"The Pulse" October 2013

> Corporate Partner—4

> Spotlight Moment - 3

October 2013

> ENOP Network—2

President’s Corner Hello OACUHO! This month, I had the pleasure of attending the Fall Business Meeting at Brock University where more than 120 representatives from Ontario colleges and universities attended. Kudos to Tammy Brown and her team of volunteers at Brock University for hosting a fantastic event.

For those of you in attendance, it was great to see you and I look forward to seeing you again at our next event (see more inside this Pulse).

For those of you unable to make the trip to St. Catharines, you missed some great connections, a fantastic keynote on universal design and delicious vegan brownies.

I look forward to the next chance to meet you in our professional home.

Laura Storey OACUHO President-Elect & Finance Director

Some of you may have tuned in through our livestream for the keynote and AGM part of the day. I hope this will become the norm for future OACUHO events. As a group we have come to understand that limited PD funds and distance can prevent travel.

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CONNECT WITH OACUHO #OACUHO1314

Brandon Smith is the Acting Residence Life & Education Coordinator in Student Housing Services at Ryerson University. Brandon is the Chair of the Engaging New OACUHO Professionals (ENOP) Network, where he hopes new OACUHO members will share ideas, discuss best-practices and support one another as they develop as a member of the association. By drawing on experiences as a student leader at Trent University, transitioning to his first professional live-in experiences at Mount Royal University in 2008 and progressing to other leadership positions at McMaster, Brandon hopes the ENOP network will engage and share with each other, resulting in enhancing the OACUHO experience for all new OACUHO professionals. Brandon can be contacted at brandonrsmith@ryerson.ca or by phone: 416-979-5000 x7987.

Midterm Motivation At OACUHO’s Fall Business Meeting, I enjoyed meeting with several new OACUHO professionals who had communicated excitement and clear purpose to be in their new roles: supporting the residence experience for all students looking to transition to living independently and develop inter and intrapersonally. I was equally delighted to see many friends and colleagues who’ve been engaged with the association longer who are just as committed to the work that we do. However, it’s important to acknowledge that these feelings can fluctuate, particularly at the ‘dip’ of mid-term season.

Motivation is key to a successful year in supporting our students living in residence, regardless of us being in a new live-in or live-out position, a different leadership role within housing, or most importantly as the front-line paraprofessional staff.

You may be asking yourself where this motivation can come from. I would argue there is an equal need for intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to drive an individual or team. Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by satisfaction and commitment to a role or task, and exists within versus relying on rewards or incentives. Extrinsic motivation is defined as all factors outside of the individual, whether that be rewards, incentives, or in my opinion, actions to best support a team to do well in order to support the success of the group. There are many benefits to a balance of these motivational factors. However, I find it important to note that research proves that equal intrinsic and extrinsic motivation positively impacts highly effective teams and directly impacts individual successes in any position or role. Through my experiences, I’ve learned that I am most motivated through a balance of both and it is important to understand what type of motivation best influences those you work with and those you supervise to help create the most productive and positive team. For example, the topic of recognition: one specific lesson I learned was that not everybody likes to be recognized the same way that I do. By understanding the needs of my team and defining clear expectations and supports that are in place that relate to these needs, I am able to adapt myself to the individual which connects to the overall team. A thank-you card and an extra ten minutes of quality time in a one-on-one are two very different things; however, these extrinsic acts can provide an individual impact that leads to intrinsic motivation.

It can be argued that our own feelings related to motivation can positively or negatively impact the work we do individually, but also impact our role and the energy we bring to a team. These feelings can travel top-down, suggesting that the being committed and motivated to do good work can encourage our front-line student support to effectively (and positively) impact the residence experience as a whole. The ENOP Network engaged in conversation via social media to discuss the importance of motivation and how this can impact the work we do, particularly during the ‘busier’ mid-term times of November and February.

From these discussions, I offer the ENOP Network some things to think about when times are trying and the days seem long: Why are you here? – What provoked you to apply for the position you are in and work in housing? Why does this matter?

Who are you serving? – Which individual(s)/groups are you committing yourself to and why is this important? Are you included?

What will you do? – Regardless of how many years you’ve been a professional, what will this year bring you? How are you going to accomplish this? Have you looked at your summer goals since August? Realistically, where are you at in accomplishing this?

This big-picture reflection is a starting point to reigniting the spark that helped you earn your position in the first place. Several strategies were discussed to awaken this energy, including new approaches to a blended (and in my opinion, realistic) approach to work-life balance (re: ‘Forget Work Life Balance – Seven Paradigm Shifts for the New 24/7 Normal’, Forbes Magazine Online), self-regulation and realistic goal-setting. Open-communication with your supervisor and trusted colleague is also a factor that will enhance your overall experience and identify personal and professional needs, as well.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this hearty discussion and I look forward to more!

Note: more participation is needed! Please let me know preferred times (ie: mornings, lunches or evenings?) so we can all engage in meaningful discussion. In the future, we will also connect through conference calls, webinars and social media.

November brings us the topic of self-regulation and goal-[re]setting and December the theme of Wellness!

Carver, C.S.; Scheier, M.F. (2001), On the self-regulation of behavior, New York: Cambridge University Press, p. 460.

Ryan, Richard; Edward L. Deci (2000). "Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions". Contemporary Educational Psychology, Ch. 25: 54–67).

Cordova,D and Mark Lepper (1995) Intrinsic Motivation and the Process of Learning:Beneficial Effects of Contextualization, Personalization, and Choice, p.

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October’s OACUHO Spotlight Moment This month the Membership Engagement Committee would like to recognize Niagara College and the awesome Therapy Tails program they run!

Therapy Tails is an event that Niagara runs at least twice a semester, usually during those times when students are typically feeling stressed, anxious and homesick. Therapy Tails Niagara, an local organization of volunteers and their dogs, come in and hang out, allowing students to play with, pet, hold and often walk the dogs. While Niagara is a pet-free facility (like many of our residences), the dogs and their owners stay in a conference room rather than entering the residence, thus allowing students to still visit, enjoy, and gain the benefits of the program.

Talking about the benefits, Sheena Erhardt, RLC at Niagara College, noted that, “providing an opportunity for the students to be in contact with animals allows them to take a mental break from studying and the stress and anxiety that comes along with it.” Sheena also commented that, “Students are also able to make a connection with the animal, easing their homesickness feelings.”

This event is routinely very well received by students and enjoys excellent attendance numbers. Way to go Niagara College! OAKUDOS to you!

If you would like to nominate someone within our association for next month’s Spotlight Moment, please don’t hesitate to email Jessica Brain at jbrain@uoguelph.ca by Friday, November 15, 2013. Selected submissions will be contacted for further details.

Keep up the good work everyone. It was great seeing many of you at the FBM. J

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Residence Life Conference 2014 University of Toronto Mississauga January 10-12, 2014 Program Proposal Deadline: November 8, 2013 Presenters Selected: November 18, 2013 Registration Deadline: November 25, 2013

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