Friday, February 10, 2012

Reflections on the 2012 Dalton Institute


           It's rare to find institutions of higher education that host their own nationally-renowned conferences; it's even more rare that these conferences are specific to higher education itself. I feel very lucky to be getting my master's degree at such an institution, Florida State, that hosts such a conference, the Jon C. Dalton Institute on College Student Values. I feel even more lucky that the conference's main focus is as the name implies—finding ways to encourage college students to be ethical and thoughtful leaders who live by their values. Values permeate our everyday life, but they aren't often talked about explicitly; yet here at FSU we get the chance to speak with higher education professionals from around the world who want to encourage their students to be people of character. Having been involved with the Dalton Institute for two years, first as a volunteer and then as a committee chair, I have definitely learned some valuable takeaways that will benefit me as I move forward into my career as a student affairs professional.

            First, I have learned that helping to plan and facilitate a conference is an invaluable experience, and it's something I'd like to continue as a professional. This year I served as the Technology and Concurrent Sessions Committee Chair. As such, I managed the Institute's social media presence before, during, and after the conference; and I coordinated shifts of volunteers to serve as concurrent session attendants during the Institute itself (not only to facilitate each presenter's technology needs, but also to give our volunteers a chance to sit in on individual sessions!). Being a part of the Dalton Institute was a wonderful experience. Helping people is one of my passions in life, as corny as that may sound, and being able to welcome each session presenter, help take care of their needs, and show them how grateful we were for their presence at the Institute made my three days with Dalton very positive. Although I wasn't able to sit in on any concurrent sessions myself, I was glad to afford that opportunity to the volunteers on my committee, and I am able to look back proudly at the three days of the Institute and say that my committee worked hard, and they helped the conference go off with only a very few, very minor hitches. Even more, it was amazing to live-tweet many of the Dalton Institute's sessions on Twitter, and to be able to watch professionals around the country who couldn't be at FSU learn and interact alongside the conference's participants. I hope to have many more experiences in planning and facilitating conferences in the future; bringing together higher education professionals to learn and grow together is too good an opportunity to pass up.

            A second thing I learned during my time with the Dalton Institute is that encouraging our students in pursuing their goals is one of the most important things that higher education professionals can and should do. The theme of this year's Dalton Institute was social entrepreneurship, and we were lucky enough to have as two of our keynotes Eboo Patel, one of the founders of the Interfaith Youth Core, and Jessica Jackley, one of the founders of Kiva. Listening to their stories was inspiring; what was even more inspiring was to hear them speak on the encouragement they received from their mentors, the valuable lessons they learned during their time in college, and their message to the professionals attending Dalton to keep on doing what we're doing. It was amazing to hear these two leaders speak so positively of their higher education experiences, and only cemented for me my personal mission of supporting every student that comes my way. Even if the students I advise don't turn out to be the next Eboo or Jessica, they have personal visions and purposes of their own, and it should be my job now and forever to help them realize the potential within themselves and to pursue their dreams.

            Finally, working with the Dalton Institute has reinforced for me the idea that common values and goals among higher education professionals are the strongest uniting force we can have. The Dalton Institute brings together not only student affairs professionals, but also Deans, Vice Presidents, Professors, and many other professionals from many disciplines across the higher education setting and beyond (such as our participants from the Interfaith Youth Core). Even though all participants had varied backgrounds, they came together to discuss a goal common to them—encouraging the students with whom they work to be people of integrity and character. In my future as a student affairs professional, I hope to find common, student-centered goals and visions with the other professionals at my institution, be they administrative, faculty, or staff; and I hope that these common goals can help bring us together to make our institution stronger and our programs and plans more effective in helping our students learn and grow.

            Cooperation is an integral part of our work as student affairs professionals—working with our students to help them grow; working with organizations and programs to make them purposeful; working with fellow faculty and staff at our institutions to realize and emulate our universities' missions and values. I think the Dalton Institute is one of the best examples of cooperation in higher education—professionals working together with common goals and purposes, in order to make a difference. I'm very thankful for my time with the Institute, and I can't wait to take the valuable lessons I've learned and apply them to my future work and my future relationships with students and colleagues.