Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 39

Q&A: COREY SEEMILLER
Through her career
as an educator, Corey
Seemiller has focused
on leadership, consulting for a number of organizations as well as
serving as an assistant
professor in the Department of Leadership Studies in Education and Organizations at Wright State University in
Dayton. Along the way, she has become
a leader in the field in her own right as
she was drawn to the study of generations, what impacts them, and how they
could impact the world. She, along with
Meghan Grace, is the author of Generation Z Goes to College as well as
Generation Z Leads: A Guide for Developing the Leadership Capacity of
Generation Z Students. Drawing upon
her previous experience as a housing professional ("Once an RA, always an RA,"
she says), she shares some advice about
what housing professionals can come to
expect from Generation Z.

What makes generational research so appealing to you?
When I first got started in this work
on Generation Z, it was purely by accident. Each summer, my team and I
would recruit incoming students for
our leadership programs at new student orientation. During the summer
of 2013, we noticed that the students
who were coming to talk to us at our
information booth seemed different
from those who attended orientation
in prior years. First, a greater number
came to the booth, and they stayed
longer chatting with us. And, unlike
past orientations where students' questions centered on getting involved in
leadership programs for the purposes
of building credentials and developing social connections, the questions
we were getting were more about
becoming involved as a way to make a
difference.

After doing some investigating

Generation Z
students have
come of age in a
post-9/11 era and
only know a world
where everyone is
looking over their
shoulder for the
next major incident
to occur. Our
research found that
many Generation
Z students are
coming to college
scared, worried,
and anxious about
everything from
violence to bullying
to identity theft to
school shootings.

online to try to uncover why these
particular students seemed different
from those who attended previous
orientations, I came upon information suggesting that we might be
going through a generational shift in
young adults - from Millennials to
what was deemed to be Generation
Z. At the time, many sources indicated that Generation Z's birth range
was 1995-2010, which made them
first-year students starting in 2013.
This was interesting to me, especially
because what I was learning about this
generation seemed to align with what I

was experiencing firsthand with these
students. We know that generational
shifts aren't usually that stark and that
someone born in 1995 is probably not
very different from someone born in
1994. But something was noticeable
enough for me to take a second look
to learn as much as I could about this
mysterious young adult cohort coming
to college.
After researching information on
Generation Z, I put together a handout of the findings so my staff could
learn more about this incoming college student population. We discussed
how to address issues presented by
the changing demographic in relation
to recruiting, retaining, and engaging
these students in our leadership programs. But other people's research
wasn't enough. A colleague of mine,
Meghan Grace, and I decided we
wanted to do our own research to try
to better understand this generation
in a higher education context. Our
nearly five-year journey has included
conducting two major studies on Generation Z college students, with an
international comparative study slated
for the coming year, as well as writing
two books (the third is nearly complete) and several articles focusing on
a variety of aspects of the Generation
Z population. We have been interviewed by reporters from a number of
news outlets, and our work has been
cited in several scholarly journals.
And one thing we have discovered
during our journey is that the more
we learn about Generation Z, the
more we realize there is a lot we still
don't know.

MAY + JUNE 2018

39



Talking Stick - May/June 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - May/June 2018

Talking Stick - May/June 2018
Contents
Vision
Just In
Calendar
Your ACUHO-I
Transitions
Res Life
Facilities
Special Focus
What’s Next?
Finding Your Philosophy
Conversations
First Takes
Around Student Affairs
New Members
Snapshot
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Intro
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Talking Stick - May/June 2018
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Cover2
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 1
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 2
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Contents
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 4
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 5
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 6
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 7
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Vision
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 9
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Just In
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 11
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 12
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 13
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 14
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 15
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 16
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 17
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Calendar
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 19
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Your ACUHO-I
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 21
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Transitions
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 23
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Res Life
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 25
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 26
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 27
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Facilities
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 29
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 30
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 31
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Special Focus
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 33
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 34
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 35
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - What’s Next?
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 37
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 38
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 39
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 40
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 41
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 42
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 43
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 44
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 45
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 46
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 47
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Finding Your Philosophy
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 49
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 50
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 51
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 52
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 53
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 54
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 55
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 56
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 57
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 58
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 59
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Conversations
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 61
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 62
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 63
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - First Takes
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Around Student Affairs
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 66
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 67
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 68
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 69
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - New Members
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - 71
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Snapshot
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Cover3
Talking Stick - May/June 2018 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20190506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20190304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20190102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20181112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20180910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20180708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20180506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20180304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20180102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20171112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20170910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20170708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20170506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20170304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20170102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20161112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20160910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20160708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20160506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20160304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20160102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20151112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20150910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20150708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20150506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20150304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20150102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20141112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20140910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20140708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20140506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20140304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20140102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20131112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20130910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20130708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20130506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20130304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20130102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20121112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20120910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20120708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20120506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20120304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_201201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20111112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20110910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20110708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20110506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20110304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20110102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20101112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20100910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20100708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20100506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20100304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20100102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20091112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20090910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20090708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20090506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20090304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick_20090102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick1108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick0908
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick0708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acuho/talkingstick0508
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com