In the November 2023 issue of the ACUHO-I magazine, Talking Stick, five professionals that recently earned Student Affairs Educator Certification credentials were asked about their experiences and what inspired them to pursue certification.
Check out their answers to one of the questions below and then read the rest of the conversation here.
Talking Stick: Was there a particular area or topic covered in the program that you felt filled in a portion of your previous experience?
Malory Sidarous: Honestly, as someone who never took “Introduction to the History of Student Affairs 101” or something similar, that topic in the program was definitely an area where I had some gaps. I felt fairly confident in my understanding and knowledge of student development theory, as I studied on my own early in my career since I didn’t have the coursework in my master’s program. However, the certification program did reinforce the value of the practical application of those theories, especially as our students and the work evolve.
Kevin Conn: This provided a good overview of the field and forced me to think beyond just my knowledge of the field and related texts, utilizing my knowledge for direct application to scenarios and situations that are quite relevant in our profession.
I love that idea about how it helps folks with different backgrounds and degrees. This could be a great way to help individuals in the field without traditional student affairs backgrounds to further their skill set and credentials.
Malory Sidarous, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville: Yes! It was a big motivator for me, as there are times when I feel like the odd man out in the room. While it has not generally bothered me, as I see the value of my experience in my role and at the table, I did see the benefit of the certification externally, when it came to other people who may not be as familiar with how a nontraditional background or degree translates to our work.
Patrick Kililee, University of Pennsylvania: In general, I found it interesting that there could be differences in the domain scores between the student affairs assessment and the housing assessment. One might have a broad knowledge within a domain, but not as much depth in the specialty domain, and, too, there are different applications of the same skills across disciplines.
Kenzel Hill, Virginia Commonwealth University: The talent management domain was an area that provided a great deal of reinforcement of my previous and current work in staff supervision and development. I think this shows that a lot of the domains were developed with intentionality and supplement our professional experiences.
Sasha Masoomi, Miami University, California State University-Northridge: I have an MBA and have experience in business systems and knowledge of management theory, so the human resources section of the certificate program really reactivated this part of my brain. I do not delve into human resources work on a daily basis, but as I consider moving up and different career options, thinking through hiring, feedback, and human capital with a focus on higher education really helped solidify all of these ideas. I learned a lot from taking the certification exams, and I also learned a lot about assessment and am able to incorporate these ideas into my work more fully.