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Summary of Student Affairs’ Progress on the Six Student Development Goals
2005-06 Academic Year

The programs and services offered by the Division of Student Affairs (hereafter referred to as Student Affairs) intentionally contribute to Longwood University’s commitment to student learning. We help students to use their personal resources in taking full advantage of the learning opportunities at Longwood University.

Goal 1. Mastery of a broad body of knowledge in the liberal arts and sciences, so students can see things in perspective, appreciate and enjoy artistic expression, and critically, creatively, and logically respond to the complex world around them.

• The Office of Leadership and New Student Programs contributed to new students learning about and becoming acclimated to the academic community.
• Students learned what kind of help is available if they are struggling.
• Students learned which classes to take.
• Prior to the start of classes, new students learned what they identified as “academic secrets.”
• The evidence presented for the other five goals demonstrates that Student Affairs contributes to general knowledge in many areas. However, we have provided the examples under the other goals because the learning appears to be more specific to those goals.

Goal 2. Mastery of a specialized body of knowledge, so students will have the expertise to be competitive and successful in their chosen careers.

• Student Affairs offers internship and other work opportunities in departments such as Campus Recreation and Residential and Commuter Life (RCL) to allow students to use the skills they are developing in their majors in a practical work setting.
• The RCL Operations Graduate Assistant developed supervisory skills and demonstrated increased confidence when managing, hiring, and scheduling desk staff.
• The Career Center taught students how to prepare for a job fair, successfully navigate and present themselves at job fairs, and how to follow up with employers after a job fair. In addition, the Career Center taught students how to identify resources to assist them with their job search.
• Students learned about job fairs:
• What to wear
• How to research companies
• How to prepare a resume
• What basic elements are necessary (e.g., turn of cell phone, have a firm handshake, be assertive, be positive, be confident)
• How to ask employers questions
• To write a thank you note in a timely manner
• How to prepare an opening statement
• Students learned about resources:
• Where to view employers working through the Career Center
• Where to find other resources available to assist them
• Where to find information about industries and employers, and what information might be germane
• How to continue receiving postings from the LU Career Center after graduation

• Residential and Commuter Life student staff learned career-related and programming skills:
• Resident Assistants and Desk Aides report learning professionalism, interviewing techniques, customer service, supervisory skills, office management skills, confidentiality, teamwork, and communicating effectively with a supervisor.
• Resident Assistants demonstrate having learned the value of using multiple media when advertising programs.
• Resident Assistants demonstrate having learned to assess the needs and interests of their residents and to design programs that meet the needs and interests of a variety of audiences.

Goal 3. A sense of personal direction, so students can plan their future wisely and with honor, acquiring self-understanding, self-confidence, and a meaningful philosophy of life.

• Many departments in Student Affairs showed evidence that their work with students increased the students’ confidence levels. For example, students gained confidence in:
• Searching for majors, careers, and jobs
• Exploring the many ways of being a leader
• Challenging oneself or others
• Recognizing and working with the strengths and weaknesses of other people and groups
• Embarking on the first year of college
• Making and being accountable for choices in many aspects of life (social issues, fulfilling job expectations, etc.)
• Planning, organizing, and implementing programs and events for other students
• The Counseling Center provided individual counseling and crisis intervention.
• Students gain self-knowledge, self-esteem, greater sense of purpose, increased personal meaning, and live more attentively. 
• The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life held a Greek Summit from which participants reported learning:
• Change begins on a personal level
• “I can make a difference”
• The importance of delegation
• Motivation to change things in individual chapters
• Motivation to change the overall image of fraternity and sorority life
• The leadership part of the office of Leadership and New Student Programs offers many programs that encourage students to explore their own personal direction. Students articulate powerful statements about what they gain from these programs in many areas:
• Taking responsibility for one’s actions
• Realizing that decisions have consequences for the individual and others
• Risk taking
• Sharing and listening to opinions
• Managing change
• Capitalizing on the strengths and weaknesses of one’s own and others’ preferred personality type

Goal 4. A balanced and healthy lifestyle, which means making responsible choices related to values, friends, family, work, recreation, and life-long education.

• The Student Union and Involvement worked with student workers on time management:
• Student staff exhibit good time management by showing up on time, finding a replacement when necessary, and report that they have made good time management (including the use of a planner) a high priority.

• The Office of Leadership and New Student Programs encouraged students to explore issues of personal balance and wellness:
• Participants in Emerging Leaders (a leadership development program for first year students) learned about the elements of their lives the impact that lack of balance can have on everyday lives. In addition, they learned the importance of stress management.
• Participants in The Shield (a leadership development program for sophomores, junior, and seniors) learned how to recognize and deal with signs of stress.
• Participants in New Lancer Days (an orientation program that happens just before classes begin in August) learned about issues of sexual assault and alcohol use. On both topics, students explored a realistic view of those issues on campus how to handle situations if faced with them.

• Personal counseling provided by the Counseling Center assisted students in maintaining a balanced and healthy lifestyle:
• Made more informed and responsible decisions
• Committed to live a more healthy and congruent lifestyle
• Overcame or eliminated self-defeating behaviors
• The Student Health and Wellness Center staff participated in the Great American Smokeout and Cold/Flu Clinics:
• Reported cigarette use by students on one or more days decreased 4% and daily cigarette use decreased 3.2%. Overall, occasional smoking has decreased 10% and daily smoking has decreased 3% (NCHA data).
• Students report learning self-care methods and teaching others how to care for themselves.

• A team of student affairs professionals provides the alcohol and drug education for students found responsible violating these policies:
• Students in First Round (an alcohol education program for students found responsible for a first alcohol offense) agree or strongly agree that the course helped them 1) reflect on personal pros and cons of drinking choices, 2) learn to prevent or minimize the harm associated with decisions, and 3) learn to be responsible for my choices and subsequent consequences.
• First Round students learned about the importance of thinking of the consequences, taking responsibility for my own actions, that it is possible to have fun with out drinking excessively, and that drinking heavily is harmful to health, grades, and future career.
• Students in Last Call (an alcohol and drug education program for students found responsible for either a drug offense, a second alcohol offense, or a very severe first alcohol offense) agree or strongly agree that the course helped them 1) understand addiction, 2) understand the harmful effects of alcohol and marijuana on the body, 3) explore the pros and cons of high risk behavior, 4) understand the effects alcohol has on the college/university experience, and 5) become aware of treatment options.
• Last call students learned the effects, consequences and responsibility as they relate to alcohol as well as that “less people drink than I thought”.

Goal 5. Interpersonal effectiveness and an appreciation of diversity and differences, so that students can establish genuine, trusting, and honorable relationships within the broad family of humanity.

• The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life has trained officers in National Pan-Hellenic Council, Interfraternity Council, and College Panhellenic Council in effective team work and conflict management. Students learned organizational and communication skills. In addition, they learned how to work with people with different personalities and world views than their own.
• The Office of Leadership and New Student Programs encouraged students to explore issues of interpersonal effectiveness and appreciation of diversity:

• The Citizen Leader Series participants explored issues of communication and cooperation.
• Emerging Leaders participants experienced a cross-cultural simulation that put them in the place of a “minority” in a fictional culture and they learned not to judge by the first instinct and that differences cause stereotypes.
• Participants in The Shield learned about their own and others’ biases and assumptions, stages of group development, and conflict resolution.

• The Office of Multicultural Affairs collaborated with many offices to host many programs dealing with diversity:

• 75% of respondents to a short survey indicated that their attitude, knowledge, or understanding changed after attending the program.
• Students learned many new facts about Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism.

• Many international students from China, France, and England gained new information and increased understanding of other cultures.
• Residential and Commuter Life (RCL) trained student staff on diversity and interpersonal effectiveness/team work issues:

• At an in-service, “Tolerance and Justice,” Resident Assistants explored their own experience and biases, learned the potential impact of language, reflected on the diversity of their residents, and used that information to plan programming.
• Through work experience, Resident Assistants and Desk Aides learned how to serve/communicate with diverse students, recognize student needs, and how to lead diverse students.
• RCL structured opportunities for students to work in and lead groups. The students learned about building investment of team members, communication, and feedback.

• Students who were trained to be part of the SAFE Zone by the Student Health and Wellness Center learned about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning communities. International students learned how to communicate health concerns in the United States.

Goal 6. Responsible citizenship, so that students can do their best in ways uniquely their own and have the motivation to contribute to a better life for all through community participation and leadership.

• Students found responsible for honor and judicial violations reflected on the impact that their behavior has on the community and to give back to the community through service hours. Approximately 83% of the written assignments appeared to contain significant or moderate personal insights.
• Lancer Productions intentionally collaborated with a number of campus organizations to meet the needs of the Longwood community. Students learned the importance of these collaborations and have expressed a desire to build on them in the future.
• The Office of Leadership and New Student Programs challenged students to explore the idea of citizenship in the Citizen Leader Series and the Emerging Leaders Program. New students discussed taking responsibility for their actions and lives in an Orientation program “Your Responsibilities.”
• Participants in the Citizen Leader Series learned how to focus on the betterment of mankind on a small or large scale.
• Emerging Leaders explored the concept of citizen leadership and the qualities of citizen leaders.
• New students learned that they are responsible for their choices, and the choices have consequences.
• Students at Longwood are active contributors to the university community and the community at large. Some examples of students in these roles are the health-related Peer Educators, Resident Assistants, Orientation Leaders, Lancer Productions members, Greek officers, Student Government Association members, Big Siblings, and Honor & Judicial Board members.

For more detailed information, see each department’s 2005-06 Learning Plan on its web page.