Northwestern Campus Life Strategic Plan

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Campus Life

STRATEGIC PLAN

CAMPUS LIFE


Table of Contents PAGE

03 04

SECTION 01

Welcome SECTION 02

Vision & Mission 07 08

SECTION 03

Student Affairs Values SECTION 04

History 10 12 16 18 19 19

SECTION 05

Timeline SECTION 06

Our Findings SECTION 07

Our Future SECTION 08

Leadership Framework SECTION 09

Works Consulted SECTION 10

Acknowledgements

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Welcome I serve as the executive director of Campus Life, an area within Student Affairs made up of extremely dedicated, talented, and passionate staff. We are uniquely positioned with one mission statement and three learning outcomes to represent our collaborative, collective impact approach to student engagement. We cultivate a campus culture that is inclusive, vibrant, and sustainable. We restructured in 2015, focusing on resource allocation, staffing, and assessing our programs and services. We examine ourselves and our work in an effort to explore how we could improve and further enrich the Northwestern community. We began this process with the intent to remain reflective, curious, bold, and unapologetic about our possibility. Our scope focuses on the synergy of the Campus Life experience to lift up our individual departments, programs, and activities. We examine the current state of Campus Life, seek clarity

CAMPUS LIFE STRATEGIC PLAN

embarked on this strategic planning journey to critically

about our desired future, and draw inspiration from literature and data to inform our next steps. As a result, we authored statements of how we plan to bridge the gaps between our current and desired reality. We revealed more questions than answers throughout this process. This document offers transparency and shares both our process and our outcomes with our stakeholders and constituents. This plan will not serve as an answer key; rather, guide us as we create goals, allocate resources, and challenge our structures and systems to pursue equity. We look forward to our upcoming program review with internal and external stakeholders to build upon this foundational strategic plan. I am grateful for the time, energy, and collaborations our team experienced with our campus and community partners throughout this process and I look forward to facilitating our implementation phase. We take pride in our work, our division, our university, and our profession. We will continue being critical of ourselves and our work, center students with marginalized and minoritized identities, and lead and serve with integrity. We invite you to join us in the future of Campus Life at Northwestern.

B RE N T T U RN E R Executive Director

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Vision & Mission VISION Aligning to the Student Affairs Vision, we will be full partners in the student learning experience. In Campus Life, we strive to use a racial equity lens to create pathways of engagement leading to learning, community, and support.

M I SS I O N The mission of the Northwestern University Division of Student Affairs is to educate students, engage the community, and enrich the Northwestern experience. To that end, Campus Life facilitates transformative experiences with students to explore their potential, engage in community, and contribute toward a more just and equitable world.

CA M P US L I F E L E A RN I N G O U TC O M ES Students who engage in programs, activities and services provided by Campus Life will [or will be able to]... •

Identify personal interests, values, strengths, and identities and use these attributes to positively shape their communities at Northwestern and beyond. (Personal Development, Interpersonal Competence, Social Responsibility, Cognitive and Practical Skills)

•

Hone leadership and relationship-building skills and apply them to strengthen their organizations and communities at Northwestern and beyond. (Interpersonal Competence)

•

Articulate how their co-curricular involvement integrates with their personal and professional goals. (Personal Development, Social Responsibility)

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Student Affairs Values I N T EG RI T Y

We exercise the highest ethical and professional

standards in our advancement of the student learning experience and in relationships with community and external partners.

We commit ourselves to creating a Northwestern community that facilitates full and equal access to learning in and outside the classroom. We assess our programs, services, and institutional climate to contribute to an equitable and inclusive Northwestern experience.

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SO C I A L J UST I C E

I N N OVAT I O N We look for creative and sustainable approaches to enhance our work, challenge assumptions, and promote strategies to advance student learning and success. We inspire and are inspired; we infuse energy and passion into the pursuit of our vision and mission.

C O L L A BO R AT I O N We practice open, authentic, and civil communication. We seek first to understand. We partner with one another, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members in a collegial manner that is consistently professional, respectful, and empathic.

ST E WA RDS H I P We strive to be thoughtful and responsible with our natural and institutional resources, facilities, and spaces.

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History In 2013-2014, a Student Organization Resource Center, or the SOURCE, opened on the third floor of Norris and serves as a gateway to Campus Life. The SOURCE is a multi-purpose space where all students collaborate, learn, and explore in an inclusive environment that cultivates community, advances leadership, and promotes wellness. It also serves as a space where students advance their own academic learning. An inaugural Executive Director of Student Involvement was hired in 2014 to supervise the Center for Student Involvement, (CSI) and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, (OFSL). Then in fall 2015, the area was reorganized and renamed “Campus Life.” Three units make up Campus Life: Fraternity & Sorority Life, Leadership Development & Community Engagement, and Student Organizations & Activities. In envisioning student involvement and leadership at Northwestern, Campus Life works collaboratively to support the multidimensional work of students and their organizations. Therefore, we are intentionally co-located in the SOURCE, and each of the three departments has an ampersand in the title to symbolize a student’s multiple affinities. All of the departmental programs and activities align to one mission statement and three learning outcomes to underscore our alignment in the same direction.

&

F R AT E RN I T Y SO RO RI T Y L I F E

FSL has been a part of Northwestern since

1859, playing an important role in the lives of thousands of students and alumni. Their educational programs, social activities, service projects, and leadership development opportunities contribute beyond the University community. Northwestern hosts chapters across four governing councils that range in mission from social to service to cultural; however, each chapter was founded on the principles of scholarship, service, leadership, and community. Over the last few years, the office has intentionally focused on supporting existing chapters through three thematic educational initiatives: harm reduction, leadership development, and social justice.

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&

L E A D E RS H I P D EV E LO P M E N T C O M M U N I T Y E N G AG E M E N T

In partnership with the division of Student Affairs, the office of Leadership Development & Community Engagement serves as a connector, convener, and collaborator to support students’ development pursues justice & equity through student leadership development and engagement in the community with their non-profit and K-12 partners. LDCE serves as the hub for the Northwestern Leadership Framework (see page 18), which was developed in 2016-17, and guides Student Affairs and other departments as they plan programs that engage students in developing their leadership capacity, understanding of themselves, and understanding their leadership in the context of our complex world. LDCE develops sustained partnerships on campus and in the community that advance student learning, transformation, and commitment for a just, equitable, and sustainable world.

&

ST U D E N T O RG A N I Z AT I O N S ACT I V I T I ES

SOA seeks to engage students in involvement

opportunities that build a sense of belonging and community at Northwestern University. Students have the opportunity to participate in over 400

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and engagement on and off campus. The team

student organizations on campus or create one of their own. The team provides support, advising, and training for students and their organizations. Through educational and programming opportunities, SOA encourages students to work to find their passions, develop ideas, and think creatively about their student organizations. An Inclusive and Barrier Free Student Organization Engagement Initiative was launched in 2016-17 with the goal of creating a more inclusive and accessible student organization culture. Staff in SOA continue to work with registered student organizations to reduce or eliminate selection processes and financial barriers to membership, programming, and participation.

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Timeline In its third year of existence, Campus Life embarked on a strategic planning process to guide the future. Focusing on foundations and theories, existing assessment practices, and various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analyses, the process was led by three guiding questions: 1. Where is Campus Life now? 2. Where do we want Campus Life to be in the future? 3. How do we plan to get there? From September to December 2018, the Strategic Planning Committee focused inward to audit and examine current and desired operations and relationships. From January to March 2019, the focus moved to conversations with external partners and constituents to gather multiple perspectives. The results informed our vision for the future in four priority areas outlined on pages 16—17. This strategic plan will complement the Student Affairs strategic themes to guide our actions and decisions as a unit both internally and externally. During our implementation phase, we will use this document to seek alignment in mission clarity, resource allocation, and goal setting. Operationally, each department will be expected to use the commitments within each of the four areas to create, execute, and assess initiatives, programs, services, and spaces. Additionally, our program review will provide further recommendations to build on this foundational plan. We recognize this is an ongoing and continuous learning process where we must reevaluate often as well as solicit flexibility to meet the needs of our students and community.

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Our Findings

2 1 3 Our strategic plan developed in three main areas: Foundations & Theories, SWOT Analysis, and Assessment & Evaluation. Each of these is described below and provides a foundation to implement our strategic plan theme areas.

SWOT A N A LYS I S

We conducted a SWOT analysis with the Campus Life staff members. The intention of the exercise is to identify themes in each of the four domains. Strengths and weaknesses focus on internal characteristics over which we may have control, and opportunities and threats focus on external factors that affect our work

FO U N DAT I O N S & T H EO RI ES

and where we may not have control.

We began our process by auditing the many foundations and theories in the literature that inform our practice as individual departments and at our intersections within Campus Life. An ever-evolving list, we primarily use

ASS ESS M E N T & EVA LUAT I O N

theories in experiential learning, student involvement,

Our programs, services, and spaces are designed

cultural humility, leadership education, transition, social

with intention to contribute to student learning,

change, critical race, identity development, emotional

build community, and foster support. We audited our

intelligence, moral development, and engaged pedagogy.

evaluation methods and assessments across the division

We center the experiences of our students first, and use

to capture data relevant to Campus Life. We know that

the ACPA Strategic Imperative for Racial Justice and

many national and institutional assessments measure

Decolonization as a foundation for praxis.

the impact of our area and can inform our practice by describing where our work fits into larger trends. On the

Additionally, as student affairs professionals, we aspire

local level, we are capturing attendance participation

to the competencies outlined by ACPA and NASPA in

data at many of our Campus Life sponsored and

the areas of Advising and Supporting; Assessment,

supported events to input into the Student Engagement

Evaluation, and Research; Law, Policy, and Governance;

Integration Database. We aggregate data by specific

Leadership; Organizational and Human Resources;

variables to inform marketing, perceived barriers, and

Personal and Ethical Foundations; Social Justice

needs assessments of specific Northwestern populations

and Inclusion; Student Learning and Development;

to enrich their individual and collective experience.

Technology; and Values, Philosophy, and History. These

Comprehensive datasets inform future decisions in the

rubrics help us navigate growth and change in the

intentional design of our work.

profession as we seek to best serve our students.

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FO U N DAT I O N S & T H EO RI ES L I T E R AT U RE See our works consulted on page 19. A few of our favorite texts:

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STRENGTHS Relationships, Unique skills and competencies, Staff passion

WEAKNESSES Lack of intentionality of using theory to guide practice and assessment, Perceived silos, Communication and marketing

S

w

THREATS Competition, Perceived scarcity of resources, Achievement culture, Task over talent

O T OPPORTUNITIES Collaboration, Innovation & technology, Influence positive culture change

SWOT Q U EST I O N S We visited with our external partners and constituents to ask the following questions: •

What do you think of when you think of Campus Life?

What programs does Campus Life support, advise, or is known for?

How aligned are we to our mission and student learning outcomes?

What do you think Campus Life could stop, start, or continue?

How could we improve our partnerships with your area to advance both of our missions?

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ASS ESS M E N T & EVA LUAT I O N AT A G L A N C E

71%

Attendance at many Campus Life programs is tracked in the student engagement integration database for analysis. Here are a few points of interest to date: Of the events scanned during 2017-18, we saw 8% higher

44%

In the student engagement database pilot year, Campus Life programs contributed to over 71% of the attendance across Student Affairs programs and events.

representation of students who have high financial need compared to the total undergraduate population sample. In 2017-18, Campus Life had 7% higher representation of students of color than the respective total across the undergraduate population. Similarly, in 2018-19 there was 7% lower representation of white students compared to the total population sample.

undergraduate population by school, with 3% higher representation from the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences. Since 2014, Campus Life staff have conducted 19 assessment projects through the Student Affairs Student Learning Working Group program. Results from these unique projects have informed positive change in

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In 2018-19, attendance was representative of the total Of the 50 events tracked in 2017-18, Campus Life saw 44% of the undergraduate population in attendance.

the delivery, curriculum, or outcomes of our initiatives. Some of the ways we continue to capture data: •

Canvas Course Training Analytics

Community Engagement Coalition

COFHE Enrolled Student Survey

Fraternity & Sorority Life Standards of Excellence Program

Fraternity & Sorority Experience Survey

Leadership Collective Impact Group

Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership

National College Health Assessment

SOURCE usage data

Student Engagement Integration

Recent Alumni Survey

Registered Student Organization Advisor Surveys

Registered Student Organization Contract Database

Relationship Mapping

Student Activities Assistance Fund

Student Organization Conduct

Wildcat Connection Analytics

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Our Future

SO C I A L J UST I C E : AC C ESS I B I L I T Y & EQ U I T Y

Campus Life is committed to contributing to the eight

Campus Life is committed to pursuing social justice

dimensions of wellness by educating and empowering

by illuminating and supporting students’ identities,

students to make healthy decisions that enhance

operating from an intersectional framework, and

individual and community well-being. We believe in

grounding our practices and policies in this value.

community care and compassion, and will center support,

Campus Life seeks to advance social justice by

inclusion, and wellness in our programs and spaces.

acknowledging systems of power, privilege, and

W E L L N ESS

We will work with students to re-imagine cultural

oppression and actively work to dismantle these systems

norms of success that rely on titles, competition,

with and on behalf of students.

and over-commitment that will allow all forms of

We will lead the effort to ensure that student involvement at Northwestern will be free

leadership to be valued. •

strategies and skills to foster a holistic, safe, and

all backgrounds, and ensure students with

beloved community without hazing, unsafe alcohol or

marginalized and minoritized identities see themselves and their culture represented in the •

other drug abuse, or sexual misconduct. •

to grow a culture of reflection and the integration of

We will build meaningful relationships with

experiential Campus Life programs into students’

leadership development, and dismantling campus

learning and development. •

We will move from transactional operations to

cultural norms around involvement.

transformative relationships with students as an

We will use racial equity impact assessments to

effort to influence positive change.

guide our decisions and strategy. •

We will support students as mentors and advisors

program offerings of Campus Life. students and create opportunities for mentorship,

We will educate students on harm reduction

from barriers of engagement for students of

We will interrogate how our programming upholds power, privilege, and whiteness, and reallocate resources to pursue racial equity in our work through an intersectional lens.

We will practice wellness and healthy communitybuilding as a Campus Life staff.

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PA RT N E RS H I PS & C O L L A BO R AT I O N

Campus life is committed to being a resource to all

Campus Life is committed to developing and maintaining

constituents, and using a student-centered lens to ensure

meaningful relationships and partnerships both on and

that our programs are equitable, visible, and responsive.

off campus to enhance student learning, community, and

We believe that our programs and services educate

support. We will lead efforts and partnerships on proven

students, engage them in co-curricular experiences, and

practices around innovation, access, and sustainability in

enrich the Northwestern experience.

campus programming.

We will focus our work in the intersections of the

actively reflect on how their social identities

model the student leadership framework.

impact their involvement, and support student

We will center students as we improve upon,

organizations in living their social justice values

develop, and decolonize tools such as calendars,

through the use of the leadership framework. •

We will collaborate with student affairs and

planning processes.

academic partners to support students in exploring

We will create a culture of evidence by assessing

their interests and making meaning of their

our programs, services, and spaces using the

experiences.

Student Engagement Integration model of learning, •

We will create a culture where our students

three departments, using a collaborative approach to

program offerings, physical spaces, and event •

We will co-create programs with campus and

community, and support.

community partners to support the experiences of

We will ensure that assessment, planning, and

our students with marginalized and minoritized

communication intentionally centers the voices

identities.

and experiences of students with marginalized

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C O M M U N I CAT I O N & ASS ESS M E N T

We will foster collaborations and capacity-building of advisors to student organizations and fraternity/

and minoritized identities to ensure programs and

sorority chapters to be co-educators of our students.

services are equitable. •

We will develop long-term, reciprocal partnerships. We believe the challenges facing our university, community, state, nation, and world are complex, and require us to center community

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wisdom in our collective pursuit of justice.


LEADERSHIP

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

FRAMEWORK

There is no beginning or end point of leadership

This framework can be used on an individual or group

development, but rather it is a lifelong iterative process.

and organizational level. Each of the 5 core concepts has

The intersections and layering of the circles give us an

additional sub-competencies to help further define the

opportunity to explore how leadership concepts are

broader concept.

inextricably linked and what leadership development may look like in multiple contexts.

The two outer circles guide our understanding of leadership.

E

CS

IC ST JU S • I C E & ET H I C

E

S

STANDING SE NDER L F • U • U LF N D SE ER S TA

ET

C TI

E

&

TH I

• J U ST

&

STANDING SE NDER LF U • U F • L ND SE ER G ST N I D A N

leadership.

S

JU • • J U ST I C E ET H I C S &

HI C

• J U ST

BUILDING & MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS

STRATEGY & REASONING

S I C E & ET H I C

GROWTH EFFICACY AUTHENTICITY

The very center of the diagram represents our aspirations for

student leaders: a strong sense of authenticity and one’s own unique contributions to leadership, a

EXECUTING CHANGE

CS

of leadership as a positive change

recognition of the need for continual growth and development as a leader,

HI

represent the interconnectedness

and increased agency and

ET

process. Each one of these

confidence to engage in leadership

concepts represents cognitive and

challenges.

&

E

&

practical skills that are essential to

ET

HI

CS

U • J • JU S ST I C E & E T H I C

I ST

C

E

NG DI N

C TI US • J

The three interlocking circles

the practice of leadership.

NG DI N

STANDING SE NDER LF U • • U An awareness of who we are (values, F L NDstyle, and experiences) and our E S ER about justice and ethics have beliefs G N ST influence on how we I a direct D A N perceive, experience, and engage in

STANDING SE NDER L F • U • U LF N D SE ER S TA 18


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Avolio, B. J., & Hannah, S. T. (2008). Developmental Readiness: Accelerating Leader Development. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 60(4), 331-347. Break Away. (n.d.). Active citizen continuum. Retrieved from http:// alternativebreaks.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Active-CitizenContinuum-2014.pdf

Kelley, R. E. (1992). The power of followership: How to create leaders people want to follow, and followers who lead themselves. New York, NY: Doubleday/Currency. Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Komives, S. R. (2009). Leadership for a better world: Understanding the social change model of leadership development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Komives, S. R., Longerbeam, S. D., Owen, J. E., Mainella, F. C., & Osteen, L. (2004). A Leadership Identity Development Model: Applications from a Grounded Theory. Journal of College Student Development, 47(4), 401-418. Komives, S. R., Lucas, N., & McMahon, T. R. (2013). Relational leadership model. Exploring leadership for college students who want to make a difference. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Ladson-Billings, G. (1998). Just what is critical race theory and what’s it doing in a nice field like education? Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 7-24.

Burns, J. M. G. (1978). Leadership. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

Leadership Framework. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.northwestern. edu/lead-engage/leadership-framework/leadership-framework/ index.html

Chickering, A. W. & Reisser, L. (1969). Education and Identity. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Murphy, S. E., & Reichard, R. J. (Eds.). (2011). Early development and leadership. New York, NY: Routledge.

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Schlossberg, N.K. (1981). A model for analyzing human adaptation to transition. The Counseling Psychologist, 9(2), 2-18.

Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (2019). CAS professional standards for higher education (10th Ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Crenshaw, K. W. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersections of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 139-168. Dugan, J. P. (2017). Leadership theory: Cultivating critical perspectives. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Ellis, S. E. (2010). Strategic Planning in Student Affairs. New Directions for Student Services, 2010(132), 5-16. doi:10.1002/ss.v2010.132

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Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W.L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 315-338.

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York, NY: Routledge.

Schlossberg, N. K. (1989). Marginality and mattering: Key issues in building community. In D. C. Roberts (Ed.), Designing campus activities to foster a sense of community (pp. 5-15). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Seemiller, C. (2013). The student leadership competencies guidebook. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Shankman, M. L., Allen, S. J., & Haber-Curran, P. (2015). Emotionally intelligent leadership: A guide for students. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (1977), Stages of small group development revisited. Group and Organization Studies, 2(4), 419-427.

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Continuum. Gay, R. (2014). Bad feminist: Essays. Heifetz, R. A., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009). The practice of adaptive leadership: Tools and tactics for changing your organization and the world. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press. Higher Education Research Institute. (1996). A social change model of leadership development: Guidebook version III. College Park, MD: National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs. Hinton, K. (2012). A practical guide to strategic planning in higher education. Society for College and University Planning.

Acknowledgements The Campus Life team would like to recognize the members of our strategic planning committee: Kelly Benkert, Marcus Cole, Kaitlynn Durham, Jake Fields, Kourtney Gray, Travis Martin, Resti Miranda, and Brent Turner. We are grateful for the time, critical perspective, and knowledge from all of our constituents and partners. A special thank you to the staff in Student Affairs Assessment & Planning, Student Engagement, and Student Affairs Marketing.

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