Virginia Byrne
October 17, 2010
Core Competency Plan
Competency
 Advising and
Helping
 Assessment,
Evaluation, and
Research
 Equity,
Diversity, and
Inclusion
Short-term Plan of Action
(within this semester)
Long-term Plan of Action
(before MS completion)
Intended Outcomes
(what do you hope to learn/do)
 Focus my self-development
reading on Enabling Others (a
weakness from my SLPI)
 Mentor two Service Scholars
 Become an Ethics Course
Facilitator for Student Rights
and Responsibilities
 Increase professional
application of assessments and
evaluations and tie to measuring
learning:
- After Service Scholar Evenings
- After Lead-Ins
 Make meaning of the Social
Justice LLC one-on-one response
data
 Complete a course in counseling.  Through an internship and/or course
 Complete an internship with a
work, I will develop and practice
focus on advising or counseling
helping skills with students. Also, I will
have a firm understanding of
counseling resources and how to refer
a student in need.
 Ensure that my hiring practices
for the 4 Student Coordinator
Positions are fair, inclusive,
proactive, and non-
 Use my paper and internship
opportunities to learn more
about HBCUs, HSIs, firstgeneration college students, and
 Learn more about how the
university assesses and
benchmarks against peer
institutions.
 Implement a system of
Executive Summaries at the
Center.
 Use data from previous sessions
in construction of marketing
plans to attract a more diverse
population.
 Developing a portfolio of skills and
experiences that demonstrate my
knowledge of assessment techniques
and their application will be useful
both in conveying my knowledge to
employers and making programs that
are continually improving. My overall
goal is to create programs that connect
with students on their learning level –
for example, activities and lessons that
meet them where they are instead of
where I want them to be.
 Experience will help me gain a better
understanding of the needs of minority
students and first-generation college
students.
discriminatory.
 Shadow a Higher Education
Professional at Florida A&M
University
 Ethical
Professional
Practice
 Complete Ethical Leadership in
Higher Education taught by Dr.
Beckham and T.K. Wetherell
 Ensure that my hiring practices
for 4 Student Coordinator
Positions are fair, inclusive,
proactive, and nondiscriminatory.
 History,
 Complete Student Services in
Philosophy, and
Higher Education and Higher
Values
Education in America
 Create a personal philosophy of
student affairs with a concrete
understanding of my role within
it.
 Attend NASPA Drive-In and
contribute regularly to NASPA
forums to learn more about the
values of the profession.
 Human and
 Create a Professional
Organizational
Development Plan to share with
Resources
my two supervisors.
 Ensure that my hiring practices
are fair, inclusive, proactive, and
non-discriminatory.
other minority institutions and
student populations.
- Intern with C.A.R.E.
- Intern with FAMU
 Promote ethics conversations at
the LeaderShape Institute and
other Center programs.
 Facilitate an Ethics Course
Student Rights and
Responsibilities
 Attend the Dalton Institute to
again learn more about the
values of the profession and
how they reflect my own.
 Gain a better understanding of
student affairs internationally
through lectures and courses.
 Continue to modify and test the
Student Leadership
Development Plan to create a
program that clearly helps
student interns reflect on who
they are, where they want to go,
 I will learn how and why students of
minority groups create supportive
cultures and how that can be
integrated within other university
programs.
 Ethical Leadership in Higher Education
will prepare me with a foundation of
knowledge that I may practice in my
different experiences. I will compile
my learning into a statement of how
my professional goals align with my
personal code of ethics and
NASPA/ACPA ethical standards.
 Through coursework, I will have a
better understanding of the history
and values of Student Affairs and how
it aligns with my values.
 With my goals in diversity, I hope to
learn how to recruit and retain
students of minority populations to
participate and coordinator Center
programs. This includes working with
high school guidance counselors.
 Create a more structured
Student Leadership
Development Plan for Student
Coordinators to enhance their
professional development.
 Law, Policy, and  Become an Ethics Course
Governance
Facilitator for Student Rights
and Responsibilities.
 Ask for students’ opinions
before making program changes
(Service Leadership Seminar
Planning Committee).
 Leadership
 Take the Student Leadership
Practices Inventory (SLPI) with
a 360 aspect.
 Reflect on my SLPI results and
incorporate weaknesses into my
professional development plan.
 Facilitate the leadership growth
of my mentees and Student
Coordinators through the
Student Leadership
Development Plan
 Personal
Foundations
 Create a Professional
Development Plan to share with
my two supervisors.
and how their time at the Center
can aid their development
professionally.
 Through coursework and/or
workshops at professional
conferences, understand the
current legal issues and trends
of higher education.
 Continue to modify and test the
Student Leadership
Development Plan.
 Create a culture that
consistently asks for feedback
from colleagues and students.
 Work to develop stretch goals
for the Center’s Development
Cluster that will focus on
student learning, budgeting,
total student enrollment, and
any mandated objectives.
 Ensure my internships and
papers are aligned with my
areas of interest.
 With my advising goals, I will develop
my skills in enabling others to act.
 I will gain a professional
understanding of legal issues within
higher education and how current
policies effect my work and my
students. This understanding will
provide skills in legal/policy
compliancy, negotiating university
bureaucracy, and promoting ethics
among my colleagues in higher
education.
 As a main focus of my assistantship,
personal leadership development is
the core of my graduate studies.
Through the activities listed I hope to
learn more about empowering others
to create change.
 Reflection and planning will help me to
stay happy and healthy while
negotiating a busy schedule.
 Student
Learning and
Development
 Teaching
 Maintain a journal of my
 Continue to update and share
 My Professional Development Plan will
personal and professional
my Professional Development
allow me to see the big picture of my
learning.
Plan. Also, update my Personal
work interests (social justice),
 Work with Student Coordinators
Development Plan.
allowing me to better structure my
and Student Staff on their
work and stay passionate.
work/life balance.
 Design Service Scholar and
 Work with colleagues to
 As one of the main focuses of my
Social Justice LLC programming
incorporate more intentional
assistantship at the Center for
that promotes student learning
learning and development
Leadership and Civic Education, I will
and assess learning with
programming into their
learn how to apply theory to creating
previously identified objectives.
programs. Programs include
meaningful programs that teach values
Eco-Reps and NGO Agency
and skills, while letting students
Ambassadors.
express themselves.
 Create LeaderShape Day 7
programs that align with the
mission of LeaderShape and
provide new ideas to students.
 Uphold a welcoming and relaxed
community at the Center for
Leadership and Civic Education.
 Facilitate a lesson or activity at
 Develop a strategy for
 Through practice I will gain confidence
this fall’s Lead-In and with Ecorespectfully dealing with
in my facilitation skills.
Reps.
disengaged students.
 Also, I will compile my teaching and
 Research and apply for
 Serve as a teaching assistant or
facilitation experiences in a portfolio
opportunities to accomplish my
substitute instructor for a
that extends outside of leadership
longer term goals.
course
programming
 Learn how to teach
controversial topics such as
social justice, activism, race
issues, LGBT issues, etc.
 Conflict
Resolution
 Community
Building
 Become an Ethics Course
Facilitator for Student Rights
and Responsibilities.
 Continue to develop a
professional attitude at work
(ex. do not create office or
cohort gossip).
 Complete Ethical Leadership in
Higher Education. Apply
learning from case analyses to
practice.
 Attend programs to support my
students outside of my work,
such as the Mr. and Miss. Black
Student Union Pageant.
 Create avenues for students to
express their opinions and help
us to make their programs
better.
 Have individual meetings with
each Social Justice LLC student
to find out about the happiness,
transition, and interests.
 Complete an internship and/or
coursework in counseling to
develop better helping skills.
 Gain experiences in crosscultural conflict counseling. This
could include learning how to
facilitate conversation on social
justice and other controversial
subjects.
 A main point on my Professional
Development Plan, I hope to gain much
experience in conflict resolution and
counseling. Through experience I will
become confident in my conflict
resolution tools and skills such as
active listening, identifying underlying
interest, discussing possible outcomes
and choosing the right option.
 Have individual meetings with
all Service Scholars to find out
about the happiness, opinions,
and interests.
 Do not create programs without
student input. For example, use
student input to avoid another
Koinonia Farm trip which the
students did not enjoy or
understand.
 Creating community among my
students is my main focus within my
assistantship. I hope to continually
foster respect, trust, and enthusiasm.