I envision a future where you can get educated wherever you want to be educated (even in your own home) by the smartest people in the world, where the local community college serves as a hub of tutors and educational assistance to all of us, and where we can do many professions from wherever we choose to live.

It’s a return to community, family and connectedness.

I’ve made a few of these, so I wanted to pass them along.

Social Media and Collaboration Matters

How to Start a Movement: Lessons from a Crazy Dancing Guy

How Do We Give People What They Want?

What Motivates People?

The system is super user friendly.  You will have to create an account if you want to do flips of your own.

Feel free to use the above, and if you’d like to chat about TED-Ed, let me know!

For details on this event, please visit http://innovation.web.unc.edu/

1. Create a video describing the most difficult situation you’ve dealt with professionally (not something personal, but either a professional or volunteer situation).  If you’re having trouble coming up with something, any situation will do.  If you’re too shy for video, I will accept text, but I’d prefer video.
2. Post that video on youtube, and title and tag it “influenceedu”.
3. Make a second video with how you resolved the situation and follow the procedure above.
4. Send me the links.

Thanks in advance for your help.  If you’d like to do this as a conversation, I’d be more than happy to, as I have software to record google hangouts or skype!

Unwritten Rules of Google+

1. The sweetspot of Google+ is video.  Post videos instead of text and links when appropriate. 
2. Use Google Hangouts to discuss anything, make them public if possible.
3. The best and worst thing about Google+ is the inline commentary. 
4. You can use your circles best to push out information, it’s incredibly hard to manage incoming.  Create circles based on who you want to share content with.  Think about the implications for those of us that work with students and doing training.  I’m going to be using Google+ to do student training for our Activities board this summer.  I hope to teach on Google+ as well.

Unwritten Rules of Podcasting 

1. Secondary engagement is mega important – where can people contact you or others who like the show?
2. Involving more people is a huge positive
3. BUT maintain some constancy (similar hosts, similar bump music, etc)
4. Ask yourself what keeps people coming back?

The conference was cool, and I enjoyed hearing a lot of what people had to say.  I also got a kick out of presenting a couple times and sharing about some topics that are near and dear to my heart.

What I didn’t anticipate was leaving the conference feeling slightly rejuvenated.  I think I’d feel more rejuvenated if I wasn’t so exhausted from lack of sleep.

I had the opportunity, along with a crew of ACUI folks, to sit down with Dean Ken Elmore from Boston University, over some pints (okay, a lot of pints) and chat about the future of higher ed and higher ed professional associations.  I’m not going to regurgitate the entire conversation at this point as I’m still processing, but it was inspirational for me.

I loved student activities as an undergrad and that’s why I went into it as a professional.  I realized we could make a difference on our campus with the money and programming that you have in student activities.  I’ve struggled with that as a professional because while we have the ability to make an impact on our campuses, I believe our maximum impact on an individual campus comes from connecting with students that then learn how they can make an impact on their campuses.  We’re in their world and not of their world.  In all reality, it is the students that define our campus.

It’s no secret to anyone that follows me on Twitter that I believe we as higher ed are heading towards an inflection point.  The state governments are showing less and less ability and willingness to support us, student costs to attend higher education are skyrocketing as well as student debt, and technology is revolutionizing the way we function as a people and the seeds of it revolutionizing education are all around us.  Higher education needs to be thinking about new ways to do things, and my profession needs to be thinking about new ways to do things as well.

My passion is to push higher education to where we need to be.  For right now, I think that means beating that drum about where I think higher ed is going, equipping professionals with technology competency, and starting to think about how we can deliver student affairs in this new world order that’s coming quickly.

Dean Elmore wants to revolutionize our conferences, and I think he’s on to something.  I’m not done chewing on this though.

But thanks to ACUI for helping me to get rejuvenated.  Not in the way I expected. But seriously.  Thanks.

(a reason) that explains almost all the tuition increase at UC schools, is the decline in state, local, and federal government’s share of education costs. By and large, tuition is going up not because schools are raking in more money, but because subsidies are going down.

nailed it.  Because of reduced subsidies, students are starting to feel more of the real cost of their education.

The most unfortunate part of this is that surging tuition costs are not, for the most part, rewarding students with a higher-quality education. Costs are simply being shifted around. And while states are slashing higher education budgets, taxpayers aren’t being rewarded with lower tax rates, or even lower budget deficits; most states are cutting education spending to offset rising health-care and pension costs.

Ouch.

Two things that weren’t mentioned in the article though, that I think are important.

1. Tuition is really just the tip of the iceberg.  Check out this data from UNC on Cost of Attendance  http://studentaid.unc.edu/studentaid/cost/ssa_ug_general.html .  I wanted to point out, in particular, the tuition and fees number.  As someone inside the university, I know that these are often calculated separately, but on the website, these are lumped together.  It took some digging, but here’s the listing of student fees http://studentaid.unc.edu/studentaid/cost/ssa_ug_general.html.   Not to mention costs like textbooks, living expenses, food, etc.  Not to mention the oppportunity cost of not working like you could be. Which brings me to point 2.
2. Subsidizing of colleges is finally getting students to feel the whole cost of their education, so naturally, they’re starting to wonder why it costs so much.  Could the questioning of the system be starting to reveal some inefficiencies within the system?    It wasn’t in the article, but I think it could be.
3. While the author suggests that the wage premium is increasing, I’m not sure I’d agree.  As I’ve stated before on this blog, I think we’re using old data to do these calculations.  A degree obtained by saving as much money as possible is still a degree of mobility.

I just wonder how long this can continue.  I’m sure most of my readers have seen the crazy graph that calculates the cost of college skyrocketing past both CPI and housing costs.  Regardless of the why, I don’t think that can last.

During the year I did student activities, I had 30 credit hours and pulled 2.57 GPA.

The following year, as student body president, a less demanding role on my campus, I was back to a 3.66.

So, what happened?  I was super involved.  I always tell people that my job during that year became student activities.  I was Mr. Involved Student.  Hell, I apparently liked it so much that I decided not to be good at my grades.

Of course, there could be 75 other factors in there, like the ending of a long term relationship, and a lot of other personal change.  But I do believe the numbers are startling.  A full point down in GPA and a return to that previous position the next year.

I can’t be alone here, right?

It’s my 30th birthday today.  I hope you will join me in celebrating the start of my next decade.

Here’s my birthday gift to YOU.  The Draw on Chickering app is free in the Android Market.  So, get that.  You’re welcome.

Draw on Chickering (FREE)

I also have a few other projects that I think are worth your while, but do cost some money.  Seriously, buying these would make my day.

Pocket Student Affairs Theory (.99)

Student Affairs Theory Quiz (.99)

My Android Market page

I’ve also got this presentation that I wrote up and put in the Amazon Kindle Marketplace.  I’m kinda excited about it.

Social Media Primer on Amazon.com

One last option, if you’re really feeling ambitious and like me (or just like helping people), Anyone who gives a gift of at least $5 to Charity Water using my birthday page will not only make MY day, but also make someone else’s.  And just for the hell of it, I’ll throw in everything I mentioned above…for free.

Donate to Charity Water here.

So, you decide.  Help yourself, Help me, or Help humanity.  Make my 30th birthday count.  I know I’m going to.

1. I genuinely believe higher ed is in trouble. And by higher ed, I don’t mean education.  I mean the general model of the 4 year away from home university as we know it.  Look, we know that social media is a part of a larger movement where publishing is going to the masses and information sharing isn’t restrained to publishing houses, record labels, newspapers, and university ivory towers.  It’s not hard to figure out that higher ed is in the crosshairs of this societal wave.  Seriously people, this is the biggest change since the printing press.  It’s turned publishing from a professionals game into anyone’s game.  Case in point, this article about SUNY .  I predicted 4 years ago that this exact thing would happen (ask my homie TJ).   Folks, that is the beginning of a seismic change in higher ed and kudos for SUNY for stepping up and getting with the times.  That’s just the beginning.  If your business focuses on sharing of information, you’re going to get caught up in the tidal wave and not only do we do that in higher ed, that’s the CORE of our business.  Ruh roh.
2. Academic Publishing is in trouble. Have you seen the costs for these journals?  Get the hell out of here.  How long can they restrain those hungry to publish their work when we can publish FOR FREE TO THE ENTIRE WORLD?  It’s only because the academic world has an established order and hierarchy that this system continues to persist, but it can’t last.  Too many societal and economic forces are pushing against it.  The walls are coming down. Here’s a thought: you don’t need a PhD to publish anymore.  Hell, you don’t even need a degree.  Got a great idea and want to share it with the entire world?  You can literally publish it immediately and share it with everyone.  Who’s going to be the first to thumb their nose at the entire publishing system and get theirs in their own way?
3. This is all about power structures.  Traditional power structures that have already been affected by the democratization of publishing – newspapers, the music industry, radio, Arab leadership, and the 1% .  Freedom to publish media cheaply is causing havoc to traditional power structures.  I described it as an “end around” to traditional power structures, but even that I’m not sure is accurate. Traditional power structures are a dam designed to hold the elite above everyone else.  The democratization of publishing is a battleaxe.  It’s erosion.  It’s a hurricane.  It’s an earthquake.  These power structures cannot hold.  I described higher ed the other day as holding the fort walls.  Here’s the thing: the game’s already over.  Either get with the future and move, or get your ass knocked over when the dam bursts.  Your choice.

Draw on Chickering (FREE) 

Pocket Student Affairs Theory (.99)

Student Affairs Theory Quiz (.99)

You should be able to get all of those apps by searching on your phone.  The charge is to compensate for future updates to the last two apps.   Enjoy!

My Android Market page

Maybe it would make you feel better to Draw on Chickering.

Introducing the Draw on Chickering app!  Draw on Chickering in 3 colors as well as big and large dots.  Perfect for getting through those frustrating days in grad school and work!  Stop posting passive aggressive posts on Twitter and start drawing on Chickering’s face (not endorsed by Chickering himself, even though that would be awesome).

Are you a seasoned student affairs professional who needs a little theory refresher?  Or maybe a grad student that’s trying to test yourself on your theory knowledge?  This app is simple enough for you to pop open once in awhile as a refresher, but substantive enough to make you think about what it is we do as a profession.

I’m offering this for now for $.99.  Send in a Paypal payment using the link below and I’ll send you the APK file and installation instructions for Android so you can install the app yourself.

Stay tuned.  More stuff to come!

My initial response was that I try to not live with regrets, I just have things that I do using the information I have at the time.  It’s foolish, I think, to look back and think about regrets because you’re viewing it through a lens that was different than the one you had that you used to decide to do whatever you did that you regret.  It’s unfair.

So on the surface, I hate this question because it’s unfair and it’s filled with people being unfair to themselves.  I’ve seen too many people in my life get so burdened down with regrets of things they did, things that they wish they did and things they shouldn’t have done.  They stop functioning and stop living forward.  To quote Don Draper, do what you have to do in life, move forward and you’ll be surprised by how much these things didn’t matter.

However, I was surprised to find myself at the orientation presentation I give for students, starting to realize something I regret.  I was giving three presentations, off and on, during orientation sessions, one which focused on parents and rallied them to get their students involved with campus, one on campus events and our campus activities board, and one on the offices in student affairs and how we provide life-changing experiences and resources for students.  Two of these sessions, the ones that weren’t about campus events, were presented with other offices, including the career center.  The funny thing is that I found myself mentioning, quite specifically, the career center in the other session.  But why?  I wonder if I didn’t see myself quite a bit in their 18 year old faces, making me feel that I needed to tell 18 year old me a story.

Let’s backtrack.

I started off college as a business major.  During the first week of school, I changed to pre-pharmacy, presumably because I wanted to make that bread (academic advisors will find that familiar).  I did well in pre-pharm, and was admitted to pharmacy school after my sophomore year.  While working in the pharmacy, I realized that I hated it, so I drove back down to my college the summer before pharmacy school, dropped out and re-enrolled in undergrad as a chemistry/biology major.  After one semester, I dropped the bio major to a minor and would eventually graduate as a chemistry major.  Somewhere in there I got wrapped up in student activities and we know how that ended (if you don’t, check my about page).

So, not knowing what to do with myself at this point, I left to live in California for the summer, while I waited to hear back from the bizarre collection of graduate school applications I’d submitted (phd in chemistry, mba, divinity school (yes, i said that)).  I was admitted to all and decided that the phd in chem was the best financial path since I’d be making a whopping $24k per year and have my tuition covered.  I would end up leaving the program after a semester with terrible grades, complete disinterest in my classes and the stink of failure.  I would have left in September, truth be told, because I hated it, but I couldn’t give up on my teaching obligations.

Fueled by that experience, I somehow acquired a teaching position teaching 7th grade science that I would leave at the end of the school year.  After that, I got a CNA certification and got a job at a small surgery center.  During the course of that year, I decided I wanted to do student affairs, but couldn’t apply.  So I left this job when my lease ran out and was able to acquire a job working in the mortgage industry with Wells Fargo.  During my time there, I’d be admitted to grad school and the rest, as they say, is history.

So, why did I tell you all this?  Other than self-mutilation?

The truth is, I was a complete idiot.  I hope that the seasoned career folks and student affairs pros can see the foolishness in my path there.  I entered college with no direction, left college with no direction and spent the next four years doing the career exploration that should have been done as a college student, if not as a high school student.  In truth, I didn’t realize how lost I was.  My parents weren’t able to help, even though I know they really wanted to, and I wasn’t wise enough to seek professional help at that age.

My biggest regret is that I didn’t know how lost I was.  I wish that I’d had the intelligence and foresight to go ask a seasoned career pro to help me through how lost I was, maybe to give me a career inventory or something (oddly enough, one of these landed me in student affairs).  I wish that I hadn’t spent three years wandering around lost.  It cost me a relationship, friendships, three years of earning potential, a lot of emotional distress, and a lot of time doing something I love.

So, I think that’s why I felt compelled to reach out to these freshman.  I don’t want them to end up like me, someone who just blindly stumbled into his vocation.  All of the resources I used to get here are available to anyone on the internet or in a career services office.  Don’t be a moron like me and not take advantage of it if you find yourself lost.

Truth be told, I’ve seen a career professional 4 times since I started my masters degree in 2007, and I plan on going back the next time I feel a little bit lost.  They’re good at it, and I trust that they have my best interest at heart.

That’s the thing about regrets.  As long as they inform your future, and move you on towards something positive, they’re worth your time.  Just remember, as the avetts say, when you run make sure you run to something not away from.  I think I’m running the right way….for now.

Thanks to a presentation I’ll be doing with @_mikecoleman_  for an ACUI webinar (more news on that soon), I’d been doing some research on Chrome Apps when Eric asked me about my favorites.

I went through the first five pages of apps on each of the Chrome Store Categories, picked out the ones that looked interesting or pertinent to folks that might work in student affairs.  I tried them out.  Here are some I think are worth checking out….

Read Later Fast – When you’re in a page and right click, you can save that page to check into later.  Nice for those who have reading lists and nowhere to put them.

Vyew – free version of GoToMeeting – similar to Wiggio

Quick Note – similar to read later fast, except this opens a notes window when you right click on a page.

News Apps – Weather Channel,  NYTimes, NPR and HuffPost all have excellent ones

Games – Entanglement (puzzle game), Blox (tetris)

Cooking Stuff – Good Food, Kukbook

Audio Editors – Aviary (more like Protools), Audiotool (more like garage band)

Picture Editors – Picnik (plays nice with lots of photo services and stupid easy), BeFunky (as the name implies, more for Photo Effects)

Video Editor – Stupeflix (looked like the only one that was worthwhile)

Music Files – mp3, Listube, mspot.  Listube is grooveshark similar, mspot and mp3 are cloud players.

Presentation software – 280 Slides, SlideRocket. Pretty much the same thing, but you just need to decide which works for you.  I wouldn’t mess with these, honestly, unless you need something a little higher ampage than Google Presentation.

Crackle – great TV app for Chrome and Roku.  Netflix, where you at?

If you need to catch up, here’s Part 1 and Part 2.

When we last left the tale, I had been given notice by our IT guy that not only were we capable of storing and saving the data that I wanted, we already had the software that we needed present on our computers and, not only that, we were already using it, just not correctly.  I was more amused than anything, but not overly surprised.  Given an environment of high turnover, a system that is fairly complex, and an overall student affairs fear of data, I found it not altogether shocking that this information would have disappeared somewhere along with the names of the guys who shot Tupac and Biggie and the Iraqi WMD’s.

So, Chapter 3 starts where the IT guy warns me that he was nearing the end of his effectiveness, as, most likely, we didn’t have access to the student database that we needed to cross reference the IDs that we swiped so that we could actually make something reasonable out of the data other than just a collection of scrabble like number combinations.  Quite literally, the data we were collecting would be useless without access to this database.

Let’s pause here for a little personal interlude.  After we’d figured out that we could in fact collect the IDs with our swipes and save the information, I was feeling particularly empowered.  I went across the hall to @curtistmed’s office and immediately told him that, not only were we good to start collecting data, but that we would eventually be able to use it.  Frankly, I had nothing to back this up at the time.  However, we all know that the university is largely about politics.  Going into an assistant vice president’s office and saying “we need to collect some data and use it” is a far different than “we’ve been collecting this data all semester but IT won’t let us use it”.  Huge difference, in fact.  Question 1 is complex and multi layered, Question 2 is not complex.  My political clout, if you will, to get what I need, would ultimately be in the data that we were going to collect and I knew we would be able to collect it.

Personal interlude 2 – I’m relentless.  Keep turning me down and I will keep knocking at your door.  Acting like that is a stupid philosophy when you’re being selfish.  Acting like that when you’re trying to do the best job possible at work, and the thing that you’re trying to get will make you better at your job is smart.  Play your political cards correctly, push when pushing is wise, and step your game up when pushing isn’t wise.  I should explain the step your game up piece – going and whining to your AVC when you haven’t done your research and due diligence is foolish.  If you’re going to appeal to a higher power, then at least do your due diligence.  I’m reminded of the story about the man drowning on the roof of the house and praying for God to save him and he sees a man with a raft, a man with a plane and a man with a hot air balloon (or was it a jet ski or something?  I swear I’ve never seen a hot air balloon just randomly flying over a flood.  Maybe it was a dinghy), but he turns down all three rides .  When God comes back, the man says “you didn’t save me” and God says “who do you think sent the boat, the plane and the balloon?”  Don’t be that dude.  Regardless of your religious affiliation, I hope you understand that the idea is about using all the resources at your disposal before you start wasting your AVC’s time.  The AVC is the nuclear option.  If you play your cards right and utilize all your resources, you shouldn’t need to use them,  unless you get to the point you really can’t do anything else.  Then it’s time to push the red button.

Anyway, back to the story.

So, the IT guy sets up another appointment to come by and check out whether we had access to this student database on Banner.  I’m going to spare the argument that I think could (and maybe should) be made about whether all of us should have access to these files.  He was surprised to find that our office did, in fact, have access to all of the student records through Banner, and within about five minutes of clicking around in Microsoft Access, we had a query set up to pull student data like Year/Classification/Age/Housing Status/Meal Plan/Major from the student files.  The one piece we don’t have access to was, this is slightly hilarious, the file that actually contains the data we’re collecting.  In IT guy’s opinion, this was not especially secure information and he saw no reason that we shouldn’t be able to get access.  I concur.  It would be even more fun to go into our AVC’s office and say “i’ve been collecting data all semester, can i please access it?”  The access has been requested, though, so we’ll see how it goes.

At this point, I felt comfortable to approach our interim director, the Assessment Director for our Student Affairs Department about the process I’d been going through and how far I’d made it, and I think it’s fair to call her reaction complete and total shock.  I won’t go into the details of the conversation because that’s for her to share, but suffice it to say, she was shocked that I’d been able to get this access to data and the ability to swipe cards to tally who was attending events.  My reaction “i really wish I could tell you this was complicated and I’d done something magical, but I genuinely think people had had difficulty getting access to the student data that they need, so they just started telling people they couldn’t event track attendees at all and shouldn’t waste their time”.  Obviously, that statement was complete conjecture on my part, but it’s my best guess to why I got to where I did and others haven’t.  I should add that the overwhelming assistance from the man in IT was a huge help.  IT man, if you read this, I owe you a beer (or six).

But anyway, “Do the Right Thing” featured a star studded cast, including the dude that I would later grow to be disgusted by as Burrell on the Wire, Danny Aiello who I only knew from Peter mentioning him on Family Guy, Spike himself, Bill Dunn, who I mostly knew as the guy who looked out for Whoopie Goldberg in Sister Act, and John Turturro.  Ok, maybe not star studded, but more studded with a bunch of “hey, it’s that guy!” actors.  The basic gist is that it’s really hot in Brooklyn and when it’s really hot, the racial tensions also rise, resulting in a catastrophic fire, all with the encouragement to do the right thing.

The idea to “do the right thing” is an interplay between the philosophies of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, MLK, of course, standing for non-violence and Malcolm X believing that violence was the right means by which to achieve racial justice and societal equity and fairness.  While counterphilosophies in some obvious ways, a photo is shown of the two hugging, dapping it up and laughing, the message being that both of these men were fighting for the same goal, racial equality, and that the listener should take both of their philosophies in, ponder the situation and then do the right thing.  To go all biblical with it, there’s a season for war and a season for peace, and everything has it’s season.

The movie is quite jarring, both for Spike’s style of filmmaking and for the subject matter.  No one is completely in the right and no one completely in the wrong, much like real life, it’s more complex than that in the film.  Movies and books, at least the weaker ones, have a tendency to tie things up in neat bows so that the consumer of the media can leave the media feeling a little better.  ”Do the Right Thing” doesn’t give you that option.   The ending scene left my stomach stirred up in knots.  The actions of the young African American men, fighting to have a black person up on the “Wall of Fame” and blasting Public Enemy on a stereo in Sal’s pizza parlour feel more than a tad silly; they seem to want to fight for justice and “fight the power” (not too subtle chuck d inclusion) but don’t know how to do it for something consequential.  Sal, in a fit of rage, smashes the stereo and uses the n-word; this man, up until this point doesn’t seem to have a racist bone in his body and talks with great pride about feeding the African American neighborhood and even seems to be in love with Spike’s sister in the film.  No one feels right, but no one feels wrong.  In fact, everyone feels right and justified but everyone feels wrong.  It’s just complex.  I’m still wrestling with what happened after that tipping point moment, and may have to watch the film again to continue processing.

Also, the film confronted me with an awkward realization.   I really don’t think about how to “do the right thing” ever at all.  I know that 100%, this is my privilege talking, but I can honestly say I’ve never had to think about how to fight for justice and equity.  As a white/straight/protestant male, I am the power that is being fought.  We still hold all the keys to the doors, even though, it does seem that slowly others are getting in and I think that’s great.  But from my upbringing until now, I’ve lived a mostly homogenized life, definitely never living in a situation like Sal, where he was literally the only white guy serving an entirely black populace.  Nor can I identify with the experience of the African American folks in the film, where one step outside of the lines of the law can place you in a situation where a cop will far overstep his bounds, mostly just because he can.

I don’t think this is something that you can just remedy.  I know that people who work in my line of work like to do programs that try to help stupid white people like myself understand the experiences of minorities.  But these programs remind me of my friends in college that told me they were “going to be homeless for a summer” and my response was “no, you’re not”.  The truth is that you can’t be homeless for a summer, because if you’re like these gentlemen and come from good loving families then you can’t appreciate the experience of being homeless.  If they got tired of being homeless, they could just turn around and go home.  So, for me to try to understand the experience of a minority by trying to be like a minority for a day is completely insulting to the minority experience.  When I leave the Tunnel of Oppression, I go back to being white/male/straight/protestant.  And here’s the kicker, as long as I’m in that tunnel, I know in my head that it’s just a game, like going to a movie or something and even if it sucks, it will all be over soon.

Here’s the thought I was left with after the movie…I think we can all encourage each other to not be dummies about things.  Try to see the darkness and the weakness, and dare I say, the racism and hatred within ourselves.  So, you know, that sounds like enough.  But here was my other thought that tied along with that.  I think that when it comes to my minority brothers and sisters, I understand that sometimes you’re gonna have to do what you have to do.  Sometimes that might involve burning a place down and sometimes it might involve just being really pissed off about things that I have a hard time understanding.  But I want you to know that I’ll do my best to support you, even if I don’t understand, because I think that’s the best way that I can do my right thing.  Do yours, my friends.

Tom Krieglstein posed a question during Thursday’s student affairs chat that I thought was absolutely on the money.  His question:

 Are we all saying Twitter as #1, because we are on Twitter? What about the rest of the SA ppl not on Twitter?

The topic for the chat revolved around the idea of a social media plan and what that might look like and many people were responding that Twitter was their most used social media tool.  Tom’s question landed in the middle of those comments.

My response to Tom?  Absolutely.  I said in a conversation recently that I think the effect of Twitter is to make the user feel like there are more people present than actually are.  A group of even 100 people, tweeting with regularity, in a centered period of time can feel like a ton.  Student Affairs chat is a structured chat that involves a group of people coming together at the same time to tweet.  It feels like overload.  But I genuinely don’t think it’s that many people in the context of student affairs as a profession.  And for the most part, the medium of Twitter appeals to a certain personality type.  Users of Twitter are most likely extroverted (I’m saying users here not people who try it and quit) and they’re most likely willing to try something new and share information with people they barely know.  Even the most shy and guarded individuals on Twitter are more open and expressive than the general population.

But because it feels like a lot of people and it feels like it’s growing, the student affairs chat creates this illusion that it’s huge and representative, and I think it’s false.  I haven’t seen a survey (and for the love of God, please don’t create one) about who these people actually are that participate in the student affairs chat, but I feel comfortable saying that they are largely young professionals, largely semi tech-savvy, and largely extroverted.  There are absolutely populations (and dare i say, locations) that are not represented as heavily and the few senior level admins often seem to carry the load for the rest that aren’t.

My point is the perception and reality of what the community is are likely disparate.

The student affairs chat community on Twitter is a group of people that use the hashtag as a point of connection to network with other student affairs professionals.  That’s it.  It’s not another professional association.  Getting on Twitter and tagging your questions with the hashtag will not ever be a substitute for doing actual research yourself or talking to the colleagues that you work with every day or are in your grad school classes.  It can certainly be supplemental, just like all of your professional networks, but it will never (and should never) be a substitute for old fashioned question asking.

The other issue that Tom’s post made me think of is the elitist discussion.  I get where people are coming from, and I don’t blame them for thinking people are elitists.  I blame the people telling everyone that they need to get on Twitter and do student affairs chat for creating false and misleading expectations.  The enthusiasm is awesome and I think the enthusiasm is a testament to how much this community has meant to a lot of people.  But, not everyone needs to be on Twitter!  It’s not for everyone!  I have a suspicion that student affairs professionals are being encouraged to join Twitter by these evangelists for the student affairs chat and then having expectations that the community doesn’t meet.  It’s important to remember that Twitter is a fairly difficult medium to engage in for a lot of people; the studies I’ve looked at say that about 10% of the people that sign up for an account ever get actively engaged.

I tell people that if they’re interested in networking outside of the traditional sphere then they might want to consider Twitter.  I teach them about hashtags, not just student affairs chat, and share with them how this might help them to connect.  BUT we also have to explain that it is pretty easy to get yourself in trouble or make a mess if you aren’t at least semi-cognizant of other people reading and sharing what you say.  I’ve known multiple people who’ve been ratted out to bosses by participants in student affairs chat.  It’s a risk-reward thing, and if you don’t think it’s for you, I would still encourage you to find what is for you.

One example we were talking about today was that, for someone who struggles with Twitter, a blog makes tons of sense.  A blog is much more controlled, much less likely to be misunderstood and a little easier to control your message.  It has some of the features that Twitter doesn’t.  I’m not telling anyone to blog (however, one secret – i swear i don’t spend that much time doing this, as you can probably tell by my frequent editing errors), but it might be an alternative.

If you work in student affairs, I would encourage you to think about if social media is something that’s right for you (social media=facebook, blogging, twitter, ustream, youtube, etc).  Each of us have certain personality traits that lend itself better to different technologies.  Gauge your own comfort with being “out there” on the internets.  Consider what your plan is for finding employment and career advancement.  And determine what’s right for you.

And for those who are always on Twitter and participating in student affairs chat, remember that this isn’t for everyone.  Temper your excitement and be respectful of the differences in us as people.  And much like with your students, help our friends to be the best version of them, online and off, rather than what you think they should be.  We don’t earn our salary from converts  (oh wait, y’all aren’t getting paid for this?)

Want to learn a little more about social media?  I wrote a short ebook on it for the Kindle. 

Filed under: Blog Post Tagged: behavioral economics, student affairs, technology ]]> http://jefflail.com/2011/06/17/facebook-twitter-and-social-media-student-affairs/feed/ 2 emergentedu homer fail twitter sucks kindle http://jefflail.com/2011/06/07/asking-the-right-questions-makes-all-the-difference-with-technology-and-an-update-on-our-assessment-efforts/ http://jefflail.com/2011/06/07/asking-the-right-questions-makes-all-the-difference-with-technology-and-an-update-on-our-assessment-efforts/#comments Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:31:59 +0000 Jeff Lail http://jefflail.com/?p=1850 Continue reading →]]> I posted back in April about what I thought student affairs assessment should look at.  The inspiration for that post was my own work, where our assessment program has been essentially non-existent and as I was trolling through the data we do have, I was realizing that it was woefully inadequate to provide the sort of information that I was looking for.  I’m no fan of surveying, but I think with some data collection, we might be able to better figure out more about what exactly is going on within our department.

So…here’s my update….

I honestly anticipated this process of creating what I want to be like pulling teeth.  The general opinion from everyone I’ve talked to was that, not only was the data unavailable, that IT wouldn’t allow us to get the data and use it, they’d tried and no one would let them at it, and they’d appreciate if I’d quit asking, thank you very much!  Okay, that’s a little dramatic.  But the general idea of all conversations was something like “we’ve tried to get that, it doesn’t work and IT won’t help you”.

So, I set up a meeting with our swipe card office, expecting a war, instead I got no resistance whatsoever and was told that, not only can we help you, but we think what you’re looking for already exists!  WHAT????  Needless to say, I was pleased and began to contact the necessary parties to make this happen.

After a quick call into the department that had the system I needed to copy, I contacted the IT department person by email who was in charge of their project.  After not hearing back for a month, I anticipated I’d hit a snag.  I decided to call and the IT person couldn’t have been more helpful.

And here’s the kicker….we already had what we needed.

Not only that…we also had instructions in a cabinet to do what we needed.

So…what in the hell is going on here?

Obviously, there had been some information lost in the turnover between staff; I think you have to actively catalogue said information in the process (particularly with technology that’s so different from workplace to workplace) or it disappears.  In the transition, the move had been made to use a “good enough” solution for the program in question due to not understanding the full functionality that was at their fingertips.  I think all of that’s going to happen with technology implimentation processes.

But I’m more curious about the no’s.

I go into situations assuming that something can be done when it comes to technology.  I know what I need, I know how I think it can be done, but instead of saying “i need ____ technology to do ________”, I say “I need to get ________, how do I do that?”  I’ve found this to be particularly effective for acquiring any information or service that you need, but particularly positive in this situation or with technology in general.  It’s the difference between saying “i need to be on twitter, how do i do that” and saying “i need to communicate with students and I think I need to be online, what do you recommend?”  The core goal isn’t to be on Twitter, the core goal is community building and communication; in this situation, the core goal isn’t Banner utilization, the core goal is data gathering, I’m agnostic as to the method.

So, I plan on keeping you updated as this process proceeds forward.  It’s crazy to me that we’ve made it this far with essentially no new information.  I, possibly wrongly, attribute it to persistence and asking people who know the technology the right questions and trusting their expertise could help.  I’d like to hear your stories of tech implimentation!