Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 59

to give each facet of my life the time it
needs.

Hyatt: My supervisors have been
supportive. I do not get any time off
or flex time to work on my degree. I
take the time from my personal life to
support my responsibilities. Financially
it is a difficult hit to our family yet one
that will pay off in the long run.

Smith: My supervisor was incredibly
supportive and allowed me to flex my
schedule during this time. I wished
that I had received financial support
from my institution. Even though my
supervisor tried to have professional
development funds set aside for my
program, it was not allowed. So I did
what many do and used student loans
to pay for the majority of my program.
Talking Stick: What part of the degree
program experience do you find
yourself - or anticipate finding yourself
- most often referring to in your
current work?

Stark: Data analysis and research
methods. I currently work at an
institution that does quite a bit of data
analytics, and being able to sit at those
tables and understand that kind of
research is incredibly valuable.

Smith: We read a great deal of material
on organizational structure and change,
and it has really come in to play in
my day to day. Also the research I did
for my dissertation gave me a better
understanding of research as a whole
and how to qualify and quantify data.
In housing, we are often asked for
data to prove our work, and having
been through a process where I had
to use data to prove theory has helped
immensely.

Lee: More often than not, I refer to
my practical experience as a graduate
assistant; however, my coursework in
advising and personnel management
has also been invaluable in terms of
supervision. As James said, coursework
on organizational structure, culture,

and management has also been helpful,
though honestly there are so many
things like navigating politics that can
only be learned through experience.

Jahr: My writing and research skills
in general. I have always felt strongly
about the importance of writing for the
profession as well as the importance
of research and have preached them to
other colleagues throughout my career.

Meaney: I definitely feel more
connected to national and global
issues in higher education than I
did previously. Now, when I have
conversations with other administrators
or faculty I can better help them see
how these issues manifest themselves
in the residence halls and the
importance of having strategies in place
to address them.

Staten: I refer back to the theories class
information when deciding on student
programs and policies. I pull from the
administrative classes in finance and
business a great deal in my financial
management, strategic planning, and
vision setting role for my department.
Organizational behavior in higher
education has helped me lead my staff
through change.

director position and other areas of the
university leadership roles in which I
am involved.

Faerman: The courses on qualitative
inquiry were the most impactful in
terms of application to my work.
While I had conducted focus groups
at other institutions, it was not until
I took coursework in this area that I
started to think about the intentionality
of the questions I was asking. I also
learned about the triangulation of data
and the various sampling techniques
that one can utilize to enhance the
generalizability of the findings.
Tankersley: My Ph.D. program offered
one benefit that I truly use every day.
That is the ability to think differently.
While it is both a good and bad thing
that I now critically think through nearly
everything, I do find that the training
you receive while researching and
writing in a doctoral program does force
you to think differently, in a good way.

This conversation is just getting started. To
read it in its entirety, go to http://acuho-i.org/
resources/ts-degree.

McCracken: I have focused my elective
course work on legal issues, teaching,
and global education. I think the legal
issues portion speaks for itself in the
changing climate of student affairs, but
I have found that teaching is a passion
I would like to develop in the formal
learning environment. In terms of
global education, I work at a university
with an international branch campus,
so understanding that is fascinating to
me.

Hyatt: Research, research, and
research for sure. I have found that
data analytics and statistics have
been the best tools when working
with institutional leaders and
faculty. Budgets and organizational
management (politics) courses
have helped to identify systems and
leadership in these areas within my
MARCH + APRIL 2016

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http://acuho-i.org/resources/ts-degree
Talking Stick - March/April 2016

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