Ellen Hughey Current Position and Institution: Assistant Director, University of Central Florida First Position and Institution: Resident Director, Lee University If you told me in my first year of full-time work in higher education just how important my co-workers would be throughout my life and in my future, I am not sure that I would have believed the... Continue Reading →
credit: Edgewood College Photo Beth John Current Position and Institution: Director of First Year Experience & Adjunct Faculty in the Higher Education Leadership Graduate Program, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater First Position and Institution: Director of Student Activities, Edgewood College My first professional position was serving as the Director of Student Activities at Edgewood College in Madison, WI. Beginning in... Continue Reading →
Danielle Morgan Acosta Current Position and Institution: Director of Student Affairs - SGA, Florida State University First Position and Institution: Resident Director, Bowditch Hall, Salem State University My first professional role was as a Resident Director for a First Year Experience, community-style building of a little over 300 students at Salem State. I had been... Continue Reading →
Anne R. Stark, PhD Current Position and Institution: Director of Residence Life, University of Central Florida First Position and Institution: Community Director, University of Alabama I used to... well, let’s be real... sometimes still... struggle with the idea that my good work alone speaks for itself. Relationships matter. Everyday relationships will help you soar to... Continue Reading →
Charlie Potts Current Position and Institution: Assistant Dean of Students & Director of Residential Life, Gustavus Adolphus College First Position and Institution: Area Coordinator, St. Olaf College I learned several awesome lessons as a first-time professional. I carry many of those lessons with me to this day. Ever since I finished graduate school, I have spent my... Continue Reading →
George J. Hill Current Position and Institution: Academic Advisor, Opening Doors Learning Communities, Kingsborough Community College First Position and Institution: Adjunct Advisor, Freshman Services, Kingsborough Community College The most important thing I learned in my first year as a student affairs professional is that it is important to seize the opportunities that present themselves, even if they... Continue Reading →
Donna Swartwout, Ph.D. Current Position and Institution: Director, Office of Student Conduct, Champlain College First Position and Institution: Assistant Director of Student Life, Loyola University in Maryland I learned so much in my first year as the assistant director of student life at Loyola College in Maryland (now Loyola University). We were an entirely new... Continue Reading →
Cory Owen Current Position and Institution: Director of International Advisement, The Juilliard School First Position and Institution: Designated School Official, The English Language Institute at Texas A&M My first position was not planned at all. I graduated with a degree in English and needed to stay in the small college town for at least another year... Continue Reading →
Timothy Gordon Current Position and Institution: Dean of Students, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee First Position and Institution: Resident Director, Michigan State University As a bright-eyed and eager new professional I was excited to start my first post-Master's job working as a Resident Director at Michigan State University. I was assigned to work in a building that... Continue Reading →
Ann Marie Klotz Current Position and Institution: Dean of Campus Life, New York Institute of Technology First Position and Institution: Residence Hall Director, Albion College I began my professional career two months after I graduated with my undergraduate degree. I knew that the financial obligations I had with my family meant that I could not survive on... Continue Reading →
Hello Friends... Do you want to contribute to a new book? After doing the #SATBT series on my blog, I was delighted with the wonderful stories shared and have received great feedback from others about how much they enjoyed reading them. It inspired me to think about collecting these into a print-on-demand paper book! The... Continue Reading →
Myra M. McPhee Current Position and Institution: Director of Residence Life, Division of Student Affairs, Sarah Lawrence College First Position and Institution: Resident Coordinator, Community Development, La Salle University The career lesson I learned from my first job was the importance of having collateral assignments as a form of professional development. My primary role was to manage... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRqAYToD-HQ Dan Maxwell Current Position and Institution: Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, University of Houston System Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, University of Houston First Position and Institution: Residence Hall Director, Office of Residence Life, Syracuse University >My first professional position was as a Residence Hall Director at Syracuse University, my alma mater. ... Continue Reading →
Lisa Endersby Current Position and Institution: Experiential Learning Projects Coordinator, Career Services, Queen's University First Position and Institution: Student Experience Advisor, Student Experience Centre, University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) I can still vividly remember waiting to cross the stage at my Master’s graduation, having traveled back across the country (from Toronto to British... Continue Reading →
Cara D. Arena Current Position and Institution: Graduate Assistant, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro First Position and Institution: Coordinator of Student Activities, SUNY Sullivan Yes, that is a picture of me from my first professional student affairs position at Hogwarts…just kidding. On Halloween, our small community college in the Catskills of New York... Continue Reading →
Tony Doody Current Position and Institution: Senior Director of Student Engagement, Rutgers University First Position and Institution: Facility Coordinator - Werblin Recreation Center, Recreational Services, Rutgers University I had just been selected to lead the grand opening and management of a $20 million recreation facility. I was 22 years old, fresh out of college, and... Continue Reading →
Todd Porter Current Position and Institution: Director of Residence Life, The Juilliard School First Position and Institution: Residence Director, The University of Vermont The most important lesson(s) that I learned as an entry-level are how to be effective in doing your job and recognizing your own limitations and capacity. First, realizing that I was new... Continue Reading →
Keith Edwards Current Position and Institution: Speaker and Educator First Position and Institution: Complex Coordinator, University of Delaware My first year was full of friendships, mistakes, learning, and growth. Frankly, it was a very tough experience for me, both personally and professionally. When I look back, I’m very glad I took a three-year approach to my... Continue Reading →
Keith Humphrey Current Position and Institution: Vice President for Student Affairs, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo First Position and Institution: Hall Director, Residence Life, The University of Arizona My first job was a wonderful experience that taught me even though I had my Master’s degree, I did NOT know everything. Career and life lessons came regularly.... Continue Reading →
Jason Meriwether Current Position and Institution: Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management & Student Affairs, Indiana University Southeast First Position and Institution: Residence Hall Director, Department of University Housing, Georgia Southern University After graduating from the University of Louisville in 2001, my first professional position was as a Residence Hall Director at Georgia Southern University, where... Continue Reading →
Thea Zunick Current Position and Institution: Associate Director of Student Life, Stevens Institute of Technology First Position and Institution: Assistant Director of Student Development, Iona College I began my professional career at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY because it sung loud and clear “welcome back to the Northeast Thea”! It was time for me... Continue Reading →
Patrick Love Current Position and Institution: Vice President for Student Affairs, New York Institute of Technology First Position and Institution: Residence Director, SUNY Albany The Importance of Critical Feedback: I received written feedback from the other residence directors on staff. All were extremely positive except one. My supervisor said I had a choice. I could easily... Continue Reading →
Gavin Henning Current Position and Institution: Associate Professor of Higher Education, New England College First Position and Institution: Resident Director, University of New Hampshire The most important lesson I learned in my first position has been a guiding principle throughout my career. I learned as a residence hall director at the University of New Hampshire... Continue Reading →
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