A Higher Education

Becky Starkenburg currently serves as the Vice President for Student Formation & Dean of Students at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. She has worked at several different types of institutions, including her debut as an area coordinator at University of Virginia and her first VP position in Student Formation at Trinity Christian College. We talk about how she keeps joy and belonging as daily concerns even in the midst of work that requires constant crisis management. As ACSD's president-elect, we ask about her vision for the organization. And for you higher ed nerds out there, we also learn some about Hope College's unique idea for how to decrease education costs for students.

Today, we learn from Dr. Twyler Earl, whose journey started when she was volunteered by family to tutor younger students, and has placed her now in the Associate VP for Student Success role at Southern Nazarene University. We explore topics from her teaching engagement style to her deeply personal research contributions, and along the way you'll pick up on her contagious enthusiasm for getting students to graduation.

Higher education is fundamentally about seeing students succeed, but retention numbers tell us there is work to be done in how institutions can better support students towards that outcome. Our guest today, Nii Kpakpo Abrahams of Butler University, has made a career of bringing innovation and passion to the world of student support in a variety of higher education roles and contexts. Join us for this great conversation where we dive in on all things student success orientated (pun intended).

Change is constant and transition (between roles, between institutions, and between seasons of personal and professional life) requires a careful balance of courage and patience to navigate well. At their core, our jobs are framed by the theme of transition as we work with students through one of the most significant transitions they'll go through during their educational journey. Join Dr. Martin and Dr. Muha as they explore the timeless topic of transition together in this episode and how we can see transition as a valuable opportunity for growth.

In our last episode, we learned about faculty support of students from the Student Development side. This month, we’re exploring the idea from the faculty perspective. Welcome Dr. Rachel Hammond to the podcast, Dean of the Business Department at Calvin University. Rachel speaks with us about how problems in the student’s life often show up first in the classroom, and how faculty can walk with the student, in concert with Student Development, in order to care for them well and holistically.

Positive and mutually beneficial relationships between faculty and staff are essential to the mission of Christian colleges. We say we want to form and develop the whole student, and that type of holistic support is most effective when communication between curricular and co-curricular groups. But how do we arrive at that level of collaboration? Dr. Mark Muha's expertise in this area is featured in the January episode. He talks about his research on the factors that predict faculty and staff collaboration and how to apply this knowledge to improve your collaboration efforts this semester.

Chapters:

0:00 Dated mid-season update of the Lions and Eagles

2:30 Introduction of guest (it's Mark)

8:42 Mark's professional background

14:38 Lead-up to Mark's dissertation topic

18:16 Starting presumptions about how collaboration works

22:10 Study outcomes - what predicts collaboration?

28:50 Practical outcomes

38:50 Adapting relational coordination theory to your context

46:20 How to start improving your collaboration this month

Discover Mark's Work:

Mark's ACSD Growth Journal Article: Pursuing Campus Collaboration That Works: Assessing the Impact of Relational Leadership and Work Engagement on Relational Coordination between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs in Christian Higher Education

Our guest this month wrote his doctoral dissertation around the year 2020, when our country engaged in a nationwide conversation about race and racism. While the social and political contexts are different from five years ago, Dr. Jarad Russell's research on the racial attitudes of white students remains relevant to our work today. Join us as we learn about three primary ways that white students think about race and how that can inform our work in student development.

0:00 Mark and Kara's latest fitness pursuits

6:20 Guest bio (plus an ACSD Retreat plug)

12:07 Speed round

16:11 Background of Jarad's research area

22:20 Categories of racial attitudes

30:42 Violence and hate crime trends

36:50 Talking about race with mentors vs peers

39:28 How does your research apply to our listeners?

47:40 Resources for further learning

Jarad's The Racial Attitudes of White Students at a Christian Institution in ACSD Growth

Jemar Tisby's website

Whistling Vivaldi: And Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us by Claude M. Steele

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Faithful Antiracism by Christina Barland Edmondson and Chad Brennan

Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum

Initiated by the first "Dear Colleague" letter, what we now know as Title IX work, or the prevention of and response to sexual assault and sexual harassment, is both incredibly challenging and deeply good. Our guest was a VP for Student Development at the time of that first Dear Colleague letter. He describes the ways the work has changed since 2011, the value of campus prevention efforts, the importance of staff training, and the opportunity for restorative justice that Title IX represents. Episode notes include links to books discussed throughout the conversation.

Chapters:

0:00 Kara's dissertation update

3:55 Guest bio8:36 Speed round

13:20 Gerald's background in Title IX

16:20 Important Title IX landmarks since 2011

19:55 Increasing prevention vs perfecting process

28:40 Advice for young professionals

36:30 Burnout in Title IX

40:30 Institutional support for federal compliance initiatives

47:00 Where to learn more

Episode notes:

Sexual Citizens by Jennifer S. Hirsch and Shamus Khan

Sex and the Soul by Donna Freitas

Have you ever been asked why college costs so much? Have you ever wondered about it yourself? In this month's episode, we ask Dr. Scott Moats, President of Anderson University in Indiana, this question. Beyond the costs to students, we also discuss how to be a better steward of your own budget, and how to identify and address mission drift within your Christian institution.

EPISODE CHAPTERS

0:00 ACSD Conference recap

3:50 Dr. Scott Moats' introduction

10:15 Speed round questions

14:22 Why does college cost so much?

28:50 Growth Journal Promo

30:30 Being better stewards of our budgets

37:57 Scott's leadership at Anderson

54:57 Addressing mission drift

1:05:40 Advice for young professionals to learn more about institutional finances

LEARN MORE

Why College Costs So Much by Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman

As much as we love our jobs, hobbies are crucial to a well-rounded life. In this month's episode, Mark and Kara explore the theories around why hobbies are so important while simultaneously sharing some recent hobbies of their own. Tell us in the comments what hobbies are giving you life this fall!