Running head: AREAS OF GROWTH

Learning Outcome Narrative: Areas of Growth

Alexa Forster

Seattle University

April 10, 2015

AREAS OF GROWTH 1 Integrative Theme

In reflecting back on my SDA graduate experience, I grew drastically in many ways. When

thinking about this assignment on the area(s) in which I grew the most during my time as a student

at SU, I determined that my integrative theme was navigating political landscapes and

multicultural responsiveness. There were several learning outcomes that contributed to my

learning in these two areas and they are listed below.

Prior to enrolling in this program, although I had experience working in a department with

a large hierarchical structure, I had little understanding of what politics in an organization meant,

even smaller of an understanding on how to navigate that. As far as multicultural responsiveness,

being enrolled in the SDA program really reframed my understanding of social justice and being

able to look at all of the work I do from that framework.

Learning Outcomes

The following learning outcomes most closely contributed to my growth in navigating

political landscapes and increasing my multicultural responsiveness:

1. Understanding the foundations and emerging nature of the Student Affairs profession and higher education

4. Understanding and fostering diversity, justice, and a sustainable world formed by a global perspective and Jesuit Catholic tradition

9. Understanding issues surrounding law, policy, finance, and governance, and 10. Establishing and enhancing professional identity

Learning Outcome 1: Artifacts E & H

Understanding the foundations and emerging nature of the student affairs profession and

higher education was essential to learning how to navigate politics. The three dimensions that

encompassed this learning outcome for me were (1) understanding the history of higher

education, (2) understanding of the historical context of student affairs, and (3) understanding

AREAS OF GROWTH 2 why student affairs is an essential field now and in the future. Artifact H, the NASPA competency,

showed my growth in this particular area of education over the course of my two years in the

program. I knew very little about the history of higher education or student affairs when I began

this program, but SDAD 577: Foundations SDAD 576: Leadership and Governance were the two

courses in particular that helped broaden my knowledge of this learning outcome. The Leadership

I and II courses also contributed to my learning in this area. Artifact E, my presentation on gender

identity and trans* students that I presented at the University of Washington, spoke to my

articulation of this outcome. The presentation was focused narrowly on the history of trans*

student access in higher education as well as the integral role that student affairs professionals can

have in advocating and creating access for marginalized student populations. Understanding the

emerging nature of the student affairs profession helps give context to understanding politics that

are in play on college campuses. My professional work at the UW has given me the time and space

to really understand politics and see them play out live. While the SDA courses and artifacts

helped me make sense of institutional politics, being on the ground in a large department with a

hierarchical ladder was probably the most valuable experience in terms of being able to navigate

political landscapes.

Learning Outcome 4: Artifacts B, C1, & E

Understanding and fostering diversity justice and a sustainable world formed by a global

perspective and Jesuit Catholic tradition plays exceptionally well into my area of growth being

multicultural responsiveness. The three dimensions that help me make sense of this learning

outcome are (1) awareness of my personal identities and privilege, (2) a focus on holistic

education, and (3) fostering multicultural responsiveness for myself and others. Being a student at

SU has opened my mind to reframing the way I think about education and really being astute to

AREAS OF GROWTH 3 the different people and populations that are present on our campuses. Because social justice in

particular is so important to the SU campus, I felt as though this learning outcome was fulfilled in

many of the courses that I took while here including, most notably, in EDUC 515: Multicultural

Perspectives, EDUC 5200: Social Justice, and SDAD 578: Theory, Research and Practice. My

multicultural responsiveness and developing responsible student citizens was further enhanced

through my work as a course instructor at UW for my internship as well as the opportunity to

present various presentations during my time in the SDA program. Artifact B, my mission

statements, was an example of my commitment to educating the whole person and fostering

diversity as a professional. This plays in to my continued pursuit of multicultural responsiveness in

my future career. In addition to multicultural competence, I want to instill the importance of

thinking critically about knowledge gained both inside and outside of the classroom as well as

being able to make meaning of what they are learning. Artifact C1 displayed my understanding of

multicultural responsiveness and diversity through a theory integration paper. I was able to

synthesize two theories that focused on racial identity and then articulate its impact on the

awareness of my own identity. This spoke to the thought that in order to help individuals grow,

educators need to participate in their own self-exploration to better understand themselves and

then work collectively toward helping others do the same (Evans et al., 2010, p. 270).

Additionally, this artifact displayed my ability to take research and make meaning of this

information by translating it to my professional work outside of the classroom. Lastly, artifact E,

my presentation on gender identity and trans* students on college campuses, allowed me to

foster multicultural awareness for others in talking about a marginalized student population that

too few people are aware about. This presentation allows students to learn about how they can

impact themselves and their community by learning more about a sub-population that many are

AREAS OF GROWTH 4 rather unfamiliar with. This increased my personal understanding of multicultural responsiveness

because of the amount of research that I conducted to learn about this student population and

resources available to them on campuses.

Learning Outcome 9: Artifacts E, H, & J

Understanding issues surrounding law, policy, finance, and governance is a learning

outcome that greatly contributed to me learning about navigating political landscapes and

understanding policy and law on university campuses. The three dimensions of this learning

outcome that I picked out were (1) understanding how institutional type affects policy, (2)

awareness of hierarchical structures in higher education and how to navigate them, and (3)

understanding of higher education law. This was a topic area I knew very little about before

entering the SDA program. There were two classes in particular that contributed to an expansive

amount of the knowledge I gained and those were SDAD 580: Higher Education Law and SDAD

576: Leadership & Governance. SDAD 576 really helped me understand political structures and

how they can look different across different institutional types and SDAD 580 highlighted the

importance of knowing the law and how to conduct oneself as a professional in order to avoid

getting in trouble with the law. Understanding policy and governance also happened a great deal

in my professional practice at UW by way of understanding the organizational chart of my

department and the university and being well versed in housing policies. Artifact E, a presentation

on gender identity, allowed me to grow in understanding policy on campuses around trans* and

gender non-conforming students. I also learned through developing that presentation the barriers

that exist for these students by way of politics at various institution types. Artifact H, my NASPA

competency, shows my tremendous growth in the area of navigating politics, law, and governance

during my time in the SDA program. There is significant growth from the first time the analysis was

AREAS OF GROWTH 5 completed in Fall 2013 and when it was taken recently in Winter 2015. Lastly, artifact J, the career

development guide I created for SU Athletics, is an example of understanding policy and having to

navigate politics. Within Division I Athletics, there is significant NCAA that is crucial to know when

providing any resource to student-athletes. This project required me to know who to meet with

and navigate various departments in order to (1) gather all of the correct information and (2) to

have the guides printed for all of the student-athletes on the SU campus.

Learning Outcome 10: Artifacts A, B, F, I, & K

Establishing and enhancing my professional identity greatly contributed to my better

understanding of both navigating political landscapes and multicultural competence. The three

dimensions of this learning outcome that spoke to me were (1) understanding how to articulate

professional identity, (2) making meaning of that professional identity, and (3) understanding the

fluidity of professional identity. Both areas of my growth contributed to defining and enhancing

this identity. I am a firm believer that every course I took at SU, every internship and professional

experience I had, and frankly every single artifact and product of this program in some way shaped

my professional identity. If I were to single out a couple of courses that did this, I would say that

SDAD 578: Theory, Research, and Practice, EDAD 570: Leadership I and SDAD 5900: Capstone did

this the most. There were many artifacts that display how I enhanced my professional identity and

grew during my program. First, Artifact A, my resume, is place in which I articulated my identity

through my experiences. In regards to navigating politics and multicultural responsiveness, there

are several presentations and experiences in my professional work that have contributed to these

areas of growth. Artifact B, my mission statements, was another area in which I named my growth

and focus on developing students holistically and with an awareness of diversity in the world.

Artifact F, my letters of promise, shows the perception of my growth from both a professional

AREAS OF GROWTH 6 colleague and a fellow peer in the SDA program. Artifact I, my 5-year professional development

plan, doesnt speak necessarily to my growth while in the program, but emphasizes my desire to

continue growing particularly in the realm of multicultural competence and being a socially just

leader. Lastly, artifact K, my portfolio assessment, articulated my growth during this process,

including having the space and time to make meaning of my learning while here at Seattle U. As I

stated above, every opportunity I have had and will have can, in some way, contribute to the

enhancement of my professional identity and development in navigating politics and becoming a

socially just leader.

Implications for Future Practice

While I grew immensely during my time as a student in the SDA program in the areas of

navigating political landscapes and multicultural responsiveness, these are area that I will need to

continue to grow in throughout my whole career in order to be a competent professional.

Especially if/when I were to go to a different institution, the political landscape would need to be

completely re-learned as it varies so much from campus to campus. Multicultural responsiveness

will always be an area of significant growth, but an area for growth for me. Because of the

systemic privilege I carry, I need to be diligent about further unpacking what that means for me,

but also doing all I can to not only foster diversity on college campuses, but do my part to

dismantle systemic oppression. That is a tall order to fill, but one that I am absolutely committed

to.

AREAS OF GROWTH 7

References

Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010). Racial Identity

Development. Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice

(2ed., pp. 252-271). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.