We are all a Piece of the Puzzle

In my role as Assessment and Systems Administrator in Student Academic Affairs at the University of North Dakota, my position description states that the person in this position “is responsible for providing leadership and direction to the assessment needs of the departments within Student Academic Services. This person will assist the departments to identify student needs, measure student satisfaction, program effectiveness, and assess student learning.” As I pondered my topic for this article, I began to reflect on my career journey in Student Affairs and how I ended up in my current position, most likely the position I will retire from. Assessment isn’t where I started or where I thought I would ever end up but here I am, loving every minute of it.

However, as I reflected on this journey, I had a moment of panic! Wait a minute! I started in Student Affairs to work and make an impact on students, and now here I sit developing student learning outcomes, coordinating a software retention program, and helping other departments assess their impact on student learning and retention. I am no longer working with students and I have deviated from my original career goal. (Yes, I know it seems odd that I have only realized this, but it shows how much I like what I am doing. It has been a slow but progressive process that I followed blissfully.)  How did I get here?

Let me back up and start at the beginning of my journey. I graduated with a Masters in Educational Psychology and Counseling (similar to Educational Leadership) in 1989 from the University of South Dakota. I worked for two years in the Financial Aid Office of the University of South Dakota as the student loan processor (in the old days of typewriters and carbon-copy forms). From there, after a one year stint in private vocational rehabilitation, I worked for two years in academic advising at a small tribal college, Dull Knife Memorial College, in Lame Deer, Montana. My journey brought me to Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1994 and I took the first job available as a case manager with adults with mental illness at our regional human services center. This “until I find another temporary job” lasted eleven years at which time I decided I wanted, and needed, to get back into the academic world working with students. I came to the University of North Dakota as a Learning Specialist in 2005. During my time here, I have instructed developmental reading and study skills courses, met with students regarding study skills, advised my own load of undeclared students, and supervised at the Associate Director level.

I loved being back in a college setting; the energy and future-focus of students re-energized me and I felt that I had again found the niche that I had originally been looking for as I started my career path. As I moved forward in my career here at UND, I began to work more and more with assessment, early-alert, and programs to support student retention. As a result of a reorganization, I started my current position in August, 2015.  My new duties are focused on assessment and support of our student retention software, therefore my student contact has been reduced from teaching and advising 120+ students, to very little contact with students other than the student employees that work in my office and students I see as I walk across campus.

Do I miss the intense student contact? Most definitely! I miss the conversations, problem-solving, academic planning, and excitement of these young people who are our future. I find myself, at times, a bit envious of those individuals who still teach, advise, and work closely with students in one capacity or another. As I reflected on this and truly realized that I have diverted from my original career goal of working closely with students, I ask myself why, then, am I so happy with what I am doing? First, I have always loved numbers, formulas, statistics, and technology. Second, I get to play around with systems, am learning how to create dashboards in Excel, and am feeling fulfilled when others express appreciation for the help I am providing in their assessment efforts. Third, everything I do, every minute of every hour of every day comes back to the student:

1.       Helping departments assess their learning goals and how to better evaluate their programs helps students.

2.       Continually finding new ways to motivate faculty and staff to use our retention software helps students.

3.       Creating dashboards that allow staff and administrators drill down to the numbers helps students.

4.       Reaching out to high-achieving scholars who are struggling academically and who may not know where to go helps students.

This is why I love working at an institution such as the University of North Dakota. Every position on this campus, whether it is the cashier at one of the dining centers, a resident assistant, an advisor, an instructor, a custodian, etc. impacts students. Our Interim Vice President for Student Affairs declares “We are all everyday superheroes.” Some of us are more visible than others but all of us add a piece to the puzzle that lifts and supports our students. Our roles may change and some days we may be a corner or edge piece, and on other days, an inside piece. When one piece is missing, the picture isn’t quite whole and the void is quite apparent.

I believe that many of us, especially those on the back lines, do not realize the many ways that we impact student success.  Some of the puzzle pieces that might not be as visible but which are equally important are:

1.       The kind person answering the phone in One Stop Student Services;

2.       the apples and snacks provided by a student support office during finals week;

3.       the tutor who takes extra time helping a panicked student understand physics;

4.       the union extending its hours during finals week;

5.       a study-a-thon on the Sunday before finals week (free food!);

6.       a custodian helping a student push a car out of a snowbank;

7.       the university police jump starting a car in the sub-zero weather of the Northern Plains;

8.       the Assistant Vice President who works tirelessly on committees to develop initiatives to help students;

9.       the cashier at Marketplace who helps a student dig through a garbage receptacle to find a lost student ID;

10.   our hardworking colleagues in institutional research and the Registrar’s Office who provide us with data, sometimes after a desperate email or phone call;

11.   the resident assistant who provides solace and support to a homesick student;

and

12.   the Assessment & Systems Administrator who uses data and a retention software to outreach to students.

I am proud of my story and excited to see what the rest of my journey holds. Will I retire out of this position? Maybe, maybe not. But as long as I keep my passion for student success alive and well, I will retire happily and know that I made a difference along the way. I will continue to relish my piece of the puzzle called “Student Success!”