Enhancing Your Credibility as a Student Affairs Professional

OVERVIEW
Maintaining professional credibility is extremely important to anyone who holds a leadership position in student affairs. Certainly, successfully navigating the current collegiate environment can be very challenging for seasoned professionals, and it can be especially daunting for those just entering higher education. New staff members often feel torn between doing what they think is best and what their supervisors feel is the appropriate course of action.

Although maintaining credibility becomes increasingly important as one assumes greater responsibility, it is also essential to moving efficiently up the proverbial ladder to success. Getting things done while remaining true to yourself is a balancing act; tips for walking that fine line between a creative, innovative professional and a team player will be provided. Specific examples and suggestions for accomplishing these goals will be presented in an entertaining manner, but the relevance of these insights to your career goals and professional relationships will be clear. Authenticity and how you communicate with others will be emphasized.

OUTLINE

• Politics: How Things Really Work in Student Affairs
• Personal Strengths/Weaknesses: Professional Building Blocks
• Your Reputation/Your Career: Protecting Both
• Integrity and Influence: Can’t Have One Without the Other
• Enhancing Relationships: Attitudes and Strategies
• Habits: What to Nurture/What to Discard
• Priorities and Potential Pitfalls: A Roadmap

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Acquire a more realistic and accurate understanding of the political nature of student affairs and higher education
• Identify and acknowledge their strengths and areas for potential improvement as student affairs professionals
• Explore the importance of protecting their reputation in the face of multiple and often conflicting expectations
• Discover how to maintain their integrity and influence when adverse situations develop and evolve
• Investigate alternative ways of more effectively managing key professional relationships
• See how counterproductive practices and habits can negatively influence career development
• Analyze their personal/professional priorities in terms of their overall career goals

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This webinar is appropriate for student affairs professionals at all levels who are in positions of leadership; entry-level coordinators, managers and supervisors would find it especially helpful.