Claire is Cool

First: Some more pictures from the plane-ride to New Zealand. The first is me in the New Zealand Airport with some sort of Maori carving. There are also some screen shots... of the screen... on the phone of where our plane was. And then,of course. SUNRISE. They are out of order, but you get the point. (if you start from the last picture and look at them backwards... that's the correct order).

Today was our first campus visit:

University of Auckland

First, I’d like to say that I didn’t get as much out of it as I would have hoped. Why you ask? Because I had the most awful stomach flu/bug/sickness that rendered me useless for a large chunk of the day. Even when I was “there’, my focus was on making sure I didn’t get sick, wondering when I would get sick next, or ruminating about how awful I felt... which was sickening. Totally successful day? Right?....

The first speaker was Brendan Mosely the Director of Campus life. The majority of the time he talked about how University of Auckland was the top ranked and largest institution in New Zealand (about 40,000 students). From the charts and graphs he showed us, Auckland is the most "efficient" institution… meaning they can get higher rankings for less money per student. Part of me wonders if it is more on the part of the type of student they are recruiting at University of Auckland and less on the part of what University of Auckland is doing for their students... ya mean?

Sidenote: I find it interesting that Auckland was the first institution to “cap” the number of students they allow in. Mostly because this “cap” is something that is done so regularly in the states (minus Owens Community College and University of Toledo in our area...definitely more...). Also, I loved that he included clips of "happy students" in the power point in midst of the different slides of factual information.

(get it? cap....and it's happy...students)

Brendan noted that faculty salary is more of a global concept that is increasing faster than inflation can handle. Woo for paying our educators more... now lets work on the high school teach level... eh? Brendan also explained that University of Auckland doesn’t have a lot of problems with drinking. He said that, as administrators they aren’t taken credit for this… but come on… you are Mr. Mosely.

The topic of drinking was brought up a few times, and it was bragged about. Maybe not bragged... but it was a point of pride for this institution (even if they say it isn't... I mean come on, parents probably LOVE hearing that they have fewer drinking incidents).

Interesting that you’d say that Mr. Moseley because when we spoke to "real" (real meaning... students in leadership positions... ) students on our campus tour: upon asking what they do on the weekends, “Drink” was the first and number one answer. Drinking isn’t a problem? Doubt it… but I’m sure it manifests itself in a different way… it’s about the student population and how they handle themselves. I mean come on, you’re a commuter campus (for the most part). I know that drinking isn’t going to be as big of a problem.

HOWEVER, I think a lot of it has to do with how you would define problem. Through the research I did last semester in my substance abuse counseling class, substance abuse (including drinking) is just as much, if not more of a problem at community colleges (commuter schools), but the problem is see as something that should be dealt with externally.

I know New Zealand is different… but I wonder how different… I mean I already know (from my Substance Abuse class) that countries that have a lower drinking ages do NOT have less problems with drinking issues… they have more.

I was happy (relieved) to see that Auckland, an institution that HAS money, is having the same issues as our institutions with getting commuter students to feel and get connected to campus. When we work with on campus students, we have a better idea of what services they ARE getting, and may be able to get an idea of what services a student needs because we are seeing them 24/7… this isn’t the case with commuter students. We can’t control what home environment they are going home to at the end of the day. .. it’s not different in New Zealand.

He also gave an interesting quote:

"High achieving students contribute to the student experience... and reputation for student experience attracts potential students".

So basically, they want high achieving students... I get it. But, what this really makes me wonder is HOW these institutions get their growing power. For example, how did THE (the italics mean emphasis... but more-so SARCASM... I went to THE Bowling Green State University... shut up) Ohio State University become as big as it is? I feel that there are so many underdog institutions out there they don’t get as many students, who offer the same, if not better experiences for students. How can we get the word out for those institutions?

Every time I think about this… it all comes down to some sort of business model. Does it really need to be that way? (probably but…) I’d like to think that there could be a better way to look at institutions… or even businesses whose primary role is to provide something more HOLISTIC than just a SERVICE… it’s more that numbers...more than just a service that student affairs provides. It’s empathy and compassion… businesses don’t approach it in the same way. Maybe using something like a ‘friendship model”. You know... more PSYCHOLOGY related. Am I getting to touchy feely? Probably. Just something to throw out there.

(When I try to explain my Student Affairs love to a non-Student Affairs professional)

http://whatshouldwecallstudentaffairs.tumblr.com

I’m just sick of hearing about business-like approaches. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I don’t like the direction that education is heading…. ESPECIALLY in the area of student affairs. I get that SOME parts of the institutions need to be treated like businesses… but not the parts of the institution that is really working WITH the students.

I put a large focus on our first speaker (whom I LIKED... I just like to be nit picky) because this was about the ONLY part of the day where I wasn’t feeling completely awful. I enjoyed out meeting with Counseling, Career Services, and Applications and Admissions. I think those areas are a prime examples of what we can (should?) look at like a businesses (applications and admissions) and something we need to view from a more people-centered approached (counseling and career services).

The number of interactions you have with students (and the quality of that interaction) is inversely related to how business-like your approach you should follow

... in MY opinion. One-on-one interactions with students is high… the business model tactics should be low. Get it? Good.

One thing I was happy to hear is that counseling is free, and they have referral services if students need more. I think building those relationships with outside businesses (oh businesses) is extremely important.

One other fun fact: the number of Asian students on campus that go to the counseling center is MUCH higher than average (especially what I learned in my multicultural counseling class). They believe this was directly related to the counselor they had on site for that specific group of people. See friends…. There is POWER in people… not numbers and statistics.

At the end of our stay at University of Auckland, we waited for the bus to take us home. Carney gave a presentation about campus environments that I didn’t attend because again, I wasn’t feeling well and I wanted to get back to the hostel as soon as I could. That didn’t happen....

As we waited for the bus to pick us up, Johnny and I talked about relationships, friendships, and the idea of unconditional love. Seriously people, how messed up have relationships become? What have all these unrealistic expectations done to us? I don’t know what I would do without Tony and his support that continues to push and reassure me… who also challenges me to continue to better myself and approach situations in an entire new way. How lucky am I to have found someone who I can’t wait to learn and grow from every day? Just sayin'

Then was dinner. Everyone went out. I went, but I didn’t eat… and we stopped at a Thai food place. All I want to say is this. I really wanted to eat it. Pad See Eew FTW! … Maybe another time