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header: STRENGTHS LEARNING OUTCOME NARRATIVE

Katie Bates
Strengths Learning Outcome Narrative
Spring 2016
SDAD 5900
Seattle University

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After reflecting on my experiences and growth throughout the SDA program,

I have chosen the overarching theme of cultivating narratives. I came to this
program having spent many years working within community development. Similar
to community development, what makes colleges vibrant and relevant are both the
individual and collective stories that make up their fabric. I now understand how
important collective leadership is by acting on the belief that each community has
the wisdom it needs to make a better life (Ruder, 2010, pp. 1). The cultivation of
narratives includes collections of personal, student, and community narratives.
Personal Narratives: LO 3 & LO 6 | Artifacts B & C2
I have learned that change within any community starts with the individual.
Throughout my time in the SDA program, I have relied on exhibiting professional
integrity and ethical leadership in professional practice (LO 3). I have also developed
and demonstrated skills in leadership and collaboration (LO 6). At the heart of being an
ethical and collaborative leader lies an exploration of my salient identities,
understanding my impact on my community, and leading from my values.
I explored my salient identities throughout my coursework, where we talked
about our intersections of identity and how we express those. During EDUC 5150:
Multicultural Perspectives, we talked about the power and privilege we hold with
certain identities. During this course and throughout the program, my diabetes has
risen to the surface. I realized this is an identity that may overshadow some of my
privileged identities if I start to see complications from the disease. Through this
experience, I got involved with the Disability Services office, where I was able to find
a community around my disease. Becoming a more engaged member of the

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disabilities community encouraged me to pursue my internship with TRiO at

Highline College. I realized that communities which form around shared identities
are important to cultivate because they hold a great amount of power to advocate
for change throughout campus.

To understand my impact on my community, I need to take into account the

history of the space that I find myself in and my role in its movement. Before I
entered the SDA program, I spent 5 years doing community development within a
historically black, low SES neighborhood in Atlanta, GA., which altered my
understanding of myself and society. In my Leadership Philosophy (Artifact C2), I
talk about how I witnessed community leadership within the neighborhood. I came
to understand that it is essential to root yourself within the history of a community
in order to navigate the complex situations, especially as an outsider.

When leading from my values, I need to take into account how my values

continue to form and shape me. In my Mission Statement, (Artifact B) I talk about
how My work in higher education is driven by structural injustice and the hope to
make college accessible and inclusive to all (Bates, 2016). I take my values of access
and inclusiveness into my day-to-day interactions with students and staff. During
EDUC 5000: Introduction to Research and Graduate Study I completed a research
project on the ways that 4-year institutions can support transfer students. When
working as an academic advisor at Seattle University, I worked hard to connect
transfer students with resources and programs on campus to aid in their retention.
Student Narratives: LO 2 | Artifacts D & E
Students are the heart of my work. As responsive professionals, it is essential

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to understand students and student issues (LO 2) to ground our work. This means
that I must understand the expectations that students hold. To understand students
I have learned to listen in a responsive way, address unique needs within student
populations, and encourage students to bring their voice to programming.
When I came to SDA, this student narrative was something I felt a lot of
disconnect with, as I had been away from working with students for many years.
However, I felt confident connecting with individuals to gain a sense of their
experiences and assets, as I had been doing that for years. However, I needed to
learn skills to relate to the student experience and help them address their needs.
One way that I learned to listen in a responsive way was through my Graduate
Assistantship in academic advising. Here I learned active listening skills to relate to
students and develop relationships where I could encourage students to build self-
efficacy. I demonstrate my growth in advising students through my NASPA/ACPA
competencies (Artifact E). I learned to approach students from an assets based
context when discussing challenges within academics, transitions, or professional
work. I hope to take the skills I learned about connecting students with resources,
educational planning, and major discernment into my student services work.
Through trainings and workshops, I gained professional skills to address the
unique needs within student populations. I participated in NACADAs Region 8
conference, where I started to learn how to support specific student populations. An
especially formative workshop I attended was about supporting trans students. I
remember the advocate saying that bathrooms are a very dangerous place for trans
people, where people often experience physical harm. We discussed our current

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institutions bathroom policy, and mapped out potential non-gendered bathrooms

throughout campus. This workshop made me aware of the fact that Seattle
University was not very transparent with resources for trans students. When I
returned to campus I spent time learning about resources for trans students so that
I could be a more effective advisor. It is my responsibility to be educated about
specific resources on campus that could benefit specific student populations.
My work during my internships was spent cultivating student narratives, and
encouraging students to bring their voice to programming. As was indicated in my
Professional Letter of Promise (Artifact D), the first step in developing the Peer
Mentorship Program for TRiO was to do research on other mentorship programs
throughout the region. I also did research on the needs of first generation students
who are transitioning into college. I developed policies and procedures based on
these ideals.. However, the student mentors shaped the mentorship program into a
relatable curriculum. These students took a collective approach to our mentorship
meetings, leading discussions about how to best support first time in college
students and their role in this process. From this experience, I have seen how letting
students into the planning process can make the program transparent and relatable.
Community Narratives: LO 4 | Artifacts C1 & C3
Community is a common thread that runs through us all. Building a campus
community means understanding and fostering diversity, justice and a sustainable
world formed by a global perspective and Jesuit Catholic tradition (LO 4). This is
achieved through building inclusive connections, owning responsibility to
marginalized communities, and being responsive to community needs.

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During my internship with CWU-Westside, students and administrators were

deep in conversation about building inclusive connections throughout campus. As
Kuh (2009) stated, Cultures change over time through a dynamic interplay
between the institutions structural and cultural elements (Kuh, 2009, pp. 71-72).
Being that CWU-Westside is a branch campus, student groups were grappling with
ways to build a sense of belonging that could encompass students across four
regional campuses and online learners. In the face of this, this campus embraced
technology to make resources accessible to all parties, changing their tactics to
engage with a diversifying student population. One way that I aided in building
inclusive connections was through the Student Leadership Retreat that I organized.
Historically this retreat brought together student leaders from multiple campuses,
but I advocated that we include various club leaders as well. During the retreat,
students talked about ways to collaborate with cross-club programming.
One way that the campus community narrative is developed and deepened is
by the colleges responsibility to marginalized communities. Colleges are often public
institutions that hold immense power to affect individuals and communities through
their recruitment strategies and the way that certain communities are invited to
participate at the college. For example, in SDAD 5750 Best Practices in Student
Services, we visited University of Washington Seattles campus and heard about
diversity initiatives from their Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity. My group gave
a presentation about the UWs low retention rates of Native American students and
how this impacted UWs campus narrative (Artifact C3). UW recently built a facility
on campus that was dedicated to Native American communities, initiating some

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support of this population of students. This building was also open to community
members, showing that colleges can have an impact on the greater society.
Some of my most impactful learning throughout the program was learning
about the work of community colleges, which strive to stay responsive to community
needs. In SDAD 5800: Higher Education Law, I wrote a paper reflecting on an
interview that I held with the VP of Student Services and the Director of HR at South
Seattle College (Artifact C1). The interviewee reflected on the flexibility and
adaptability community colleges must embody in order to fulfill their open access
missions. The campus community was being reshaped by the surrounding
neighborhoods, as more immigrant and refugee populations moved in. This type of
dynamic relationship between college and community will push administrators to
think in more culturally competent and inclusive ways.
Looking towards my future as a student affairs professional, I have
developed a responsibility to myself, my students, and my campus community to
enter the space with a growth mindset. By owning our narratives, we can begin to
change and expand them. Through my examination of self, I have broken down
some of my own blinders to a diverse group of student populations. I want to
continue this work of reflective action, and find more concrete ways to serve as an
ally and advocate for underrepresented student groups. I have discovered that the
community narrative will continue to be salient for me. I want to ground the
conversation of growth in the ways that the college I work at is shaping and being
shaped by the community that our students and our college reside in.

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References
Bates, K. (2016). Mission statement. Unpublished manuscript, Seattle University.
Kuh, G. (2009). Understanding campus environments. In G. S. Mcclellan & J.
Stringer (Ed.), The handbook of student affairs administration (pp. 71-72).
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Ruder, K. (Ed.) (2011). The collective leadership storybook: Weaving strong
communities. Seattle, WA: Center for Ethical Leadership.