It’s a Grad School Life: Interview with ACPA President Gavin Henning Information This interview was conducted September 9, 2015 via Google Hangout. This is the transcript of that conversation. Shane Young & Gavin Henning If you have any questions regarding this interview, please contact Shane Young at [email protected]

Future of Higher Education Shane: Some say that Higher Education is slow to react to change… What are

some changes/trends that you foresee in Higher Education over the next 5 years? Ten years or more? Gavin: I think what we’ll see in the 5 years is the financial aid process will be

easier. That is one of the goals of Lamar Alexander, the Congressional chair of the Higher Education Reauthorization. That will be coming up in the next year. What I expect we’ll see is, I’m not sure I would use the term deregulation, but FAFSA will be a lot easier to use and thus the financial aid process will be easier. That’s one of his goals. And I also see, and this is interesting, but I think there will deregulation around financial aid or at least the process, but not one for higher education overall because the current Congress, actually a lot of folks are concerned about the cost of higher education and the return on investment on taxpayer dollars. I think there will be the continued push for accountability, but I’m not sure how that process is going to look or how much government is going to be a part of it. I suspect, at least based on what I read, that government bodies will continue to be gatekeepers of the process, I think that there will be some easier processes for financial aid for students, but still the same accountability for higher education. So I guess that’s kind of a change, but not a change. The other thing is, I’m not sure what the impact will be, but technology. It is moving so rapidly, I’m not even sure in two years what it will look like for higher education. I expect we’ll have more customization, of both academic and student services. A lot of what we do in student affairs

will be delivered through technology. I think we’ll be able to customize it for our needs as well. Right now we’re able to identify students who may be at risk based on their coursework, incoming GPA and things like that. We’ll be able to customize the college experience for students. I think they are expecting that. They can customize their phones and Spotify accounts; everything that they do they customize in the way they want. We have to figure out how we can do that, but in a way that does not take a huge amount of human resources to do. How can we rely on technology to do that? I think there will be much more customizable academic advising, personal counseling, and other similar programs because we’ll be able to deliver it technologically. I think there will be continual push to demonstrate the return on investment for student services. For instance we have seen the total dismantlement of student affairs division, reorganized under finance and administration because there was not a perceived value. They really perceived student affairs as student services that could be put in an administrative unit than a student life area. So I think that we need to do a better job demonstrating our impact on the education experience. One of the key ways we can do that is showing our impact on retention and graduation. And as we know, from the literature, the factors and variables that positively affect persistence, retention and graduation are things that we do in student affairs. Those are a few things I see on the horizon in higher education. Shane: How do you foresee grad programs and students preparing for that

future you just described? What courses will become fundamental, what skills will be most important? GH: Well I think that we’ll see more grad programs begin to use the ACPA/NASPA competencies as both competencies for the program and to craft their curriculum. We’re in the second draft; the 2015 draft was just released a couple weeks ago. They pretty much stay the same, but technology has been infused and some as mashed together. Programs might begin to use those a bit more. In my grad program, I am focusing on skills rather than content knowledge. When I look back at my grad program that I was in 91-93 and all the content that I learned then is not applicable today. The theories I learned are not applicable today. But the skills I learned around critical thinking, reflective thinking, problem solving, and team skills are what have continued. What I suspect we’ll see is the content being used as a vehicle for

skill development. For example in College Students in the United States class I’m teaching right now, in ten years all the states are going to change and we’ll need to adapt. We’re developing programs and services to meet the changing demographics and it’s different than what we had to do five years ago. It’s different than what we will be doing five years from now. But I am using that content as vehicle for them to critically think, reflectively think, and problem solve. Those are the skills all professionals will need in the future. The content, the problems, and the challenges are going to change but we still need to figure out how to solve and address them. In terms of specific courses: student characteristics, even though they will change, a theory course or a course on human development, assessment courses to demonstrate the effect that our programs have and to improve our programs and services, and I think we’ll continue to have advising and helping courses because that really the main role for many student affairs folks, at least those in the new to mid-level. Pretty much that’s what we do, advising whether it is through residence life, student activities, judicial affairs, or Greek life. It’s a lot of advising. The topics will remain the same, but the content will shift. Shane: It seems that you’re very positive about the future. It’s changing yes,

but we’re also preparing for it at the same time. Does that sound accurate? Gavin: Yes, and for us we are here for student success. Student affairs folk do

a lot to help students succeed. The faculty focuses on teaching the students content, but we are the ones getting them engaged outside the classroom and help them overcome their challenges.

Graduate Students and Professional Organizations Shane: I have a couple questions about graduate students and professional

organizations, mister President of ACPA. Why should graduate students be involved with professional organizations? What benefits are there for graduate students in professional organizations such as ACPA or even state affiliated organizations?

Gavin: I think there are two main ones. One is networking. When I think back

to my involvement in ACPA, I got involved in order to meet assessment professionals. This was at the beginning of the assessment movement. Now I feel like I know everyone in assessment. Because I got connected to a few people who were connected to others. It was this huge web and I was in the middle. If you think about this huge web and I am in the middle of it and there are these concentric circles around the web, because I am connecting people that are a part of this web. Because I got involved in the organization, I was also involved in activities where I connected to folks. I was able to plan national institutes where I was able to meet people. I became a commission chair where I met other commission chairs who are still my personal and professional friends. That got me connected to other things. Kathleen Kerr, past president of ACPA, she and I were commission chairs together. When she was thinking about who to reach out to when she was thinking about running for president two years ago, she reached out to me. If I hadn’t gotten involved in ACPA I would not be where I am today. The other thing, which is just as important, is professional development. By being involved and helping coordinate national institutes I have learned project management skills. By being a commission chair, I have learned to manage and motivate volunteers from all across the world. Because of our convention in Canada, I am learning more about First Nation people than I have ever learned. I’m learning more about the challenges of trans identified persons and undocumented students/professionals traveling outside of the U.S. In my involvement in ACPA, I have learned more than in that time than I have in any conference or any professional development I’ve done on campus in my last 22 years as a professional just because I’ve had access to that. It is very similar to your graduate assistantship insofar as I am doing it. I’m not sitting in a class or a conference room and just observing it or learning about it. I had to figure out how to coordinate the schedule of people in five different time zones and keep them motivated. How do we create the curriculum to do that? It is all those hands on professional development. Those are the two big pieces. I wish I would have gotten involved earlier because I would have been connected earlier. I didn’t get involved until I was in the field for about ten years. The state organizations are good ways for new professionals to get involved because they can volunteer and get involved on a smaller level. The

state organizations are mirrors of the national organizations and can act as stepping stones to get involved in bigger organizations. Shane: I had a conversation last week, who is from the New York area, but

lives in Pennsylvania, attends school in Ohio and he was amazed to learn that there are opportunities in Ohio. What advice would you give to students pursuing their degree out of their home state when it comes to joining professional organizations or attending conferences? Gavin: Lots in Ohio, OCPA is huge. I think what I would recommend that

they talk to professionals around them about what opportunities. They are the ones who have been there. They can say “hey, here are some opportunities to get involved.” Also, they can talk to graduate students and ask them how they want to get involved. They will be the ones asking “Do you want to get involved in ACPA, a regional of ACUHO-I?” It’s similar to the work we do with our students in giving them the tools to be successful. I would also suggest that folks play around with websites. You go on the ACPA website and you will find other ways to get involved just by browsing. Students can also volunteer as conventions, even national conventions. That’s a good way to get connected as well. Ask a lot of questions about how to get involved. Job Search and Marketing Shane: So I have a couple questions about this job search that happens to

occur at the end of every Masters’ program. This question actually comes from one of my peers, Brandi Hoffman. She was helping me sort through my thoughts last night so I would have coherent questions for you today! Is it okay to be split between different interests when job searching and marketing oneself, because I know that we all have had very diverse experiences, especially in our program where we have two practicums, three recommended, but is it okay to want to do Residence Life and Student Engagement and how do we go about doing that when applying and interviewing. Gavin: I think that is totally appropriate if you have a passion for each of

those. The one thing I see grad students and new professionals fail to do is tailor their cover letter and their resume to those different types of job. They

use the same cover letter and resume and because of that people don’t really know what their interest is. So think it is fine to do that, but you’re going to highlight different skills depending on the area. I think grad students should even be thinking about this at the institutional level. So tailoring it to the institution, so there might be things you want to highlight within the institution because they have a similar program. Maybe you were a hall director at a living learning center and the institution has a living learning center or focuses on living learning communities. You want to highlight that to demonstrate you may be a good fit there. But if the institution has different strengths you will want to highlight those different strengths. So I think that is going to be important. I talked to my grad students last night –one thing to think about is getting you out there. There are a lot of people applying for jobs. So how do you differentiate yourself? One of the ways to do that is doing what you’re doing right now, Shane. Blogging, being on Twitter, creating content is a way to differentiate oneself. So when you share a portfolio or a resume with an employer you can say “Hey, take a look at my blogs to see my thoughts” or “Look at some of the other things I have done.” I think that is what is really going to make a difference. That’s why it is important to get involved as a grad student because it will set you apart. And do the third practicum if you can or do a research project if you are able to do that. Think about how you can get active and differentiate yourself from the rest. And also follow your passion. I have some students in the last couple years apply for any job that was open. And because they didn’t have that passion, that passion did not come through. The stuff I am reading right now about people being influential and the biggest factor for them being influential that they are passionate about what they do. If you’re passionate about Residence Life it will show through when you apply for Residence Life jobs. But if you’re not passionate about Academic Advising and you apply to Academic Advising jobs- it won’t come through. So that goes back to your first question- as long as you have the passion for more than one interest- apply for those jobs, but if you do not have the passion keep it in mind that it might be a challenge or obstacle to getting a job in that area. I would really tell folks, don’t apply for everything out there, be selective, but do a really good job of preparing for those you select. I would also recommend to graduate students is look outside of your geographic area. What I saw with my Masters’ Students is that they

narrow their search. They say “I am going to live in New Hampshire or New England.” Well, New England probably has the highest number of colleges per square mile. But you’re limiting yourself from the whole nation. I did my Masters’ program in Michigan and I would have loved to stay in that area, but I did a national search. I ended up in New Hampshire. I’m actually glad that happened; I wouldn’t have met my wife or doing what I’m doing now if I hadn’t made that decision. We have to be willing to jump outside our comfort zone. I think some people have family or significant others affecting their decision, but I think pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone is really good for us. And you don’t have to stay in that area forever. Your first job is going to be around 3-5 years at the most. After that you might have enough experience to go to another geographic area. You have to be both open minded and intentional, if that makes any sense at all. Shane: No, it does. Speaking of intentional, I read your blog post Moving

from Serendipity to Intentionality in Student Learning, where you wrote about a time in June of 1993 when you were frustrated that your job search had not gone as well as you had hoped. Can you talk a little bit more about how you dealt with that? Or in hindsight, how you WISH you had dealt with it? Gavin: I was really angry and really frustrated. I felt that I was a really good

candidate and I saw my colleagues getting jobs that I didn’t think were as good as I was. I think it was really about fit. I wish I had been a little more patient and trusted the process. That’s what ended up happening. I was the last my cohort to get a job. It’s interesting because out of a cohort of 25 only about 5 of us are still in Higher Education. That’s interesting. And everything worked out. In a stroke of luck, because a hall director at the University of New Hampshire left who had already committed to staying; at that point there were really few candidates left in the pool and they were really interested in me. The match worked out well. Everything I learned to be a hall director at the University of New Hampshire is what got me interested in assessment and doing what I am doing now. So if I would have taken a job somewhere else, there were jobs I was offered elsewhere that I was not very interested in that, would have put me on a completely different trajectory. Be patient. If you don’t end up getting a job, think about what you can continue to build up your skills. My other option, if I did not find a job, was to be a

manager at J Crew because I had some experience there. I could have been doing that for a year. There is nothing wrong with that. If I wanted to still get into higher education, I had to figure out what I could do in the meantime to ensure I got to that point. For example staying active in professional organizations is one way. You don’t have to be at a college or university to be involved. Continue reading, take classes, so if students do not get jobs right out the gate and continue to find ways to make yourself marketable. And I’ve learned as I have gotten older that a lot of the job search is related to networking. And so when I went to do the job search a couple years ago, I realized that out of the 75 jobs I applied for I knew individuals at 60 of the institutions. That did not guarantee me an interview or a job, but it gave me the opportunity to talk to someone about the position. I felt like I had a lot more information. That’s why the networking is so critical piece because especially when moving to mid and senior level positions a lot of the job search is related to who you know. Also in terms of people letting you know that jobs are available and that they will recommend you to their supervisor or hiring manager. There is a lot that happens through that networking process to help facilitate the job search process. Not so much at the new professional level, so you really have to focus on the marketability piece. But building those contacts and networks up as you move forward in your career is critical. Shane: Thank you so much for doing it. Gavin: It was fun! I’m looking forward to the blog post!