Congratulations!!!

GOOD LUCK AND CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU ON YOUR UPCOMING GRADUATION! Welcome to the USF CSA Alumni Family! Fondly, Dave Roberts

Conversation with Dr. Richard Nicholas

Our next guest on the USF CSA Blog is my dear friend and prior supervisor, Dr. Richard Nicholas.  Dr. Nicholas is the Vice President of Student Life at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas.  Welcome Dr. Nicholas!!

Please respond to the questions below. As was the case with our previous guests, Dave Roberts and Melissa Bryant, this exercise is intended to help our students learn through the experiences of others in the field. There are 32 students enrolled in EDF 6938, however only a third of the students are expected to actively participate in a dialogue with you this coming week. Students in the class with the last name starting with P-Z will be monitoring and engaging with you in this process. The other students in the class will monitor only this week's conversation. Thanks to all, in advance, for your participation!

Discussion starters:
1) Describe your professional path in the field. If there are aspects of your decision-making (in your career choices) that may inform how our students approach the beginning of their own professional employment, please share them. If there are things you'd have done differently, please explain them.

2) Describe some challenges you've faced in your work. Are there experiences you've had as a supervisor that presented particular difficulty (or joy)? Are there challenging interactions with faculty, colleagues, students, or parents that have made lasting contributions to your learning?

3) What keeps you going? What are the best parts of the work, particularly any surprises you've experienced, ways in which the work was better or more fun than you expected?

4) From a Vice President’s perspective, what advice would you share with entering professionals?

Again, a portion of the students will be interacting with you over the course of the coming week. They will react to your observations and ask follow-up questions. Whatever time you can spare to respond to them would be greatly appreciated. A dialogue with you, in effect, is what I am seeking.

Thanks again Richard!! I appreciate you!! Dee Siscoe

Another Question...

Missy- Yesterday in our CSA Management Issues in Student Affairs class, we talked about collaborations between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs. Since I know you, I know that this is an area of great strength for you. (I think about the example of building a "Common Reading" program and how you were able to do that with faculty (and staff) at SMU.) Can you offer any "words of wisdom" to the students on developing and cultivating relationships with faculty?  Thanks- sorry to add another question but it occurs to me that you probably have alot to offer on this subject. ...Dee Siscoe

Short and Sweet

3) What keeps you going? What are the best parts of the work, particularly any surprises you've experienced, ways in which the work was better or more fun than you expected?

The students I work with and the colleagues who support and challenge me.  I now have former students who are graduate students in the field and several who are now Student Affairs professionals.  A former student I worked with at SMU is now an Assistant Director of Student Activities at SMU following graduate school at Virginia Tech and after working in Residence Life and the University of Arkansas for several years.  I take pride in knowing that I have been able to help others find a career that is rewarding and important.

4) What advice would you share with entering professionals?

Follow your passion and take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.  Be engaged in your institution’s community and think beyond Student Affairs.  Relationships are IMPORTANT!

I'm happy to expand on both of these answers but hoping these answers will generate some conversation :)

 2) Describe some challenges you've faced in your work. Are there experiences you've had as a supervisor (or with a supervisor – of course, only positive comments if you talk about me as a past supervisorJ!! Hee Hee) that presented particular difficulty (or joy)? Are there challenging interactions with faculty, colleagues, students, or parents that have made lasting contributions to your learning?

Some of the greatest challenges that I have experienced in my career are related to dealing with difficult colleagues…students/parents – they are a piece of cake compared to some of the “professionals” we work with.  When I became the Director of New Student  Programs I walked into a hostile environment.  The Coordinator of New Student Programs was a friend and colleague who I had worked with for a number of years.  She managed the office when the former Director left SMU and she was a finalist for the Director position.  I was completely open and honest with her through the application and interview process – she told me, in not so many words, that I did not have a chance of getting the position because my only professional experience was in Residence Life.  On my first day in the office as the new Director she told me “You will never be a mentor to me.  You don’t know anything about orientation.”  Additionally, the Coordinator had been working with the core group of student leaders in the office for a number of years and the students were convinced that she should have been named the Director.  Within a month or so the Coordinator announced she was leaving (which actually THRILLED me – huge relief!).  I needed to hire “my person” and did just that a few weeks later when I hired Emily Fallin Sandvall.  We became an inseparable team and started winning over the student leaders in our office. 

In addition to the hostile coordinator in my office, I shared a suite with a colleague who also reported to Dee.  She was a challenge, not just to me, but to most people in Student Affairs.  Love her dearly as a person (in fact, she was a lot of fun and planned a fantastic going away party for me when I left SMU) but she was constantly in my office’s business (and everyone else’s).  She had an opinion on everything and it was usually that I was wrong in what I was doing.  Our office suite was not huge but her voice was so I would often hear her on the phone with a parent criticizing other departments in Student Affairs – especially Residence Life.  She was a hard-core NPHC woman and history/legacy/tradition were of the utmost importance to her.  Despite the fact that recommendations were not required in the sorority recruitment at SMU she constantly worked with mothers to make sure their daughters had appropriate “recs”.  All of this drove me absolutely NUTS!  This colleague reminded me on the first day as the Director of my new office that she thought I was too “black and white” in interpretation of policy because I had been in Residence Life for so long.  (This was a comment she made to me when I reached out to her before my on-campus interview for the position.  I wanted to see what she thought the office needed in a Director – she pretty much told me that I wasn’t it.)  I was sure that I could build a positive working relationship with her because that’s what I do.  Not so much.  The two of us must have driven Dee absolutely crazy.  A year or so later Dee invited us to a mediation by HR.  I was mortified – I get along with everyone and it was so frustrating that I couldn’t make this work.  I think the mediation was beneficial for me and it reinforced what I knew about working with people.  It also made me realize that the Director of Parent Programs was not going to change and that I needed to find a way to take her with a grain of salt.   

1) Describe your professional path in the field. If there are aspects of your decision-making (in your career choices) that may inform how our students approach the beginning of their own professional employment, please share them. If there are things you'd have done differently, please explain them.

Hello!  My name is Missy Bryant and I’m the Director of First-Year Programs at Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA – about 30 miles west of Philadelphia.  My path into Student Affairs is very different than most.  As an undergrad at Susquehanna University, I was SUPER involved (not unusual for a future Student Affairs professional) – a cheerleader, Vice-President of Membership for Sigma Kappa Sorority (One Heart, One Way, Dee!), a tour guide, etc.  When I graduated from S.U. in 1996 with a B.A. in History I went to work at the U.S. Archives on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. doing research in the Military Reference Branch.  My plan was to work for a year before beginning a Masters program in Military and Naval History at the University of Alabama with hopes of getting in the PhD program (a little more unusual for a future Student Affairs professional).  While working at the Archives, I was still trying to determine how to pay for graduate school when my sorority adviser from Susquehanna suggested that I look into a assistantship in Student Affairs.  She told me about her former supervisor at Penn State (Rick Funk) who was an Assistant Dean and Director of Greek Life at Alabama.  Rick was looking for a grad assistant to work in Parent Orientation.  When I talked with him he encouraged me to also apply for a graduate Residence Director position because (at the time) the higher ed program at UA did not have enough students to fill all of the assistantships available in the Division of Student Affairs.  I applied for both positions and ended up serving as the graduate assistant for Parent Orientation and a graduate RD in Tutwiler Hall.  While I loved both of the positions in Student Affairs, history was still my passion – for about a month until I realized that being stuck in the stacks of Gorgas Library for hours a day was not how I wanted to spend my life. 

When I graduated from UA in 1999 I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do.  I interviewed for and was offered a position as a Hall Director in an all-female Greek residence hall at Arizona State University. My husband (at the time, boyfriend) was taking a position in the Human Resources Leadership Development Program at Lockheed Martin in Orlando, FL and I didn’t want to be on the opposite side of the country so I decided to take a position teaching American History and World History at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, FL for a year.  (10^th and 11^th graders….HATED IT!)  I couldn’t get out of there fast enough!  Luckily, my husband’s placement was up in May 2000 and he was moving to Syracuse, NY to continue his work at Lockheed so there was an excuse for me to leave J  I decided that I NEEDED to get back into Student Affairs – I always felt confident and at-ease in my assistantships at Alabama so I was convinced a professional position would be the same for me.  So I set out to find a job near Syracuse.  I became the Coordinator of Housing (Reporting to the Director of Residence Life) at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY – just down the road from Syracuse University.  LeMoyne is a small, private, Jesuit school and the Vice-President had been there for over 25 years.  (he was a little set in his ways to say the least) My responsibilities included supervising a staff of RAs and being a conduct officer but also overseeing housing assignments and conferences.  There were also graduate hall directors (students at Syracuse University) who worked at LeMoyne so I really think I thought my position was more than it really was.   LeMoyne was a tight-knit community but was a big challenge to me.  As a young professional I struggled with what I perceived as the antiquated systems and policies in Student Affairs.  It was also difficult for me to deal with students who felt comfortable having a drink (or several) at the Jes Res (where the Jesuit priests lived on campus) or with the VPSA.  I felt like LeMoyne was a Risk Management nightmare…that was probably partly true but partly me thinking “I know it all” as a new professional.  It snowed 200 inches in Syracuse that winter and when my husband had the option of choosing another placement in May 2001 he JUMPED on it!  Off to Dallas it was!

I went to ACPA in Boston (during a snowstorm) in March of 2000 and started my job search focused on the North Texas Area.  I interviewed for a hall director position at Southern Methodist University in Dallas – LOVED it!  Of course, I also thought I was too good for a Hall Director position – afterall, I had been the Coordinator of Housing at LeMoyne reporting to a Director of Residence Life.  (I sure had a lot to learn.)  I remember meeting with the Director of Residence Life and Student Housing (RLSH) Eddie Hull for my second interview and telling him that I wouldn’t be a Hall Director for long that I was seeking much more responsibility.  (he must have listened even though looking back I CANNOT believe I said that to him!)  I went to work at SMU (started the same day and was in orientation with Dr. Siscoe…J) in July 2001 and started the BEST 9 years of my life!  I won’t go into much detail about SMU since you’ve already heard a bit from my friend and colleague Dave Roberts.  As a Hall Director I was responsible for two learning communities and I began to develop strong relationships with faculty.  I worked with the Common Reading program for First-Year students and I was active in many Student Affairs initiatives.  After six as a Hall Director I was promoted to the Conference and Guest Services Manager position.  My main responsibilities were overseeing the Desk operations of RLSH, scheduling the guest rooms on campus, key management (my LEAST favorite part of the job), and managing the summer conference operation.  I loved this position because I had opportunity to work closely with the facilities operation in RLSH and also was able to build relationships across campus in working with conferences (including relationships associated with orientation…which you’ll see is important later).  Because I missed my work with student conduct, I began to serve as member of the judicial board and as a  hearing officer for higher level conduct cases.  (This gave me the opportunity to continue working with Dee Siscoe.)  Additionally, I was a direct-report to the Director of RLSH Eddie Hull so I became very involved in the overall operation of a large Student Affairs department. 

(Insert here that my husband Jason and I got married in Dallas in December 2002 at Perkins Chapel on campus at SMU.)

When Eddie left SMU for Duke a couple of years later, his direct-reports was given the opportunity to direct the department as a team under the supervision of Vice-President of Student Affairs Jim Caswell.  What an exceptional opportunity – to report to a VPSA (for a short-time) as a young professional.  I also learned quickly that I have the ability to bring people together.  There were some very strong (all-female) personalities serving on this leadership team and there was often conflict.  I served as a mediator and someone who was able to help bridge the gaps in understanding each other. 

When Doug Hallenbeck became the Assistant Vice-President and Director of RLSH I reported to him.  After about six months of reporting to him, Doug told me that he saw greater potential in me and recognized the positive impact I had on the Desk Assistants and Conference Assistants.  He wanted to have a similar impact on other student leadership roles within the residence halls.  He changed my title to Conference and Leadership Development Coordinator and gave me additional responsibility for advising the Residence Hall Association and working with Hall Directors to improve hall councils.  I served in that role for another three years or so. 

When a position opened as the Director of New Student Programs (reporting to the Associate VPSA and Dean of Students Dee Siscoe) Doug encouraged me to apply.  I was somewhat shocked and flattered.  I quickly called Dee to see if we could talk.  She started at SMU at the same time I did, is a Sigma Kappa and was (is) someone I completely respect – the thought of working with Dee got me even more excited about the position.  I had so many things to ask her!   Working in summer conferences I had close interaction with Director of New Student Programs and was continually frustrated by his lack of collaboration and what I saw as constant procrastination.  I also felt that he put too much responsibility on the student leaders he worked with and he was always fast to pass off any mistakes as those of his students.  I also never felt heard – the Director would seek feedback from stakeholders but immediately became defensive or deflected when feedback was given.  Feedback never impacted change.  I also believed (and still do) that orientation is a University responsibility and that the Director of New Student Programs needed to be driving the ship as opposed to student leaders.  (I want to be clear that student leaders are necessary to a successful orientation but I did not feel like they should be the decision-makers.)  I may not have been an expert on orientation but I DEFINITELY knew how I would run the department differently.  The interview process for this position was really difficult for me.  My current supervisor was the Chair of the search committee and I knew every member of the committee – in fact, most of the committee members I had close working relationships with through my work on campus.  Interviewing with my colleagues was one of the most difficult things I had experienced.  When I made the campus interview phase of the process I focused on my orientation philosophy and how I would run a true University-wide orientation program.  I went in with the attitude “this job is mine” – mine to win or lose.  I’ll never forget the day that Dee came to my office to offer me the position.  Not sure if I screamed or cried but I know that was the most excited I ever was to get a job.  I was so happy that Dee believed in me and felt like I could make an impact in orientation…and the journey began.

In the next question I will address how taking this position led to some of my greatest challenges…at least initially.

(Insert here…soon after becoming the Director of New Student Programs (literally days), my husband had the opportunity to take on a manager role and advance his career in…Ocala, FL.  We decided that since we didn’t have any children we would live apart for a year and see how the new jobs went for both of us.  This was a REALLY challenging year for both of us.  Luckily he didn’t like the new position and agreed a year later to move back to Dallas!)

As the Director of New Student Programs I was completely empowered to make the program my own.  I created a committee (more like herd) of about 40 stakeholders from across campus and set out to impact positive change in orientation.  When I became Director the office consisted of me, one coordinator and a part-time administrative assistant.  Over the course of the next few years I was able to grow my budget and grow the office to two assistant directors and a full-time administrative assistant.  This growth came as a result of collaboration, determination, persistence, assessment and more COLLABORATION.   Along the way, my supervisor was supportive, challenging and always encouraging.  It was quite a journey but gave me so much confidence in my ability to influence change.

When Dee announced that she was leaving SMU my world was about to change.  Not only did I get a new supervisor but also began to assume more responsibility.  I started to sit on the Behavioral Intervention Team and began to meet with first-years and sophomores that came up as students of concern.  I was moving away from direct responsibility for orientation and more into a supervisory role.  I was becoming the equivalent of an Assistant Dean.  I also started serving in the Senior Student Affairs Staff Duty rotation.  The Office of New Student Programs became New Student Orientation and Student Support to reflect some of the new responsibilities we took on.  Although I loved the new responsibilities, I faced challenges with my new supervisor’s style.  I managed up pretty effectively and was able to build a good relationship with her.  (that’s what I’m good at – building relationships)  Seeing how my supervisor treated other staff members and hearing about the struggles others had with her made it less appealing to go to work every day. 

My son was born in April 2009 and Jason and I thought it would be a good time to get closer to my family on the East Coast so that our son could grow up around grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.  Jason was quickly able to find another position within Lockheed Martin in King of Prussia, PA.  He moved to PA in January 2010 with our dog Dixie and I stayed in Dallas with Owen until the house sold or I found a new position.  The job market was much tougher than I thought.  Despite the large number of schools in the Philadelphia area there were no director level positions open.  I started to apply for Assistant Director positions and positions in other areas of higher education.  Nothing was panning out.  In June, the Director of First-Year Programs position at UC posted on higheredjobs.com and I thought “This job is mine.”  That is a common theme for me J  I interviewed for the job on July 13 and started on August 13.  Quick turnaround! 

I am now two hours from my entire family and loving life at small, private liberal arts institution (1800 students).  The students I work with are terrific and my colleagues are fantastic.  As much as I love Ursinus, SMU was home and working with Eddie Hull, Doug Hallenbeck, and Dee Siscoe made me the professional that I am. 

CSA Inteview #2 with Melissa Bryant

Our next guest on the USF CSA Blog is my dear friend, Melissa Becker Bryant. Melissa is the Director of First Year Programs at Ursinus College.  Welcome Missy!!

Missy, when you get a few minutes, please respond to the questions below. As was the case with our previous guest, Dave Roberts, this exercise is intended to help our students learn through the experiences of others in the field. There are 32 students enrolled in EDF 6938, however only a third of the students are expected to actively participate in a dialogue with you this coming week. Students in the class with the last name starting with G-O will be monitoring and engaging with you in this process. The other students in the class will monitor only this week's conversation. Thanks to all, in advance, for your participation!

Discussion starters:
1) Describe your professional path in the field. If there are aspects of your decision-making (in your career choices) that may inform how our students approach the beginning of their own professional employment, please share them. If there are things you'd have done differently, please explain them.

2) Describe some challenges you've faced in your work. Are there experiences you've had as a supervisor (or with a supervisor – of course, only positive comments if you talk about me as a past supervisorJ!! Hee Hee) that presented particular difficulty (or joy)? Are there challenging interactions with faculty, colleagues, students, or parents that have made lasting contributions to your learning?

3) What keeps you going? What are the best parts of the work, particularly any surprises you've experienced, ways in which the work was better or more fun than you expected?

4) What advice would you share with entering professionals?

Again, a portion of the students will be interacting with you over the course of the coming week. They will react to your observations and ask follow-up questions. Whatever time you can spare to respond to them would be greatly appreciated. A dialogue with you, in effect, is what I am seeking.

Thanks again Missy!! You’re the Best! Dee Siscoe