#RoadtoCACUSS
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#ROADTOCACUSS Nick Asquini, Hamza Khan, Jen Gonzales, Kait Asquini, Troy Murray #ROADTOCACUSS is an introduction to 5 RyersonSA professionals' journey to CACUSS, how it inspired and informed their work, and how it can be replicated.
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#RoadtoCACUSS
- 1. #ROADTOCACUSS A transformational journey across Canada + the United States.
- 2. MEET THE TEAM ● Brandon Smith - Residence Life and Education Coordinator ● Hamza Khan - Coordinator, Student Affairs Creative ● Jen Gonzales - Director, Student Life ● Kait Taylor-Asquini - Leadership Development Facilitator ● Nicholas Asquini - Varsity Coordinator ● Troy Murray - Sponsorship and Fundraising Officer
- 3. LEARNING OBJECTIVES ● Learn about the #RoadToCACUSS. ● Learn about the #RyersonSA story ● Learn how it inspired and informed our work. ● Learn how replicate it.
- 4. THE #RYERSONSA STORY 1. Community Building 2. Mental Well-Being 3. Personal Development 4. Professional Development 5. Learning Good + Different
- 5. “HERE’S AN IDEA…” “What if we drive?” “What if we make this more than a drive?” “How do we make this meaningful?”
- 6. WHERE WE WERE AND WHO WE WERE BEFORE THE TRIP.
- 7. WE DIDN’T KNOW WE WANTED THIS UNTIL IT HAPPENED, OF COURSE.
- 10. WHY: REFLECTIONS
- 11. WHY: CONNECTIONS
- 12. WHAT WE DID MEETINGS BLOGGING HANDOFFS UPDATES SHARING
- 13. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STUDENTS
- 14. OUR JOURNEY WHERE WE WENT & WHAT WE DID
- 15. DAY 1: Toronto to Monroe
- 16. DAY 2: Monroe to Chicago
- 17. DAY 3: Chicago: Northwestern
- 18. DAY 4/5: 5AM Chicago to Calgary
- 19. DAY 6: Calgary to Kelowna
- 20. DAY 7: Kelowna to Vancouver
- 21. KEY TAKEAWAYS WHAT WE LEARNED
- 22. 1. What is the biggest success/challenge facing your students? 2. What is the biggest success/challenge facing your department? 3. What is the biggest success/challenge facing Student Affairs? 4. What does Student Affairs look like in 2020? 5. If you had $100,000 in sponsorship/funding what would you do with it? QUESTIONS WE ASKED
- 23. SPONSORSHIP + FUNDRAISING How we offset costs.
- 24. THE NUMBERS ARE IN Twitter ● 1,400+ tweets ● 1.3M+ impressions Blog ● 9,000+ unique users ● 50,000+ pageviews
- 25. EARNED MEDIA ● CACUSS ● ACUHO-I ● Academica Top Ten ● University Affairs ● The SA Collective ● Ryerson Today ● More to come...
- 26. THEMES: REFLECTIONS ● Taking Chances ● Cold Feet ● Coaching ● Diversity ● Tradition ● Spirituality ● Introversion ● Sponsorship ● Transition ● Community ● Challenges ● Conclusions
- 27. CHECKLIST 1. Find champions 2. Dream big 3. Ask “why” 4. Plan it out 5. Get buy-in 6. Move
- 28. LET THEM TRY
- 29. MAKING CONNECTIONS You don’t need to hop in an RV and drive across the country to make a connection.
- 30. IT ALL COMES DOWN TO RELATIONSHIPS.
- 31. THANK YOU! The #RoadToCACUSS Team Revisit The Journey @ roadtocacuss.ca
Editor's Notes
- Intro by Jen:
- Identify Ryerson`s 5 pillars of student affairs (community building, personal development, career development, mental wellbeing, and learning) as represented by participants reflections on the Road to CACUSS Outline how Kolb’s experiential learning theory was used by session presenters on the Road to CACUSS to overcome challenges Describe Ryerson’s transformative “Road to Ryerson” initiative and identify how they might create connections on their campus to improve the transition of incoming students to their campuses Identify a current challenge they are experiencing in their roles regarding student transition and propose how they might use Kolb’s experiential learning theory to propose a solution
- Ryerson Student Affairs: comprised of the following areas: Housing and Residence Life, Student Life, Career Centre, Learning Support Services, We provide services and exceptional experiences to 38, 000 Ryerson students. We’re leanly resourced, and experience consistent budget cuts. This means we have to do more with less. We’re supportive of being “good and different”- Ryerson values innovation, equity, diversity, inclusion and attracts thought leaders who are able to execute in a fast-paced, data driven, creatively focused environment.
- Jen: Who came up with the idea? Kait:
- Jen: Where were we before this trip? Brandon Smith - expanding residence life, personal Hamza Khan - birth of creative unit Jen Gonzales - finished first orientation week as director SL, mom & cancer, craving space! Kait Taylor-Asquini - masters? Nicholas Asquini - hosting CIS championship, beginning MBA program Troy Murray - getting Murray-ed, first year in job
- Jen: When did this take shape? How did the scope change? Hamza: --- BRANDON’S EDITS/NOTES: -comment on struggle with taking chances away from ‘proven or best practice’ -innovation metaphor: not doing what is expected -how can we ensure this isn’t just a road trip: we planned, intentional stops, research questions to understand/add to our growth personally, professionally and in role. -wanted to bring attention to what we were doing in #RyersonSA & Canadian Student Affairs We had to give this careful thought. We needed to make this good + different. We wanted this to be more than a road trip. Thought about: Kolb’s experiential learning cycle The Leadership Challenge --- Jen: BRANDON’S NOTES/EDITS: personal choices to make this work - support of Directors and Executive Director...still getting stuff done, being on point for meetings, collecting information/sharing perspecive, looking clean, driving through the night - etc etc etc (is this what we mean for this slide?) HK’s original text on slide: Day-in-and-day-out, we help students navigate their personal, professional and academic transitions. But we sometimes lose sight of the fact that we too are works in progress. The #ROADTOCACUSS is more than a metaphor. It’s about experiential learning for professional staff
- Jen: What were the why’s behind this trip? What did we hope would happen?
- Brandon: Brandon’s notes - maybe WHY is the header and TRANSITIONS is in the middle and we talk about these points??? The very cycle of learning that we guide our students through is often the very cycle of learning that we need to better understand our own ever-changing lives. Caught up in the day-to-day, we can sometimes go days, months and years without critical introspection. How can we help the whole student if we ourselves aren’t committed to the concept of holistic development in our own lives?
- Nick: Sometimes the best way to understand the environment on campuses is to be there. If you are going to model or reference programming from different institutions its important to understand their world as best you can to gain context for why something does/doesn’t work there. (e.g. care and pride of space at Notre Dame vs. Ryerson). I really do feel that whether in Athletics, Student Affairs, even student government, we are trying to address the same issues; retention, engagement, spirit, access and this trip gave 6 professionals with different work responsibilities to ask questions together, interpret the information for themselves and compare notes. This has been a time of transition for all of us at #RyersonSA. A new vision, new teams, new projects. Everyone is at the start of a journey. Especially six student affairs professionals from across the portfolio, all from different walks of life. They are all going through their own period of personal, professional, or academic transition. Whether it’s a recent marriage or a recent promotion, the start of a masters program or the start of a book, the road ahead is uncharted.
- Troy: The larger the organization, the more challenging it is to form connections with one another. The six #ROADTOCACUSS navigators have reached across departments to form connections with one another both personally and professionally. And their connections will be put to the test as they endure the stress of a 5000+ miles drive across the country; a microcosm of the 4+ year journey that 60,000 Ryerson students will embark upon in September.
- Jen: So Hamza can you summarize what we planned to do while we were on the road? KEY SLIDE FOR 10 MIN PRES We propose a road trip across Canada, in which we’ll all be confronted with the metaphor of the road. We’ll have each other and our peers to share experiences with. And we’ll meet with future Ryerson students to whom we will pass on the baton of transition to. Our journey will manifest itself in the following ways: Meeting with contemporaries across US/Canada to share ideas, gather resources, connect, and share our #RyersonSA story. Daily updates and storytelling via blog, video and social media. Our goal is to invest other members of #RyersonSA in the journey, and beyond. Hand Off: #ROADTORYERSON: We will meet with up to three prospective students and personally hand them their acceptance letters.The #ROADTOCACUSS team will produce a total of 12 blog posts that reflect on the start and end of their respective journeys. They will use social media daily to live-blog their thoughts and experiences, as well as interact with followers of the campaign creating a borderless community related to the work we do in Student Affairs. We’d share this with you and our peers.
- Jen: So we had this amazing idea, we planned all the components, and in true #RyersonSA fashion, we took it to the next level and added in surprise visits to incoming Ryerson students to officially welcome them to Ryerson Let’s talk about the journey
- BRANDON’S NOTES - revised this info and on next slide...KEY SLIDE FOR 10 MIN PRES --- Day 1 (Sunday, May 17/15): Toronto, ON to Monroe, MI (450km) Day 2 (Monday, May 18/15): Ann Arbor, MI to Chicago, IL (450km) University of Michigan & Notre Dame Day 3 (Tuesday, May 19/15): Day in Chicago Northwestern Day 4 (Wednesday, May 20/15): Chicago, IL to Calgary, AB (2700km) University of Wisconsin-Madison Day 5 (Thursday, May 21/15): Still driving … University of Calgary Day 6 (Friday, May 22/15): Calgary, AB to Kelowna, BC (650km) UBC Okanagan Day 7 (Saturday, May 23/15): Kelowna, BC to Vancouver, BC (400km) SUN 17 MON 18 TUE 19 WED 20 THU
- Jen cue Brandon Questions: what was it like to leave? how did we divide our roles? what was the first biggest challenge? BRANDON: planning for so long, it’s real felt like it was move in day Heather- playlist roommate agreement cooking of food- getting the fire going pipe cleaner exercise (Brandon) sleeping in the RV Hamza being sick U of T challenges- supports in care package, helped with team building --- Where we started + where we went. Meetings & institutions visited. Key learnings. - joined by HLV1 - roommate agreement facilitated by HLV - automatic failure- team building in cooking - Brandon’s pipe cleaner exercise
- Jen cue Nick Questions: What were the biggest challenges? What was your one takeaway from the visits to MSU and Notre Dame in the US? What was it like in the RV 24 hours in?s Time being on time 2. public/private changing demographics athletics- little engaegment outside of the classroom, solving this issue by taking personalized services to the athletes mandatory support for specific populations MSU (Jen) 3. reflective activity in having bulletin boards trying to keep the RV clean inside jokes started, norming, starting to bond in a different way we were work friends, starting to become real friends: address misconception that we were all besties before this Transition to Day 3 (Kait): the importance of rewards parking in marshaling yard safety pricelined a hotel --- Where we started + where we went. Meetings & institutions visited. Key learnings. - getting ready for “work” in an RV resort- shower sandals - MSU- ACUHO-I President: Vinnie, student affairs royalty - Notre Dame- Nick’s happy place ;) - onwards to Chi-town: priceline- Hyatt, deep dish pizza -
- Jen cue Hamza What did you learn from Northwestern professionally? What did you learn from Northwestern personally? - similar to Ryerson in how they’ve structured Student Affairs, approach to competencies, learning, strategic planning (HK) - Now, Near, New (Kait) - talking about your mission, can’t get tired about it (Troy) - you gotta keep moving, can’t become stagnant because we all know what happens to stagnant water (Troy) - periscope use- uptake on social media (HK) - there was an exchange of ideas with our counterparts (Brandon), inferiority complex, connecting to #acpa16 - Nick - inferiority complex is a common narrative in CAN vs US College Sport - story-telling: if we’re not telling the story someone else will (HK) or your story won’t get told (Kait) HAMZA - inferiority complex- coaching, lesson learned: you need to love yourself, can apply to institutions as well Brandon- Northwestern going to an elite school, they don’t see us any different than us --- Where we started + where we went. Meetings & institutions visited. Key learnings. - commuting to Northwestern: all live downtown TO, commute to work longest is 20 minutes - commuting 45 minutes to Northwestern- good exercise for us - Northwestern: similar to Ryerson, Student Affairs has recently unveiled new strategic plan - Now, Near, New - organizational change: most important, organizational health - common themes as Ryerson: focus on empathy, vulnerability - SA Fundraising - social justice vs. equity, diversity, inclusion - It’s all about relationships
- Jen cue Troy Brandon: to set up day: started at 5 am, How was it for you? Nick: day is a story of trouble-shooting and improvisation: Kait: The Bean- hesitation Troy Dunkin Donuts: sending blogs, homework Hamza Khan: convo w Brandon, Carnage + border crossing Jen: team of captains --- Where we started + where we went. Meetings & institutions visited. Key learnings. - shift driving - casualities along the way, car sickness, RV showers today’s lesson: trust, trusting driving, navigating, putting aside personal comforts (comfy sleeping) to get to where we needed to be, - scheduled student surprise - appreciated flexibility of U of C- U of C not at CACUSS, nice to include them! - Student surprise, see you soon to Brandy- sudden transition - spent most of night talking about Brandon - Banff Centre- gets funded as a higher education institution- trying to connect across artistic disciplines, break down the silos, mountain hike pic? 5:00 pm - Brandon’s gone, everyone’s tired, but... -group continues to Banff -climbing mountain; tunnel mountain -Banff: amazing facility, hosts, reward - could have slept but still loved it -feeling well, refreshed...aside from the BISON BURGERS! mmmmmm! #nomnomnom
- Jen cue Kait -drove to UBC-O to from Banff through mountains -stopped at Lake Louise: Eggy w all tourists -great welcome from UBC-O: so many people met with them in the am takeaways: -taking time to appreciate journey -drive was reward -perseverance -care they show for their students: wellness and facility, centralized system, MH for residents/counsellors, commuter campus spaces, - THEY DO SO MUCH!; luxury is space -convo nick facilitated: aha moments, reflecting, starting to close -everyone was comfortable with each other…
- Jen starts Day 7 - -had to get RV fixed -anxious/excited about coming back - plan was to get Brando and HLV at CISAS and then go to finish line -setbacks: accident, one time directions were incorrect Overall lessons Questions --- Where we started + where we went. Meetings & institutions visited. Key learnings. - RV repair: part just happened to be present - final brunch - Brandon/HLV pick up - arrival in Vancouver --- Where we started + where we went. Meetings & institutions visited. Key learnings. - mountain drive, epic views - UBC- Okanagan: newer campus, centralized advising model, support for aboriginal students underneath VP- Students agenda - collegia- commuter community building - 100, 000 question: Director Health/Wellness: using funds to convince academic side of the house to eliminate systemic barriers to mental wellbeing for students: changing academic policies, procedures for e.g.: withdrawal process, exam scheduling, etc. - our biggest aha-s began to emerge: how strong our team was, how we can continue to work together after this trip is done to support exceptional student experiences, how we can partner (It’s all about relationships!!!)
- Jen: What did we all learn? BRANDON’S NOTES -intentional: -unintentional: -WHAT WE DIDN’T CONSIDER: adjourning (Tuckman’s) --- Quality vs quantity = breadth & depth Adapting learning experiences to changing needs Do it right vs. do it all It’s all about relationships --- BRANDON’S NOTES: everyone choose a notable tweet they shared - yall have some deep ones - we can choose a few maybe? ie: what was getting info has actually been an exchange of identifying gaps, possibilities and affirming what we are doing right.
- Jen: Brandon, can you tell us about the discussion questions we framed our institutional visits with?
- Jen: How did this work financially? Troy: conference, held this year in Vancouver, BC. We began in September by pricing out average flights to Vancouver ($472/way) and comparing this to rental for a recreational vehicle, gas and mileage. Prior to any sponsorship/revenue, the overall cost per method was comparable. Through sponsorship (in-kind, donations) we have been able to minimize or eliminate costs related our travel needs. This includes the RV, gas, mileage, roaming/cellular, data and food. Details of named sponsors are on the #RoadtoCACUSS website. This proves the responsibility of all spending related to this professional development. This won't be 'time off', per se; each of us has worked with our Directors/Executive Director to plan forward to ensure we are
- Jen: As of right now, with a few blogs left to be posted how was our impact on social media?
- Jen: What were the final themes that came through? Brandon: Brandon added this: we made an editorial calendar and developed themes that we predicted would relate to the trip….topics evolved…..
- Jen: If you were to create something similar at your institution what would you do? Kait: Doing group process during planning process
- Hamza: “I have often said to my team that an organization can sometimes take on the personality of its leader, so it is no surprise that the culture at Ryerson has allowed such innovation. This is a culture that has been modeled and encouraged by our President. It is a culture that has supported things like the #RyersonSA hashtag and blog, some of the award winning RU Student Life projects, RU Therapy Dogs, Access TMP, #14DaysDry, Dissertation BootCamp, Student Employment Learning Outcomes, and my own In Their Shoes Project. This is also a culture that has given life to an idea like #RoadToCACUSS. As I said, it is my job to say:”Okay”, “Sure”, “Why Not”, “I love it”, “Let’s Try”, “So Cool”, etc. in response to the things that staff pitch.” - Heather Lane-Vetere
- Kait: we’re in the business of connecting to students, need to make an effort to get to know colleaugues we were not besties before this started worked outside of work hours the very steps that went into planning #roadtocacuss are the same ones that you can apply to cross-department collaboration
- Jen: wrap up, the better the relationships that we have, the better we are connected to transition, reflection, connection, the better we’re able to support our students