Running Head: STATEMENT OF PROFESSIONAL PRINICIPLES 1

Statement of Professional Principles

Jim Pierson

University of Connecticut

STATEMENT OF PROFESSIONAL PRINICIPLES 2

We all enter into our careers with biases and perspectives detailing what is important to

us and why. To be a truly effective professional however requires an individual to intentionally

analyze those biases and perspectives and to be able to coherently articulate the values that they

support.

Five Salient Principles

Reflecting on the principles needed to succeed as a professional in student affairs, I have

arrived at a list of five principles that I believe will most strongly guide my professional work in

the years to come:

1. Respecting and supporting the free and open exchange of ideas in a context of mutual

respect

2. Fostering independence and creativity in students

3. Grounding practice in data and empirical knowledge

4. Serving as a voice and advocate for all students

5. Serving as a reliable and effective mentor and resource

I have a lot of personal investment in each of these five principles, and there is professional

literature as well as personal experience that support my belief that these principles are

significant to student affairs professionals.

Principle 1

High quality education for all citizens is the most potent force to positively affect every

aspect of the human experience. Universities have a responsibility to society to advance

knowledge, which can be best facilitated through the creation of an environment that encourages

dissenting, unpopular, and potentially offensive opinions. The courts and the nation have

affirmed the concept that the university community, inclusive of faculty, staff, and students,

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should encourage the freedom of expression as a vehicle to pursue truth and knowledge.

Universities also have a duty to their students to create a community in which each individual

feels respected, valued, and safe, to ensure the greatest potential for student development

(Uecker, 2011). The role of student affairs practitioners, in defining campus rules, regulations,

and environments, is to balance that freedom of expression with the responsibility to create a

safe, supportive, and nurturing environment for all students.

It is a very difficult task to balance those requirements. Creating an inclusive

environment while also advocating for a free exchange of ideas will invariably lead to

confrontation. Despite this danger, it is important to continue to advocate for this environment,

because even though it leads to disagreements, it also creates a culture that allows for those

disagreements to be settled in a way that benefits all parties. Advocating for this kind of

environment, especially where it doesn’t already exist, can be particularly difficult for new staff

members, but I believe it is our duty as professionals to stand up for the principles upon which

higher education was founded.

Following through on my dedication to support this kind of open intellectual

environment, if it does not already exist, will require a broad coalition of allies that can work to

support these principles. Working with like-minded individuals will be critical to changing the

campus culture.

Principle 2

Along with my belief in the importance of education in society, I believe that it is our

duty in higher education to provide students with opportunities to exercise their creativity and

develop their independence as mature adults. Social constructs throughout the modern students’

life have worked to stifle their creativity and undermine their self-reliance; Sir Ken Robinson

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(2006) eloquently explained how schools kill creativity in students. In higher education, we are

faced with the task of rebuilding those skills that have been so neglected since childhood.

One of the highest impact activity that students can undertake to develop the skills of

independence and creativity is study abroad. This is a personal belief that is also supported by

the literature. It is well known that study abroad fosters independence, but a recent study by Lee,

Therriault, and Linderholm (2012) provided evidence that study abroad developed creative

thinking skills in students. The cultural exposure students receive from study abroad plays a

significant role in their development along many lines.

It is difficult to try to advocate for the development of independence and creativity on a

university campus. Developing these skills often times requires a significant amount of failure,

and many institutional cultures are not supportive of failure. In my experience in UConn

Connects, though, we have worked to allow students, both our student leaders and the students

on probation that we help, to try new things, experiment with different academic strategies, and

to learn from what doesn’t work to do better in the future. It is possible to hold this value and

succeed as a professional, but it requires a lot of support from both students and administrators.

Principle 3

My experience in the HESA program has further developed my respect for data driven

decisions. It is a strong personality trait of mine, to value data and objective facts. In addition to

this, my experience with assessment in higher education throughout the last two years has further

developed my appreciation of and ability to utilize assessment in my professional work.

There is not always such strong support for assessment in higher education. This is often

times because of unfamiliarity with assessment and fear of what the consequences may be. I’ve

spoken with individuals at UConn that refused to do large scale assessment projects because the

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results might not be favorable to their department.

The trend is clearly leading toward a stronger culture of assessment across the field, but

gaining support among individuals and demonstrating to them that new data can only serve the

mission of the department and the university will make implementing assessment plans much

easier. There are also models that exist that can help introduce and gain support for assessment

initiatives. Slager and Oaks (2013) detail a coaching model they developed and utilized at Ohio

State University to institute outcomes based assessment with the Student Life department.

Working collaboratively and adjusting the plan as needed during the various stages were

important parts to ensuring that everyone could get on board with assessment.

Principle 4

I strongly believe that it is my duty to serve as an advocate for students at the institution.

My professional role models in student affairs have been most inspiring because of their constant

reaffirmation of how their actions serve their students. This belief isn’t extraordinarily

outlandish, but it’s important for me constantly refer back to it and make sure my actions are in

line with what will best serve students. I see other professionals that become more concerned

with their program, their office, their institution, or their own job, at the expense of their

students. From my idealistic perspective, these should not be opposing forces.

If I am ever in a position where I need to choose between what is best for the students

and what is best for the institution, and where those are distinct options, then either something

within the institution will need to change or I will need to change my own position. I will not be

able to stay long in a position that is not directly concerned with serving students.

I think the strongest thing to do to continually reaffirm this principle is to work with

students. It can be as simple as that; spending time directly interacting with students, something

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that can become exceedingly rare the more one moves up, will remind me of why I entered this

field and where my values lie.

Principle 5

Unsurprisingly, my work in a mentorship program over the last two years has cultivated a

strong respect of the role of a mentor in higher education. I am a strong proponent of peer

mentorship, and I’ve also seen the impact professional staff members can have as mentors for

students. This value doesn’t only encompass the skills of mentorship or the ability to for strong

interpersonal relationships, but it also means making yourself available to students. Creating

opportunities for students to ask for help and for staff members to provide it.

Creating these relationships with students can be difficult, especially if that is not a

defined component of the professional role. However, it’s critical, even with all the demands on

staff members’ time and energy, to stay connected with students and do whatever possible to

help them succeed.

I don’t think this concept is a difficult thing to follow through on. I’ve seen in UConn

Connects hundreds of faculty and staff members volunteer their time to meet with struggling

students. In my future role, I will need to seek out those opportunities to work with students and

to make myself available to the students that are looking for support.

Conclusion

One of the most important things to do in a new position is to reflect on your own values

and see how they fit in with the professional communities of which you are a part. Learn where

your morals and the institution’s values match and where they don’t, and make a conscious effort

to intentionally navigate those conflicts. The reflections above on the five principles I value

most is an important start to successfully navigate those issues which will arise in the future.

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References

Lee, C. S., Therriault, D. J., & Linderholm, T. (2012). On the cognitive benefits of cultural

experience: Exploring the relationship between studying abroad and creative thinking.

Applied Cognitive Psychology, 26(5), 768-778. doi:10.1002/acp.2857

Robinson, K. (2006, February). Ken Robinson: How schools kill creativity [video file].

Retrieved from

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Slager, E. M., & Oaks, D. J. (2013). A coaching model for student affairs assessment. About

Campus, 18(3), 25-29. doi:10.1002/abc.21121

Uecker, T. W. (2011). How do campus administrators go beyond the first amendment in

achieving balance between free speech and civil discourse: Putting the hammer down. In

P. M. Magolda, & M. B. Baxter-Magolda (Eds.), Contested issues in student affairs:

Diverse perspectives and respectful dialogue (1st ed., pp. 354-364). Sterling, VA: Stylus

Publishing, LLC.