STUDENT
AFFAIRS
QUARTERLY
WINTER QUARTER 2014 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS 03 Strategic Focus
07
05 Message from the Vice President
08 Health Promotion and Wellness Updatesw
06 JED Foundation and NU 06 Morning of Service
09 Shape Award Winners
06 Residential College Board Hosts Res Talks 07
Residential Academic Initiatives Partners with Chef Ivette!
10 Did You Know? 1 2 New Staff
Evanston’s Family Focus
1 2 Student Affairs Marketing Awards at ACUI Graphic Design Competition
MASTHEAD We welcome your feedback, questions, and submissions. Spring Quarter Issue Content Deadline: April 4 Summer Quarter Issue Content Deadline: July 8
Jessica M. Toro, Abi Koh, Graphic Designers Jill Brazel, Photographer Cory Goldman, Cover Photo
Chael Wright-Isak, Editor chael@northwestern.edu
Volume 9, Winter 2014
Patricia Telles-Irvin, Publisher
2
*Cover photo: Light installation /performance on Deering Library entrance provided by visiting artist-in-residence, Marco Rotelli from Milan Italy.
STRATEGIC FOCUS Are you familiar with the Student Affairs Guiding Principles? These principles, adopted by Student Affairs as part of our divisional strategic plan, are the behaviors all Student Affairs staff members agree to uphold as part of our responsibilities here at Northwestern University; they are the “how.” Consider the following questions:
4. CURIOSITY:
1. COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE:
Are you honest and sincere in your approach, bringing yourself to work and sharing your unique talents and gifts? In short – are you being YOU?
Do you approach new situations with an open mind, and ask questions to better understand ideas? Do you seek out new approaches and solutions to challenges? 5. AUTHENTICITY:
Are you focused on doing your absolute best in your role, and actively find ways to take programs and services to the next level? Are you challenging yourself to learn more, do more and be more?
6. INTENTIONALITY: When making decisions, are you purposeful with your approach? Do you actively seek out ways to connect your work to our vision, mission and values?
2. ACCOUNTABILITY: Do you hold yourself responsible to our divisional values of Integrity, Social Justice, Stewardship, Collaboration and Innovation? Do you actively hold others in our division to these same standards?
Think about these principles, and the questions posed with them. Reflect on these over the next few days and seek out ways to actively connect with these principles and practice them in your work. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Action expresses priorities”. To truly live our divisional values, we have to show it not only in our words, but in our actions.
3. COMMUNICATION: Do you practice transparency and share key information with colleagues and other university and divisional partners appropriately? Do you listen as much as you speak? 3
MESSAGE FRO 4
E OMVICE PRESIDENT the
Winter is a season in which we gather our collective energies and prepare for growth and change. After reviewing the results from our Staff Survey, I am thrilled with our areas of success! We have made significant improvements which will enhance the Northwestern experience for our entire community. These gains would not have been possible without your focus, determination, and hard work. For this, I thank you. So much of the work we do together this year will be representative of our commitment to our
5
common vision, that of being “full partners in the student learning experience.� As we explore additional options and avenues for improvement, it is important to remember to be mindful of the needs of those we serve. Small steps together will yield a meaningful journey. We are ONE Northwestern.
Best wishes,
Patricia Telles-Irvin
Photo credit: Andres Carrasquillo
JED FOUNDATION AND NU John Dunkle, Executive Director of CAPS, and Sarah Mangelsdorf, Dean of WCAS, will be co-chairing a committee made up of various campus community members. The purpose of this committee will be to do an assessment of how the Northwestern community is addressing mental health promotion and suicide prevention. The assessment will follow a framework outlined in The Guide to Campus Mental Health Action (Campus MHAP) Planning, released jointly by the JED Foundation and the Education Development Center, Inc.
MORNING OF SERVICE On January 9th, the staff that attended the Morning of Service event made 66 bagged lunches to donate to Connections for the Homeless. Thanks to those who participated and to Sodexo for its food donation! Pictured: Andrés Carrasquillo, Alejandro Magaña, Jazzy Johnson, Joy Fernandez, Epiphany Acevedo, Lesley-Ann Brown, Cara Brosten, Laura Stuart, Lisa Currie, Suzie Campbell, Nancy Suarez, Anne VanOsdol, and Lizzete Rios
Campus MHAP reflects the thinking of leading experts in campus mental health promotion and suicide prevention. The JED Foundation is offering campuses nationwide the oppurtunity to go through a self-study survey to determine whether they are adequately addressing mental health promotion and suicide prevention. Northwestern will engage in this process beginning in the winter quarter with the eventual goal to receive a seal of approval form the JED Foundation for how the university is addressing mental health issues and suicide prevention.
Photo credit: Nancy Anderson
For more information, please visit the JED Foundation web site: www.jedfoundation.org
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE BOARD HOSTS RES TALKS More than seventy students attended the Residential College Board’s Res Talks held at Swift Hall on Saturday, November 9. Modeled after the wellknown TEDtalks, four faculty members volunteered their time to share brief presentations with student attendees. The faculty speakers included Mike Smutko (Astronomy & Physics) with “Do Laptops Really Affect Learning in Lectures?” Sara Broaders (Psychology) “Psyched: Lifehacks and Advice,” Phil Hockberger (Feinberg) “The National Debt: Mismanagement vs Investment,” and David Uttal (Psychology & Education Social Policy), discussing “Spatial Cognition and STEM Education.” Photo (left to right): Phil Hockberger, Sara Broaders, RCB student vice president for academic affairs Laura Stoughton, David Uttal, Mike Smutko.
6
NU NUSTUDENTS STUDENTSSHARE SHARETHE THESPIRIT SPIRITOF OF THANKSGIVING THANKSGIVINGWITH WITHEVANSTON’S EVANSTON’S FAMILY FAMILYFOCUS FOCUS Photo credit: Nancy Anderson
On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, students participated in the Residential College Board’s philanthropy event called Turkey Taxi. Student teams volunteered their resources and time, “taxied” to the grocery store and purchased all the fixings for a Thanksgiving dinner for some Evanston families. After purchasing the food Photo credit: Nancy Anderson
RESIDENTIAL ACADEMIC INITIATIVES PARTNERS WITH CHEF IVETTE! Residential Academic Initiatives partners with NUCuisine to offer students healthy cooking demonstrations.
and supplies, the student teams returned to campus to decorate the bags and address greeting cards for Evanston’s Family Focus, a non-profit center which serves area families in need.
Photo: (left to right) NU students Kaitland Postley, Elvira Salgado, Scott Brown, Erin Reininga, and Jenny Zhang decorate their donated Thanksgiving basket.
Residential Academic Initiatives collaborated with NUCuisine on December 5th to offer a healthy cooking demonstration/tasting for students at Allison Dining Hall. Chef Ivette Aguirre-Beck prepared a delicious vegetarian and chicken/bean burrito, while introducing the nutritional benefits of incorporating the grain quinoa into the entrée. Chef Aguirre-Beck discussed how students could make shopping and advance food preparation simple and easy. She also explained how to minimize meal preparation time and save and freeze ingredients for future meals. NUCuisine Marketing Manager Eddie Skidmore and Campus Dietician Justin Heaton were also on hand to share helpful information about the benefits of quinoa as well as economical shopping tips. Student attendees were enthusiastic about the cooking demonstration/ tasting and appreciated the provided entrée and dessert recipes received for their own future culinary efforts. 7
HEALTH PROMOTION AND WELLNESS UPDATES
Health Promotion and Wellness (HPaW) is excited to announce that a major milestone was surpassed with our bystander intervention training, Red Watch Band (RWB). HPaW has now trained more than 2,000 NU students in responding effectively to alcohol-related medical emergencies since the program’s inception in the spring quarter of 2010. This has been possible due to the many staff and student programs who embraced and supported RWB from the beginning such as New Student and Family Programs, Fraternity and Sorority Life, IFC, PHA, Athletics’ PURPLE Peer Mentors, Center for Student Involvement, and Catalyst. While there is no way of knowing how many lives have been saved, based on assessment efforts we do know that RWB participants have an increased willingness and confidence to help a friend who is intoxicated. They also retain the knowledge and skills needed to intervene well past the training. Students have also shared many great stories of how their RWB skills have allowed them to help a friend. HPaW is already looking forward to training the next 2,000 students. Please encourage any students to sign up for the training if they indicate an interest in knowing what to do to help an intoxicated friend. Staff and faculty are also welcome to participate. If you have specific scheduling questions, please contact Meredith Smith, our graduate assistant who coordinates Red Watch Band, at meredithsmith@u.northwestern.edu.
Back row (L to R): Lisa Currie (Director of Health Promotion and Wellness), Kyra Jones, Rachel Schwab; Front row (L to R): Sarah Watson, Tessa Owens, Laura Stuart (Coordinator of Sexual Health and Violence Prevention, CARE)
8
SHAPE AWARD WINNERS Laura Stuart, Lisa Currie, and four student members of the SHAPE Executive Board – Kyra Jones, Sarah Weston, Tessa Owens, and Rachel Schwab - attended the national BACCHUS Network General Assembly in Reston, VA on November 14-16, 2013. SHAPE received three honors at this conference:
She will aid in awareness campaign development and direction for the organization’s educational efforts. • Kyra was selected to receive a Conference Scholarship, which covered the conference registration fee. • Lisa also co-presented sessions for the Advisor Academy, a pre-conference workshop that is a certificate program for collegiate peer education advisors. She has been involved with the development and implementation of this program with BACCHUS for the past four years. She also helped run the Silent Auction during the conference, which raised $6200 in three days to support future conferences.
• SHAPE’s program, “Supporting Our Sisters”, received an Outstanding Program Award. This program was created in collaboration with Panhellenic to help the sorority community more effectively support members who have experienced sexual violence. • Sarah was elected to serve as the Student Advisory Committee member for Area 4, which is comprised of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. She is one of only 12 students in the country to represent peer educators from across the entire BACCHUS Network.
FYI --SHAPE stands for Sexual Health and Assault Peer Educators and for more information, visit their site at www.northwestern.edu/shape. The Award picture shows (left to right): Ed Hammond (BACCHUS Network Chairman of the Board and President of Fort Hays State University), Tessa Owens, Kyra Jones, Rachel Schwab, Sarah Watson, Kevin Krueger (President, NASPA).
Photo credit: Devin Kealey
9
DID YOU KN In Spring 2013, Student Affairs conducted a series of focus groups with undergraduate students from low-income family backgrounds. Below is a brief description of three of the thirteen themes that emerged. For a copy of the final report, contact Student Affairs Assessment (847.491-8431 or sa-assessment@northwestern.edu
participate in class because I was really scared of sounding dumb. I didn’t know how to communicate on that level. It was hard. I didn’t even want to talk to professors.” (QuestBridge Scholar)
Most students from low-income family backgrounds were able to describe one or more student organizations and/or groups to which they belong. In spite of this, there is evidence that the lack of financial resources affects their ability to participate fully in the Northwestern experience.
Adjusting to the academic rigor at Northwestern appears to be no more or less stressful for the undergraduates from low-income family backgrounds than it is for other students. Nevertheless, many of the students from low-income family backgrounds reported feeling less prepared than their peers who come from “better” high schools. This finding was supported by data from the 2013 Enrolled Student Survey as well.
“My freshman year was a mess. I was afraid I was going to get kicked out because of money. I didn’t join groups because of the cost. It was very isolating. You can’t get grants for these kinds of things.” (Pell Grant Senior)
“In class I thought everyone here was smarter than me. They used such big words. I didn’t even know what they meant. In high school—even in my AP classes—people didn’t have this intellectual thing going on. When I got here, people had more background knowledge than I did. It was a big problem for me at the start of my freshman year. I wouldn’t
“I’ve never had the opportunity to do any unpaid or even minimum wage type of research, like, during the summer because I’ve had to work full time at a job, and I can’t, like, do both of those types of things. It’s been really hard to, like, beef up a resume, I guess. You have to choose being able to support yourself in the next school year.” (Pell Grant Senior)
10
NOW? Students from low-income family backgrounds seem uneasy approaching faculty or they don’t know how to approach faculty. At the same time, the majority reported there was at least one faculty member at Northwestern who had taken a personal interest in them. They also acknowledged faculty members are willing to talk to them individually. “As far as professors, it still scares me. It scares the wits out of me to try and email a professor or to communicate with anyone from that level of professionalism. It was something I had never done before. It takes me forever to actually sit down and convince myself to write an email to an administrator. Even when we are talking about job applications, if I have to email anyone in an office, it scares me because it was something I was never exposed to, something that my parents never did.� (Ryan Scholar)
11
STUDENT AFFAIRS MARKETING AWARDS AT ACUI GRAPHIC DESIGN COMPETITION
NEW STAFF NOOR ALI
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF MULTICULTURAL STUDENT AFFAIRS
Student Affairs Marketing was awarded five awards during the graphic design competition at the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Region 8 Conference at UW-Whitewater.
BEST IN SHOW – AS VOTED BY ATTENDEES Smart Dillo 2013
CAMPAIGN – AS VOTED BY JUDGES Smart Dillo 2013 2nd Place Student: Judy Suh
ALEJANDRO MAGAÑA DIRECTOR OF HISPANIC/LATINO STUDENT AFFAIRS
BOOKLET
1st Place Student: Claire Cinquegrani Fall 2013 Mini Courses booklet
T-SHIRT
2nd Place Student: Lucas Matney Norris Staff T-shirt
BROCHURE
1st Place Professional Staff: Jessica Toro MSA Brochure Congrats to Judy, Claire, Lucas, and Jessica on your big awards!
JAMES WRIGHT
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR EVENTS AT THE NORRIS CENTER