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NACADA National Conference 2018: Highlights by PACADA Grant Winner

Article By 2018 PACADA Grant Winner: Ashlyn Ruff

I was thrilled to receive the PACADA grant to travel to the 2018 NACADA National Conference in Phoenix, AZ. I was excited to not only travel to a state I’ve never been to but to also begin to fill my brain with new ideas to bring back to campus.

One of my favorite parts about a presentation is when the presenter will share actual ideas and things to bring back to the office. So, I decided I would share with you some of the best takeaways I received from the 2018 National Conference.

Stop one: How Major is Your Major? Presented by advisors in The Major Experience (TME) at UConn

It should come as no surprise that as an EXPL advisor I wanted to learn more about other undecided programs. This presentation was all about how the TME advisors advocate for their program with both prospective and current students. Below are a few samplings of the surveys and data they shared during their presentation.

In 2017, LinkedIn published a survey about the 10 most versatile majors. The top five majors were Business Administration, Marketing, Psychology, Communication, and Economics. Students often believe majors will limit them with their careers so they share this data with their students to show the breadth of jobs they can get with certain majors. They discussed the beauty of PSY being on this list because we often hear so many students say, “I love my psychology classes but I don’t want to be a clinical psychologist so I don’t want to study psychology.” What?! I think we all know that just because you study psychology DOES NOT mean you have to be a clinical psychology. But guess what? Most students don’t know that (another thing I think we all know). It’s all about opening their minds and showing them different possibilities.

They also shared information from a 2018 Job Outlook Survey by NACE that focuses on the top skills employers look for when hiring recent graduates. The top five skills are Problem Solving, Teamwork, Written Communication, Leadership, and Strong Work Ethic. I often find myself telling my students that employers look for those transferable skills and this information helped to support my case. It’s important we share with students that there are certain skills they can either teach themselves or learn on the job. Your major does not have to encompass all of those skills in order to work in that field.

Probably my favorite thing I got from this session was regarding future careers. A recent report by Dell shared that 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 have yet to be created. Just think about social media. Ten years ago, there were no jobs that were specific just to social media. Now many universities offer classes, concentrations, and even majors that focus on social media management and development. The report also stated, “The ability to gain new knowledge will be more valuable than knowledge itself.”

Stop two: Technology Session: 4 Quick Tips for Managing Emails

The title was intriguing but I was definitely leery on what new tips I could learn for managing my email. Let me make this clear- I typically tend to be an easy tech adapter but I can sometimes be stuck in my ways. I’m sure some of you super tech-savvy people will read this and think, “Ashlyn….this is so obvious!” but I’m hopeful a few of you are just like me and will get something out of these tips.

Tip 1– Use your email signature. I know, I know. You’re all thinking you already do this. Well, do you have some emails that you feel like you always get from students? Maybe like, “how do I find my pin?!” Consider using your emails signature feature to actually create the email (with you signature already on it) so you can quickly send it to students. The only downside is you cannot have more than one signature. So, what happens if a student asks you a few of those common questions? Read on….

Tip 2– Use Quick Parts in Outlook. I have never heard of Quick Parts so I was already pleased with this session. Quick Parts is predefined text that you can add to a message in Outlook. It’s similar to the concept with the signature but you can add several Quick Parts in to one message. (https://support.office.com/en-us/article/create-reuseable-text-blocks-for-email-messages-8fb6c723-c960-4c8c-9790-3e43ddc4b186 )

Tip 3– Use Quick Steps in Outlook. Yet another thing I wasn’t familiar with. Quick Steps is for the repetitive things you do in Outlook. (https://www.dummies.com/software/microsoft-office/outlook/how-to-simplify-tasks-with-quick-steps-in-outlook-2016/)

Tip 4– Use Email Rules. This is one of my favorite things to use in Outlook. Don’t want all of your emails to flood your inbox? Use Email Rules and send those emails to another folder in your inbox. (https://support.office.com/en-us/article/manage-email-messages-by-using-rules-c24f5dea-9465-4df4-ad17-a50704d66c59 )

One bonus idea the presenter provided was to use “delayed delivery” when sending emails. I’m a sucker for getting to work early, checking email at home, and sometimes responding to students right away. The downside? Students then expect that type of response all of the time. An easy way to fix that is to use the delay delivery feature. The email will send at the time you schedule delivery so students won’t always expect you to respond immediately. (https://support.office.com/en-us/article/delay-or-schedule-sending-email-messages-026af69f-c287-490a-a72f-6c65793744ba )

Our final stop: Developing a “College Mindset” Through First Year Seminar

Think about your current students. What’s their mindset during their first semester? It’s possible they are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, worried about passing classes, feeling the burden of all the expectations everyone has on them.

The presenter shared what they consider the trifecta of a college mindset: growth mindset, grit, and resilience. We watched some videos regarding each of these areas. There was one thing I especially loved in the growth mindset video- your brain will grow when you do something wrong and you work to figure things out. You’ll explore, learn, and grow. Students won’t think of failure as an opportunity. Students will often have that fixed mindset when failure happens.

So how can we help students see the opportunity in failure? An activity the presenter provided was Real-Time Resilience. The presenter shared this takes challenging beliefs, puts it in to perspective, and packages in a way that’s immediately useful.

They ask the students to think of the following after they’ve identified their “crisis” or “failure”:

    1. Alternative- A more accurate was of seeing this is…
    1. Evidence- That’s not true because….
  1. Implications- A more likely out is…and I can…to deal with it.

Here’s an example. A student says to you, “I’m not as smart as my friends because I’m not good at X (insert subject or major).” The student then needs to reflect on each of the areas.

    1. Alternative- It’s ok that I’m not good at X because I’m good at Y (insert subject or major).
    1. Evidence- X isn’t the standard of being smart.
  1. Implications- I’m just as smart. I’m enjoying my studies and I’m doing well in Y.

Having a growth mindset looks at one event and its challenges and how they can grow from it, but it does not destroy a student’s identity. Whereas a fixed mindset immediately causes a student to immediately think about their identity and what’s wrong with ME.

Overall, the 2018 National Conference provided a great variety of sessions. I love how energized and excited I feel after learning from others around the states!