OUR RISE TEAM MEMBERS WILL BE PRESENTING AT THE 2019 AFA ANNUAL MEETING. FIND THEM AT THESE SESSIONS:
AFA Advance Program: African American Professionals Summit
Chris Jefferson, Chris Graham, Veronica Moore, Parice Boswer, and Tavianna Williams
Wednesday, December 4, 1:00PM-4:30PM
The African American Professional’s Summit will create an intentional space and opportunity for African American professionals that work in the fraternal industry to build community, enhance the professional trajectory of attendees, and provide the opportunity for faculty to lead the group through a curriculum focused on personal and professional development. The curriculum will be delivered through guided discussion, presentations, and panels.
The Penn State Model: Sharing Stakeholder Perspective & Data
Chris Jefferson, Danny Shaha, Steve Veldkamp, and Adam Christensen
Education Block #1: Thursday, December 5, 10:30-11:45am
Over the past three years, Penn State has implemented sweeping changes to policies and practices regarding its fraternity/sorority community. This session will share which policies and practices are making a difference by focusing on measurable data. In particular: compliance function, deferred recruitment/enhanced eligibility requirements, council perspectives, community perspectives, headquarter perspectives, and intended and unintended consequences of the Penn State New Measures. Additionally, participants will share what is working on their campuses as well as what from the emerging model they think will be most beneficial for their campus. Notes from the session will assist the Piazza Center in creating a proposed research protocol for and exploratory study in sound professional practice. As participants process changes, based on their experience on their own campuses, they will be asked to consider what assessment data will drive campus change. Participants will gain insight and share information on ideas that have assisted Penn State in creating positive community change and the data that supports these decisions. Participants will understand and appreciate the relationships and teams of staff, alumni advisors, and headquarters who have been part of changes.
The Panoramic View: Using 360° Assessments to Evaluate our Work
Brittany Barnes Deeg and Karlee Nuttelman
Education Block #1: Thursday, December 5, 10:30-11:45am
Have you ever wondered why a program fails year after year? Why members view their fraternal experience as a checklist? It might be because you are only using one instrument or point of view to determine success. Maybe it’s time to consider a more holistic approach to program evaluation. 360° assessments are common within Human Resource settings for individual performance evaluations. This program translates that process and applies it to fraternity and sorority programs. Utilizing varying participant perspectives and collection methods allows practitioners to gather more and better data; creating space for fraternity/sorority life professionals to determine a more strategic path moving forward, tell a better story with their data, and deliver effectively on desired outcomes. This program will review the components of a 360° assessment approach and discuss how the framework can be applied to work with fraternity and sorority programs.
Show and Tell: Using Data to Tell Your Story
Brittany Barnes Deeg and Karlee Nuttelman
Education Block #2: Thursday, December 5, 2:00-3:15pm
Show and tell is often a favorite activity of young school-aged children; it presents an opportunity for the individual to tell a group of peers and teachers about something they care deeply about and treasure. They translate the object’s meaning into terms that are understood by the audience. Fraternity and sorority professionals are tasked with showing and telling outcomes and performance related data, only the audience is comprised of peers, upper administration, boards of directors, and/or trustees who may not all speak the same language. So how does one present the data in a specific way so each audience best understands it and how it applies to their work? This session will explore the target audience process model which helps professionals determine an audience, identify and address their priorities, and share the key information needed to drive decisions without overwhelming the individuals involved.
Finding Your Professional Voice: Embracing Talent, Knowledge, & Skills to Lead a Team & Yourself
Chris Jefferson and Ryan Powell
Education Block #4: Friday, December 6, 10:45-11:45am
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” (Quote by Marianne Williamson.) In this session, two directors recently completing their first experiences leading communities at Division I, Power 5 institutions will share advice on what helped them prepare to take on these roles, provide insight on how they communicate their strategic vision, discuss strategies for team development/supervision, and share insight on critical lessons learned in their first year. This session will allow attendees to engage in self-reflection to assess if they are confident in their ability to lead, if they are ready to lead, and if they have engaged their available resources to begin the necessary prep work to take on a leadership role in the future. Participants will evaluate their current competencies as they relate to their preparation to articulate a strategic vision and manage office operations. Participants will identify resources to assist in the development/enhancement of their competencies in preparation to take on advanced professional roles within their career.
Resource Reallocation: Setting Priorities when Everything is Important
Dan Wrona
Education Block #5: Friday, December 6, 2:30-3:45 pm
In recent years, campus fraternity/sorority departments have expanded dramatically to meet increasing expectations, but the ability to add staff and services is limited. As departments approach capacity and as membership begins to dip, professionals will face difficult decisions about which services can and should be maintained. This session introduces a theory of change framework and a capacity-building model to help professionals prioritize which programs and services should be elevated and which ones should be abandoned or changed. Participants will develop their department’s program and service map, evaluate the impact of select programs and services, and discuss strategies for reallocating time, energy, and money of their department. Expect difficult conversations about whether some of our favorite strategies are worth continuing!
Idea Lab: "It's Time for Change: Challenging Conventional Wisdom to Spark Disruptive Action"
Brittany Barnes Deeg as panelist/facilitator, presented by Jessi Sheridan and Brooke Goodman
Friday, December 6, 2:30-4:00pm
As the value and relevancy of the fraternity and sorority experience is increasingly called into question, professionals must critically examine and reconsider conventional notions of who we are, the work we do, and how we do it. This session aims to spark individual and collective strategies for disruptive action of perceived norms that hold the profession and fraternity and sorority experience back. Through practical application of change models, analyzing 2018 AFA Core Competencies assessment outcomes, and reviewing relevant literature, presenters will suggest and challenge eight areas of conventional wisdom within the profession, including but not limited to traditional hiring practices, new professional socialization, workplace culture, and how assessment and research inform our work. From there, participants will engage with a team of skilled facilitators to critically examine relevant norms, identify strategies for change, and develop sustainable timelines for disruptive action to move the fraternity and sorority experience forward.
High (Key) Impact: Benefits of Utilizing High Impact Practices to Evaluate Our Work
Brittany Barnes Deeg and Ginny Carroll
Education Block #6: Saturday, December 7, 9:30-10:30am
Many fraternity and sorority professionals have heard about the benefits High Impact Practices have on student outcomes; but, what is considered a High Impact Practice and how does it apply to the work of fraternity and sorority professionals? This session defines high impact practices using the model developed by George Kuh (2008) and illustrates the benefits of aligning co-curricular experiences with his work. Participants will also be able to describe how to assess programs using the High Impact Practice rubrics and the longitudinal effects such measures have on advocating for the fraternity and sorority experience to stakeholders.
AFA Supervision Essentials: More than a One-on-One
Dan Wrona, Brittany Barnes Deeg, and Marsha Carrasco
Education Block #8: Saturday, December 7, 2:15-3:15 pm
Supervisors have an important job with high stakes. Poor supervisors drive staff away, allow them to stagnate, and regularly face performance issues. Good supervisors keep people around longer, build their capacity, and get the best out of them, but this takes much more than a weekly one-on-one meeting. We spent the past year studying effective supervision through books, colleague interviews, industry resources, applied practice, and personal reflection. Join us to learn what we learned - the behind-the-scenes aspects of supervision, the often overlooked practices that are most critical to supervision, and a framework for developing your practice. Whether you are an experienced or aspiring supervisor, this session will help you develop the special skills and strategies required to improve staff performance, retention, and development.