STUDENT
AFFAIRS
NEWSLETTER
SPRING QUARTER 2013 1
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Student Affairs Newsletter 05 Message from the Vice President
10 Staff Focus-Service Excellence Award 12 University Career Services
1 3 Counseling and Psychological Services 1 4 Health Promotion and Wellness
1 5 New Student and Family Programs 1 6 Norris Center
1 8 Residential Services 20 Did You Know? 23 Masthead
Volume 6. Spring 2013
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OMVICE PRESIDENT the
Spring has finally arrived! Along with the new growth surrounding us in nature, there are plenty of goals which have been successfully achieved by so many of you within Student Affairs. Our breakfast meeting on April 3rd yielded an impressive turnout and I am truly appreciative of the time everyone took to be present and share so many accomplishments specific to our six strategic themes on the following three pages. There is much to be proud of and as we finish the academic year, I ask you in the spirit of One Northwestern to be ready for new challenges and partnerships. We know our students better than anyone on campus and we are in the best place to lead the changes and to shape their future.
Patricia Telles-Irvin 5
BUILDING ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH • The results of the survey provided in January indicate we have improved internal and external communication through the development and presentation of this quarterly newsletter for Student Affairs, in-person communication via “Lunches with the Vice President” twice a year, and numerous events throughout the year such as the September Kickoff and the Mission and Vision Update in April. Communication efforts beyond this newsletter include the newly launched Deans Update. This publication is offered twice a year for the purpose of informing the schools and colleges on campus of important Student Affairs services and how they contribute significantly to the student experience at Northwestern. • Professional development opportunities for the staff at Norris have been provided, allowing them to cultivate working relationships and collaborative skills. • Department town hall meetings and websites have been created within the office of Student Engagement allowing for optimal partnerships.
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Making iPads available during the Peer Advisor interviews has allowed new students to connect with their peers, student leaders, and their families. Expanding staff support in SafeRide has allowed for service to be provided to a greater number of students more efficiently. Creative design solutions were provided for mulitple work areas so staff can collaborate in encouraging environments.
ENRICH THE NORTHWESTERN EXPERIENCE •
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Creation of the Norris Center Needs and Assessment Feasibility Study has allowed for the enhancement of services within this area for students and NU community members. • Programs have been developed to foster deeper knowledge of interfaith diversity at Northwestern. Weekly dinner discussions along with the religious/spiritual life reception were orchestrated with great success by many of our interfaith advocates.
• The Health Service has fully integrated Sports Medicine onto their roster of important offerings. • The Dean of Students Office is fully staffed with a new Assistant VP/Dean of Students along with three staff members to provide assistance and support to students. • A financial framework has been developed to aid long range planning for programs and services. This design is in place in anticipation of the needs of students and priorities of the division.
FURTHER STUDENT LEARNING • The Student Learning Working Group has been responsible for putting forth learning outcome measures developed to evaluate student learning outside the classroom. 7
• The Women’s Emerging Leaders Program was created to increase leadership development opportunities within fraternities and sororities. • Counseling and Psychological Services offered students psycho-educational programs designed to enhance their learning experience on campus. Most notable of these programs is QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) a program designed to prevent suicide. • University Career Services made opportunities available to students and alumni who wish to integrate career self-assessment along with professional development and career management.
OPTIMIZE RESOURCES •
Food Services has implemented the sustainability plan developed by Sodhexo our vendor for dining needs. • Student Affairs Information Technology provides remote help desk support and tracks inventory for all requests as a means to offer effective and efficient service. • The Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution has expanded new technology platform Maxient to streamline processes for students. • Off-Campus Life successfully utilized Places4Students to coordinate services for students living off campus.
ADVANCE SOCIAL JUSTICE •
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Sustained Dialogue Training was sponsored by the Director for Campus Inclusion and Community for students to converse about differences. Services for Students with Disabilities has ensured an inclusive learning experience for students with disabilities by providing superb access to technology.
FOSTER PURPOSEFUL PARTNERSHIPS •
Residential Services has successfully forged a partnership with Academic Affairs to expand and enhance residential communities. • Multicultural Student Affairs increased faculty and alumni engagement through exposure to Gender Studies and the launch of QUENCH (Queers + Lunch). • The Center for Student Involvement has offered the Wildcat Connection as a way to strengthen cross-campus collaboration and community. • Health Promotion and Wellness has teamed with colleagues within and external to Student Affairs to enhance programs and services offered by the Health Service.
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staff focus
SERVICE EXCELLENCE AWARD Cynde Goines is a caring and wonderful member of our staff. Known by all as “Momma” she always has a smile and an upbeat caring attitude. She is a dedicated and heartfelt individual and it came to no surprise that Cynde most recently was presented with the Service Excellence Award. On January 25, 2013, Cynde Goines “Momma!” notified me that a student in her building was upset and that she was concerned for him. Staff members, from Residential Services, responded to the student and learned that he was upset because of a recent tragic event that had just occurred. The student received support until
his father arrived. Cynde later stopped by the office to check on the status of the student to ensure all was well. Cynde has been a part of the Northwestern family for nearly 30 years. Her concern and compassion for the students in her building is what makes “Momma” who she is. Cynde has a reputation with the students in her building as being approachable and caring. She is a wonderful example of an engaged, thoughtful and supportive employee that Northwestern University aspires to recruit and maintain on this campus.
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UNIVERSITY CAREER SERVICES
• The 2013 Summer Internship Grant Program (SIGP) application process was completed on Monday, April 15. The program is designed to help Northwestern undergraduate students fund their unpaid summer internships and includes a guided reflection program to enhance their learning experience. Visit the new SIGP website to learn more about the program: www.northwestern.edu/sigp. • We’re excited to announce the addition of two new UCS staff members. Effie Fronimos, a former UCS graduate student intern, joins our team as an Internship Specialist, where she will guide undergraduate and graduate students in their internship search. Effie holds a master’s of education in counseling from DePaul University. Flannery Donahue will serve as our special events and marketing assistant, helping to manage the planning, marketing and execution of UCS events and programs. Flannery earned her bachelor’s degree in communication from Saint Louis University. Welcome, Effie and Flannery! • Christina Siders, Senior Career Counselor and Associate Training Director, and her husband, welcomed a beautiful baby boy, William James, on February 10, 2013. Congratulations on your new bundle of joy, Christina!
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COUNSELING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES
CAPS has reached over 800 campus community members with the Question-Persuade-Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention Program. Sign up for the training if you have not done it yet. You could save a life! www.northwestern.edu/counseling/about-us/services/suicide-prevention/ index.html
Drs. David Shor and Rob Durr have collaborated with the McCormick School of Engineering to develop a course on Emotional Intelligence that undergraduate will be able to take for credit beginning in the Spring 2013 quarter. CAPS welcomed Psychiatric Resident Dr. Michael Churchwell, who will be with us for 5 months. Tiffany Mehling and John Dunkle recently presented a pre-conference (with several colleagues from other institutions) on Case Management in Higher Education at the NASPA Mental Health Conference in Ft. Worth, Texas.
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HEALTH PROMOTION AND WELLNESS the differences in how the program has been implemented at these two very different campuses, both sets of results are very promising and support the need to train a large, varied group of students on a continuous basis. Red Watch Band was implemented at NU in the spring quarter of 2010 and over 1500 students have been trained to date. More information can be found at www.northwestern.edu/redwatchband
HPaW staff present on Red Watch Band at NASPA AOD Conference Susan Cushman and Lisa Currie from Health Promotion and Wellness presented a breakout session at the NASPA Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse Prevention & Intervention Conference in Fort Worth, Texas in January. The session was entitled “Red Watch Band: Process and Impact Evaluation of an Alcohol Bystander Intervention Program” and was co-presented with Lara Hunter and Ahmed Belazi of Stony Brook University, the campus which originated the Red Watch Band program. The session focused primarily on the results from both campuses’ assessment efforts. Our data reflected the positive impact of participation in Red Watch Band training on participants’ confidence and willingness to intervene in alcohol-related medical emergencies. The data also showed changes in their self-reported and actual knowledge of the signs of alcohol overdose. Despite 14
NEW STUDENT AND FAMILY PROGRAMS Director for the Bienen School of Music; Raj Kumar, Director for the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Drew Levorsen, Director of Marketing and Recruitment; Patrick Metcalf, Director for the School of Communication; Stephen Piotrkowski, Director for the Medill School of Journalism; Evan Prose, Director for the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and Lauren Sadowsky, Director of First-Year Initiatives. To learn more about each board member, please refer to our website. www.northwestern. edu/orientation/about-us/board-of-directors.html
Student Staff Key to NSFP Success Just as Wildcat Welcome 2012 wrapped up, New Student and Family Programs (NSFP) immediately jumped into preparing for Wildcat Welcome 2013! Forty-five former Peer Advisers applied to be on the Wildcat Welcome 2013 Board of Directors. After a lengthy application and interview process, Ten students were selected to serve on the Board. These students serve as liaisons to each of the academic schools, hold meetings each week, and assist with all facets of Wildcat Welcome, Family Weekend, and NSFP. This year’s board is also required to hold weekly office hours in the new NSFP headquarters, Seabury J230.
Both the student and professional staff will also take part in two, 3-hour group training sessions, and NU Gives Back, Northwestern’s annual service day, on May 25. The board will be responsible for communicating with their group of Peer Advisors over the summer before arriving back early for Wildcat Welcome 2013.
The Wildcat Welcome 2013 Board consists of Lindsay Barranco, Director for SESP in addition to coordinating new student initiatives for the Class of 2017 and transfer students; Alison Bishop, Director of Staff Training and Dynamics; Milana Duggan, Special Projects; Ian Hendrickson, 15
NORRIS CENTER
In mid-January, research and planning for a possible New Norris took another important step forward in a workshop known as a design charrette. This meeting of approximately 40 key students, faculty, and staff listened to a introductory presentation of 4 concept studies on 2 sites before rotating through 3-D models of the concepts. Two concepts used Sheridan Road in the plan, while the other two focused on the lake-site. After the January presentation in Guild Lounge, the workshop, and several concept refinement meetings throughout the quarter, the emergent perspective is that the lake-site is valuable for two reasons. The lake location for a possible New Norris takes advantage of the campus’ natural beauty on Lake Michigan, and is seen as an asset that cannot be traded. Secondly, Northwestern’s long-term campus framework plan calls for a new campus development arc along the lakefront on the east side of campus to focus attention on the natural resource of campus. The plan
enhances pedestrian circulation and increases open space. A possible New Norris would coordinate with the framework plan for the university. For additional information about the long-term plan, see NU’s Campus Framework Plan. The two lake-site concepts are “innovative and cutting-edge,” according to one of the architects who is working with the executive and working committees to refine the concept studies. Leaning in to the ideas for the possible New Norris allows transformative thought to be expressed. Holistically and 16
as a reminder--still conceptually, the facility reaches outward to connect the academic life to the campus life of students. Additionally, each side of the facility is being intentionally explored for its usefulness to all campus populations, and the mission, vision, and values of One Northwestern Student Affairs is apparent in these concepts as well as the conversations regarding them.
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RESIDENTIAL SERVICES Illinois State Resident Assistant Association Conference Area Coordinator Tiffany Gonzales led a delegation of 5 Community Assistants and Residence Hall Association (RHA) Executive Board members to the annual Illinois State Resident Assistant Association Conference at Milliken University.
Thank you to Residential Services Regional Leaders Assistant Director Paul Hubinsky and Area Coordinator Tiffany Gonzales represented NU at the Great Lakes Association of College and University Housing Officers Winter Meeting. Paul serves as the Campus Safety and Crisis Management committee chair and Tiffany as a subcommittee chair for the Program and Development committee. 18
ASCA conference presentations: Lance Watson, Assistant Director of Student Conduct and Area Coordinator of Residential Services, presented three conference workshops at the February 2013 meeting of the Association for Student Conduct Administration. Lance co-presented “Celebrating our Students’ Understanding of Civility: A Theory to Practice Discussion” with colleagues from
Maryville University in St. Louis and Clemson University. He co-presented “Celebrating our Passion: Incorporating Self Care into Our Professional Practice” with Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution colleagues Ellen Herion, Assistant Director and Jim Neumeister, Assistant Dean of Students and Director. Lance also co-presented “Celebrating Inclusiveness: Best Practices for Working with Students with Invisible Disabilities” with colleagues from Joliet Community College, Clemson University, and Maryville University in St. Louis. New Area Coordinators Residential Services welcomed two new Area Coordinators who began on January 28. Danielle Burke is the new Area Coordinator for the Willard and
Small Houses (WASH) area. Danielle earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology at the College of Charleston and her master’s degree in higher education administration at Vanderbilt University. Prior to joining the NU team, Danielle was a Resident Director at Concordia University Chicago. Outside of housing, Danielle also has experience in admissions, orientation, and athletics. Davinah Simmons is the new Area Coordinator for the Bobb-McCulloch area. Davinah earned her bachelor’s degree at the California State Polytechnic University and her master’s degree in college counseling and student development at Azusa Pacific University. Prior to joining the NU team, Davinah was a Com19
munity Development Specialist at California State Polytechnic University. Before serving in that position she was a Graduate Complex Coordinator, Graduate Program Coordinator and Summer Conferences Coordinator. Moving On After nearly three years as a department assistant in Residential Services, Annaleah Tubbin, will join the staff at the Center for Civic Engagement as a program assistant on March 13, 2013. Congratulations to Annaleah! Area Coordinator Keenan Colquitt was accepted into the Ph.D. program at Bowling Green State University. He will be studying higher education with a focus on retention of male students of color. Congratulations Keenan!
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DID YOU KNOW • There are 214 veterans and/or the dependents of veterans enrolled at Northwestern University. Half of these students (47%) attend classes mostly on the Evanston campus, the other half (53%) on the Chicago campus. • Undergraduate and graduate/professional students who participated in the 2013 LGBTQ focus groups, described the overall campus climate for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students at Northwestern as positive and getting better.
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On the 2012 Profile of the College Student Experience, compared to undergraduates students across the nation, more Northwestern students reported feeling “very” or “somewhat” disconnected from life when they lack access to technology for several hours (51% at Northwestern vs. 37% nationally).
STUDENT LEARNING WORKING GROUP COMPLETES PHASE ONE Members of the Student Learning Working Group have been meeting since January and have recently completed the first phase of their charge: to create an attainable and measurable framework for student learning outside the classroom (Student Affairs Strategic Plan). They have identified four domains/outcomes that describe the kind of student learning we can influence through the programs, activities, and services we offer in Student Affairs. The four domains/learning outcomes are as follows:
DOMAIN
LEARNING OUTCOME
Personal Development
Students who participate in Student Affairs programs, activities, and services will develop an integrated sense of personal identity, a positive sense of self, and a personal code of ethics.
Interpersonal Competence Responsibility
Cognitive and Practical Skills
Vice President Telles-Irvin praised the work of the Student Learning Working Group, saying “The vision of Student Affairs at Northwestern is to become full partners in the student learning experience. Student learning is at the zcore of what we do. The Student Learning Working Group has accomplished much since January. I look forward to seeing how each department will link to the four Division-wide learning domain/outcomes.� This
Students who participate in Student Affairs programs, activities, and services will develop healthy, respectful, and collaborative relationships with others. Students who participate in Student Affairs programs, activities, and services will demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to social justice and apply that knowledge to create safe, healthy, equitable, and thriving communities.
Students who participate in Student Affairs programs, activities, and services will acquire and use cognitive and practical skills that will enable them to live healthy, productive, and purposeful lives. summer the Student Learning Working Group will begin meeting with individual departments to identify which of the four learning domains/outcomes are more relevant to the work done in each unit. Members of the Student Learning Working Group include Charles Kellom (MSA/Student Engagement), Hope Wallace (CSI/Student Engagement), Virginia Koch & Cat Owney (Residential Services/Student Auxiliary Services), Maggie Heffer21
nan (OFSL/Student Engagement), Brett Boettcher (UCS), Susan Cushman (HPaw/Health Service), Eric Budzynski (Religious Life/Student Engagement), John Dunkle (CAPS), Jim Neumeister (Student Conduct/DOS), Lesley-Ann Brown (Campus Inclusion & Community), Amy White (Norris Center), Mary Desler (Student Affairs Assessment).
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THEAD HEAD We welcome your feedback, questions and submissions. Chael Wright-Isak, Editor chael@northwestern.edu Jessica M. Toro, Graphic Designer Jill Brazel, Photographer Patricia Telles-Irvin, Publisher
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