Caroline Cristal Professional Philosophy Upon preparing to write this personal statement, I came across the first version

of a professional philosophy I wrote as an assignment for the first-year seminar course in the Higher

Education and Student Affairs program. In this initial piece, I identify two ideas that are the basis for my professional philosophy: life-long learning and creating community. After re-reading this statement, it is with great satisfaction that I find both of these ideas are still the basis for what I stand for as a higher education professional, and what I believe to be the purpose of higher education. However, through my experience in this program, I have added one more concept to the mix: the idea of challenge. As I reflect upon the past year and a half, I appreciate how important this journey has been. After working in the real world for almost three years, I entered the program fearing that the transition back to an academic setting would be a challenge for me. As I look back on my experience now, I see that while challenging is the correct word, the way in which I defined a challenge was incorrect. I understood challenge to mean difficult and upsetting; instead I found these challenges to be positive and productive. I have grown and evolved, and have learned ways to understand who I am in the world of higher education, how that might change, and how I can embrace that change as a positive challenge. I believe that challenge is an important concept to correctly define, and something higher education professionals should embrace and encourage their students to embrace. While many of my opinions and beliefs have been influenced and guided in different ways after writing this first statement, these three ideas continue to contribute to my professional philosophy in higher education, and are the items discussed in the statement that follows. Life-Long Learning While colleges and universities have a reputation of being slow to change, it must be noted that higher education institutions change more frequently than they are given credit for.

Caroline Cristal Professional Philosophy Whether they change in the type of technology being used, or the types of students enrolling in school, change happens quickly and with change comes the need to learn. With technological advances come a change in the way that students communicate, the expectations that students have, and a change in the way in which they manage their lives. Not only is technology impacting the way a student views his or her education, it is also impacting the way in which higher education departments run their day-to-day offices. In this time of such quick technological advances, for example, higher education professionals must consider themselves life-long learners in order to keep up with these advances and therefore their students. Additionally, the type of students enrolling in higher education is changing and higher

education professionals need to be prepared to learn how to work with students who identify in a number of ways. To take one example, NYU now considers itself a Global Network University, and has announced a goal to increase the amount of international students enrolled in undergraduate programs to 20% by the year 2020. An increase of international students means that higher education professionals must learn and know how to work with an entirely different demographic of students from all over the world. If a higher education professional does not allow his or herself to learn about new technologies, new advances, or how to work with a demographic of students they may have not worked with before, they will miss out on ways of connecting with their students. For this reason, I strongly believe that to be a higher education professional is to be a life-long student, a life-long learner. Creating Community As higher education institutions continue to evolve and change, the importance of creating a strong community becomes more and more necessary. It is important that we, as higher education professionals, work to create this strong community for our students. Otherwise

Caroline Cristal Professional Philosophy we risk students not finding the support necessary to be successful. Without the support of a community many students being to feel lost and then lose sight of the important opportunities that come from a college education. Whether a student forms a community through extracurricular activities, through orientation programs, or through academic activities, the creation of a community for students helps to encourage a holistic education that will benefit students in the classroom and beyond. In the Campus Communities and Subcultures course taught by Dr. Tom Ellet, we discussed Ernest Boyers six principles to creating a strong campus community openness, justice, purpose, celebration, discipline, and care. These six principles have made their way into my every day thought, language, and overall approach to the higher education profession. This thought process frames the way in which I approach my work with the College of Arts and

Science (CAS) College Cohort Program (CCP) as well. The overall aim of this brand new cohort program is to create a strong bond among CAS students so that they feel more connected to the College and to the university as a whole. Through a cohort system that brings together 36 firstyear students led by an undergraduate student leader and an Academic Advisor, the goal is to create communities starting in the freshman year that will grow over the course of the students undergraduate education at NYU. With the first semester of the inaugural year of the CCP under our belts, the creation of a community among our students has never been clearer. I look forward to working the next semester and planning the second year, all with the idea of creating a strong community for our students. Challenge In addition to creating a strong community, I believe that it is important to instill in students a sense of excitement at the idea of being challenged. As previously mentioned, it is

Caroline Cristal Professional Philosophy important to provide challenges to students both inside and outside of the classroom. Providing students with the tools needed to overcome and think through tough issues gives them the confidence to respond to the future situations they will encounter. In my experience as an Academic Advisor in CAS, I see many students who are not prepared to face a challenge straightforward, who are afraid of doing something different or doing something wrong. So much importance is placed on the importance of completing the right major at the expense of interest or desire that I believe we have a responsibility to encourage our students to step up to the challenge of exploring and thinking outside of the box. While providing a strong support system for students to fall back on, higher education professionals can help and encourage

students to take a strategized leap of faith. No matter how the challenge presents itself, we have a responsibility to frame challenges for our students in a positive way, and allow room for academic experimentation and exploration. The Integration of the Program The Higher Education and Student Affairs program has the amazing benefit of having a group of professors that are clearly dedicated to higher education and the development of future higher education professionals. This dedication is seen in many ways from the traditional classroom approach, to the practical professional approach, and to the encouragement in having us personally identify with our careers and the field of higher education. Academically The professors I have worked with during this time have truly challenged and supported me to learn how to focus my thinking. Every semester, I have left a course with a greater understanding of the language used when it comes to higher education and our students. Coming from an education reform background from my previous position, I was aware of terms such as

Caroline Cristal Professional Philosophy

bias, lens, and how to use social justice or affirmative action in conversation. However, it was not until Dr. Matt Mayhews Foundation in Higher Education course that how these terms relate to higher education and how they relate to me as a rising higher education professional became clear. Not only was I considering my personal lens and learning to identify my biases and understand why these biases exist, but I also learned how this applied to higher education and to my goal of supporting and challenging students myself. This is perhaps one of the most impactful lessons that I have encountered through the program: to learn to identify why I think about the things the way I do and determine how that way of thinking benefits or detracts from a situation. This type of reflection was strengthened in the College Student Learning and Development course where I studied the different student development theories and explored how to incorporate these studies into our daily practical experience. While the class was helpful in learning how to determine where the students with whom I worked might be in their development, it was also invaluable in determining how I was developing as a student and higher education professional. This course directly leads in to the Research in Higher Education Course taught by Dr. Laurie Behringer. If the Foundations course and College Student Learning and Development course challenged me in learning about language and theories, the Research course challenged me to discover how to apply these topics to my research interests. In this course, I conducted a semester-long qualitative research project determining why students who selfidentified as not involved decided not to engage in on-campus activities. The results of the research were interesting, however it was the process of conducting a research project and learning how to conduct research and identifying that I tend to lean towards a pragmatic qualitative lens that was the most challenging and rewarding part of this course. The Research

Caroline Cristal Professional Philosophy course combined the knowledge gained from the Foundations and the College Learning and Student Development courses in a research paper that I am proud of, and also a deeper appreciation and understanding of the higher education field. Professionally What I have learned academically has also been extremely helpful in learning who I am as a professional and how I want to continue growing as a professional. In addition to

encouraging us to think about our students and higher education in the larger scope, the courses I have taken have helped me to see how to become a strong higher education professional. For example, my assistantship in CAS Advising Center working with the CCP and advising has confirmed the need to be a life-long learner and the need to accept challenges positively and head-on. This was tested when the CCP replaced the more traditional CAS Summer Orientation experience. Now students go through an online virtual advising and registration process over the summer that does not require them to visit NYU before the start of the academic year. Additionally, orientation is now an experience extended into the first semester dividing the students into cohort groups that are led by an undergraduate student and an Academic Advisor. The sudden shift in the program came as a shock, but it was also a unique opportunity to be a part of creating a program from scratch. This entrepreneurial experience allowed me to incorporate the theories, approaches, and self-identities that I was simultaneously learning as we embarked on crafting this new program. I had to consider where first-year students tend to be developmentally, especially in regards to virtual advising and registration. To do this I considered Kohlbergs cognitive developmental and Chickerings seven-vector theory, which both discuss how students think and approach situations upon entering college. In addition to thinking in terms of student development, the creation of the CCP allowed me to stretch my

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higher education administration wings and consider the programmatic side of academic affairs in a purposeful way. I found myself and still find myself considering all parts of higher education from students to faculty and administrators to the College to the university itself. While an initial shock, the creation and implementation of the CCP has been something that I am proud to have had a hand in building. Personally Given that I am only at the start of my final semester in the program, I am sure that there will be additional opportunities for growth that come my way in the months ahead. A few immediately come to mind such as a presentation on the development of LGBTQ students in higher education at this years Student Affairs Conference, or the NASPA conference I will be attending in March, and especially my participation in the Higher Education and the Law course. However, based on what this program has already taught me through my academic and professional experiences and the relationships formed from these experiences, I know that I will approach these opportunities with the knowledge of who I am as a professional and a student; armed with the theories that will help me to explain my ideas, and sufficiently prepared to meet these challenges head-on, and know that there will be full support throughout and growth on the other end. Conclusion The past year and a half has proven to be incredibly educational and a welcome challenge for me. Most importantly, however, I think my experience in this program has strengthened the passion that I feel for higher education at all levels. The education I have received from this program has given me the skillset to know why I believe that a career in higher education and student affairs is important. I know I will go on learning, creating communities, and challenging

Caroline Cristal Professional Philosophy myself as I grown in my career. My goals for the future are to become more involved in high

school to college transition programs, working to encourage high school students to welcome the challenge of experiencing higher education at its fullest. I know that my experience here will help me to continue with this goal, while encouraging me to continue to create new goals and challenges for myself. It is with a heavy, but incredibly excited heart that I look forward to this final semester of the Higher Education and Student Affairs program. I arrived knowing that the field of higher education is where I want to be, and I leave knowing that along with having developed the skillsets to be an asset to any higher education institution, I have the capabilities to challenge and support those around me.