Talking Stick - May/June 2010 - 72

SNAPSHOT

DAWN SNYDER
…WE NEED TO BE LEARNINGCENTERED AND TO HAVE DATA – GOOD DATA – TO BASE OUR DECISIONS ON AND TO DEMONSTRATE OUR PROFESSION’S PLACE AND PURPOSE.
What’s the ﬁrst thing you do when you get into the ofﬁce each morning?
I usually take off my shoes. I don’t particularly care for them. So unless they need to be on, they aren’t. I also make sure the dog gate from my ofﬁce is closed. My ofﬁce and apartment are separated by a door, and I’m quite sure that my dog, being the terribly loyal companion he is, would prefer to hang out with me in the ofﬁce instead of staying in the apartment.

What do you wish was different about your job?
More time and space in my schedule to think, reﬂect, and create. Having that time is how I am able to develop thoughtful, effective ways of running a building or revamping paraprofessional training or creating a social justice workshop series. Currently, other things always take precedence. Hearing conduct cases in a timely manner and answering e-mail are important and necessary, but I would argue that time to reﬂect on our work is equally important. Without that time and space, we don’t do better work.

What’s the biggest issue for the students on your campus right now?
Managing all the expectations placed on them and the lack of sleep that comes with all the stress. Most of the students I work with are traditionalaged ﬁrst-year students who are just beginning to ﬁgure out who they are. So between classes, pressures from home, learning how to be adults who have more freedom than ever before, building and sustaining relationships, and coping with the missteps and mistakes that come with being in college, they can easily get overwhelmed.

New social technology and media like texting and Twitter: How has it helped your communication with staff and students? Is there a downside to this type of communication?
I’m on Twitter, but I don’t use it as a communication tool with students. I ﬁnd texting useful. Like with most technology, downsides exist. For me, the key with texting is to remember what it’s good at: getting small, timely bits of information out to those who need it – not conversing. My students don’t always remember that, but I try to.

What’s the biggest issue you see facing the profession right now?
Learning Reconsidered and Learning Reconsidered 2 should have revolutionized student affairs, and in some places they have. But I began to notice a divide in graduate school, a divide between those who embrace an outcomes-based, learning- and learnercentered approach to our work in student affairs and those who have not or don’t know how. Higher education is changing, and we need to be learning-centered and to have data – good data – to base our decisions on and to demonstrate our profession’s place and purpose.

What’s your biggest challenge on campus?
Budget, budget, budget.

Best session/speaker/book you’ve been impressed by?
Session: Patricia King and Marcia Baxter Magolda’s session about engaging students in reﬂective conversations at the joint ACPA/NASPA meeting in 2007. Speaker: Kip Fulbeck. Book: It’s a tie between Making Their Own Way by Marcia Baxter Magolda and Shaping the College Curriculum by Lisa Lattuca and Joan Stark.

What makes your campus unique?
Oregon State is a land-, sea-, space-, and sun-grant institution, and that means something here. The people of Oregon matter to the researchers, faculty, staff, and students of Oregon State.

Last meal at a campus dining hall?
Ethiopian groundnut chicken stew with brown rice.

Favorite campus traditions?
The New Student Walk into Convocation. It’s a great way to start the year.

What resource can’t you live without?
My colleagues at Oregon State and around the world. They sustain, inspire, and challenge me.

When was the last time you awoke to a phone call from work in the middle of the night?
Honestly, I don’t remember. Maybe a month ago when I was on duty last? I don’t think I even had to get out of bed.
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TALKING STICK

DAWN SNYDER is a resident director at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Who would you like to see featured? Send your suggestions to camille@acuho-i.org.

Talking Stick - May/June 2010

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