> SEMESTER AT SEA—2 J U NE 201 3
> CACUSS 2013 - A Reflection - 4
> ACUHO-I 2013 - 5
Sharing the Learning
President’s Corner Hello OACUHO Members, The board is hard at work on a number of initiatives. We had a very productive face to face meeting at Western on June 10. Thank you for all who voted in our PD Director elections I am excited to announce that Suni Karir from Trent University will be joining the board as PD Director. Don’t forget to sign-up for our webinar about our initiative with Egale Canada on LGBTQ training in residence. I wrote or crafted much of this President's Corner on a brisk walk. I love walking and always have. I love cycling too. Several years ago I experienced a shift where instead of viewing my (very short) commute to work as a hassle I begin to appreciate the walk or ride. This year at ACUHO-I we heard from Dr John J. Medina a Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Medina was an excellent keynote with a fast-paced and engaging style. In his talk he spoke about how important a daily brisk walk is for your health. He described both the long and short term effects on your brain. A daily 30 minute brisk walk significantly decreases your chances of experiencing dementia and alzheimer’s in your golden years. But even more exciting is the very, very short-term effects of a 30 minute brisk walk. You have a significant brain boost in the minutes immediately following your aerobic activity. In fact Dr Medina suggested doing something important that requires your brain function immediately after your walk. No shower, no rest – right to an important task (ie not e-mail). He suggested for even better results to do two 30 minute brisk walks in a day.
Another cool recommendation he spoke about was taking a 26 minute nap in the afternoon. Precisely 12 hours after the mid-point of your previous night’s sleep. He said we all push through the energy dip and make it through the afternoon – but for our mental and physical health he suggests not fighting it and finding a place for a quick, quiet nap. I can’t do the science justice. I’m certainly not a molecular biologists and I’m not a Professor of Bioengineering. However as an educator I was struck by the similarities of what he described to our K-12 school system. Two 30 minutes walks – that sounds like recess to me. I don’t know about you – but I’ve been missing Kindergarten naps for a while. Why am I talking about this in my OACUHO President’s Corner? At every conference the topics of energy, time, balance and health come up. From colleagues and mentees I’m asked about how many hours I work vs how many hours I sleep much more often than I’m asked about hot topics in student housing. Health, wellness, balance etc. is the ultimate hot topic in student affairs. There are tools and strategies to help and they are age old – exercise and rest. Let’s try these strategies and become better equipped to deal with our challenging days as student housing professionals. Thank you! Chad Nuttall President of OACUHO
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Sailing Around the World in 105 Days, Now That’s Professional Development Shari Walsh, Manager, Transition & Leadership Programs—Humber College Picture this: It ‘s a typical work day as you sit sifting through incident reports, having 1:1’s with incredible student leaders and begin to plan your team meeting for later that day. As you are attempting to select the best quote for your team meeting agenda, your office phone rings. On the other end is the Dean of Students for the upcoming Spring Voyage of Semester at Sea. You think, she must have the wrong number but before you can completely process what’s happening, this incredible woman offers you the experience of a lifetime. She offers you the opportunity to work with students, continue your work in student affairs, all while sailing around world and visiting 11 countries in 105 days. It is in this conversation that the Dean of Students not only changed my life but also impacted my career in the process.
As a Resident Director on the Spring 2012 voyage, I was assigned a sea community (ie. floor) to facilitate, as well as all health promotion related programming on the ship. Each Resident Director is assigned a functional area of student affairs to facilitate alongside their sea community responsibilities. In my role as the health promotion Resident Director, I was responsible for a team of 8 peer health educators who hosted a series of programs and initiatives throughout the ship, a work study student who supported all programs within health promotion and hosted a harm reduction seminar in partnership with the ships’ counselor.
Our voyage included circumnavigating the globe, while stopping in 11 countries throughout our 105 day adventure. We had the pleasure of visiting: the Bahamas, Dominica, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Singapore. Vietnam, China, Japan, and a quick fuel stop in Hawaii before docking in San Diego, California. Similar to any other travel plans, preparation was key for my voyage. As a Canadian working for an American institution, a Semester at Sea is an educational program number of the supports put in place for travel vibased out of the University of Virginia in partner- sas, or re-entry processes were not applicable to ship with International Shipboard Education me. Fortunately there are a number of travel visa (http://www.semesteratsea.org). As the host insti- programs throughout Canada that provide a onetution, the University of Virginia is responsible for stop shop for acquiring the necessary paperwork. the academic components of each voyage. Each It is important however, to cross reference your voyage consists of a full faculty and student life independent research on travel requirements with team. The size of each team is reflective of the the International Shipboard Education team, as size of the student body, and identified needs of they are well versed in processes and have supthe voyage. Typically the student life team conported other international staff in the program’s sists of a Lifelong Learner Coordinator, Alumni & history. As a self proclaimed thorough planner, Development Coordinator, Dependent Children’s my preparation included travel visa research, Program Coordinator, up to 9 Resident Directors, passport requirements (ie. the number of pages an Assistant Dean of Students and a Dean of Stu- required for stamps, visas etc), locating Canadian dents. consulates in each country, and making duplicate - PAGE 2 -
copies of any important information I would need (credit cards, passport, travel insurance, etc); to name a few. Preparation is heavily dependent on your voyage itinerary but the hiring team works diligently to provide you with ample time to prepare, as they tend to hire 6-8 months before each voyage. The experience I had throughout this epic voyage, as we affectionately called it, is impossible to reflect in a newsletter submission. Despite the fact that 14 months have passed, I still find myself eager to share my experience and am passionate in my delivery as if I just stepped off the M.V Explorer ship. Semester at Sea is an experience that provides you with the opportunity to not only continue your work with students but to expose yourself to people, places and things beyond your wildest dreams. Whether it was shark cage diving in South Africa, participating in a spiritual ceremony while watching the sunset behind the Taj Mahal in India or climbing the 500 steps of the Winter Palace of the Dalai Lama in Tibet; my perspective of the world, the beauty of culture and my understanding of my role as a global citizen were forever changed. Semester at Sea is an incredible experience that not only provides you with self-exploration and development, but also provides you with transferable skills that connect back to your land based institution. It is through this experience that I have a newfound perspective on crisis management, academic partnerships, and service learning, to name a few. This unique professional development opportunity is built for those who crave knowledge of the world, seek to understand global citizenship from a detailed lens and are open to experiencing new things alongside students.
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2. Secondly, it was seeing colleagues from OACUHO that added to ability to learn. Akin to a family reunion where family members Matthew Harris, Residence Life Coordinator— come together to share their stories, it was York University evident at sessions that OACUHO colleagues are a fantastic source of experience It seems as though CACUSS 2013 in Montreal and knowledge that could only expand on happened eons ago and attempting to reflect the experience available to atback on the amazing experience and trying to tendees. OACUHO offers its membership share some of the sagest words possible seems an unparalleled network of learning and supto be daunting. As with most challenges in life, I port. took myself back to the beginning of the conference and asked myself: what made the conference as positive as it did for me? I realized that While my article does not give insight into a session from the conference that could answer the there were two main components, aside from diligent note taking, that allowed me to achieve questions that a reader might have as they plan and implement their summer project, hopefully some of the greatest learning possible and in readers will takeaway two ideas: turn allowed for my passion for Student Affairs to further flourish. 1. Reach out to the team of Student Affairs professionals at your institution and ask how 1. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by colthey could help you navigate the questions leagues from my home institution who were you have surrounding your project or idea. both first time to and veterans of CACUSS conference. The veterans were able to give advice on how they have been able to navi- 2. At your disposal is the OACUHO network, and from experience, if a question is emailed gate the myriad of opportunities that a large out to the listserv you will probably find yournational conference can afford an atself with warm responses from colleagues tendee. The first time attendees were able that would like to share their experiences to share and empathize in the experience of and knowledge; feeling like the proverbial little fish in the big pond. Furthermore, every morning and lunch we gathered as an institution and Aside from the information and the learning shared what sessions we were planning to shared above, CACUSS 2013 taught me that attend to ensure that we were attending ses- there is an amazing passion within those that sions that were applicable to our developwork in Student Affairs. The passion we all ment and our division’s recently released have to make the experiences of our students strategic plan. It was this planning that gave better is truly inspiring and has further fueled my comfort and stability to a day that could at passion for my role. times feel hazed with so many opportunities. Moreover, our follow-up conversations at the end of the day allowed for a vocalization of the many ideas that were filling our brains with ideas. CACUSS 2013: Learning from Colleagues
OACUHO—Getting Involved
For information about OACUHO’s various networks, please contact Jessica Brain OACUHO Small Schools Network—Contact Chris Eley OACUHO Communications Committee—Contact Matt Waghorn - PAGE 4 -
Above: OACUHO & Canadian delegates at ACUHO-I 2013 ** Right: Stéphane Bélisle (Foliot Furniture) & Norma Jean Newbold (Fleming College) at the closing banquet. ** Below: Samantha Wiebe (Waterloo) & Darrien Rice (Texas State University – San Marcos), Winners of the ACUHO-I Case Study Competition. Congrats Samantha!! **
Top Left: From Western, Matt Waghorn, Joe Major, Carrie Charters and Julian Restivo, with Laura Adamarczuk (McMaster) *** Top Right: Ashley Wall (Guelph) * Middle Right: A very patriotic and proud Mitch Burnie (York) * Right: Past & Present OACUHO Presidents Glen Wepler (Waterloo), Chad Nuttall (Ryerson), & Kate Kinsella (UTM) ** Bottom Right: Catching a Twins game with delegates from Canada, New Zealand, Australia & Missouri *
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* Photo courtesy of Ashley Wall ** Photo courtesy of Kate Kinsella *** Photo courtesy of Carrie Charters