The Next Game Changer

Today, I want to put a methaphorical pin in the idea of a "game changer." I first heard this term the other day on the news in refrence to the Somalian pirates. The idea being if the pirates linked up with their mother ship the game would have changed.

My question in terms of higher education is what will the next game changer be? I would argue that the Internet was the last game changer. It changed the way teachers teach, students learn, and the way the college community inteacts and operates. So what will be the next game changer?

Wax Hands

Today, I had the pleasure of helping people create wax forms of their hands. Party Vision, our vendor, describes the process as follows:

Your wax sculpture is made by dipping your hand in our warm melted wax several times. The casting is cooled and removed from your hand. We then add your choice of colors. A variety of items are available which can be held while dipping to add to your creation.

Though I personally do not care for the things, they were quite popular as evidenced by a line the entire time that had a thirty plus minute wait time.

Some important lessons today. Never underestimate the power of the strange. Who knows what students will like, unless you ask them -- a key to successful student activities programming. Also, when going for quantity as we often do, be sure to check with your vendor about ways to speed up the novietly. For example students today could choose to dip their hands with flowers and/or frogs. Though nice, the level of difficulty to attach extra things slowed the process down.

Also, be sure to always put on the posters for these types of events a line about the event being for valid students only. This will avoid other groups from taking advanatge of the event and provide a level of enforcement if a confrontation over the "free" nature of event arises. If necessary, ask students for their ID and if offering multiple novilities have a check in station for IDs that will provide tickets to the novilities. Faculty, staff, and others could then purchase these tickets.


Lastly, ask the vendor ahead of time if there are ways to personalize the product. Today we also offered Pucker Powder, colored sugar in a tube. It would have been nice to have our logo on the tube so that people could know who provided them with the "free" pucker powder. This points to a large issue of on-site marketing which we do not do a good job at.

Welcome Day 2009

Welcome Day 2009 is in the books. This was my fifth Welcome Day as a student/staff member and if you include my Welcome Day from 2004 it was my sixth. This Welcome Day was filled with the excitment of welcoming a new class with the sadness of it being my last. In my six years I have learned a lot about Welcome Day, let me share a bit of what I have learned so far.

What is Welcome Day, and why is it important. Welcome Day is an event designed to welcome newly accepted students. It can be a yield event for students who have not deposited and a retention event for those who have put down a deposit. This distinction though is becoming more difficult as more and more students put down multiple deposits. Nonetheless, a day for accepted students is important to showcasing the transformation the institution is capable of facilitating

To do this most successfully, the school must showcase the work of students and the students themselves. It is one thing to hear about what is possible from an administrator, it is another thing to see what a school has done for a student in their own words. It is also critical for the students who do have public roles in an event like this to be as varied as possible so that most students can find someone during their day that will make them feel like they could be that person someday. Some critical areas for student participation: tours, student life, college and major presentation.

At UMass Boston I have found it is sometimes difficult to get student organizations to participate in this event. In my experience selling why the event helps. Something we have not done as of yet but should consider is requiring a club to send two members in order to have club status.

Weather too plays a big factor in the events success. If it is too sunny, some people will stay at home enjoying the first nice day of spring. If it is too rainy, people will stay home preferring not to venture out. The idea weather is overcast, not too sunny, and not too rainy.

Something we tried this year which was a great idea was a customized novelty. At the Student Organization fair new students could have their photo printed on a puzzle with the slogan "You Fit Here." It was a great and clever message, however, it did not always have a line. It seemed to me students were shy about taking a photo, some refusing because their parents would have to be in the photo. Perhaps this would be better at orientation when students could have their photo taken with their new UMass Boston friends. Ignoring the specific novelty, the idea of a personalized giveaway was great.

I look forward to seeing a Welcome Day next year at a new institution, nonetheless I will miss the event that convinced me five years ago that UMass Boston was the fit for me.

A Communty's Standards

Going back to the Dershowitz event, I am left to wonder, was the problem a lack of clearly articulated standards?

I will be the first to admit, I did not set very clear standards about behavior when I began the event. Moreover, Dershowitz, at times, baited the crowd into bad behavior. Irrespective of Dershowitz's behavior, I should have told the audience and Dershowtiz what was acceptable and what was not. Part of the reason why I did not set standards was a lack of a universal, concise, and meaningful standard that I could draw upon.

Naturally we do have university polices; that does set standards of behavior, but I think what was missing yesterday was a standard set by the community of students. Doing so will create a student body which is familiar with the standard, appreciates, and even takes pride in their standard, as it would be a standard created by students for students.

I do not see this student created standards as superceding university policy. Rather this standard would be rooted in university policy, making code and rules palatable, portable, and understandable to everyday actual students. For an example check out UCLA's True Bruin program. According the program’s website, http://www.truebruin.ucla.edu/, True Bruins have integrity, strive for excellence, are accountable for their actions, and project respect. Such a program could go along way on any campus in improving student behavior, especially if it is created by students.

If UMass Boston is to continue the Voices of Vision forum, I believe a group of students should set clear a clear expectation about what conduct is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Doing so would allow a moderator to enforce the minimum level of behavior the community expects. In the long term the standard established for Voices of Vision could be the foundation then of a "True Beacon" program.

Reflection on Two States for Two Peoples - An Evening with Alan Dershowitz

Yesterday was the first day in a very long time that I can say I had an eye opening experience. Before yesterday, I did not truly understand why an event like the Dershowitz forum was and is so important. Having controversial speakers come to a campus I now know is vital. Doing so provides an opportunity for students to ask a figure a question, to say they saw a person speak, indeed to see into a person perhaps more than could ever be possible through a thirty second sound bite on CNN.

Seeing Dershowitz on our campus making provocative statements was wonderful as it challenged those with hard line views, confirmed the views of others, and perhaps even inspired those who were apathetic on the subject. Whether you agree with the man or not, what I cannot dispute that the forum provided the opportunity for serious academic discourse. And for some if not most students the star power driving that level of academic discourse was never before experienced.

Because of my revelation, it is extremely disappointing to me that we were not able to have the full level of discourse that should have been possible. Due to the actions of a small minority, some of which I believe were not even members of our university community, and the actions of Dershowitz I was forced to close down the forum before its scheduled end time. What is so disappointing is that it was not the protesters or even Dershowitz that lost out, it was the students who were working on papers on the subject, those that had never heard of Dershowitz who came to find out more, and those who wanted to learn more about where Dershowtiz stands.

I ask those who were disrespectful, not constructive, and frankly ignorant of what the forum's goals were to think about the rights of those students who lost out on the experience yesterday. In the name of their right to free speech the protesters: demanded free reign of the auditorium, shouted profanity after profanity at Dershowitz and other students, and were disrespectful to staff and public safety officers who were doing their jobs. I ask them directly how can you believe in free speech so vibrantly while you denied every single other person's right to hear Dershowitz speak. What gives you the right to supersede any other person's right to free speech?

Yesterday these protesters actions were academic terrorism as their actions disrupted the most cherished component of a college campus -- the concept of a marketplace of ideas. When one person or one group shuts that down we all loose. I say to those protesters that if you do disagree with someone thoughts you do so in way that allows others to decide what they think of their own free will.

I also ask this group of protesters to think about their actions. At best they came off looking like uneducated using chants and slogans to forward their case. What a poor representation of the quality of students this university develops. What is most disappointing was their lost opportunity to ask serious questions of Dershowitz and challenge him on his level.

Yesterday, was a day I know I will soon not forget. Thank you to Dershowitz, the protesters, and everyone else for these important lessons.

My First Post

My plan here is to record what I learn during my journey in the field of higher education administration.