Maria Lauro Mid-term Reflection Email 3/4/2014 Practicum EDLD 8735

Describe your practicum environment. Identify your mentor, other employees, clients served, and the organization itself. Identify some ways you initially tried to orient yourself to and gain acceptance within the organization. Rank your practicum experience thus far on a scale of 0-5 with 0= poor and 5= outstanding. Explain your response - two paragraph minimum. Georgia Highlands College is a two-year and limited four-year college. There are six locations. Each campus has an advisor that services the student population for that campus. As the advisor for the largest populated campus, Laura is busy. Her office is located in the HUB, which is considered a one-stop shopping area. Laura does not work by appointment only, as her office is open access and with that, there is a great deal of flexibility. Suffice to say that my practicum environment is flexible and fluid.

The location often changes as well. Advising sometimes transpires in the conference room, at a school event such as Week of Love in the Student Center, or largely in Laura Waltons office. Therefore, it was important for me to find my niche in Lauras advising environment without being invasive, intrusive, or evasive. Often, I will drop by during advising sessions so Laura will introduce me and explain why I am observing. I feel that the Advising Department has been accepting and willing to help me when the need arises. Students are receptive and do not seem to mind my presence. The clients that we serve vary in age, student type, gender, and ethnicity. The student type varies from new, to former and current students. I rate my Practicum experience so far as a 5 or excellent on a 1-5 scale. I am receiving valuable information, training, mentoring, feedback, and resources for each member of the advising department. Laura is extremely thorough and takes time to explain changes and rules. She is willing to go the extra mile to ensure my success.

Maria Lauro Mid-term Reflection Email 3/4/2014 Practicum EDLD 8735

Discuss/reflect upon at least one of the components of your portfolio and its application to your practicum experience and/or a work experience one paragraph minimum. When I submitted The Career Trajectory about pursuing Advising as a career, I saw my graduation in the distant horizon and yet, here I am. As clich as it sounds, I feel that I have grown while in the program, and I have gained a more mature outlook about my role in Higher Education. I have always enjoyed what I do, and I have always loved helping students. But to see what I put in writing actually coming to fruition just gives me goose bumps. It is truly amazing how fast the program has come to an end and that my career aspirations may soon be realized. What has been the biggest eye-opener from your experience thus far? Explain your response two paragraph minimum. The biggest eye-opener that I have experienced thus far would be the sheer volume of students that Laura assists. If she doesnt have a student in the office, she will have a student on the phone, or she will be corresponding with them through email. I thought my workload was intense, but Advisings workload has mine beat. I have taken self-inventory to see if I am ready for the challenge. I have asked inventory questions like: Will I have the same amount of patience that Laura demonstrates? Will I be able to give such thorough advice like Laura? Will I be able to remember students names and issues/situations? Suffice it to say that it will take more practice, training, and most of all experience which is true for all careers. How is your and your mentors administrative philosophy the same? How is it different? We share the common philosophy that we are here for the students and our mission is to help them succeed by offering current, reliable, and trusted information to the students. Often

Maria Lauro Mid-term Reflection Email 3/4/2014 Practicum EDLD 8735

this requires researching items that may be unfamiliar to us. For example, this might include school accreditation, transfer courses, and the validity of programs of study. We also believe that by taking the time to better serve students that we are empowering them for the future. Lauras personal philosophy is to be the best that she can be and to always do her best. Although she realizes that she sometimes falls short, she believes that having such a philosophy helps her not to doubt herself. My personal philosophy comes from a different place. I live by the Life happens, and I cant control everything so I need to concentrate on the things that I can fix philosophy. Recent life/work events have helped me learn to cherish the good and let go of the bad. This philosophy also carries over into my work ethics.

Identify areas in which you wish you had more content knowledge or skills to better perform within your practicum experience. Explain the areas and the reasons one paragraph minimum. I would like to cross-train with the Academic Office. It is apparent that some of the knowledge that Laura has gained has come over time. Hopefully I can participate in the next In-Service break out session for Academics. Laura has a good grasp on where the new Cooperative Learning Support programs are headed. The programs have been spearheaded by Academics and have recently been introduced to the college by Academics. I would love to see how such proposals come to fruition. At this point in my career, I feel that the Academics Counsel is a group of elitists, and I would love to participate in meetings to prove myself wrong.

Maria Lauro Mid-term Reflection Email 3/4/2014 Practicum EDLD 8735

I would like to see the report that shows advising mistakes and issues that are flagged in BANNER. The Advising Department is much like the other departments in that there are mistakes that trigger or flag a students file for further review. In a conversation with Laura, she divulged that sometimes mistakes arent caught until well after the semester has begun which can be problematic. She also mentioned that it would be ideal to catch mistakes on the front end or to revamp the BANNER system to include better defined holds that cannot be overridden, unless it is by an advisor. As it stands, Academic Advisors (faculty), Orientation Registrars, and staff with registration privileges can override holds which makes catching mistakes even more difficult.