Post Assessment and Summary of Learning
Danny Oliveira
San Diego State University
SUMMARY OF LEARNING
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As I pause to reflect back on my learning experience in these last two years in this
program, I’m taken aback by the fact that I am finally nearing the end of a journey that began in
Fall 2002, over 12 years ago now. I will finally earn my Master of Arts degree a full twenty
years after graduating from San Diego State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology
in 1995. It has been quite a long road that I have traveled. I was a student in the first cohort of
students for Postsecondary Educational Leadership with a Specialization in Student Affairs at
SDSU. My peers in that cohort have gone on to great success in their student affairs careers. A
few of them still work on campus here at SDSU and are now Directors and even the Associate
Vice President for Campus Life within the Division of Student Affairs. I took a different path. I
was never fully engaged in my academic career at that time. I took the program for granted. I
was getting a fee waiver and paying nearly nothing for my classes. All of us were working
professionals at the time. My coursework was often an afterthought. I was fully engrossed in
my career however. I was fortunate enough to be hired in a newly created position as an
Assistant Coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life shortly after completing my Single Subject
Teaching Credential at SDSU in 1998. I loved my job and wanted to continue to advance my
career. I accepted an opportunity for advancement to a Coordinator position at San Jose State
University after six years on staff here at SDSU and consequently never finished my degree in
this program. Low and behold, I didn’t last long at SJSU and returned to San Diego to try my
hand at my originally intended career as a teacher in secondary education. After struggling for
five years in a job that was more difficult and less rewarding than I could have imagined, I came
to the realization that my true passion was in the satisfaction of facilitating student’s holistic
development in higher education. It would take some financial sacrifice to return to college after
so many years but I can now honestly say that it was absolutely the right decision. In reality, my
decision to leave student affairs after my time in San Jose is a decision that I have regretted for
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some time now. But alas, I am back on track and about to reestablish my career in student
affairs.
I am completing this program with greater determination, knowledge, understanding, and
passion for facilitating student success. In the following pages, I will summarize my mastery of
the ten program learning outcomes (PLOs), how I have met my personal and professional goals,
and describe my post-graduation plans. I will describe my overall learning and development and
demonstrate my readiness to finally earn a master’s degree in Postsecondary Educational
Leadership in Student Affairs.
Mastery of Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
PLO 1: Theoretical Foundations
The first program learning outcome (PLO 1) is to articulate the theoretical foundation of
student affairs in postsecondary education. Although I have several years of practical
experience as a student affairs practitioner, my work was never based on any formal theoretical
foundation. I had my own informal theories about students and their development, but it wasn’t
until I returned to the program and began to study leadership theory in my first course, ARP 610:
Educational Leadership that I began to fully grasp the research behind some of the characteristics
of successful leadership that I had observed in others and even in myself. Bolman and Deals’
four organizational lenses of structural, political, human resources, and symbolic frames gave me
new understanding of the nuances of various leadership styles that I had observed. I had some
surface level exposure to Kouzes and Posner’s Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership but never
to the depth that I explored this approach in this course. The application of these leadership
theories in the “Leadership Challenge Consultation Group Project” in ARP 610 and the
opportunity to observe some of the theories in practice and approaches to leadership in the
“Observation and Analysis of Postsecondary Educational Leadership” in ARP 610 were key
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experiences where this PLO was achieved. The following semester in ARP 621: Theoretical
Foundations of Student Affairs was a much deeper look into the theories that inform our
profession. I was somewhat familiar with Astin’s Student Involvement Theory from my
previous courses over a decade ago and from practical and anecdotal experience with student
development, but the depth of the various student development theories and identity
development theories that I learned made this my favorite class in my last two years in this
program. I will now be able to refer to theory when presented with scenarios where aspects of
developmental tasks or identity development are presented in students with whom I interact.
PLO 2: Application of Theory to Practice
The second program learning outcome (PLO 2) is to identify how learning and
development theories can be implemented in daily practice within student affairs in
postsecondary education. The best example of my experience with this program learning
outcome was demonstrated through the “Applying Student Development Theory to Student’s
Experience” project in ARP 621. An example of a theory that I used in this project was Torres’
Bicultural Model of Hispanic Identity Development to describe my adopted student’s identity as
a Mexican-American attending a predominately white institution demonstrating a Bicultural
orientation described in this theory. I had additional opportunities to apply theory to practice in
“Leadership Challenge Consultation Group Project” in ARP 610, and the “Counseling Session
Practicum” in ARP 622: Communication and Group Process.
PLO 3: Student Preparation and Learning Tendencies
The third program learning outcome (PLO 3) is to identify the preparation and learning
tendencies with which students enter into postsecondary education and propose strategies to
facilitate their development and success. This is an outcome with which I had a level of
familiarity as a former secondary education teacher. I demonstrated this outcome through my
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self-reflection in “My Place at the U” in ARP 620, evaluating my adopted student’s experiences
in “Applying Student Development Theory to Student’s Experience” project in ARP 621, and
my Personal Cultural Narrative in ARP 747. My Out-of-Class experiences have deepened my
understanding of the preparation and learning tendencies of students entering higher education
such as Dr. Shaun Harper’s lecture on “Succeeding in the City: A Report from the New York
City Black and Latino Male High School Achievement Study”, various educational sessions that
I attended at the NASPA Multicultural Institute and NASPA Western Regional Conference, and
most importantly through my job with the Guardian Scholars Program at SDSU’s EOP & Ethnic
Affairs. Students admitted to SDSU through EOP often enter college with deficiencies in their
preparation. The resources, services, and programs administered through this department
implement various strategies to facilitate the success of EOP students such as free tutoring at the
CAAT Lounge, the SOAR Mentor Program, and one-on-one advising by EOP Counselors. Of
the ten PLOs, I have mastered PLO 3 to the greatest degree. This is my area of focus in student
affairs; supporting student success for first generation, low income, students of color who benefit
from strategies such as these to facilitate their development.
PLO 4: Varying Leadership Styles
The fourth program learning outcome (PLO 4) is to identify and apply varying leadership
styles that are prevalent within a student affairs in postsecondary education context. The artifact
that most clearly demonstrates my grasp of this outcome is “Observation and Analysis of
Postsecondary Educational Leadership” in ARP 610 where I observed a Student Affairs
professional deftly adapt her leadership styles to varying contexts within the brief time that I
formally observed her. I have continued to observe these skills in this particular person as I now
work in her department. Since this project, I have become more observant of the adaptation of
varying leadership styles of my supervisors in my assistantships and internship experience as
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well as other practitioners such as faculty and staff in academic departments whom I interviewed
and observed in my role as a Graduate Assistant with SDSU Career Services’ Campus Internship
Coordinator.
PLO 5: Personal Strengths and Weaknesses
The fifth program learning outcome (PLO 5) is to identify one’s own leadership strengths
and areas of continued development. My practice of identifying my strengths and areas for
improvement have most often occurred in my work experiences and internship experience.
Professional development experiences such as NASPA Multicultural Institute, NASPA Western
Regional Conference, webinars on the NASPA website, and on-campus workshops organized by
our program have all helped me identify areas for growth and strategies for increasing my skills
in these areas. The values assessment exercise, Myers-Briggs assessment, and Strengthsquest
assessment that we did in ARP 610 were all helpful in identifying my strengths. The
“Counseling Session Practicum” in ARP 622 was also very helpful in identifying strengths as
well as areas for improvement of my advising and counseling skills.
PLO 6: Ethical Issues
The sixth program learning outcome (PLO 6) is to identify ethical leadership issues in
student affairs in postsecondary education and propose solutions and strategies to address these
issues. Opportunities to address ethical issues were very limited in the first year of the program.
However, in ARP 622 and ARP 623, we discussed various ethical considerations. I learned
some of the foundations of ethical thinking such as autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence,
justice, and fidelity that are reflected in professional codes of ethics for student affairs,
counseling, social work, and other helping professions. Ethical challenges in counseling and
student affairs such as confidentiality, informed consent, and boundary issues such as dual
relationships between students and staff were addressed in ARP 622. We examined and
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addressed “ACPA’s Ethical Principles & Standards” in ARP 622 and “Ethical Professional
Practice was among the Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Practitioners”
published by ACPA and NASPA in ARP 623. The “Sticky Situations” assignment in ARP 623
was an exploration of an ethical dilemma or a situation with conflicting principles. I described a
conflict between a staff member and an administrator that resulted in the dismissal of an
employee under dubious circumstances and the negative effects that students who were served
by this program coordinator were left to deal with in the aftermath of this “sticky situation”.
PLO 7: Outcomes-Based Assessment
The seventh program learning outcome (PLO 7) is to engage in meaningful outcomes‐
based assessment of collaboratively designed student learning and development programs and
initiatives. Our second year course, ED 795 A & B Seminar: Investigating and Reporting Issues
in Education is a year-long project directly related to outcomes-based assessment. Assessment is
becoming an increasingly important factor in most (if not all) student affairs programs. It is an
emerging skill that I am fortunate to learn from a leading expert in her field, Dr. Marilee
Bresciani. I regret the choice of program that my team selected at the beginning of the year after
our originally targeted program to assess decided not to participate in an assessment at this time.
The coordinators of this new initiative on campus, Arts Alive SDSU, requested the support of an
assessment team to enhance the development of this emerging program. Regrettably, it has not
been a good fit for this sort of outcomes-based assessment. The lack of clearly defined student
learning outcomes has led to some frustration for our group. It has been quite difficult to design
valid and reliable assessment instruments for our project. Consequently, I can attest that I am in
“emerging mastery” of this particular program learning outcome. I see this as a missed
opportunity to gain a valuable skill that I can apply in the future. Although our project has not
been ideal, we have been exposed to outcomes-based assessment and I will be able to collaborate
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with others in the development of assessment projects for student affairs programs in which
measurable student learning outcomes can be designed and properly assessed.
PLO 8: Access, Equity, and Learner Success
The eighth program learning outcome (PLO 8) is to articulate and apply the foundational
principles of access, equity and learner success in postsecondary education. This outcome
represents one of my strongest areas of learning and growth. I have had multiple experiences
related to access, equity, and success during these two years as well as my own lived experiences
described in “My Place at the U” digital story from ARP 620 and my Personal Cultural Narrative
in ARP 747. My adopted student’s experiences in “Applying Student Development Theory to
Student’s Experience” project in ARP 621 addressed some of the potential obstacles to his
success such as being an economically challenged, first-generation college student from an
ethnic background, and his status as a transfer student who commutes to campus and the role that
his involvement in his Latino-based fraternity has resulted in a great deal of success in
overcoming potential obstacles. My internship experience in ARP 760 was with the Commuter
Resource Center, serving a student demographic with particular obstacles to access, equity, and
learner success because of their relatively limited engagement with the campus community
because of reduced time spent on campus. All of my out-of-class artifacts and graduate
assistantship working experiences have been related to this outcome. At SDSU Career Services, I
surveyed departmental internship programs across the campus and found inequities in the
accessibility for an internship experience for many students on this campus. At SDSU EOP &
Ethnic Affairs, I work with the Guardian Scholars Program designed to facilitate access to a
college education for former foster youth and unaccompanied homeless youth and enhance their
learner success during their undergraduate career. At UCSD, I designed an Inclusive Language
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campaign for John Muir College that addresses the use of equity-minded language to promote
equity and inclusion of all campus community members through the awareness of common
words or phrases that may be unintentionally offensive to people or identities that may be
excluded by the use of these terms. My attendance at Dr. Shaun Harper’s “Succeeding in the
City” lecture was a great opportunity to learn to use anti-deficit thinking for students from
perceived disadvantaged circumstances. Observing the factors that lead to their success against
the odds rather than the statistics that only highlight the negative aspects of their environmental
factors was a refreshing perspective to consider for the access, equity, and student success of
male students of color from urban communities. At the NASPA Multicultural Institute and the
NASPA Western Regional Conference, I chose to primarily attend educational sessions related
to this learning outcome because I am seeking a career in EOP or TRIO programs.
PLO 9: Research to Practice
The ninth program learning outcome (PLO 9) is to apply research to practice in an area
of specialization within student affairs in postsecondary education. I had various opportunities
to apply research to practice in many of my courses including the use of leadership theories in
the “Leadership Challenge Consultation Group Project” in ARP 610, student development and
student identity theories in “Applying Student Development Theory to Student’s Experience”
project in ARP 621, counseling theories in the “Counseling Session Practicum” in ARP 622, and
student engagement theories in the Assessment Plan for Arts Alive SDSU in ED 795 A & B. Dr.
Harper described his research group’s example of their research to practical applications at high
schools in New York City. An educational session that I attended at NASPA Western Regional
Conference addressed a grounded theoretical study regarding sexual relations and the
incongruence with assumptions underlying laws, policies, and programs that do not match lived
experiences when it comes to consent for sexual relations.
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PLO 10: Communication Skills
The tenth program learning outcome (PLO 10) is to communicate ideas and concepts
effectively in written and spoken word. Every course in this program involves communication
skills in writing. My writing has improved considerably since my first graduate course in 2002.
A large factor in my inability to complete the program within two years of beginning in 2002
was my complete lack of confidence in my writing and the tremendous anxiety I experienced
related to writing term papers for every course. Writing was not a significant component of my
undergraduate degree in Kinesiology as this discipline involves kinesthetic learning to a great
extent. I had several opportunities to make oral presentations in most classes as well as my
assistantship with Career Services for the Internship Summit and iExchange workshop
luncheons. I expanded my skills in communicating through publications such as the online
iExchange newsletters for Career Services and Guardian Scholars newsletter. The #Not at Muir
inclusive language campaign at Muir College has involved multiple publications including static
cling stickers, large posters all around the college, as well as social media marketing through
Facebook, Instagram, and other formats using the hashtag (Not at Muir). I also developed social
media marketing and promotions for the Environments in Motion lecture series at Muir College,
Commuter Life at SDSU, and Guardian Scholars at SDSU. I learned a new skill of video
production for the “My Place at the U” digital story and “Disadvantaged Student” collaborative
digital story from ARP 620.
The various experiences that I have encountered related to coursework, work experience
in my graduate assistantships and my internship experience, and professional development
experiences outside of the classroom have collectively prepared me to master all ten of the
program learning outcomes. As I have described, I have mastered some of these outcomes to a
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greater degree than others but I have described various ways in which I have demonstrated
mastery of each of these program learning outcomes. As a life-long learner I will continue to
build upon the education that I have accomplished thus far. My Professional Development Plan
from ARP 623 outlines specific ways in which I plan to build upon my knowledge, skills, and
personal development. I will continue to evolve and progress towards greater levels of mastery
of these learning outcomes as well as other aspects of my career in student affairs.
Achievement of Professional and Personal Goals
In addition to the achievement of the program learning outcomes, my experiences in this
program have also enabled me to accomplish my personal and professional goals that I identified
at the beginning of the program in Fall 2013 and later refined and revised after my first year of
learning.
My first professional goal that I identified was - The expansion of my professional
network with my classmates in this cohort as well as with other professionals that I interact with.
I later expanded this goal to include the expansion of my network with current professionals in
student affairs as well as other graduate students besides those in my specific cohort. I expanded
this goal of expanding networks to include my extended network of professionals across the
country in my fraternity and the intentional use of social media networking to further expand my
sphere of influence and opportunities to make meaningful connections with professionals for
mutual benefit. Some of the ways in which I have met this professional goal include the
relationships that I built with classmates such as Cameron Eaves and Chelsea Winer as well as
professional staff in the department for Student Life and Leadership at SDSU where I completed
my internship for ARP 760. This is the department for which I worked as an Assistant
Coordinator for Fraternity and Sorority Life. The scope, staff, and even the location of this
department has changed considerably since I was a staff member here. This served as an
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opportunity to reconnect with the senior leadership of the department including the Director and
Associate Directors. It was an opportunity to develop new relationships with my supervisor
Melissa Gonzalez, as well as other Student Life Advisors in this department. Likewise I have
developed new relationships as well as rekindled relationships with staff at both of my
assistantships at SDSU in Career Services and in EOP & Ethnic Affairs. Classmates with whom
I have developed relationships include Brandi Tonne, Walter Torrance III, Chris Dela Cruz,
Kristen Ryan, and Simone Hidds. The professional staff in both of these departments are valued
colleagues that I continue to communicate with regularly. The various collaborative projects in
most of my classes have provided opportunities for relationship building as well but none like
my assessment team in ARP 795 A&B. Although at times our group cohesion has been
challenged, we have persevered and have succeeded in a project that has been frustrating at times
but has been ongoing for this entire academic year. I look forward to continuing the
relationships that I have built with Shareka White, Acacia Kapusta, Haley Duvel and Cristina
Arelis. I have developed entirely new experiences and networks at UC San Diego this year as a
Graduate Assistant at John Muir College Student Affairs. I have had very limited interactions
with cohort mates on that campus but I have occasionally connected with Joseph Cordero from
neighboring Thurgood Marshall College. Professional development experiences including the
NASPA conferences that I’ve mentioned were opportunities to expand my network with
professionals throughout this region. Likewise, I have further strengthened relationships with
classmates who attended these conferences as well including Kristen Ryan, Chris Dela Cruz, and
John Leng. All of these relationships are important for my future success in student affairs. I
have found that the broader one’s network is, the greater sphere of influence one has and
consequently more opportunities arise from these relationships. Maintaining these various
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relationships can be difficult but the power of social media makes these relationships more
accessible than ever before.
My second professional goal is, I will attend as many professional development
opportunities as possible. I was more successful with this particular goal in my first year than I
have been this year. Last year I attended Dr. Shaun Harper’s lecture at USD, Dr. George Kuh’s
lecture at SDSU, the NASPA Multicultural Institute in Las Vegas, various workshops and events
on campus organized by our program staff, and several NASPA webinars on a variety of topics.
Although I did attend the NASPA Western Regional Conference this year, there have been very
few local opportunities developed by our program. I have been working two assistantships this
year and have much less free time than I did last year. There have been some local opportunities
such as Dr. Daniel Solorzano’s lecture on Critical Race Theory that I unfortunately have not
been able to attend. It has been a busy year for me so I have missed the mark on this particular
goal to a certain extent but I have outlined specific ways that I will continue to seek out
opportunities for professional development in my professional development plan submitted in
ARP 623.
My third professional goal is, I will continue to gain experience in other areas of student
affairs outside of my prior career in fraternity and sorority life. I have greatly expanded my
experience in student affairs in these two years in this program. John Muir College, UCSD and
SDSU Career Services and SDSU EOP & Ethnic Affairs have given me a breadth of experiences
that I believe have made me a more marketable potential employee. I did seek out an
opportunity to reconnect with Greek Life this year by volunteering to be a facilitator for the
SDSU TEAM Greek Leadership Retreat in January 2015. This afforded an opportunity for
expanding my professional network with classmates such as John Leng and Leanna Biddle, as
well as more staff from Student Life and Leadership who I had not met prior to this event. This
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was also a way for me to connect on a deeper level with the chapter president of my fraternity at
SDSU as well the current leadership of the United Sorority and Fraternity Council (USFC) which
I helped start at SDSU in 1997 and was the first President and later the first staff advisor for
several years. I was pleased to learn that the USFC has grown in number or organizations and in
diversity, with two chapter based on sexual orientation. It was inspiring to see this event
continue in much the same format based on values based leadership, community building and
cross cultural interaction. This experience served to confirm that I’m no longer interested in a
full time career in Greek Life. It takes a lot of energy and sacrifice that I’m no longer willing to
devote. I will however, serve as an advisor to my fraternity wherever I end up working in the
future.
My last professional goal is I will continue to further develop my skills and strengths in
order to become a highly competitive candidate for positions when I have completed the master’s
degree. Many of the artifacts that I have described demonstrated achievement of this goal. The
“Counseling Session Practicum” in ARP 622 is an example that expanded my skills in advising
and counseling students from a theory based framework. I am conscious of the counseling
strategies that I learned in this course through this project. I expanded some of my
communication skills in various ways through the #Not at Muir campaign, iExchange
newsletters and workshop series, and social media marketing in all of my assistantships and
internship. I developed video production skills in ARP 620 and developed a programming
model and staffing model for Commuter Programs in my internship. I am a more well-rounded
student affairs professional because of my involvement in this program for the past two years
than I was as a professional staff member for over seven years prior to completing this degree
program.
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The program has also enabled me to achieve my personal goals. My coursework and my
employment in various roles in various departments has enabled me to remain committed and
fully engaged in my education and personal growth. As I have described previously, I was more
engrossed I my career advancement than I was in my education in my first attempt in this
program. This has not been the case for the past two years. I have been intentional about my
involvements and diligent about my coursework. It has paid off. I have learned valuable lessons
in the classroom and in the workplace. The depth of my knowledge base has grown
exponentially because of this program. I now have theory to back up my practical knowledge
and anecdotal experiences. I have experienced personal growth in various ways. From
developing new skills and new relationships to a more committed relationship with my
significant other, I have matured into a more intentional and purposeful professional than I was
before returning to this program.
I have establish(ed) solid working relationships with my classmates in order to ensure my
success in the program while contributing to our collective intellectual growth. The many
collaborative projects that I have completed with various classmates have accomplished this
goal. It has been rare for me to collaborate with the same people for any of these collaborative
projects. Although I haven’t collaborated with everyone in my cohort, I have worked with many
of them and these experiences have ensured my success and added to my intellectual growth. I
believe my influence and my contributions have added to our collective growth as well. I
recognized after the first year that I did not engage with my classmates socially. I made more of
an effort to interact outside of class and work by attending some of the social events organized
by the cohort. I regret not making this a priority from the beginning of the program. I did
establish better relationships with classmates in the workplace. I have connected with Walter
and Chris at EOP on a regular basis. I have especially developed a close teammate relationship
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with Simone Hidds at EOP as the co-graduate assistants for the Guardian Scholars Program. I
am impressed with her work ethic and passion for her work. She will be an asset to this
department and especially to this program. I expect her to become the director of the Guardian
Scholars Program at some point in her career. I value these relationships and will be sure to
continue to connect on a social level with my colleagues in the workplace. Developing and
maintaining positive personal relationships is a key to success that I will focus on for the
duration of my career.
The next goal is one that I continue to struggle with: I will develop personal and
professional balance by developing a daily routine. There have been months where I established
a regular routine and I began to thrive in a structured schedule. But I have struggled to maintain
these routines. This tends to happen about six to eight weeks into each semester when
assignments and deadlines begin to pile up. I have gotten thrown off my schedule by the need to
devote extra hours to completing assignments late into the night. I find myself consistently
showing up to work later as the semester progresses. This is both a product of my lack of
discipline as it is of fatigue. I have gained weight again this year. I have not exercised regularly
on a consistent basis. There was a period of time when I was working out for 30 minutes each
morning before work on MWF. I was getting to work on time and felt energized and refreshed.
But soon I found myself staying up late reading or writing so getting up early was not part of my
routine for long. I am a bit thrown off from any semblance of a routine now and it is affecting all
aspects of my life. I know that I need to focus on this personal goal consistently each week and
each day. It is quite difficult for me. My ADHD doesn’t help. I am always getting sidetracked
and distracted when I should be focused. I call it multitasking but it is really a problem that I
need to address soon. I’m hoping that when the rigors of graduate school are behind me, I will
have more valuable time to develop a regular routine. Sticking to a routine will always be the
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challenge. I know that I have been able to do it in spurts and it was effective. Now the challenge
is to maintain and adhere to a schedule. This will involve teamwork between my girlfriend and
I. If we can develop consistent home routines, I believe routines for the rest of my day will be
much more manageable and realistic. This goal starts at home.
My last personal goal was one that changed for this year. I had previously set a goal of
completing every class before beginning the program because of my history of Incomplete
grades in my first time in the program. This has not been an issue at all so that goal was
accomplished after the first semester. This summer I changed this goal to one of: I will rekindle
my passion for my involvement in Nu Alpha Kappa Fraternity, Inc. I have accomplished this
goal this year by serving on the committee for our SDSU chapter’s 25th Anniversary Celebration.
I was actively involved with our San Diego Alumni Association and we are thriving once again.
That NAK fire has been lit again inside of me. I have been more involved with the
undergraduate chapter as well but unfortunately I still can’t attend their weekly meeting because
of class conflicts. But I did attend the TEAM Retreat so that I could connect with the chapter
president for an entire weekend. They are doing well as an active organization on campus and
I’m proud of what they have accomplished. I look forward to working on campus and serving as
their alumni/staff advisor in the near future. The relationships that I have with my fellow alumni
in San Diego remain strong but they have been broadened this year because of our tremendously
successful anniversary event. We are building on this momentum and have much more planned
for this year. This involvement is important for me and I’m thoroughly glad that I’ve met this
goal this year.
I believe the program was as effective as it could have been in helping me meet the
program learning outcomes and my personal and professional goals. The only professional goal
that may have been impacted was my goal of attend(ing) as many professional development
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opportunities as possible. My perception is that there were far fewer professional development
opportunities provided on campus this year compared to last year. I’m not certain that my
perception is fact and in reality I might not have been able to attend more on-campus events this
year anyway. I had two jobs and three classes this year compared to only one job and two
classes last year. Clearly I had much less free time to devote to professional development
opportunities. But if I am in fact correct, this year’s new cohort had fewer opportunities than we
had last year. Efforts should be made to correct that.
Post-Graduation Plans
My plans upon completion of this program are to seek student affairs employment
opportunities in San Diego County. I am not interested in relocating and I am confident that my
extensive experience and local professional network will result in opportunities in the near
future. My primary goal is to become an EOP Counselor at SDSU. I will have an interview for
the current posting next week. I’m very hopeful that I will have an opportunity for this role in
EOP & Ethnic Affairs for a variety of reasons. First of all, I am uniquely qualified for this
position. I have many years of experience in student affairs and my strengths lie in mentoring,
advising, and counseling students. I am a positive male role model for first-generation, low
income, students of color. I have worked in this department for a year and have very good
relationships with the current staff and EOP Counselors in particular. An important factor in my
favor is that there will be multiple vacancies in the very near future for this position. The current
posting is for a position that has been vacant for over a year. There are two current Counselors
that will be retiring in less than a year. I’ve heard rumors that another Counselor is seeking
employment opportunities away from San Diego. There will also be more postings in the
department this year. There will be two new staff positions for the Guardian Scholars program
and I’m a current Graduate Assistant for the program which will help. One of the other
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candidates for the EOP Counselor is a current staff in the department so if she is hired, her
current position will become vacant. The role of an EOP Counselor has been an interest of mine
since I was a Greek Advisor many years ago. If I am hired, the professional development plan I
have outlined in ARP 623 will strategically place me in an informal leadership role and
eventually into a formal leadership position on staff. I will be actively involved in the
department and the division of student affairs on this campus. I intend to become regionally
involved through professional associations such as WESTOP, the regional association, COE or
Council for Opportunity in Education, the national association, and in NASPA and their
Knowledge Communities. Locally, I will seek relationships and partnerships with local
community colleges that send local transfer students to SDSU. My intent is to have a positive
effect on the recruitment, retention, holistic development, and successful graduation of EOP
students. There are a multitude of strategies that I will learn to that affect and I’m confident that
I will develop strategies and initiatives of my own.
Readiness to Pursue Post-Graduation Plans
I believe the previous pages have demonstrated that I am ready for a role as an EOP
Counselor. My mastery of the program learning outcomes and the attainment of my personal
and professional goals have prepared me for a successful career in a variety of roles in student
affairs. EOP Counselor is one that I am most interested although I feel prepared to pursue other
opportunities as well. I have also applied for positions at UC San Diego and CSU San Marcos. I
will be submitting an application for a position at Southwestern College next week as well as
others at Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, San Diego Community College
District, Mira Costa College, Palomar College, and University of San Diego.
The PLOs that I feel have best prepared me for the types of positions that I am interested
in are PLO 3: Student Preparation and Learning Tendencies and PLO 8: Access, Equity, and
SUMMARY OF LEARNING
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Learner Success. These PLOs are most closely aligned with my passion for advising, mentoring,
and counseling underrepresented students. They are directly aligned with the mission of EOP in
supporting the success of first-generation, low income students. My artifacts, experiences, and
the relationships cultivated in my mastery of these two PLOs have prepared me for success in my
post-graduate plans. My personal and professional goals are also directly aligned with my postgraduate plans. Expansion of my professional network, pursuit of professional development
opportunities, gained experiences in a wide range of student affairs functional areas, focus on
development of my strengths and identifying skills for continuous development are all aligned
with my post-graduate plans. My commitment to personal growth and learning, collaborative
relationships, work/life balance and interfraternal involvement also further reinforce my postgraduate plans. I will be successful in whatever role I am hired for.