New Web Address - http://www.tacuspa.net/TACUSPABlog

Readers,


Greetings! We have permanently relocated our new blog to the following address:

http://www.tacuspa.net/TACUSPABlog

Enjoy!


Sincerely,


Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D. - Vice President of Education and Professional Development

Opportunity - (Webinar) House Bill 452 & More--Strategies for Helping Students Who Were Formerly in Foster Care

House Bill 452 & More--Strategies for Helping Students Who Were Formerly in Foster Care Join us for a Webinar on February 22 -  Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/876792374 Youth who age out of the foster care system often lack family connections and financial stability, difficulties that negatively impact their ability to find reasonable temporary housing in between school semesters.  The office of Representative Lucio III worked to address this problem by supporting the passage of HB 452.   All post-secondary institutions want to help students to meet their educational goals.  As child welfare advocates, we want to support your work, specifically with youth who were formerly in foster care. In September, we hosted a conference call with post secondary institutions to inform them of HB 452 and to hear what other institutions have been doing and are eager to do for this specific student population.  We have been working since then to develop strategies that could help further your work with these students.  We would like to share those ideas with you and get your ideas on February 22nd.   Whether you were part of our first call in September or are hearing about these efforts for the first time, please join us! Title: House Bill 452 & More--Strategies for Helping Students Who Were Formerly in Foster Care Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 Time: 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM CST After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar. System Requirements PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer

Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D. - Vice President of Education and Professional Development

Opportunity: University of North Texas - The 16th Annual Higher Education Law Conference

The 16^th Annual Higher Education Law Conference

At the University of North Texas

March 26-27, 2012

Conference Presenters:

- David Lester, Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Suicide and Professor of Psychology at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.  Dr. Lester is a widely published author on suicide prevention, and is coauthor of the 2011 book Understanding and Preventing College Student Suicide

- Lynn Rossi Scott, Brackett & Ellis, will speak on"Responding to the US Department of Education's Guidance on Sexual Violence".  Ms. Scott’s presentations  have always proved among the more popular of past conferences.

- Bill Holda, President of Kilgore College, and Justin H. Lonon, Vice Chancellor, Public & Governmental Affairs at Dallas County Community College District, will review the implications for higher education of the last Texas legislative session—and offer an informed and detailed preview of what’s ahead in 2013.

  

- These sessions join the previously announced presentation, “Pima Community College: Lessons Learned from the Tucson Tragedy.” The speakers will be Roy Flores, Chancellor of Pima Community College, and C.J. Karamargin, Vice Chancellor for Public Information and Government Relations at PCC. Mr. Karamargin was, at the time of the shooting tragedy surrounding U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords, her Communications Director.

More speakers and a full schedule will be released in coming days.

The conference is eligible for both Continuing Education Units and Continuing Legal Education Units.

To register for the conference, and for more information, visit http://www.coe.unt.edu/conferences/higher-education-law-conference

Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D. - Vice President of Education and Professional Development

TACUSPA Webinar: The E.P.I.C. Journey (FREE for TACUSPA 2011/2012 members)

TACUSPA proudly presents our first webinar: The E.P.I.C. Journey scheduled for Friday, January 27, 1-2 p.m.  Access to the webinar is free for TACUSPA 2011/2012 members.

To register, please click on this link: WEBINAR REGISTRATION. 

Current trends at universities are to infuse the conduct process with meaningful encounters that take students on intentional personal journeys aimed at transforming decision-making patterns. The University of Texas at San Antonio has effectively accomplished this goal by assessing Engagement with the university, Personal development, Interpersonal development and Community membership using multiple theoretical backgrounds. Learn about the E.P.I.C. Journey to move your institutions’ behavioral processes to the next level.

This webinar highlights how the E.P.I.C. Journey Sanctioning Model impacts student success by individualizing each student’s educational meeting or hearing to direct efforts and resources toward their individual needs.  The E.P.I.C. Journey is a complete cross-functional initiative adaptable in any format.  Whether you work in conduct, student life, housing, student activities, greek life, leadership or student organizations, you can benefit from the strategies infused in the E.P.I.C. Journey.  Part of this webinar will focus on ways to utilize these strategies and frameworks including motivational interviewing, community development models, transformational education, creative sanctioning, and campus-wide mentorship in any area of student affairs.

Goals/Learning Outcomes 

• To introduce an innovative sanctioning model of addressing behavioral violations and/or concerns through the use of a purposeful individual needs based process by assessing engagement, personal development, interpersonal development, and community.

• To share the collaborative effort between the departments of Residence Life, Student Conduct, Counseling, University Police, and Student Activities to create a foundation for E.P.I.C. that encompasses multiple theoretical orientations and disciplines.

   

• To engage professionals in conceptualizing the management of behavioral expectations in more developmental and transformational ways and share how the tools and strategies can be used in a multitude of functional areas in addition to the group and individual conduct process.

About the E.P.I.C. Journey Sanctioning Model

Though only a step in the journey of life, college can often be described as an epic journey in itself. With remarkable personal development in so many areas, it can be argued that the college years are one of the most important journeys a person will take. The E.P.I.C. Journey Sanctioning Model was conceived with this in mind. We wanted to take a truly holistic approach to each meeting with a student to both create an intentional and productive judicial experience while utilizing the professional training and education we have attained to facilitate such development. The E.P.I.C. approach encompasses a complete view of the student rather than a myopic perspective of the infraction. From the educational meeting or hearing that begins a mandated journey to the optional involvement of engaged students participating in collaborative programs, the E.P.I.C. Journey lies before them.

The E.P.I.C. Journey Sanctioning Model entails giving students an interview based assessment during their educational conduct meeting.  This model includes active or required participation sanctions that allow the student to develop competencies that were found to be underdeveloped during their E.P.I.C. spectrum assessment process.  As a result, retention is improved by:

• developing creative sanctions that improve their success in college
• utilizing motivational interviewing to develop a willingness and confidence to change
• assigning a mentor to develop their engagement with the university
• implementing programming that reinforces the skill sets 

This holistic approach forms an intentional personal journey aimed at transforming decision-making patterns. The results reveal students moving from troublesome behavior to those who are retained and focused on completing their academic and personal goals.  Use of journey sanctioning with purposeful, sequential, active sanctions is paired with the consistency of inactive sanctions to provide a conduct experience that is both congruent with the high expectations of an academic environment and sensitive to the developmental needs of college students.

The E.P.I.C. Journey team includes a cross section of staff dedicated to upholding university wide standards and student success in Student Conduct, Residence Life, Privatized Housing, Counseling Services, Student Activities, and the University Police Department.  The E.P.I.C. Journey team is further expanded to include E.P.I.C. Mentors which include faculty and staff members assigned to the student and serve as a connection point between the student and his/her university experience enhancing areas of interest.  The team’s extensive training in both motivational interviewing and enhanced educational meeting strategies have dramatically increased our effectiveness in addressing student needs. E.P.I.C. reminds us that each student’s journey is unique and in order to be successful, we must first assess their needs and their compatibility with our campus values.

The E.P.I.C. Journey Sanctioning Model was  recognized by the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA) with the Innovation Award and Institutional Award of Excellence in 2011 and most recently with the Gold Medal in the housing, judicial, contract services and related category for the 2012 NASPA Excellence Awards.

Presenters
Jennifer Fueglein is a Coordinator in Student Conduct and Community Standards at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Arts in Human Resources from Webster University in Saint Louis, Missouri.  She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio.  Prior to her tenure at UTSA, Jennifer’s professional background included serving Housing and Residence Life at UTSA, Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota and Webster University encompassing a unique blend of large public and small private liberal college experience.  She currently serves as a member of the E.P.I.C. Core Team focusing on the management and training of practitioners and research study implementation.

Jan Wilson McKinney is an Assistant Director in Student Conduct and Community Standards at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Education from the University of South Carolina.  She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio.  She has worked in the areas of Housing and Residence Life, Student Activities and Multicultural Programs at the University of South Carolina, University of Central Florida and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.  She currently serves as a member of the E.P.I.C. Core Team focusing on presentations, training and publications. 

Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D. - Vice President of Education and Professional Development

New York Times Article - "The Brutal Side of Hazing"

Readers,


On December 9, 2011, The New York Times, published an article titled, "The Brutal Side of Hazing". This article, written by Op-Ed Columnist, Charles M. Blow, provides readers with a glimpse into some aspects of his college experience.


Read the article here - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/10/opinion/blow-the-brutal-side-of-hazing.html

What do you think?


Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D. - Vice President of Education and Professional Development