Transcript 2007 StudentAffairs.com Virtual Case Study Competition Technology Issues in Student Affairs Canisius College Paul Zablocki, Kelly Showard, Pat Marino & Amanda Kalal.

2007 StudentAffairs.com
Virtual Case Study
Competition
Technology Issues in Student Affairs
Canisius College
Paul Zablocki, Kelly Showard, Pat Marino & Amanda Kalal
Presenters
• Paul Zablocki - Hall
Director at Canisius College
and 2nd year student in the
College Student Personnel
Administration (CSPA)
Program
• Kelly Showard - Web
technology and information
manager for Residence Life
at Canisius and 2nd year
student in the CSPA
Program.
Presenters
• Pat Marino - Hall Director at
Canisius College and 2nd
year student in the CSPA
Program.
• Amanda Kalal - Assistant
Director of Alumni Affairs at
Colgate University and 2nd
year student in the CSPA
Program.
Introduction
• Why is technology important to student affairs?
– As technology develops it is no surprise that students are
quick to adapt and utilize new resources. We as student
affairs practitioners must stay abreast of the changes to
ensure that we are communicating with students through
channels that are familiar and current from the students’
perspective.
– Additionally, if we are to meet the holistic educational goals
of this profession we need to be aware of changes in
technology, and more importantly their impact on our
students. By understanding the trends we can help to
educate students about potential dangers, foster informed
decision making, and improve our services.
Hot 5 - Top Topics
•
•
•
•
•
The world of technology is constantly changing, and there
are a wide variety of topics for discussion related to the impact
of technology on higher education. For the purposes of this
presentation we have identified five key technology topics that
should be discussed by student affairs professionals. We feel
that these five issues are sources of both concern and
opportunity. The five topics are:
Institutional Spamming
Blogs or Web journals
Online Gambling
Facebook.com
Podcasting
Institutional Spamming
What is Institutional
Spamming?
• The term ‘institutional spamming’ refers to mass email
messages, which are sent to large mailing lists or listservs.
These listservs can target all students, or a specific population
of students such as, graduate or undergraduate students,
residents, commuters and even audiences as specific as
students living in a particular residence hall, or students who are
in the same academic program.
• Spam email, or unwanted messages, come from outside a
campus as well, however most college email systems include
tools to help block or reduce the volume of these messages.
These tools do not generally apply to internal messages.
Spam Background
• “Spamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to
send unsolicited bulk messages, which are almost universally
undesired. While the most widely recognized form of spam is
email spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other
media…Spamming is economically viable because advertisers
have no operating costs beyond the management of their
mailing lists” (Wikipedia, 2007)
• “The California legislature found that spam cost United States
organizations alone more than $10 billion in 2004, including lost
productivity and the additional equipment, software, and
manpower needed to combat the problem” (Wikipedia, 2007).
Why do institutions send
spam emails?
•
•
•
Spam emails are a way of transmitting important information to
students who need it. It is also an effective way to reach large groups of
students very efficiently, with no additional cost.
Spam email also ensures that each student receives an email, while
only having to send one message. It is also nearly instantaneous, as
opposed to traditional mailings that can take several days.
Furthermore, email merge tools available through Microsoft Outlook
allow users to connect a generic spam message with a spreadsheet or
database. Using these tools a user can send one email to a huge group
of students, and the mail merge will place custom information in each
message. For example, if you have an Excel spreadsheet containing
first and last names as well as email addresses for a group of students,
it would be possible to send only one merged email message, and still
have each student receive an email that contained their first and last
name in the salutation line. These tools can be used for any information
that you wish to customize in a message, as long as it exists in a
spreadsheet or database.
Challenges and Concerns Related to
Internal Spam Messages
• Students are inundated with junk email from a wide
variety of sources, and as a result have been trained
to delete most mail without reading it.
– This means that often the messages sent through internal spam
systems are not read by students.
• A major problem is that students often receive many
spam messages per day from various sources within
their institution, and it is likely that out of all these
messages only a small percentage will apply to a
student’s interests, and those few important
messages may be lost in the shuffle.
– The result is comparable to posting a printed flyer on a wall that is
already covered with flyers - the information overload means that
very little information is properly retained.
Who is Impacted by
Institutional Spam?
• Nearly everyone on a college campus is connected to the
institutional spam issue. Students most often are the recipients
of these emails, as various departments send out important
updates and announcements. Faculty and staff listservs are also
prominent on many campuses - taking forms such as
newsletters, human resources announcements, or even
messages about changes in benefits packages, or invitations to
faculty and staff events.
• Offices such as campus activities, residence life, academic
departments, international student services, multicultural
programs and any other office that may wish to share
information with large groups of students, or to invite individuals
to programs and activities, are often Email Spam users.
• Alumni affairs can also be impacted if regulations are put on
mass messaging through the campus email system. Often
Alumni relations relies on spam email messages to reach out to
Alumni to announce events or to request donations.
Suggestions for Best Practice:
Internal Spam System
•
•
•
Create a system through which students can add and remove
themselves from a variety of listservs. This way students can sign up to
only receive messages for classes, their residence hall, or about clubs
and events that fit their interests.
– This may be achieved with an interest inventory form, or through an
online form that informs students of the various listservs available
and allows them to choose which messages they will receive.
A filter system should be put in place for outgoing messages. The filter
system should require the sender to indicate which listservs should
receive their message. Often spam emails are sent first to a staff
member for approval, to avoid having inappropriate messages sent out
to large groups of students. This individual could be responsible for
ensuring that each message reaches the correct audiences, without
clogging up the inboxes of students who are not interested.
The system should include an ‘all students’ option for messages that
should reach everyone. Students should not be allowed to opt out of
the ‘all students’ listserv, however, it should also be reserved for the
most important messages.
Blogging
What is a Blog?
A web log or blog is an easily created and updated
website wherein there are reverse chronological entries
updated frequently by the author(s) (Richardson, 2006).
Blogging is the activity by which individuals frequently
update their websites, often sharing opinions on many
topics ranging from their daily adventures to political
commentary, usually in a diary format. As a collective,
blogs are called “blogspace” and can be created using a
wide range of software including free to moderately priced
programs. Some examples of blogging programs are:
Blogger, MoveableType, Xanga and Blurty (Nardi,
Schiano, & Gumbrecht, 2004) they are all easily set up
and maintained by the author.
Why is Blogging Important?
• Three out of four bloggers using the popular livejournal website
are between the ages of 16 and 24 (Kumar, Novak, Raghavan,
& Tomkins, 2004)
• This is our key age range of current and incoming students.
Similar to The Facebook, understanding and utilizing this online
environment is crucial to understanding and keeping in touch
with our students.
• The 19 to 21 year old population reports in Kumar et. al’s 2004
study that their interests include dorm live, fraternity parties and
college life.
• These are the same issues commonly affecting our students.
Campus life, alcohol consumption and Greek life are frequently
the subjects of campus educational programming and judicial
issues.
Why do people blog?
• There are an estimated 1.3 million blogs currently on
the Internet. The blogs of individuals are similar to
diaries, in that they catalog a person’s experiences
(Kumar, Novak, Raghavan, & Tomkins, 2004).
• According to Nardi et. al. (2004, p. 225) there are
several motivating factors that led individuals to
create blogs. The factors that relate to our students
include:
– The ability to keep friends and family updated on the writer’s
life
– To share opinions
– To solicit the opinions of others
– To release emotional tension
What can we do?
Who’s Involved?
•
•
We suggest that we develop a blog site attached to our campus website that will
be open to academic and administrative departments.
Blogs can be created by any department wishing to increase student
involvement.
–
–
–
–
–
–
•
•
Admissions can recruit freshmen to document their first year; these blogs can be
provided to incoming students to help them learn about life at our institution.
Academics can use blogs to increase student participation in classes, as well as to
provide information outside of class.
Residence Life can use blogs to open discussions on the daily events of residents and
resident assistants.
Greek Life can use blogs to create and/or enhance Greek unity on campus
Leadership Development can use blogs to discuss internship experiences.
Professors and administrators can use blogs to discuss their transitions on campus or
new theories and research
To implement this program, we will need to work closely with Information
Technology (IT) services. It is recommended that all Deans select a point
person that will coordinate with the IT department to determine how each group
will utilize the software. IT will need to allocate a large amount (approximately
one terabyte) of hard drive space to ensure that there is enough room for all
departments to utilize the program. Since the blogs will be maintained by the
authors, there will be no need to increase personnel services.
It is recommended that each department utilizing blogs appoint a ‘go to’ person
to encourage student, faculty and staff use.
Benefits
• Embracing this particular form of technology will allow
us to utilize the methods our students use to
communicate with each other. Understanding this,
we can position ourselves to influence this population
and promote their education and development.
• Showing the current and prospective students that
we utilize this form of technology can be beneficial in
the indirect marketing of our institution.
• Allowing faculty and staff to create personal blogs
brings a human face to the administration and can
work to break down the barriers between us and the
students
Risks associated with the
Project
• There is the risk that students will attempt to upload and publish
to the website information that is inappropriate or not according
to our institutions mission and goals. In order to be proactive
and prevent this from happening, the committee proposes that
training sessions and a one-page how to guide be created to
educate those involved with the blogging project. In addition,
we suggest that a moderator be appointed by the director of the
respective departments to review content prior to being updated
on the web. We will need to ensure that only inappropriate
content be prohibited from being placed online.
• It is imperative that those recruited to write blogs have relative
autonomy in their blogs. We do not want to impose our views
on the bloggers nor do we want to appear to “ghost write” blogs.
However, we want to ensure that those selected will uphold our
mission and vision.
Theory
Theories abound and each professional
will utilize the theory or combination of
theories that best fits their practice. However,
there should be a unifying theory to guide this
endeavor. Assigning Astin’s theory of
involvement (which states that the more
students are involved, the better they
develop) as the unifying theory we can create
an environment that guides the use and
development of the blogging experience.
Determining Learning
Outcomes
• It is important to not only embrace this
technology but to relate it to the education
and development of our students.
Humanitarianism, civic engagement and the
increase of intrapersonal competence should
be the focus of embracing the blogging
concept. To this end, we should expect to
see a growth in how students relate to
themselves and their environments (Keeling,
2006).
Online Gambling
What is Online Gambling
• Using the internet to wager money on sporting
events, card games and casino games
Types on Online Gambling
• Poker, specifically Texas Hold-em
• Sports Betting, including professional and NCAA
games
• Casino Games
What is the Online Gambling
Problem?
• Most institutions have gambling policies but
do not specifically mention online gambling.
• Online gambling sites are available 24 hours
a day 7 days a week over institution high
speed internet connections.
– The institution is enabling student gambling.
• Problem Gambling is an APA accepted
addiction.
– An addiction that can negatively impact a students
life during and after college
What is the Online Gambling
Problem?
•
Online gambling has exploded in popularity among college students since
2000.
– Students have increased their gambling behavior since ESPN and other major
cable networks began airing poker tournaments.
•
Online gambling is a billion dollar industry that targets college age student.
– Students involved in online gambling may choose to gamble with money
earmarked for education purposes (tuition, room & board or book supplies).
– Online Poker Tournaments were once targeting college students specifically.
• 2005 College Poker Championship: Open only to College students, the prizes consisted
of scholarship money (http://www.pokermagazine.com/PokerTournaments/poker_news_college_tournament.html).
– Once a student starts to play, they are barraged with spam emails from Online
Gambling sites offering free money to sign up and play (Kanne, 2005).
– Student who participate in online gambling also receive an increase in credit
card requests (Kanne, 2005) .
Who is Impacted and Why?
• Student Populations
– Students use bank debit cards or personal credit cards to
provide capital to play. No cash is won or lost. Students can
find themselves thousands of dollars in debt without ever
touching a dollar of the money lost.
• Alex of Indiana University lost $55,000 gambling online (Habib,
2005).
• Justin of St. Mary’s in California is down $20,000 (Kanne,
2005).
– Athletes
• Colleges are under strict regulations from the NCAA and
conference bodies concerning sports betting and gambling.
• Online gambling adds pressure and resources for athletes to
gamble on sports and to participate in card and casino games.
Who is Impacted and Why?
• Student Affairs Departments
– Counseling/Wellness Centers need to know how
to reach out and respond to students who are
problem gamblers.
• Tracy Leva, Counselor, SUNY Fredonia, says that she
has never dealt with a student gambling problem.
• Leva believes this is due to the lack of awareness about
the gambling issue among school officials and students.
• Leva also believes that problem gambling is not viewed
as a major personal issue because there is no physical
harm associated with the behavior, unlike the behavior
changes associated with alcohol consumption.
Legal Standing
• Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act
of 2006
– This is the 1st legislation that focuses on
prohibiting online gambling.
– It provides legal structure for the Justice
Department to attack online gambling (Walters, L,
2006).
• Impact on Institutions
– The act focuses on the individual, similar to the
approach taken with illegal music downloading.
– Student are breaking the law by wagering over the
internet and may face penalties.
What to do about Online
Gambling ?
• Short term solutions
– Ban Online Gambling sites from college
networks
– Create Network “pop-up’s” that warn
students connected to campus networks
about the possible dangers of gambling,
and provide references for gambling help
services, and links to the college gambling
policy
– Enforce the campus gambling policy
What to do about Online
Gambling?
• Long term Solutions
– Create a revised gambling policy that
includes the latest Federal Laws dealing
with online gambling.
– Train counselors to aid problem gamblers
similarly to how current counselors are
trained to deal with alcohol abuse
– Present educational programs on the
negative consequences of online gambling
Benefits
• Taking action addresses an emerging issue
that is currently facing today’s students.
• It also actively improves the services of the
counseling/wellness center.
• It adds clarification to the college’s position on
gambling on campus.
• And it raises awareness of problem gambling
among the college student demographic.
Facebook.com
Facebook.com and other
social networking sites
•
•
•
•
Online Social Networks allow users to connect to others, post personal
information, form groups, and post pictures.
Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you.
Facebook is made up of lots of separate networks — things like schools,
companies, and regions.
You can use Facebook to:
– Share information with people you know.
– See what's going on with your friends.
– Look up people around you.
• (Facebook.com, 2007)
•
•
Facebook.com controls access by limiting registration to specific email
addresses.
Facebook.com is more significant in Higher Education than other online social
networks because when it began it was only for individuals with College Email
addresses. Now that it is open to the public it still features separate networks
for each college that has access.
Reason for Concern’s about
Facebook.com
• Students are posting personal information as well as contact
information that puts them at risk for stalking and harassment.
• Students are posting pictures and messages that show or
suggest violations of college policy – Judicial Affairs must then
decide how to respond.
• Inappropriate information posted by students, especially student
leaders (i.e. athletes as well as club and organization leaders)
can negatively impact the reputation of the institution.
• Students are generally unaware of the risks and consequences
they face when posting various images and messages on the
site. Additionally, many administrators are unfamiliar with the
functions of Facebook.com (Bugeja, 2006).
• Information posted by students can impact their futures as well.
Many employers and graduate institutions have started to
consider information that candidates have posted online as a
part of their decision making process (Kornblum & Marklein,
2006).
Who is Impacted by
Facebook.com
• At its core Facebook.com is a promotional tool, whether you are
promoting a person, a group, a club or organization, an event, a
company or a student affairs department.
• Any department that wishes to promote its services, events, or
to share information should be aware of Facebook.com.
– Essentially, Facebook is a high traffic area for students, and
therefore is an ideal place for advertisements.
• Additionally, any office that is responsible for student discipline
should take special notice of Facebook.com. Often students
exaggerate problem behaviors on Facebook.com as a means of
inflating their social image. This behavior is known as
egocasting (Rosen, 2005). The high level of messages and
images related to policy violations necessitate a need for
student discipline departments to understand, and develop a
response to, online social networks.
Positive Uses of
Facebook.com
•
Advertising tools including flyers (internet banner ads that run 10,000
times per day for $5), group pages (pages that allow users to connect
around a common purpose, post on discussion boards and share
pictures) and event pages (similar to group pages only they are
temporary and designed to advertise a specific event. Event pages also
include tools for inviting others to the event, and a list of confirmed
guests who will attend) are a wonderful way to attract students to
programs.
– (Marino, 2006)
•
•
•
Postings on Facebook.com may help professionals to identify students
who are having problems or are depressed.
Facebook.com can be used by faculty and staff to communicate with
students, through the use of messaging tools and group pages.
Often inappropriate postings made by students provide excellent
educational moments, assuming staff and faculty are willing to take the
time to discuss online behavior with students.
Action Plan - Best Practices
for Facebook.com
•
Develop a policy that helps
students understand the
institutions expectations for
online behavior. The Cornell
Essay “Thoughts on Facebook”
generated by their IT Policy
office provides a great example.
It is available at
http://www.cit.cornell.edu/policy/
memos/facebook.html
– Key items to consider are how
the institution will respond to
postings that display or suggest
policy violations, expectations
for online behavior and
information for students about
the risks and consequences
that may result from use of
Facebook.com.
•
Student affairs professionals should
create educational programs for students
that address the risks and consequences
related to Facebook.com use including:
stalking and harassment, disciplinary
action from the college, difficulty
obtaining a job or graduate school
admission due to a negative image
portrayed on Facebook.com, and even
identity theft.
–
•
Guest speakers may also be helpful.
Educational programs should also
discuss the Facebook.com user
agreement, a document that very few
students read before accepting. This
document gives Facebook.com a great
deal of legal power over the users of the
site, including restricting when and where
users can sue the company, requiring
users to pay the company’s legal fees in
the event of a lawsuit and providing the
company with the rights to all images and
information posted within the network.
Using the Tools that
Facebook.com Provides
Residence Life and Housing:
•
Staff can create Building and Floor Groups using
RA’s as ‘officers’ to manage content. This helps
create community, and offers a visual model of
connections between residents.
•
Facebook can also be used to promote events
•
Education – The network can be used to share
information with students about almost any
topic, including health and safety information
and housing policies.
•
RA Recruitment and Selection
– Facebook can be used to advertise and
explain the process; however, using
Facebook.com to evaluate candidates
might create larger issues, at the very
least students should be warned in
advance if this will happen.
•
Birthday alerts – can be used as a reminder to
recognize residents on their birthdays.
•
Facebook.com may provide clues regarding
changes in student behavior and signs of
depression.
Student Activities and Student Clubs:
•
Advertising and Promotion is key for these areas
– Event tools, Facebook.com ad’s, and
invitation tools can all be used to promote
clubs and events.
•
Club Pages – Each student club should
be encouraged to create a group page. This
allows students to:
– Find out what clubs are available
– Learn about meeting times and locations
– Obtain updates from missed meetings
– Likewise it allows clubs to:
– Recruit new members
– Connect with current members
– Share pictures from events
– Promote upcoming events
Athletics:
•
At many institutions student athletes are held to
a higher standard because they represent their
institution. Athletics departments should set
clear standards and help their students to create
positive images on Facebook.com
– Additionally, the site can be used to
promote sporting events, and to report
team progress.
More ways to use the tools of
Facebook.com
Admissions
•
Acknowledging Facebook.com and promoting its
positive use on our campus may help attract
students.
•
As more high school students gain access to the
site, Facebook.com messages and
communications may become a great way to
attract top students, and student athletes to our
institution
Judicial Affairs
•
How to know if you’ve gone to far…
– If you need to add extra staff to patrol the
Facebook.com, you are putting too much
focus on this site.
•
Use Facebook.com as a talking point
(educational moment) when meeting with
students suspected of other violations of policy.
•
Set a standard for what you will address on
Facebook.com
– Pictures of Guns, or other weapons
– Threats
– Hate Speech
– *Focus on educating students as a
preventative measure, rather than trying to
discipline everyone.
Orientation
•
Student’s receive their college accounts –
including email – in the summer before they
arrive on campus.
•
This means they have access to the University
specific Facebook.com site before they move in,
and in many cases before orientation.
•
New students use this information to ask other
students questions, find clubs, meet new friends,
hunt for roommates, and to look for dates.
•
By creating an orientation group we can provide
students with a place to ask questions and
ensure that they receive accurate answers.
First-year programs
•
Integrate Facebook.com as a teaching tool, or
as a way for students to ask questions.
•
Use Facebook.com to reach out to incoming
Freshman in the summer and to have them
begin coursework
– Key topics may include informed decision
making regarding alcohol and basic
campus navigation information.
More ways to use the tools of
Facebook.com
Greek Affairs
Alumni Relations
•
•
•
•
The stereotypical ‘Hollywood
depiction’ of Greek Life can be
reinforced by Facebook.com
pictures and messages
Facebook.com impacts
recruitment as students now
have a sneak peek into the lives
of the members of a Fraternity
or Sorority before they pledge
However, Facebook.com groups
can be used to advertise pledge
week and to recruit new
members. Additionally, Greek
organizations can promote their
positive works and change the
‘Hollywood’ stereotype
•
Even if a student loses their
college email address after
graduation they can still
maintain their Facebook.com
account.
Facebook.com is becoming a
continuously updated yearbook,
providing Alumni Relations with
up to date contact information,
job status, marital status and
plenty of other information about
Alumni.
Final Thoughts on
Facebook.com
• There may be some opposition to using
Facebook.com among staff and
administrators who do not understand the
system. Additionally, concerns are sometimes
raised about buying in to a system that is
controlled by an outside company.
• Faculty and staff should lead by example
when using the site, and should take full
advantage of the networking, promotional and
communication tools available on
Facebook.com.
Podcasts
What makes Podcasting a hot
topic?
As internet activity becomes more pervasive
among college students, student affairs professionals
must attempt to utilize the media in its newest
capacities. The Apple iPod, and other portable MP3
players, have quickly made their mark on the
Millennial generation and the uses of video and audio
communication.
Podcasting utilizes “hot” student technology that
is affordable and available to students both on and off
campus. Thanks to broadband internet networks,
podcasts are easy to download and offer an
innovative means to get information out to the
masses.
Podcasting Defined
According to iTunes, podcasts are simply radio shows that are
downloaded over the internet, either audio or visual, and played back on
iPods or other MP3 players. The name “podcast” is a combination of iPod
and broadcast. Using iTunes or Juice, software supporting the
downloading of podcasts, students are able to subscribe to certain
podcasts of interest and enjoy listening to the material at their leisure.
Current podcasts exist in forms of news broadcasts and radio shows
from major television networks. National Public Radio also offers
numerous podcasts on a multitude of topics. Some colleges are creating
podcasts, available primarily through iTunes, with their faculty members
talking about current events or issues in their chosen field. A few pioneer
institutions on iTunes include Emerson University (who also offers video
podcasts, original student productions and television programs), as well as
Yale, Princeton, and Colgate University.
According to Stuart Brown (2006), “technically, a podcast works
through an RSS feed (Really Simple Syndication) which pulls down an .xml
file containing the Internet address of the media source.” The file is then
read by a podcatcher, a website that is able to “collect, categorize, and then
make available podcasts for subscribers” (7 Things, 2006, p. 2).
Benefits of Podcasting
Although most campuses are using podcasts for academic
purposes, podcasts can be used effectively in student affairs as
well. Reasons for student services to utilize podcasting
technology are widespread. First, podcasts are a new form of
communication that can connect staff and students. Students
are already using their MP3 players on a daily basis, making it
an available media. New breakthroughs in podcast usage have
a novelty value to the media and campuses nationwide, giving
student affairs offices the potential for positive recognition.
Finally, given the resources and the time, podcasts have a
relatively easy learning curve (Brown, 2006).
Podcasts can be used in the following offices within higher
education in a variety of ways to be further outlined: residence
life, student activities, admissions, orientation, athletics, career
services, counseling, and alumni affairs.
Use of Podcasts
Residence Life
• Training for professional and
student staffs (Brown, 2006).
• Judicial Sanctions –
broadcast a variety of
educational programs about
alcohol and drug use,
vandalism, etc. that can be
used for students to listen to
as a judicial sanction.
• Student podcasts can be
used as audio blogs of
campus life and topics of
interest to the student
population.
Student Activities
• Broadcast:
– Guest speakers at campus
events
– Concerts that happen on
campus, both of popular artists
and local student groups
– Student government election
campaign speeches
– Student organization briefings
for members who miss
meetings or events.
– Advertisements for local events
and campus happenings in a
newscast format.
– Student radio shows and
discussions between student
leaders.
Use of Podcasts
Admissions
• Record an audio tour of
campus to give to
prospective students visiting
campus or make it available
on the website for
prospective students to listen
to while enjoying a virtual
tour.
• Provide staff interviews from
campus partners to better
explain services to
prospective students.
• Have current students record
personal experiences to give
prospective students a better
idea of life as a student.
Orientation
• Record student’s first year
experiences and advice to
the incoming class
• Share the history of the
institution and campus
traditions with the new
freshmen
Athletics
• Broadcast:
– Play-by-play action of
athletic events
– Interviews with coaches and
student athletes
– Information about the
facilities
Use of Podcasts
Career Services can provide:
• Advice from professionals about
interview tips and what
employers look for in
candidates.
• Alumni discussions on the
benefits of working in a
particular field or geographic
area.
Counseling
• Self-help discussion topics can
be recorded for personal use by
students.
• Counselor interviews or bios
can be recorded to help
students select which counselor
to see.
Alumni Affairs
• Can connect former students to
their alma mater through
updates from staff members and
current students.
• They can also advertise
upcoming events on campus
and at local alumni clubs.
• Allow alumni to record their
memories to share with current
students and each other
Issues surrounding
Podcasting
With any new technology, there are advantages and
disadvantages to implementing its use on campus. The
following issues are related to the introduction of podcasting to
student affairs:
• Institutional and technological support – As described by Stuart
Brown (2006), podcasting must have support within the division of
student affairs in order to spend the time, money, and staff
resources on such an expansive project. Also, the technology staff
must be able to communicate the directives of creating podcasts
and be able to work with the digital recording software required.
Proper staff training is essential to podcasting success.
• Equipment – The institution must have a way to acquire the
required equipment and software for recording and editing audio
files. Access to the applications that publish podcasts online is also
essential (Brown, 2006).
• Time – With a multitude of campus projects and issues vying for
professionals’ time, the division of student affairs must evaluate the
value of introducing another time consuming undertaking such as
podcasts. Podcasting requires time for development of new ideas,
editing for quality, and training staff members (Brown, 2006).
Will students listen?
Although the majority of students have an MP3
player, some still do not. For those that have an
iPod, it is yet another step to get those students to
download and subscribe to the college’s podcasts.
Certainly, there are some barriers to getting the
information to the students and getting them to care
enough to listen. Students must find podcasts to be
worth their time or have another positive incentive for
them to listen.
Like other new technology, podcasting has the
potential to make breakthroughs in numerous areas
of student affairs.
Conclusion
As technology makes its mark on higher education, it is
important for campuses to embrace the challenges and
opportunities that each new advance presents to the community.
Students are entering college with a broad understanding of
technology, which creates an expectation that the latest
technology trends will be available for their use. For better or
worse, technology will always impact student affairs in its
operations and philosophies.
Institutional spamming, blogs, online gambling,
Facebook.com, and podcasts are five hot topics involving
technology at this time. Understanding these topics and their
potential to impact a campus positively (or negatively) is
essential for any college professional. Implementing new
technologies into practice allows professionals to close the gap
between students, and staff and faculty, creating a unified
campus community that promotes student learning and
development.
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
7 things you should know about podcasting. (2005). EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative.
Retrieved February 17, 2007 from
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7003.pdf.
Bugeja, M. (2006). Facing the Facebook: Unless we reassess our high-tech priorities,
issues of student insensitivity, indiscretion, and fabrication will consume us
[electronic version]. The Chronicle of Higher Education 52, C1.
Brown, S. J., (2006). The surge in online gambling on college campuses. In G. McClellan, T.
Hardy & J. Casewell (113), New Directions for Student Services: Gambling on
Campus (53-62). San Fransico: Jossey-Bass.
Brown, Stuart (2006, August). Student affairs and podcasting: The new frontier? Student
Affairs Online, 7(2). Retrieved February 17, 2007 from
http://www.studentaffairs.com/ejournal/Summer_2006/StudentAffairsandPodcasting.
html.
Facebook (2006). Welcome to Facebook. Retrieved December 28, 2006 from
http://facebook.com
Habib, D., (2005, May 30). Online and obsessed. Sports Illustrated, 102.
Kanne, J., Dunch, D., Tone, J., Schellinger, E., Bechen, E., Allrich, et al. (2002, February).
You’re so money. Metro, Retrieved July 24, 2005, from
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/02.07.02/gambling1-0206.html.
References Continued
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Keeling, R.P. (Ed.). Learning Reconsidered, 2. Washington, DC: ACPA, ACUHO-I, ACUI,
NACA, NACADA, NASPA, and NIRSA.
Krieger, L. 2005 College poker championship, 2005. Retrieved June 28, 2005, from
http://www.pokermagazine.com/PokerTournaments/poker_news_college_tournament.html.
Koch, W., It’s always poker night on campus. (2005, Dec 23). USA Today, p. A03.
Kornblum, J. & Marklein, M. B. (2006, March 8). What you say online could haunt you
[electronic version] USA Today.
Kumar, R., Novak, J., Raghavan, P., & Tomkins, A. (2004, December). Structure and
evolution of blogspace. Communications of the ACM, 47(12), 35-46.
Nardi, B., Schiano, D., & Gumbrecht, M. (2004). Blogging as a social activity, or, would you
let 900 million people read your diary? [Electronic version]. The Journal of
Collaborative Computing, 6(3), 222-231.
Marino, P. (2006, October). Facebook.com: The new bane of cyberspace or a savvy
promotional tool for campus activities. Campus Activities Programming, 12-16.
Read, B. (2006). Think before you share: Students’ online socializing can have unintended
consequences [Electronic Version]. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 52, A38.
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
References Continued
•
•
•
Rosen, C. (2005). The age of egocasting. The New Atlantis: Journal of Technology and
Society, 7. Retrieved February 14, 2007, from
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/7/rosen.htm
Walters, L. esq., (2006), On second thought…What does the UIGEA really mean for internet
gamblers? Retrieved February, 16, .2007 from
http://www.gameattorneys.com/UIEGA.html.
Wikipedia contributors (2007). Spam (electronic). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Retrieved 3:52, February 16, 2007 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_%28electronic%29