E-Portfolio
Entry
Activity Name & Description: Fall
Fieldwork Reflection
My fieldwork site will be the University of California, Irvine’s
LGBT Resource Center. The Resource Center is apart of the Student Life and
Leadership Office. I will be enacting out my new role as the Program
Coordinator for the Resource Center. As noted in my program description for my
position, the Program Coordinator for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender
Resource Center (LGBTRC) is responsible for coordinating campus-wide programs,
networking with campus offices and community resources, as well as the daily
management of programs and services at the LGBTRC. Coordination of campus-wide
programs including lecture and film series, LGBT theme weeks, Safe Zone
program, Lavender Celebration, and the annual Outlist. Coordinate, design,
delivery, and evaluate LGBTRC sponsored workshops and presentations. Develop
funding proposals, monitor program budgets, coordinate publicity, set project
timelines, and involve campus and community organizations as
appropriate.
Participate in the selection, training, and supervision of
student interns, peers, office volunteers, safe zone facilitators, and speaker
bureau volunteers. Supervise production of the Center web page and other
materials for publicity. Provide student support, advocacy, crisis
intervention, and referrals to campus and community resources. Assist campus
departments in the development of supportive and safe environments for all
students. This position reports directly to the Director of the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center.
My experience also includes programming around education,
advocacy, and building community for not only LGBTQQIA students and allies, but
the larger campus community. I have the ability to tailor programming the needs
of the students and I am willing to adapt in any way to serve those in need. As
a leader, I can confidently work with staff and volunteers when needed to
collaborate on programming that is relevant to our diverse LGBTQQIA
community. I also assisted with the
development of ideas for special promotional events and have worked closely
with my supervisor to budget events that empower, celebrate and affirm LGBTQQIA
culture in everyday life.
My practice informs me creating a rapport with
students and assist in establishing a center on campus that’s programming that
will expand students’ understanding of LGBTQ issues and creating a safe space
for all students.
I was prepared through the study of gender and
sexuality, insights, knowledge, and interpretive frameworks that have equipped
me, personally, intellectually, and professionally. I examined how gender and
sexuality as social constructs shape individual lives, groups, institutions,
and social structures. I researched how gender and sexuality intersect with
race, culture, ethnicity, and social class in the interest of social justice.
Strengths: Strengths: Strategic, Empathy,
Connectedness,Input, Ideation.
a. Student will refashion personal beliefs and
commitments in a way that is true to one’s own self while recognizing the
contributions of important others (e.g., self, peers, family, or one or more
larger communities).
b. Student will be able to gain an understanding
amd develop effective advising, counseling and rapport skills when working with
student interns.
c. Student will work with director and student
interns to develop supervision skills when working with student staff.
(Learning Goal) Student will be able to gain an
understanding amd develop effective advising, counseling and rapport skills
when working with student interns.
Date/Semester
December 2013 (Fall Semester)
Learning Domains Addressed (Labels)
X Leadership
X Social Justice & Advocacy
X Education
X Personal Development
Learning Outcomes
SWiBAT spend 200 hours at Fieldwork Site.
SWiBAT apply knowledge from fieldwork experience
and create a reflection piece.
Evidence (Shown in Essay)
Fieldwork
Experience at an LGBT Resource Center
EDAD 568:
Fieldwork
Darrell
(Deejay) Brown
California
State University, Fullerton
Fall
2013 Fieldwork Setting and Learning Outcomes
My Fall 2013 fieldwork site was working at the University of
California, Irvine’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center. The LGBT Resource Center is a part of the
Student Life and Leadership Office. I started my new role as the Program
Coordinator for the Resource Center at the beginning of August. My position as the Program Coordinator for
the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center is coordinating
campus-wide programs, networking with campus offices and community resources,
as well as the daily management of programs and services at the LGBTRC.
My position involves the coordination of campus-wide
programs includes lecture and film series, LGBT theme weeks, Safe Zone program,
Lavender Celebration, and the annual Outlist.
I will coordinate, design,
deliver, and evaluate LGBTRC sponsored workshops and presentations. I will
develop funding proposals, monitor program budgets, coordinate publicity, set
project timelines, and involve campus and community organizations as
appropriate. I will participate in the selection, training,
and supervision of student interns, peers, office volunteers, safe zone
facilitators, and speaker bureau volunteers.
I will also supervise production
of the Center web page and other materials for publicity provide student
support, advocacy, crisis intervention, and referrals to campus and community
resources. I will assist campus departments in the
development of supportive and safe environments for all students. In
this position I report directly to the Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender Resource Center, David Bishop and Sherwynn Umali, the Associate
Dean of Students. As a new professional,
I bring in many different skills and competencies that I feel are very relevant
both to my professional position but also to my fieldwork experience.
Broader Goal and Learning
Outcomes
As a new professional, I bring in many different skills and
competencies that I feel are very relevant both to my professional position but
also to my fieldwork experience. My larger thematic goal was to learn more
skills as a professional supervisor. I
also wanted to utilize student development theory and incorporate theory into
my practice. My learning outcome was to
able to demonstrate increased skill in advising, counseling, and establishing
rapport with student interns. To reach
this goal, I planned not only to meet with student interns, but work with them
to collaborate relationships and create opportunities for learning experienes. Not only would I supervise the students, I
would be able to help advise them and create spaces for learning experiences. My learning outcomes were formed so that I
could develop skills with accepting feedback from my site supervisor, but also
from my student interns and students that frequent the center.
To accomplish this broad learning objective, I developed two
project outcomes: (1) create an ongoing training manual for student staff; (2)
design a weekly action plan for weekly staff meetings and one-on-one student
staff meetings.
Intentional and
Unintentional Learning Outcomes
To complete the initial project objective, I was able to develop and work with the
existing training manual and to utilize this manual in the student intern
retreat. I was able to add many
additions to training manual, and was able to work with my supervisor to
develop a summer training that complimented both of our programming styles. In
the training manual, I was able to shift out outdated policies and draft new
policies that would better serve our supervisory styles as Director and Program
Coordinator. After meetings with my site
supervisor, I was able to draft changes that would also benefit the students to
better understand the larger purposes of the center and our vision of what
these positions would do to benefit the larger campus climate as it related to
the LGBTQ student community. Both of
these messages were integrated into the manual and through the student intern
retreat. After the training, I
received a variety of feedback from interns and my site supervisor. In these conversations, I learned that I was
able to deliver a warm, experience where students were able to understand my
role as a supervisor. Through the use of
many icebreakers and scheduling the training in different modules, the student
interns were able to understand the vision of the center and their each
individual position.
To complete the second project outcome, I was able to design
a weekly action plan for my student intern one-on-ones. To draft this action plan, I asked key
questions to my site supervisor and other supervisors in Student Life and
Leadership. From these one-on-ones, I
was able to utilize their feedback to create an organized action plan that I
was able to utilize in my meetings with my interns. I would have liked to utilize them every week
in our sessions, but many of the intended formal sessions became bi-weekly and
often consisted of working with them in the Center, rather than in my office. I actually feel that this was more beneficial
to the productivity of the space and I believe after reflecting on this action
plan it would be better to have been done on a monthly basis.
Unexpected Outcomes
Unexpectedly, I spent much of my fieldwork assignment
cultivating my skills at relationship building with multiple students both on
staff and those that frequented the center.
I spent roughly seven to ten hours a week working with students outside
of my staff discussing a variety of issues that were important to their growth
and development. Working with many
students that were questioning their identities, I was able to use Rendón’s
(1994) theory of Validation and Baxter Magolda’s theory of self-authorship
(2001) to create a partnership where we could work together as they were able
to express their wants, needs and desires as college students while working on
cultivating an authentic identity. Most
of my intentions in our one-on-one sessions was to instill in them that each
one of them mattered, and that I would be there to support them and build a
sense of self-esteem.
Unintentionally, I also
learned more about myself as a professional.
I learned a variety of skills that I felt were related to cultivating my
success as a Program Coordinator. I
learned initially that I must learn more organizational skills to be able to
meet the demands of my position as well as spend valuable time with students
both interns and those that used the space to find support. I also had to spend a lot of time managing
priorities and find a way to balance both of my roles as a supervisor and as an
advisor. I learned that there is always
more work to be done to meet the needs of the students that I serve on a daily
basis. I also learned how important it
is to create space to meet manage my other schedule in regards to my role as a
programmer where I needed time to act creatively to create programming where I
could facilitate new programs where students could learn and could cultivate a
sense of community.
It was extremely
important for me to use theory in my professional practice as I made the transition
from paraprofessional staff to professional full-time staff member. Out of this experience I was able to utilize
multiple student development theories: among them were Baxter-Magolda’s (2012)
learning partnerships model where I would help develop learning partnerships
with my student interns and students. It
was important for me to develop these partnerships; where we could work
together to cultivate where they were on their academic journeys; where we
could work together to solve problems and come up with solutions.
I was able to incorporate the Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity (Jones
& McEwan, 2000) into my work. As an
identity-based center, it was important for me to value the many different
identities that students hold and be extra considerate of how students see
themselves. I must assess how I can be
useful in listening and providing feedback that would be beneficial to what
they feel is important and valuable to their identities.
Lastly, I utilized Rendón’s (1994) theory of Validation and
Schlossberg’s (1989) theory of Mariginality and Mattering to work with students
to create supportive environments in our one-on-one advising and supervising
meetings. I greeted each student in a
special way, let him or her know my intentions of why I wanted them to know
that they were important and that their stories mattered to me. In our meetings, I made sure to provide
affirming words as well as let them know that they are worthy to the center and
to this university, even if they felt that the did not matter. It was my highest intention to facilitate a
space, where they knew that they mattered, felt important and were appreciated.
Evaluation
and Reflection of the site experience
As I reflect on my site experience, I found that it was extremely valuable to
acclimate to a new working environment. I
felt that this experience and the culture of the department of Student Life and
Leadership made it easier to be an authentic practitioner. I felt that the department was a family
rather than feeling like a business. From
professional attire, to the interactions with my co-workers, this felt like a
setting that was welcoming, inviting and inclusive. I felt free to come into my own in this space
and every professional was willing and excited to offer advice. In terms of training and orientation, I
received a few weeks of adjusting to the office, learning the role of my new
position and how I could plan for the Fall quarter. During that time, I became acquainted with
key players of the department as well as various policies related to the center
and the office.
It was extremely valuable to have the experience working
with a supervisor that helped support me as I learned understand my role and
establish a professional identity. It
was also very valuable to work with the Associate Dean of Students to
understand how they utilized student development theory and was able to offer
me tips and pointers to establish a professional identity. I was able to learn so much about why it is
important to be authentic. I also
learned the valuable lesson of taking ownership of my position.
I would
highly recommend both the LGBT Resource Center and the Student Life and
Leadership Office. Many of my colleagues
in the department are very interested to work with graduate students and have a
variety of projects that students can contribute to their learning skills that
would attribute to their growth as professionals.
Future
Areas of Growth
When I began my fieldwork, I felt that I brought many different
skills and competencies that I feel are very relevant both to my professional
position but also to my fieldwork experience.
This position has given me an awakening of how hard it is as a new
professional to develop a work-life balance.
This experience has given me an opportunity to understand how demanding
and how awarding this particular field is.
Many days I have left work mentally exhausted but I left satisfied
knowing that I did indeed make a difference in creating space for students to
grow and develop.
I feel that I have learned more
about how I need to develop my own self-care plan so that I can too come into
each and every day revitalized. When I
hear many students that I work with experience micro-aggressions on a daily basis
regarding their identities or expression I must be resilient and share my
experiences in order to offer narratives and ways that they too can feel
nurtured.
I believe balance, self-care, and
wellness are three major areas of growth that will help me move into a place
where I can continue to understand my own identity as a reflective-scholar
practitioner. After this fieldwork
experience, I have learned that I have to continue to find a balance so that I
can better serve the students that I work with without the fear of burnout. I need to work on my resilience skills so
that I can deal with the daily struggles that a professional may face with
working with a vulnerable and resilient community without leaving work carrying
the weight on my shoulders. I believe
this fieldwork experience has let me know exactly the kind of professional I
want to become. I will continue to find
a balance between living my passion of helping and serving students; while also
developing a life to continue to learn, grow and develop.
Resources
Baxter Magolda,
M. B.
(2001). Making their own way:
Narratives for transforming higher
education
to promote self-development. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Baxter-Magolda,
M. B.
(2012). Building learning
partnerships. Change magazine,
Retrieved
from
http://www.changemag.org/Archives/Back Issues/2012/January-February
2012/learning-partnerships-full.html
Jones,
S., & McEwan, K. (2000). A conceptual model of multiple dimensions of
identity. Journal of College Student Development,
41(4), 405-414. Retrieved from: http://emergentrecovery.com/uploads/Conceptual_Model_of_Multiple_Dimensions_of_Identity.pdf
Rendón,
L. I.
(1994). Validating culturally
diverse students: Toward a new model of
learning
and student development. Innovative
Higher Education, 19, 33–51.
Schlossberg,
N. K.
(1989). Marginality and
mattering: Key issues in building community.
In
D.
C. Roberts (Ed.), Designing campus activities
to foster a sense of community (pp. 5–15). New
Directions for Student Services, No. 48. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Reflection
I
feel that “I am coming into myself” as I begin to understand myself as a
professional. I am more aware of my
strengths and weaknesses as a professional and I will continue to reflect,
assess and grow from these weaknesses and turn them into strengths. I have learned so much about the kind of
roles that I must navigate between. At
times I must be the scholar, the supervisor, the programmer, the assistant
director, the role model, the “model professional.” This journey has been
exhausting, but everyday leave my work,
I am exhausted but also very satisfied with this practice. This semester, I have learned to assess my
own actions, values, beliefs and attitudes as a professional and make sure that
I am intentional in creating experiences where students are able to learn and
develop. Even with all of the inertia in
my own life, I can feel that I am making a difference.
