Challenge and Support

I like baseball.  I’m currently watching the Cubs play at the Cardinals (go Cards!).  I don’t understand the nuances of the game, though.  This works to my advantage today.  Our friends and family generally like higher education, but have no idea what WE do!  Today, I attempt to relate my ignorance of baseball to the world’s ignorance of our jobs.

It’s easy to watch a baseball game and not understand every minuscule aspect of the game.  We all understand a ball, strike, hit, run, etc.  The pitcher throws a ball, the batter swings, hopefully hits, and with any luck, makes it around the bases back to home.  You don’t have to understand ERA, RBI, slugging percentages, or the infield fly rule to enjoy the game.  Thank God for that.

Higher Education is very similar.  Most people understand the concept of registration, classes, housing, and graduation.  You don’t have to grasp the nuances of college to appreciate the positive outcomes of a University.  Things like academic advising, credit hours, hall directors, and a myriad of day-to-day operations are concepts lost to the general public.

The Pitch
Students come to our offices all the time.  Contrary to popular belief, when a student is not in class, he is not simply hanging out in his room, throwing the frisbee out on the quad, or planning the next toga party down at Sigma Chi.  Between classes, students are actually getting administrative things done.  A prime example of this is the appointment with administrators.

Take my friends in academic advising, for example.  They meet with students daily, and they have no clue what might come from each of those meetings.  Just as a batter has no idea what pitch is coming up next, the academic advisor has no clue what a student is going to say when they walk in the door.  Sure, they prepare for a wide variety of questions and problems, but they have to be on the ball and ready to take whatever may come next.  Changing majors, failing a class, dropping a class, dropping out of school, roommate conflicts (yes, advisors hear about these, too), and a whole host of topics that the advisor has absolutely no professional interest in are all fair game when a student walks through their door.

And then, sometimes you get hit by a pitch.  Parents call, your boss calls, the president of the university calls.  Something happens that so completely throws you off your game and instead of doing your job as you had planned, you wind up taking a base.  You just move along to the next step in your process ignoring all the processes you have been trained to go through.  Development be damned.  Daddy is a donor and we’re going to move ahead on this, ignoring the student altogether.

Sacrifice Bunt
Sometimes, you have to step back, put things in perspective, and say, “Well, at least I can look forward to hell.”  Sometimes, you have to do what you would least like to do, that which goes against everything you hold true about your profession, in order to advance your department, your own progress up the ladder, or, as it sometimes works out, your boss.

The difference between a sacrifice bunt in baseball, and the sacrifice in Higher Ed, or in any career, though, is that “taking one for the team” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  You often are worse for wear afterward, and, while you may get a few words of thanks, the most you stand to gain is a little clout with whoever you sacrificed yourself for.  Rarely does “taking one for the team” amount to much in terms of real returns, in my experience.  Our focus is always student development: how can we best serve our students and help them develop into well-rounded adults?  Sometimes the primary goal of our job gets put to the wayside for the whims of upper-administration, trustees, and donors.  It’s sad, but true.

The Outfield
You’ll spend more time out here, waiting to hear the crack of the bat, letting you know that something is heading your way.  Something that only you can stop.  Do you have the agility to chase the ball down, catch it in mid-air, or are you going to wait for it to bounce off the wall so you can relay it back in to 2nd base?

Thus is the down-times on the job.  You have your pet projects you’re working on, but for the most part you’re just sitting around waiting for things to pick up.  When that ball comes your way, are you going to catch it?  If you catch it, are you going to drop the ball?  Are you going to handle the ball and relay it on to your teammates to complete the job?

There are so many departments in a university.  It’s up to us to know which department to go to for help; which department can best complete the job.  Student development is a team effort.  No one-man show here.  What do you think this is?  The NBA?  You think you’re Kobe?

Home Run
Sometimes it all just clicks.  You get the perfect pitch, the perfect swing, nail that sweet spot and *BAM* you’re out of the park.  Everyone is cheering, giving you high fives, and slapping your ass in that manly, athletic way.  We all recognize it at work.  Your boss asks you to work on that project that just so happens to be your passion.  You just read that article in the Chronicle of Higher Education on this very topic.  Your mentor from grad school, as luck would have it, is an expert on the topic.  The stars have aligned and you are ready to rock.

And you do.  You crank out the best product you’ve ever created.  You’re so proud.  Everyone is proud of you.  You round the bases, pumping your fists in the air.  You pounce on home plate, give the opposing catcher a dirty look…

…and then you go back to the dugout, ready for your next at-bat, and all the uncertainty that it holds.

Disclaimer: It should be noted that I know very, very little about the mechanics of any sport, and this article no doubt proves that.  But that won’t stop me from making crazy comparisons!

Independence Day.  The 4th.  Firecracker Day.  Today marks the 232nd birthday of the United States of America.  We here at Challenge and Support wish you all a safe and happy holiday weekend.

I’m glad there is a holiday like the 4th of July during the Summer months.  It gives us in Higher Ed a chance to celebrate a holiday without looking over our shoulders for our students.  I can go downtown, have a beer, scream at the top of my lungs, and act a little crazy, and there is a very slim chance any of my students will be there to see my antics and call me out on it next week in a judicial meeting.  You don’t get opportunities like that with Labor Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gras, etc.

So, my fellow Student Affairs Professionals, go forth!  Live it up this weekend!  Enjoy the holiday.  It’s the last one you’ll get for a while!

Just keep an eye on those fuses.  We don’t want anyone to lose a finger.  It’s hard to type those weekly reports with a nub, you know.

For only $495 you, too, can own a 20-minute video teaching you how to hide behind a desk when someone goes on a shooting rampage through your school!  For just $1000 more, you can throw up some fancy videos on your website!

Oh, what’s that?  The videos don’t really tell you how to save yourself?  They just tell you how to think about saving yourself?  Well, hell, that’s worth $1500!

This article at the Chronicle describes the basic idea behind the videos.  I’m a little more disturbed by the idea that this is just a “pep talk” and not a how-to.  I recognize that not every shooter situation is the same and not every building has the same layout, but can we not at least throw out ideas of ways to protect yourself?

Hide behind a desk
Barricade the door
Jump out a window

These are ideas that one presenter mentioned in a lecture, according to the article.  I agree that nobody wants to die, and nobody wants to go down without a fight, but doesn’t it just seem a little… wreckless to encourage fighting back?  Now, we have people who might not have been shot at all, rushing at an armed gunman and putting themselves in a dangerous situation they might have otherwise avoided.

Don’t get me wrong.  I commend all those people who gave their lives trying to stop the previous gunmen on campus.  They are heroes who save the lives of many of their fellow students.  I’m not trying to belittle what they did at all.  I just feel that it is a little wreckless for us to encourage that behavior.  Are we not liable in some way for the deaths of students who we’ve given “pep talks” to about trying to stop armed gunmen?