Organizational and Human Resources

This competency area recognizes that student affairs professionals bring personal strengths while holding an expectation for growth as managers by challenging themselves to learn new skills in personnel hiring, supervision, motivation, and formal evaluation; conflict resolution; and management of organizational resources; financial, personnel, and physical.

Reflection

I initially gave myself a pre-foundational to foundational rating in this competency area owing to my non-exposure to course material and lack of experience in U.S. higher education environments. The organizational and human resources competency is built on assessment, advocacy and networking; skill development; hiring and staffing; supervision, communication and conflict resolution; crisis and risk management; resource management, stewardship and sustainability and technology. This area covers the knowledge expectation and ethical operation of a student affairs division in terms of resource management at a managerial level. While I have not had supervisory or managerial experience, I have had the opportunity to manage the students in the cohort I work with as well as official resources I have had access to with a disposition to provide support within an ethical scope. 

Knowledge of institutional resources for the purpose of referral, knowledge of ethical standards to ensure personal and divisional compliance, and knowledge of crisis resolution techniques with a disposition to respond urgently to student needs are key tenets of this competency area. They are central to the creation of a student-centered posture which is capable of increasing students' confidence in the division. Additionally, going by the diverse student population in today's higher education institutions, every unit of student affairs should prioritize demographic and experiential diversity to endear students. When students know there is someone they can speak to who can relate to their experiences and perspectives and someone with whom they share similarities, it can provide a boost in the student-staff working relationship.

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In my development within this competency area, I have gained knowledge about the academic structure of higher education institutions and the role of academic leaders, the importance of the institutional mission, budgeting, crisis management and conflict resolution.  As I learn and grow within the OHR competency, I have assessed my knowledge and skills and made the following observations:

1. I am at the foundational level in Hiring and staffing; Supervision, Communication and Conflict Resolution and Resource Management. I do not have work experience in these areas, learning about them through course materials and class discussions provided the exposure and facilitated the understanding I now have. I recognize that there are policies that guide hiring, supervision and resource management that institutional leaders must be familiar with and be able to implement in practice, while possessing the ability to interpret those policies to others.

2. I am at the intermediate level in Skill Development, Crisis and Risk Management and Technology. I am a person who values learning and continuous growth and encourages others to do same. I can effectively identify skill and knowledge gaps, design professional development plans, develop resources for training, facilitate training and provide constructive and timely feedback. I have exhibited this in my professional experience in my work with EducationUSA among colleagues, students, and high school teachers and counselors over the years. As I learn and grow in the work that I do, I assess myself after each program and after each application cycle to enhance my efficiency towards the achievement of institutional goals. This has led to the addition of new programs, restructuring of existing ones, development of new resources, adjustment of timing with some annual trainings and the inclusion of student feedback on the support they receive. The simulation at Cary University provided an immersive learning experience for me and grounded me in crisis management through my work with the CIRT committee and my role as the Director for International Education. I am able to collaboratively prepare for a variety of emergency situations (human, environmental and facility) by developing emergency operation plans with the guidance of the Department of Education’s resources on crisis management planning and assess the effectiveness of those plans. I also have the ability to use technology to maximize efficiency, to identify new technology needs and incorporate emerging technology appropriately and as allowed by institutional policies.  The pandemic provided and continues to provide opportunities to grow in the use of technology. Moving the college application program I work in from a fully physical to a fully virtual and now hybrid format has been a learning curve. I have explored different platforms, discarded some and incorporated some for meetings, testing, information dissemination, appointment scheduling, training, and engagement. Google suite, Zoom and Calendly have been my most used platforms for their flexibility, efficiency and ease of use. I will continue to explore new technology to enhance my productivity.

3. Assessment, Advocacy and Networking is a growth area for me. I need to work on understanding the roles of institutional partners and adversaries, situation-appropriate communication strategies with various groups, developing alliances for the purpose of achieving institutional goals and assessing networks, alliances and staff. More exposure to resources in this sub-area and professional development through conferences and webinars are my growth strategy.

Highlights for me in my engagement with this competency were the immersive scenarios with budgeting and crisis management, the professional development in the area of conflict resolution through the lens of personality types, and the power of framing. I understand different budget types and the influence of institutional priorities on budgets, the intricacies of crisis preparedness, conflict resolution styles and strategies, the influence of personality types on selected approaches to conflict resolution and the power of multi-framing and its role in crisis aversion within conflict situations.

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As a new practitioner, I look forward to contributing to an equitable work place by applying the knowledge I am learning in this program to create ethical, student-focused environments that foster student learning and growth, professional advancement among colleagues and collaboration between student affairs and other student-facing services.

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