Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 41

Boundaries, accountability, and confidence:
Housing pros share the challenges of student supervision.
Ann Schafer, University of Oklahoma
"I supervise full-time professionals and students, and sometimes it's hard to balance who receives my attention and
support throughout the week. I'm working on navigating this
challenge so that I can be supporting them in specific ways
to help their success."
David Ternier, The Ohio State University
"One challenge is balancing holding staff members accountable for their position while also helping them balance the responsibilities of their academics and being successful students."
Susan Lawhead, North Carolina State University
"I'm challenged to balance authenticity with personal boundaries. I like to keep my personal life separate from work, but
sometimes this makes it difficult to connect with my students.
I work each year to find the balance. I used to say that they
choose the level of relationship we have, but I realize now
students don't always feel comfortable asking questions. So
I have learned to be more open throughout the years to be
more authentically me with my staff."
Leah Wheeler, The Ohio State University
"I work with students who help plan two large early arrival
programs, and they tend to struggle believing in themselves
and their abilities. I have to be intentional about providing
them resources and provide encouragement that they are
capable. They think they're not experienced enough, not
creative enough, and they have a hard time fighting through
imposter syndrome."
Evan Huckfeldt, Stevenson University
"Many of them have never had professional jobs before
and don't know basic office etiquette or protocol. We need
to incorporate that into our training."

Ann Schafer

Leah Wheeler

David Ternier

Evan Huckfeldt

Chris Mears, University of South Carolina-Columbia
"I try to remember that, while we are administrators to
our colleagues, we are educators to our students. While
it is easy to get caught up in the day to day of 'other
duties as assigned,' it is important to remember that
our job as professionals and supervisors is to give our
student staff the tools and experience they need to grow
and succeed beyond their time with us."
Eddie Koelzer, The Ohio State University
"We know anecdotally that working on campus has an
incredibly positive impact on a student's learning and
growth. Our greatest challenge is not our ability to make
an impact, but our ability to assess this development and
communicate it with students and stakeholders."
Jennifer Nelson, The Ohio State University
"I'm challenged to motivate staff who have the potential
to be great but only meet the basic requirements. Even
after providing support, breaking down requirements,
giving suggestions, they still only achieve the minimum,
often at the last minute. The lack of quality and effort
show."
Donta Ingram, The Ohio State University
"I want to help our students be where their feet are. It's
helping them to understand the importance of right now
and tomorrow. It's helping them understand and adapt
the 'so-what-now-what' mentality."
Hannah Yohe, The College of New Jersey
"Helping them see the why in how decisions are made
is a challenge. This can be as small as room change
approvals or as big as the inability to discuss job actions
proceedings for a fellow employee. I find that transparency can offer insight to some but feel cold or curt
to others. The important takeaway is to remember it's
okay to take the time to think on it. Oftentimes we feel
we have to give a response to a student in the moment,
especially if a common practice is already in place.
The reality is, there will always be a lot of gray in
our work. So collect your thoughts, loop in a fellow
colleague, and educate yourself properly to make an
equitable decision."

Susan Lawhead

Chris Mears

Eddie Koelzer

Jennifer Nelson

Donta Ingram

Hannah Yohe

MAY + JUNE 2019

Talking Stick - May/June 2019

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