Transcript Keeping Up With Technology StudentAffairs.com Virtual 2008 Case Study Competition Salem State College Danielle A.

Keeping Up With Technology
StudentAffairs.com Virtual 2008 Case Study Competition
Salem State College
Danielle A. Morgan - Team Leader
Libby
Donaldson
Company
LOGO
Kari
George
“Technology is not something that
happens to us. It is something we
create. We must not confuse a tool with
a goal. We must, therefore, be sure that
technology serves the fundamental
purposes of higher education.”
-Stanley N. Katz (2001)
The Students We Serve
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Are Millennials with expectations
Are digital and technological natives
Are connected to a global community
Are the most diverse student population to
ever attend college
Higher Education Must Adapt
 Life and society have been reshaped by
technological advancements.
 Technology has changed the way we teach, the
way students learn, and the knowledge
necessary to survive in our global society.
 Continual assessment of practices and services
is needed to ensure that institutions are
responding to the demands and opportunities of
technology.
 Student Affairs must be willing to adapt its
services to meet student needs and expectations.
Student Needs & Expectations
 Technology allows for the exploration and accumulation of knowledge to take
place in a more private setting.
 Online communities exist to bring students together, while also making private
lives more public and one-on-one interactions virtually unnecessary
(Facebook, MySpace, blogs, AIM, McApple Intranet).
 Support networks from home are easier to maintain, diminishing the desire to
connect with fellow students and create new support groups.
 Students have everything they need in their rooms: online classes and library
resources, computers, cable, music, contact with friends and family via cell
phones, and web-based games.
 Information about everything from a student’s crush in class, events and
activities, food delivery numbers, counseling groups, health information,
resume tips, to judicial codes, grades, and financial aid information is
available online.
Overall, technology can hinder students ability to be an active participant in their
college community: a student that does not go to events, is not engaged in
courses and learning, and therefore is prevented from developing strong
interpersonal relationships. This same technology can also give students the
opportunity to learn more privately and utilize resources at the institution that
previous generations may have been hesitant to use.
Radical Changes
Impacts of Technology
Communication
Access
&
Equality
Global
Community
McApple College
Division of Student Affairs
Ethics
&
Responsibility
Structure
&
Organization
Communication
 Technology has decreased the need for face-to-face
interpersonal communication.
 Technology has increased the frequency and ease of
communication.
 Technology has changed the information that is available to,
and the way we interact with students, faculty, and staff.
 We are challenged to utilize the benefits and efficiency of
technology while overcoming the barriers of communication,
personal development, and engagement it encourages.
Communication at McApple
 All offices are disseminate information and make resources
more readily available than in the past.
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Information is available on our department websites, forms
(applications for student positions, financial aid, housing lottery) can
be completed online.
We use email as our primary means of student contact, publicity for
events and services is easier to create and mass distribute
 Student Activities has modified its programming to attract
the interest of a digital student population.
 Residence Life has established lines of communication with
IT to accommodate for students technological needs while
living on campus.
 Career Services has expanded their networking tools to
connect students to alumni in their field of interest.
 McApple College utilizes text messaging and email blasts to
communicate emergency information instantaneously.
Access & Equity
 Technology has created the opportunity for students who
historically would be underserved at our institution, to
attend and thrive.
 Technology imposes a new skill set and knowledge base
necessary for students to be successful in college, one
that is not always learned in high school or at home.
 Socio-economic status divides students into “technology
haves” and “have-nots,” in the classroom and in social
settings.
 Online applications and services provide more
information to students when they want it, and broaden
outreach opportunities to a greater variety of students.
Access & Equity at McApple
 Disability Services has had to expand resources
(advanced visual and auditory equipment,
mobility advocacy, additional staff) available to a
broader student population with more
specialized needs.
 Orientation Services provides online tests and
information to ensure that first-year students
enter classes at their academic level.
 Monetary issues surrounding the Laptop
initiative and general technology knowledge
create new stresses in students’ lives that
Student Affairs professionals in all departments
must be prepared to discuss and understand.
Ethics & Responsibility
 Online communities offer a venue for the display
of students’ personal lives in a public and often
legally binding manner.
 The dangers and potential risks of online
information create a new responsibility for student
affairs practitioners to educate and inform
students on responsible and safe use.
 Connecting with students via online tools and
resources adds a new responsibility and liability
for students and staff.
 Colleges must establish their ethical standards
regarding online information about students’,
faculty’s, and staff’s activities, beliefs, and lives.
Ethics & Responsibility at McApple
 Orientation Services has implemented new online
education initiatives for new students.
 Judicial Affairs has had to adapt the student code of
conduct to include technology:
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New policies were added about online stalking and harassment,
proper procedures dealing with facebook and myspace
photographs, and AIM conversations.
Conversations about student responsibility regarding musicsharing and piracy changed Residence Life and Student
Activities educational programming on these issues.
 Offices have the responsibility to assess how they
communicate with students to ensure the best and most
efficient methods of communication are utilized.
 Offices have had to set standards for employees
regarding their acceptable online-presence.
Structure & Organization
 Technology has allowed us to become more efficient in
the process and delivery of services to students, allowing
us to provide more with less time, staff, and resources.
 Advances in communication have allowed us to contact
students through their preferred methods (email blasts,
text message warnings, resources on college website).
 The capability of technology has increased student
expectations of what is available to them, making “onestop-shopping” more of a priority for offices.
 New requirements for computer labs, technology spaces,
and wireless accessibility has increased demands for
technologically enhanced renovations, different types of
community spaces, and knowledgeable staff.
Structure & Organization at McApple
 With the creation of the CIO position, departments
looked to technology programs to potentially minimize
staffing and become more efficient.
 Residence Life had to adapt community spaces for
students’ technology needs: increasing bandwidth,
including wireless space, and renegotiating contracts
with outside companies.
 Counseling, Health Services, and Disability Services
have grown their staffs to accommodate student needs
(speaking with students that feel isolated, creation and
implementation of online information and services,
research of new hardware to support students).
 Student Affairs has had to align policies and ensure the
“one-stop-shopping” that students find online is also
available in person, leading to more interdepartmental
communication and reorganization of office locations.
Global Community
 Technology has connected students, faculty, and student
affairs professionals nationally and internationally with
other institutions, making the sharing of knowledge and
services more prevalent and influential.
 Online services have given McApple College the
opportunity to attract a more global student population;
leading to a different student needs on campus.
 Technology provides opportunities for students to
become more aware of and engaged in world affairs.
 Global technologies have the potential to foster the
holistic development of the student from moral reasoning
to multicultural competence and more.
Global Community at McApple
 Orientation Services has had to revamp the process to
accommodate for a larger international student
population.
 Residence Life and Student Activities have been able to
encourage RAs and student organizations to sponsor
high-quality, diverse programs that encourage students
to take an interest in issues beyond their local
community.
 Student Affairs departments have been challenged to
support students with their Study Abroad experience and
to encourage students to utilize their new perspectives
when they return to the institution.
 Student Affairs practitioners are able to share and adapt
ideas, programs, and services more efficiently than in
the past via national professional organizations (NASPA,
ACPA, NACA, NODA, NACURH, etc), email listservs,
websites, and online communities.
The Division of Student Affairs at McApple College
has responded appropriately to the changing
needs of students as technology became an
integral part of their lives.
We must proactively explore the opportunities
technology allows to connect with our students
and to ensure that our services, programs, and
departments, are providing them with the best
McApple experience possible.
References
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Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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Jossey-Bass.
Chickering, A.W. (1969). Education and identity. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Dare, L. (2006). “Technology in student affairs: Seeking knowledge, craving community.” Student Affairs
Online, Summer, v.7n.2.
Eberhardt, D.M. (2007). “Facing up to Facebook.” About Campus, September-October v.12n.4.
Gordon, C.F., Juang, L.P., & Syed, M. (2007). “Internet use and well-being among college students: Beyond
frequency of use.” ACPA Journal of College Student Development, November-December v.48.n.6.
Hinkle, S.E. & Hersh, S.L. (2007). “Facebook and the first-year experience: Promoting on-line education
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Howe, N., & Strauss, W., (2003). Millennials go to college. Washington D.C.: American Association of
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Katz, S.N. (2001). “In information technology, don’t mistake a tool for a goal.” The Chronicle of Higher
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Kohlberg, L. (1981). Essays on moral development: Vol. 1. The Philosophy of moral development. New York:
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