs. Based on a scan of residence systems in universities/colleges, these practicums are used for developing new initiatives, completing research and/or facilitating workshops/presentations. Besides the obvious benefits to the students who are completing their practicum, there are benefits to our residents as they are provided with additional learning opportunities, and there is a surprising benefit of having to look at our work from a different perspective for our professional staff members who work with the students. The Beginning - Lynn When assessing the collaborations occurring at the University of Windsor, I considered that there must be other collaborations occurring across Ontario and wanted to find more information about the good and bad of on-campus collaborations. OACUHO has always provided an environment of sharing of ideas and best practices and this time was no different. Upon reaching out to the Advanced members group I received referrals to connect with staff at other institutions, however, what was surprising was the interest in finding out more about these collaborations from others without any in place at their institutions. The idea to present at the OACUHO Spring Conference grew from this interest. Upon reaching out to a few members currently hosting academic practicums, I discovered that Aaron was excited and willing to collaborate on a presentation and from there, a collaboration on collaboration was formed. Nursing and Science Placements in Residence Services at UWindsor - Lynn The Residence Services department at the University of Windsor is small and has had to be creative in order to provide additional services and supports to students. Through partnerships with both the Faculty of Nursing and the Faculty of Science, Residence Services has been able to enhance the student experience without drastically changing workloads of staff members. Each Fall and Winter semester two fourth year nursing students are assigned to complete their community practicum within residence which is described within their course description as “ a precepted clinical practice experience within the context of community as client which enables the student to synthesize theory, research, professional and technical skills.” These students meet regularly with a clinical supervisor to ensure they are meeting the Nursing practicum requirements; however, they are mainly supervised on practicum by the Residence Life Team Lead (RLTL). These students are expected to work approximately 16 hours per week and their main focus has been prevention and harm reduction initiatives as well as developing proactive educational initiatives. A typical semester includes an initial meeting with the nursing students, clinical supervisor and RLTL to discuss the potential topics and initiatives the students will cover during their practicum. The topics are mainly decided by Residence Services, though room is left for additional topics based on a needs assessment which is completed by the students.
Once the practicum is underway the RLTL meets weekly with the students to discuss progress and provide support. The students are encouraged to collaborate with other nursing students and student staff members if initiative goals are aligned. The students implement several initiatives throughout their practicum including educational social media and poster campaigns, information tabling, active programs and they participate in a least one related residence or campus committee for the semester. In addition to the nursing practicum placement, Residence Services partnered with the Faculty of Science as part of their “Special Topics” fourth year course. A student, who was a former residence student, assisted with the development, on-going planning and facilitation of our Science Living Learning Community (SLLC). This was a full-year partnership which involved the student, the RLTL and a faculty advisor working together. Ultimately this alleviated some work from Residence Services and resulted in a University of Windsor Centred on Learning Innovation Fund grant and recognition in the Teaching and Learning awards. This collaboration is no longer used for academic credit; however, a science student continues to be assigned as part of a science co-curricular record position to support the on-going programming of the SLLC, and the RLTL and faculty advisor continue to work in partnership to ensure the success of the SLLC. There are both successes and challenges associated with these collaborations though the benefits outweigh the negatives. One of the major challenges of asking students with little to no residence background to provide educational initiatives was that they had little understanding of the different needs of our students. As a result, I have to engage them in that learning prior to them being able to move forward. We also had to find ways to ensure that the students were meeting their practicum requirements in a setting much different than a traditional health care setting, this required creativity and flexibility on both our end and at the faculty level. Despite these challenges, we gained additional health promotion initiatives, developed a new LLC, supported our institutional mission of providing more experiential learning opportunities, the RLTL benefited from the experience of mentoring a different type of student and Residence Services was enhanced by the ideas from the partnering faculties and students. Nursing with Humber Residence Life and the Office of Student Conduct - Aaron At Humber College, the Residence Life department has been collaborating with the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Bachelor of Nursing Program for roughly ten years. Each fall semester, a clinical instructor and 8-10 third-year nursing students are assigned a community and population health nursing placement within residence; as per their course description, the focus of this placement is for students to employ “principles of community assessment and development, program planning, and other strategies that are supported through a population health perspective, with a particular emphasis placed on vulnerable populations and the determinants of health.” These students are primarily supervised by their clinical instructor and are assisted by the Residence Life Coordinator (RLC) assigned to the Healthy Living Framework portfolio. A typical semester with the nursing students involves the RLC meeting with them mid-September to provide an overview of residence—most, if not all, of these students have not lived in residence before— and Residence Life, conduct a tour, and answer any questions that the students have. The students then meet with each other and their instructor twice a week to develop and implement health assessments in residence, conduct literature reviews, and narrow down their focus (e.g. mental health) to develop an educational initiative for the residence population; this initiative is usually implemented at the end of November or early December. Some examples over the years include a mental health fair with games and prizes, passive sexual health information, and self-care workshops and events. Throughout the semester, the RLC answers questions as needed and coordinates access to the residence community, and then attends a final presentation by the students before being provided a research report (or sometimes a website!).
For Residence Life, this collaboration has been beneficial in supporting departmental priorities around health and wellbeing, as well as contributing to the institutional strategic plan and supporting implementation of the Okanagan Charter. The UNB placement increases capacity for wellbeing-related initiatives in residence, and the research conducted informs future initiatives, our Healthy Living Framework, and potential structural changes to maximize support for residents. Given that Humber is primarily a commuter school, it is also a neat opportunity to provide off-campus students some insight into the great work that Residence Life does for residents. The UNB nursing students are involved in other campus partner placements at Humber, including with me in my new role at the Office of Student Conduct (OSC). With OSC, the nursing students are trained to facilitate Bringing in the Bystander by the Coordinator, Sexual Violence Prevention & Education. These students train all third-year students in their program over the course of the semester in bystander intervention, as well as conduct assessments on campus related to consent, which helps inform sexual violence prevention and education programming moving forward. This partnership has existed for four years and continues to grow as we explore opportunities for curriculum integration for first year UNB nursing students; we now also have a PhD candidate exploring a partnership between OSC and UNB to evaluate the effectiveness of the Bringing in the Bystander program at Humber. Working with placement students in both of these departments is not without its challenges. For instance, sometimes our students and their instructors have requests we consider unreasonable (such as being allowed into the air ducts to measure them, installing new facilities equipment, etc.). The nursing students with OSC have required a lot of administrative support some years in booking rooms for presentations, etc. As well, it has been important for us to remember that these students are novice researchers, and so while they provide us with some valuable information, we need to remember that it is not as rigorous as other studies. As is the case with most Residence Life departments, capacity can also be a challenge--while these nursing students increases our initiatives in residence, doing so also takes a Residence Life Coordinator away from other often more pressing concerns. Other Examples There are several other collaborations occurring on Ontario campuses, and McMaster University and Queen’s University contributed to the content for our OACUHO 2019 conference presentation. Here is a glimpse into how their collaborations work, based on conversations in Spring 2019. Queen’s University The Residence Life department at Queen’s University have placement students from both their Faculty of Nursing and their Faculty of Education. The Faculty of Nursing students are mainly focused on health and wellness promotions and are required to complete a specific project. This involves a one-hour meeting per week with the residence life professional. The Faculty of Education student is on an alternative education practicum and works approximately 30 hours per week. They work on a project involving research, implementation and evaluation, which typically supports the residence life training. McMaster University Residence and Housing at McMaster University have practicum students from Nursing working with their Health & Wellness LLC and from a sustainability course working with their Outdoor Leadership LLC. These students provide support and programming to these LLCs based on the needs of the community. In addition to these, there is a Social Work practicum, which began in residence and continues to support residence students but is now housed within Student Affairs and their Behavioural Intervention Team. These students work on prevention initiatives, assist students exhibiting behaviour of concern (ex. difficulty making friends, extreme homesickness), act as a triage, and advocate and facilitate educational outcomes workshop.
Things to Consider Some questions to consider if you are exploring potential placement partnerships: ● What areas of need do you have in your department? ● What faculties/programs with placements exist on your campus? ● What challenges do you anticipate in hosting a student placement in residence? ● What are some potential initiatives students would complete as part of their placement in your department? Once you have an idea of where you’re looking for additional support in residence, you can start exploring academic programs that lend themselves to your specific needs. Check out their experiential learning course opportunities and the requirements or expectations around these placements. Reach out to program or placement coordinators to get an idea of how they work and how they typically operate. Map out what sort of learning opportunity your team can provide and how it connects to their program goals and outcomes. Perhaps most important, set clear expectations around what you can and can’t offer, and how you envision the placement opportunity playing out. We have both found these collaborative opportunities to be rewarding and beneficial for our departments. These placements have also kept us grounded in working directly with students, allowed us to explore Residence Life through a different academic lens, and provided us with the opportunity to support the academic mission of our institution and our students. We encourage you to reach out to either of us for additional information about our specific institutions by email at lcharron@uwindsor.ca or aaron.brown@humber.ca.
Lynn Charron Residence Life Team Lead Aaron Brown Interim Coordinator, Sexual Violence Prevention Education
Creating Interview Rubrics: Best Practices Hello OACUHO Colleagues, I hope that each of you enjoyed your holiday breaks and that the semester is starting off well for you and your teams. Recently I spent of bit of time creating a resource to help our team at Guelph in creating effective interview rubrics and I thought I would pass it along, in case it can be of assistance to others in the Association. Below you will find 5 best practices for consideration. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so don’t be surprised if notable strategies aren’t included. Rather, I selected 5 best practices that I think provide practitioners a strong foundation from which to work. Hopefully they help! Before digging into each practice, let’s first establish a common language to aid the process. Here are a few rubric-related definitions, provided by Arcuria and Chaaban (2019) of Arizona State University: • •
•
Performance Criteria - The factors being measured (e.g., Organization of Essay, Thesis Statement, etc.); commonly represented as the rows of a rubric. Performance Levels or Rating Scale - Represent gradations of performance and typically take the form of the column headings of a rubric. The performance labels can be numeric (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4) or textual (e.g., Poor, Acceptable, Good, Excellent). Performance Level Descriptors – The “cells” of a rubric that articulate the observable characteristics for each performance level of a criteria.
Figure 1: Parts of a Rubric (Keeler)
With that out of the way, let’s dive in: 1. Double-Checking for Alignment – An important step in creating a strong rubric is to make sure that the question you are asking will solicit answers that provide insight into the competency you are hoping to measure. One technique that can be helpful in testing for alignment is to answer the question for yourself, identifying what a strong answer may look like. Does your “strong answer” include content that provides insight into the competency the question is designed to measure? A second technique you may consider is starting by identifying the specific behaviours that would demonstrate proficiency in a specific competency and then building backwards from there, identifying a question that sets the candidate up to speak to those behaviours, or not. 2. Specific Performance Level Descriptors (Avoiding Ambiguity) – While attempting to limit ambiguity in rubrics is always good practice, it is especially important when the rubrics will likely be used by multiple interviewers. Rubrics that include performance level descriptors with ambiguous language require each interviewer to make a subjective determination as to the type of answer that corresponds with each performance level, which inevitably causes inconsistency between interviewers. Alternatively, Arcuria and Chaaban (2019) note that rubrics where performance level descriptors are specific and descriptive, identifying mutually exclusive, observable, and/or measurable expectations for each performance level, decrease interviewer subjectivity and result in higher reliability. Here is an example of a rubric that employs imprecise language for its Conflict Management criteria: Question: Please provide an example of a time you had a conflict with someone else. How did you handle the situation? Competency Conflict Management
0 Candidate struggles to provide a relevant example OR provides a relevant example but answer indicative of poor conflict management skills.
1 Candidate briefly outlines a relevant example and answer indicative of positive conflict management skills.
2 Candidate effectively describes a relevant example and answer highly indicative of positive conflict management skills.
In the example above, Levels 1 and Level 2 are solely differentiated by a) whether the interviewer believes the candidate briefly outlined or effectively described an example of a previous conflict they were involved in and b) whether the answer is indicative or highly indicative of positive conflict management skills. Just digging in to the first difference, the interviewer may be left wondering: “What differentiates between briefly outlining and effectively describing? Is there a certain amount of time the candidate should talk for? How much detail is enough detail to earn them a Level 2 score?” The imprecise language requires the interviewer to come up with their own system for distinguishing between the two levels, which may not be consistent with the systems employed by other interviewers. Similar concerns exist for second difference (indicative vs. highly indicative). Behaviour Banks: In addition to avoiding solely modifying 1 or 2 words between performance levels descriptions, another strong practice in avoiding ambiguity is generating a list of observable criteria required for a top-notch answer. Then, with these criteria in hand, you can begin the work of identifying which need to be present for each performance level. For example, if you are looking to measure a candidate’s ability to effectively navigate conflict, an appropriate interview question may be to ask the candidate to tell you about a time they were involved in a disagreement with a someone and how they dealt with the situation.
When identifying what an interviewee may include in a strong example, you might come up with a list of the following behaviours: • were able to stay calm, • sought to understand other person(s) point of view, • listened and helped the other person to feel heard, • worked to identify underlying issues, if applicable • sought to resolve, rather than “win”, the conflict • resolved the conflict in a way that left all parties satisfied with the outcome, • took responsibility for their role in the situation, and • reflected on what they learned. Equipped with your “bank” of behaviours you are looking for a candidate to speak to, you will be able to create a rubric (and accompanying behavior bank) where expectations for each level are clearly articulated. Rubric and Behaviour Bank Behaviours Indicative of Strong Conflict Management Skills: - Candidate stayed calm. - Candidate sought to resolve the conflict, rather than “win” the argument/issue. - Underlying issues identified (if applicable). - Sought to understand other person(s) point of view - Other person(s) made to feel heard and validated. - Conflict resolved in a way that left all parties satisfied with the outcome. - Conflict was used as an opportunity to develop a stronger, deeper relationship. - Candidate takes responsibility for the situation and reflects on what they learned. Behaviours Indicative of Poor Conflict Management Skills: - Allowed themselves to become overly emotional, engaging in unproductive argument. - Candidate didn’t seek to understand other person(s) point of view. - Conflict was avoided, with root causes of the issue left unidentified. Relationship more strained in the future. - Candidate places blame and responsibility for rectifying situations entirely on the other person(s). - Candidate failed to learn from the situation. 0
1
2
Candidate struggles to provide a relevant example OR provides a relevant example but more behaviours indicative of poor conflict management skills than behaviours demonstrating strength in the area.
Candidate provides a relevant example. While behaviours indicative of poor conflict management skills still exist, there are more behaviours demonstrating strong conflict management skills than weakness in the area.
Candidate provides a relevant example and behaviours indicative of strong conflict management skills are identified throughout, with little room for growth.
While behavior banks are one option for helping to decrease ambiguity and clearly specifying the criteria for various performance levels, they are not the only tool available. In many cases, it is possible to embed the differentiating criteria directly in the rubric, without having to reference to an external bank. Additionally, another option you may consider to help combat performance level ambiguity is to provide example answers for each performance level that help to demonstrate what meeting the specific criteria for each level looks like.
3. Don’t Force a Set Number of Performance Levels – Citing the works of Popham (2000) and Suskie (2009), Arcuria and Chaaban (2019) note that a high-quality analytic rubric should consist of 3-5 performance levels. Dr. Tim Brophy, Director of Institutional Assessment at Florida State University, tightens that recommendation up, specifically suggesting that 4 performance levels be utilized, to avoid the middle performance level from becoming a catch-all category when an odd number of levels are used (Brophy, n.d.). However, Dr. Suskie, writing in her personal blog (2014) and citing the work of Humphrey and Heldsinger (2014) cautions against forcing oneself to work towards a pre-set number of performance levels when doing so threatens the validity of the rubric. Further, she supports Humphrey and Heldsinger’s (2014) argument that each criterion within a rubric need not even have the same number of performance levels if, again, it threatens the validity of the rubric. The long and the short of it: aim for enough performance levels to provide ample space for differentiation and let the performance criteria’s natural division points direct your number of performance levels. 4. Avoid Hidden Marks – Another best practice in creating rubrics that will help effectively evaluate interviewees is avoiding providing opportunity for marks for information that is not directly asked for. We’ll call these “hidden marks.” One of the most common examples of hidden marks is when a rubric rewards a candidate for sharing a certain number of something (examples, strategies, values, etc.) without the question explicitly requesting that the interviewee provide that number. Here is an example:
Question: Please provide an example of a time you had a conflict with someone else. What strategies did you use to help you resolve the issue? Competency Conflict Management
0 Candidate struggles to provide a relevant example.
1 Candidate provides a relevant example and identifies 1-2 strategies they employed to help them effectively resolve the issue.
2 Candidate provides a relevant example and identifies 3+ strategies they employed to help them effectively resolve the issue.
For the question and rubric above, only those who are lucky enough to list 3 or more strategies used to navigate a conflict will receive top marks, even though the question does not explicitly ask for 3 or more examples. It is entirely plausible that a candidate may provide an excellent answer to the question, but only go into depth on two strategies/techniques that they used, thus disadvantaging them and undermining the instrument’s validity. If you would like the candidate to speak to a specific number of something, make sure the question asks for it. Or, better yet, forgo asking for a specific number of something and create descriptors based on the quality of the material provided, rather than the number. A second place where hidden marks are commonly found is in providing top marks only when a candidate relates their answer back to the position they are applying for, even when not asked to do so. Building on the example above, this could resemble the following: Question: Please provide an example of a time you had a conflict with someone else. What strategies did you use to help you resolve the issue?
Competency Conflict Management
0 Candidate struggles to provide a relevant example.
1 Candidate provides a relevant example and identifies 1-2 strategies they employed to help them effectively resolve the issue.
2 Candidate provides a relevant example and identifies 3+ strategies they employed to help them effectively resolve the issue.
3 Level 2 answer plus candidate identifies how they would employ similar conflict management strategies in the RA role.
Again, the question above does not explicitly request that the candidate share their reflection on how the strategies they employed in their example could also be employed in the role they are applying for. However, that behavior is rewarded by the rubric and candidates who are aware that marks may be awarded for sharing that information resultingly benefit. This is problematic when you begin to question which groups of people are most likely to know that additional marks may be available for answering the unstated question. Are there specific equity-seeking groups that may not be aware of this unstated expectation, who resultingly may be disadvantaged? As noted in OACUHO’s recent Hiring Barriers guide (2019), we do not want to make each question a puzzle. If you would like a candidate to relate their answer back to the role, consider including that request in the question. 5. Test and Revise – Lastly, there is no better way to prepare your rubric for implementation than testing and revising. This may resemble gathering a group of colleagues together to review a sample product (in the case of an interview rubric, this may be a mock interview or interview transcript), having each colleague employ the rubric, then guiding the group in a discussion of their ratings, with a focus on where differences exist. (Brophy, n.d.) Based on the conversation you may revise the rubric to clarify its use. This can be a valuable practice both prior to a rubric’s first implementation and following each use. Sara Wills of Western University noted the following: “Rubrics, like all forms of assessment, should go through the assessment cycle after use. We should be asking ourselves: Was it designed in a way that there were an appropriate number of levels? What did we learn about the tool through the experience? How will we revise it for the next use?” (2020). As noted at the outset, this is by no means an exhaustive list. Many best practices were left off as I sought to share a short list of recommendations I thought to be most useful to fellow practitioners. Hopefully you’ve found the above material interesting and valuable and should you have any questions or feedback I welcome further discussion. You can reach me at bingolds@uoguelph.ca. Arcuria, P., & Chaaban, M. (2019, February 8). Best Practices for Designing Effective Rubrics. Retrieved from Arizona State Univeristy - Teach Online: https://teachonline.asu.edu/2019/02/best-practices-for-designing-effective-rubrics/ Brophy, T. S. (n.d.). Writing Effective Rubrics. Retrieved from http://web.cse.ohiostate.edu/~soundarajan.1/abet/writing_effective_rubrics_guide_v2.pdf Keeler. (n.d.). What is a rubric? Retrieved from Language Arts - Mrs. Keeler: http://languagearts220.weebly.com/writingrubrics.html Ontario Association of College and University Housing Officers. (2019). Common Hiring Barriers. Suskie, L. (2014, July 30). Blog. Retrieved from Linda Suskie: A Common Sense Approach to Assessment in Higher Education: https://www.lindasuskie.com/apps/blog/categories/show/2167989-rubrics Wills, S. Manager, Integrated Learning & Assessment, Western University (2020, January 30). Personal correspondence.
Brian Ingoldsby Area Coordinator University of Guelph
Building Towards Collaboration: Queen’s University’s New Residence Building Queen’s University is building a new residence, targeted to open in August 2022. The process to identify a site, choose an architect, secure funding, seek board approval, hire consultants and work closely with campus partners to design and build a residence that will meet the needs of students and the university all before a shovel goes into the ground requires significant planning, communication and collaboration. When the decision was made to move forward with the design of this new residence the Housing and Ancillary (H&A) services team reflected on its core decision-making values. We make decisions that are: informed by multiple perspectives, evidence-based and student-centred. We also needed to balance the requirements of our two key areas of business – student housing and programming and our summer conference business. At the beginning of the process the H&A team identified various factors that supported the initiation of this project. Given the fact that Queen’s has a first year student residence guarantee, the following key factors drove the project: projected enrolment growth, maximizing summer revenues, adding more upper year beds to our inventory, converting common and study spaces that have been used for student bedrooms back to their intended purpose and creating swing space for buildings that require larger and longer term deferred maintenance. These factors built the business case that was reviewed and approved by the Board of Trustees. Once approval was granted, we engaged with our design team at Physical Plant Services (PPS) as well as with external consultants to determine the design parameters. Those parameters included: approximate 300 bed count, lounge space for each community, ample study space, standardized room configurations, interior bike and sports equipment storage, AODA standards, front desk functionality that serves both academic and summer business needs and achieving LEED Gold Certification.
From this point forward collaboration and communication became paramount. With the design framework in place there was much work ahead to ensure that the needs of all stakeholders were considered. Such stakeholders include, the Kingston community (including neighbouring properties), Queen’s Residence Society (student government), architects, planners, project managers, various consultants, the City of Kingston, and H&A as the client. Making decisions with the vast number of stakeholders required us to be strategic with respect to gathering and communicating feedback to the design team. There were a number of different communication opportunities in place to allow stakeholders to provide feedback. Such meetings included: bi-weekly design, monthly design and development, public consultations, city planning and bylaw considerations, security, IT, accessibility and student engagement sessions.
Questions were considered from multiple perspectives – should there be a laundry room on each floor or a centrally located larger space? What type of garbage removal system would be used? How high should the fence be to limit noise and light pollution to neighbouring properties? Should we install mailboxes? What types of AV requirements will meeting rooms have? After much collaboration and consultation we felt that we had a good understanding of the programming needs of our students and the summer conference business. We incorporated the feedback into the design and programming of the residence through a combination of large and small study spaces, lounges with kitchenettes, floor specific laundry, bike storage, parcel storage as well as a space dedicated to service animal wash-up. One of the most interesting components of this project is the integration of two heritage homes which will integrate directly with the new building and a link that connects the entire property around a central courtyard. In these unique spaces we are able to further meet the programming needs of our students by offering additional study spaces, a yoga studio, a prayer room, two Residence Life Coordinator apartments as well as a nap and kitchenette area for commuter students. Design is reaching its final stages and we are set to begin construction in the Spring (2020) with a projected occupancy date of September 2022. We look forward to the challenges that are upcoming during the construction phase and will continue to keep collaboration in the forefront. For more information on the project, or to keep updated on the progress feel free to visit the project website: https://residences.housing.queensu.ca/our-buildings/building-descriptions/new-residence-albert-street/
Kate Murray Director, Residence Life Matt Savoie Associate Director Building Operations and Capital Projects
My First Year in Residence The OACUHO Membership Engagement Committee presents My First Year in Residence! Members will share a photo from their first year and a bit about their experience that helped shape their future and career in student housing. Our third entry, Glen Weppler, is the Director of Housing & Residences at the University of Waterloo. Here is what Glen shared: At 6’5”, I’m taller than most people. Sometimes I don’t feel that tall and moving into residence in first-year was one of those times. My Mom and Dad drove me from Burlington to London to move into Saugeen-Maitland Hall in 1991. I recall being the classic mixture of excited and anxious. I felt ready to move out on my own. As time would tell, I had much to learn about being away from home. I recall being in the line-up of cars waiting to unload when a Soph opened my car door. My recollection of that moment was that the Soph was rather large and loud! I felt much smaller than my 6’5” height. I had no idea what a Soph was or what to expect that day. In reality, he was likely just an excited, cheering upper-year student trying to welcome me to campus. I don’t know what time of day we arrived, but I suspect that it was earlier than most first-years, because I recall seeing mostly groups of older students (Sophs) cheering and chanting. Funnily enough, when I arrived in my room my roommate was about half my size. My roommate and I lived in B90 on the Maitland side of Saugeen-Maitland Hall. That is essential information because it fits nicely with a practical joke one of our floormates pulled later in the year. At that time, the original Beverley Hills 90210 was a very popular show on TV. My roommate and I were both away one weekend and when I returned, I saw posters advertising the Beverley Hills 90210 Fan Club. I was certainly aware of the show, but I did not make a point of watching it often. I did not pay much attention to the posters at first but, as I got closer to my room, I began noticing more and more of them. By the time I got to my room, posters were everywhere! Our floormate had cleverly made the connection between B90 and the famous 90210 zip code, and had turned our room into the headquarters of the Beverley Hills 90201 Fan Club!
By the time we returned we had 21 applications to join the club. #Brilliant Another fond memory of my first year was discovering a distant connection between the woman I slept beside. I should add that there was a cinder block wall separating our beds. She was from Windsor, and one evening in our first term I mentioned to her that I had lived in Windsor with my family years earlier and had attended nursery school as well as kindergarten to grade two. I shared some of my memories and we quickly discovered that we knew some of the same people even though I had not lived there in more than a decade. One was a boy who lived on my street and who she went to high school with – and it turned out he was in first-year at Western with us! I shared a few recollections of my nursery school experience, one being that thought I had a very old teacher. She quickly shared that she went to nursery school too and had an old teacher. We discovered that we were in the same nursery school class together! Unfortunately, she was not in the class photo but when we tracked it down she knew most of the kids in the picture… except for me, until we lived in residence together. Finally, I’ll mention that I applied to be a Residence Advisor in my first year. My RA, my Don, and several of my floormates thought I’d be a great RA. The decision-makers arrived at a different conclusion. I was not hired to be an RA, and ended up moving off-campus for the remainder of my first undergraduate degree. Three years later, I was out for a run with a friend who happened to be an RA at one of the affiliated colleges. She told me that residence life applications were being accepted and I should apply. I was going to pursue a second degree and decided to revisit the idea of being an RA. It turns out going on that run was a turning point in my life. I guess I felt a little taller by then! I applied and was hired by Mike Ramsay to be an RA at Westminster College. I believe that was the year he became the OACUHO President, but I did not know what OACUHO was at that time. I’d learn all about OACUHO in my first year as a residence life professional, but I’ll leave that story for another time. If you would like to be featured in a future edition of the Pulse with a picture or article of your first year in residence, please contact our Membership Engagement Director Kamadchi Karunanandan at: k4karuna@uwaterloo.ca.
Glen Weppler Director of Housing & Residences University of Waterloo
Proactive vs. Reactive: Let’s Redefine the Meaning of Self-Care! Self-care. Two small words that carry great magnitude and that I am sure many of us have heard very often! Whether you have heard it a million times or said it a million times, self-care has been a hot topic of discussion for a few years now. However, there are many versions of self-care and it means something different to each and every one of us! To some it means exercising on a regular basis to get that adrenaline rush and for some it means curling up with a good book and a cup of tea after the end of the day. What I want to explore today are the different means of self-care and how we, as role-models, can help our students, staff members, coworkers and even ourselves to develop healthy habits of self-care that are proactive rather than reactive. Often times when we are seeking or recommending self-care, we look to the classic quick fixes: bingeing Netflix, staying in bed all day or doing a facemask. These are all amazing forms of self-care and they often take the stress of the moment away. However, these practices often come into play when an individual is already experiencing burnout. Rather than waiting until we are exhausted in every way possible, why don’t we implement a bit of time each day for some self-care? Research suggests that ongoing self-awareness is key to developing self-care habits that reflect both our needs and values on a regular basis (Cleary, Schafer, McLean, & Visentin, 2020). It can seem like a daunting task to implement each day, but it doesn’t need to be. It can be most days. It can be simple, tailored to your lifestyle and integrated as you wish. Packing a lunch rather than buying, making your bed in the morning or even taking a few minutes a day to do focus on breathing and being present, are all ways to integrate self-care into your day-to-day life. As Student Affairs professionals, we have the privilege to work with young adults and help them develop various skills that they will often carry with them for the rest of their lives. This is a prime opportunity to help guide them toward a healthy and proactive lifestyle, rather than one primarily reactive in nature. I am sure many of us have heard of the airline instruction to “put on your oxygen mask before you can help others.” In this unique world of Residence Life and Student Affairs, I cannot think of something more applicable. We surely cannot pour from an empty cup and so we should ensure that we are taking the time to take care of ourselves and fill our cups to the brim! As many of us are live-in professionals, our staff often see a lot more of us. This is a fantastic opportunity to role-model self-care habits and show our staff members that it is in fact possible to implement more than on an “as needed” basis. In addition, we can look to our student staff to share this message across campuses – through programming and conversations that seek to foster a lifestyle that betters the self on a long-term basis rather than just short-term. There is no time is better than the present to begin implementing proactive self-care habits. With the topic of mental health also on the rise, it often goes hand-in-hand with the self-care conversation. Bell Let’s Talk is happening on January 29th, which is the perfect opportunity to get the conversation going about implementing a lifestyle that allows for self-care each and every day. I encourage you to do the face mask, binge Brooklynn 99 and to stay in bed all day Sunday! It may not happen every single day, and that’s ok, but I also challenge you to put on your oxygen mask first, because your body, mind and soul deserve it.
Michelle Cleary, Corriann Schafer, Loyola McLean, Denis C Visentin. (2020) Mental Health and Well-Being in the Health Workplace. Issues in Mental Health Nursing 0:0, pages 1-4
Julia Krbavac Assistant Residence Life Manager University of Guelph