Senior Days

As many know, in college when you play athletics during your entire tenure, the day eventually comes where it will be the last set of games played. Most places call this senior day, a day in recognition of the hard work put in over the years. During the actual game there is usually a special recognition that goes on. UC Davis is no different, and as I am currently sitting waiting for the Davis v. Irvine game to begin, I am able to take it all in.

For these seniors their numbers (or initials if they are a team manager) ate sprayed around the logo. There are large posters, one per senior located a top the home dugout. Finally at the back of the stands behind the home dugout there is a table with journals that are engraved with the name, and number of the player. These journals are used by fans to leave encouraging/supportive messages for these students who have given so much of their time, and dedication.

These gestures are simple, but heartfelt!

One Done!

The first week is officially complete! Lots of information, and new projects await! Cannot wait to full you in, but I'm going celebrate a success first! You'll hear from me later this weekend about all my adventures. Till then enjoy these photos:

Connecting to students though a blended orientation

UC Davis is trying something new this year, and it is part of the reason I am here. Each year Davis, like other institution takes in students from out-of-state, and more importantly from other nations. So we are implementing a new program to meet student's needs. For these students, the challenge of coming in for a regular (July/August) orientation presents a challenge. Simply put, it costs a lot of money to travel to campus for three days, and then have to come back a month later for the start of the semester in September. In addition, for some international students, their visas only allow the students to be in the United States a maximum of 30 days prior to the start of class, which does not fit into the current design of the typical program. 

So the orientation program is adding a new blended session. The students will register for "International & National (Out-of-State) Orientation" which will take place during two phases. The first of which is online remote advising via the web and phone to register for classes, and get to know important importation prior to arriving. The second aspect starts the Wednesday prior to normal student move in (which occurs on a Friday). The students who register and qualify for this program will move into their housing assignment for the fall, and spend the next three days going through their own unique orientation programs that are intertwined with activities that lead into the 'Fall Welcome Week.'

The students will be led through programs that the normal orientations sessions also receive such as interacting with their specific college's Dean, and way-finding through campus with Orientation leaders. However, there is some specific information that International students need to receive that National students do no (i.e. Visa information (Difference between F-1 & J-1, employment concerns, etc.). During these times the two groups will split. The international students will go through information sessions pertinent to themselves, while the national students go through information about downtown Davis, public transportation, and other aspects of information for students to know for those who have not lived in California. I recognize that this information will also be important to International Students, and the supervisors are working to ensure that these students will receive this information though personal appointments with their Orientation Leaders, who have time to do so because of the students already being registered for classes.

One aspect that I brought up to my supervisor is that the other students have a greater level of ability to interact with students for a longer period of time, and for students who are not from California, the transition may be harder because of students not knowing anyone else. Also, this session has less registrants than a regular session and should be leveraged in ways to increase the bonds between students.

To accomplish this I recommended that the Orientation leaders start hosting chats/discussion boards/etc. as soon as possible for these students so that they can ease in the student's transition to college in a remote setting prior to the student attending college. The issue is how to accomplish this? At some institutions I Have seen blackboard used, at others Facebook. Unfortunately, Davis does not use Blackboard, and my supervisor challenged me by stating that many internal countries do not have access to social media (especially not Facebook in China).

So how this will be accomplished is still TBD, but I will let you know when I figure it out. In the meantime I am still working on questions/prompts for the orientation leaders to use that will increase communication and bonds between these remote students. 

Here is a video on the power of social media:

To teambuild or not to teambuild?

 

I will first and foremost affirm the fact that the thoughts on team-building & Ice breaker activities are a constantly challenged aspect by many. To some they are worthless, pointless, a waste of time, and should in no way shape or form be done. Some, on the other hand love them, they see them as an outlet to foster relationships, strengthen the work of the teams, celebrate differences, learn about others, challenge oneself & others, and absolutely necessary to the work being done. 

Of course this conversation is also happening within organizations on college campuses, including within the orientation program here at Davis. As mentioned previously, the students at Davis are extremely driven, and work very hard to achieve academic greatness. I was talking about this with my supervisor about how the students interact within the orientation team, and was informed that a majority of the work is focused around learning the academic material to be utilized for advising sessions during the program. Moreover, my supervisor added that during last year's orientation program the students were led through team building activities that elsewhere have worked effectively. In the feedback received about the team building & icebreaker activities the students self reported that some of them felt that the activities were a wast of time, and that they were below them.

There is a struggle with this fact about the balance between focus and team-building. On one hand the students are in their role to do a job, a specific one at that, and therefore must know all the material. On the other hand, if the group does not know each other in depth enough, or trust each other enough the group's overall impact will be limited. So although there is this struggle the supervisors must still accomplish both aspects of material and group development, while working to bring all the members full circle, and together as a group.

There lies the rub!

Over these next two months I want to work to find ways to integrate both aspects and hopefully be able to make a positive change that will benefit the common good.

It is important to note that this is not something that is limited to working in education, these issues present themselves in the public, private, and non-profit sectors as well! If you have any ideas on team-building activities, or ways to integrate some aspects feel free to comment on this post to help inform each others professional practices.

Hello.....What?

Moving into any new community can be difficult. Especially moving onto a college campus that is still in session, like it is here at Davis. Even so, there are typically some aspects that one can use to start getting to know others such as keeping an open door when at home in the residence hall, and saying "hello" to those on the walking paths or at events.

Unfortunately, this has been somewhat hard to do, and I know that I have not been here too long, and would like to see how this changes over time. I have kept my door open, but with apartment style rooms, students do not have to come out often to accomplish their needs, and can stay in the rooms. I have had two wonderful student neighbors who stopped by on my first day when I moved in, but there has not been much outside of this.

In addition, students here are EXTREMELY focused, more than I have seen elsewhere. They are here to accomplish their goals, and will relax a little more on the weekends. Typically this is good, but I wonder if students feel isolated at times. It takes a more intentional effort in the work of the professionals to reach out and get to know the students around campus.  Moreover, the bikes do not seem to help. The students are zipping from place to place, rarely in packs, and breeze by each other. I have of course been saying "Howdy" to students I pass on the bike roads who are walking or riding the opposite direction, but most of the time their reactions are not verbal. The students tend to have a look of bewilderment, and the thought of 'are you talking to me?'

I know that with this being my 5th day on campus, my 3rd day working that some of this may be partially due to my transition. However, it is essential that I notice my assumptions, and then over the summer continue to analyze them by working to confirm or disprove them.

Bikes, Bikes, & More Bikes

City of Davis Bike Path Map

An interesting fact about Davis, CA is that, according to everyone I have met Davis has the honor of having the most bicycles per capita in the United States. This is an interesting, and unique fact. The staff and students alike both tend to frequently bike around campus, and the community. As I sit in my office and look out my first floor windows I am staring at 6 bikes up against my building. These bikes have not been here for long, they have come and gone over the past hours as students have been traveling around to fulfill their various needs. Even I was provided with a bicycle to use during my stay in Davis. Granted I do not have a car, and the only other mode of transportation would have been by foot to traverse this large institution and surrounding community.

Coming in I was worried about having a bike to use, it has been since middle school that I have continuously used a bicycle on a regular basis. Moreover, I have ALWAYS been nervous about biking on roads with car traffic. Bicycles would tend to have to travel in the same lane as the direction they are moving, and having cars at high speeds be passing me is quite nerve-racking.

My bike, a California Cruiser w/ Pedal Breaks

Luckily, this is not the case for almost all of Davis. Cars enter campus through a couple main access points, and are then stopped by either parking lots, or gates preventing access to the internal aspects of campus. Even so, there are still roads throughout campus, but like Back to the Future, cars do not need them. Instead they are for bicycles, yes bicycle only roads throughout campus! This makes intersections interesting, anyone who has ever ridden a bike can attest to the fact that it is much easier to maintain motion, than it is to start it. So to mitigate this concern, the University has built in roundabouts for the students to use. Similar to those used in the UK, entering traffic goes counter clockwise after yielding to those already in the circle. This way traffic does not stop, it rather continues, and makes travel easier. Sometimes students take these traffic circles at high speeds, but that is a different issue.

Below are some other pictures from campus, downtown, and the bicycle map's safety information for your enjoyment:

A Campus Bicycle Circle

Bicycle signals can be found in different areas adjacent to campus, and are attached to the regular traffic signals.

The US Bicycling Hall of Fame, located in Downtown Davis

Gig 'em Ag...Wait a second...

During my undergraduate experience at Texas A&M I learned this life changing fact, it is an honor to be an Aggie, something I would never change for the world. I was instilled with a passion to 'bleed maroon' that is part of who I am as a person. 

As it turned out from my initial investigation into possible internships, the students at UC Davis are also 'Aggies,' just not maroon, or from Texas. Both insitutions were founded in part with a heavy agriculture focus. For Texas A&M it was half of it's focus, with the other half in 'mechanics.' As for UC Davis, agriculture was the primary focus of the founding of the institution, and because of such both school's students have always been reffered to as 'Aggis.'

First and foremost I will always be a Texas Aggie, but being able to work at a large public institution like Davis, and  be surrounded by 'Aggies,' is not to shabby. 


So for the time being it will not be so much of "Gig 'em Aggies," as it will be "Go Ags." At least for the summer. :)

What is NODA?

Something I forgot to mention is what exactly I am doing out in California. Students who are in Graduate school for Higher Education & Student Affairs programs tend to participate in a summer internship during the one summer between the two years of the graduate program. There are a couple organizations that provide such internships, each has their own focus on different areas of the campus community, meeting the graduate student needs of gaining preparation that will guide them professionally to inform their future practice, and future job searches. One such organization that coordinates these processes is the National Orientation Director's Association (NODA). With over 4,000 college campuses in the United States alone, there are a lot of opportunities for graduate students to assist different campus' for a limited amount of time, this is where NODA internships come in, specifically for internships that are concerned with Orientation Programs.

College orientation is always 'organized chaos,' it is the coordination of many campus offices, over multiple sessions, selection/training of student staffs, marketing to new students, assigning students to sessions, providing housing opportunities, meals for hundreds of people, crisis response care, and other aspects that all go into a giant list of tasks to be completed, and then repeated per session. This is where professional student affairs orientation staffs come into the picture, to assist with this burden they bring in interns (like myself) to help accomplish their goals.

The process is highly selective, most graduate students in Higher Education & Student Affairs programs across the country are typically applying into this pool of limited spots. I am humbled to be at UC Davis, and look forward to my entire experience. 

I will be covering what I will be doing as well as a background to UC Davis' Orientation program, and the program's needs over the coming posts.

Stay tuned.

Finally Arrived!!!

I have finally begun my anticipated work for the University of California Davis. I arrived on Saturday May 19, 2012 after closing down both of my residence halls at Baldwin-Wallace College, thousands of miles away. I arrived into the beautiful Sacramento airport where one of my supervisors, Anthony Volkar was graciously waiting to assist me with my move. Besides for assisting with the general move-in assistance, Anthony ended up taking me on a car tour of all of Sacramento, downtown Davis, and the campus. This is something that has been helpful in calming nerves about living in a new area of the country for the summer.  This must be passed forward to any intern I ever have, it makes the first day that much more welcoming. Here are some great pictures of what I was able to see that I took with my phone.

Sacramento Bridge

California State Capitol Building

UC Davis Water Tower

Davis' Weekly Farmer's Market

Farmer's Market