NAFSA Regional Conference

2012 NAFSA Region XII Conference in the San Jose

Learning Domains:

Leadership	Social Advocacy and Justice	Education	Assessment and Evaluation	Personal Development
		X		X

Description:

In October 2012, I attended a regional conference for the Association of International Educators (also known as the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors [NAFSA]) in San Jose, California. NAFSA specializes in study abroad programs, international enrollment management, international students and scholars, internationalization efforts, public policy, and other services that pertain to international student education (NAFSA: Association of International Educators, 2012). While currently working as an International Admissions and Records Specialist at Saddleback College, I attended NAFSA as an opportunity to expand my insight of international student affairs. This entry describes my practical knowledge gained from the conference and my experience networking with other professionals in the field.


Learning Outcomes:

SWiBAT: identify (knowledge) 3-4 practical strategies from NAFSA that can be applicable in enhancing international student education

SWiBAT: create (synthesis) an action plan on how to employ at least 2 strategies to support international students at Saddleback College

SWiBAT: Exchange 15 business cards with other international education professionals and engage in relevant conversation with at least 3 professionals to obtain information on international student services


Assessment Rubric:

	Advanced	Competent	Basic	Needs Improvement
SLO # 1	I identified 5 or more practical strategies from NAFSA that can be applicable in enhancing international student education	I identified 3-4 practical strategies from NAFSA that can be applicable in enhancing international student education	I identified 2 practical strategies from NAFSA that can be applicable in enhancing international student education	I identified 1 or fewer practical strategies from NAFSA that can be applicable in enhancing international student education
SLO # 2	I created an action plan on how to employ  3 or more strategies to support international students at Saddleback College and presented it my program supervisors	I created an action plan on how to employ  2 strategies to support international students at Saddleback College and presented it to my program supervisors	I created an action plan on how to employ 1 strategy to support international students at Saddleback College	I was unable to create an action plan on how to employ any strategies to support international students at Saddleback College
SLO #3	I Exchanged 15 or more business cards with other international education professionals and engage in relevant conversation with at least 3 professionals to obtain information on international student services	Exchanged 10-14 business cards with other international education professionals and engage in relevant conversation with at least 2 professionals to obtain information on international student services	Exchanged 2-3 business cards with other international education professionals and engage in relevant conversation with at least 1 professionals to obtain information on international student services	Exchanged 1 business card with another international education professional, but did not engage in relevant conversation with at least 1 professionals to obtain information on international student services

Evidence:

Reflection:

Attending the NAFSA regional conference was a great experience to learn more about the field of international student affairs.  As I attended various conference sessions, I was able to bring back new practical ideas that I identified as valuable. I achieved the first learning outcome at the competent level of the rubric by identify 3 practical strategies from NAFSA that can be applicable in enhancing international student education.  1) I have learned that another local community college utilized their application fee account to create a scholarship fund for incoming international freshmen students.  This institution was able to help new international students with funding their education, while also marketing themselves as a donor on a reputable international scholarship website.  2) Another theme that stood out to me was investing more efforts to develop partnerships with study abroad programs. For instance, San Francisco State University created the International Education Exchange Council (IEXC) student organization in an effort to internationalize the university by giving all incoming exchange students the opportunity to work together with their student study abroad returnees. 3) The third point was creating more opportunities for international students studying at 2-year public institutions to connect with domestic students on campus.  Dr. Anayah (2012) from Folsom Lake College presented her research finding on international students at community colleges by reveling that international students tend to engage in limited interaction with non-international students because of their networks with other international students.

When it comes to the second learning outcome, I was able to achieve learning the competent level by creating an action plan on how to  employ 2 strategies from NAFSA at Saddleback College, which included building partnerships with the Saddleback study abroad programs and connecting international students to other students on campus. Additionally, I presented my action plan to my supervisors to discuss how I could incorporate it into my fieldwork goals for the spring 2013 term.

This conference was also a great opportunity for me to learn how to network with other professionals in my field.  I was able to achieve my learning outcome at the competent level in light of the rubric. I exchanged over 10 business cards with other international education professionals and engaged in relevant conversation with 2 professionals to obtain helpful information on international student services. I reached out to an International Program Director from a local California State University about patterning up for an upcoming international CSU transfer fair that we have planned in the spring.  I suggested the idea of inviting some of their current international students to represent the university on a student panel, which would give our students an opportunity to connect with them.  She seemed very receptive to my idea.  I also had a conversation with an international student adviser from a local community college about pre-registering new students in classes prior their arrival. 

Overall, the NAFSA conference was very informative.I obtained valuable information on how I could facilitate practical changes at Saddleback College by attending relevant conference sessions and gained more insight of international student services through my interaction with other professionals.  

References

NAFSA: Association of International Educators (2012). Learn about NAFSA. Retrieved from http://www.nafsa.org/Learn_About_NAFSA/Programs_and_Services/

Anayah, B. (2012, October). International students at community colleges: How are their needs being met.     Paper presented at NAFSA regional conference, San Jose California.

Maywood Education Fair

 4^th Annual Maywood Education Fair

Learning Domains:

Leadership	Social Advocacy and Justice	Education	Assessment and Evaluation	Personal Development
X	X	X	X	X

Description:

The annual Maywood Education Fair is a community outreach project that was founded in 2009 by one graduate student pursuing the Masters of Science in Higher Education degree at California State University Fullerton (CSUF).  The following year in 2010, the project became adopted by the CSUF College of Education and was incorporated into the MSHE program’s coursework.  Through this project, each cohort of graduate students have the opportunity to inspire, inform, and transform a local community located in the city of Maywood by continuing to establish strong partnerships with the city. The mission of the Maywood Education Fair is to promote a college going culture in the Maywood community.   Maywood is a predominantly Latino community, which has been historically underserved at all levels of education.  “According to public school reviews, only 48% of students from Maywood and surrounding southeast cities graduate from high school, and of those, only a small percentage continue on to higher education” (excerpt from the College & Resource Exhibit Committee Report, MSHE Cohort 3). The Maywood Education Fair takes place every fall in order to connect the Maywood’s residents with various resources of higher education and to provide them with practical information on how to make postsecondary degree attainment a viable option. The graduate students planning the fair have the opportunity to design, implement, and evaluate interventions that include PreK-12 age levels, adult learners, parents, and undocumented resources.  All interventions designed by the graduate students are rooted in relevant cultural and student development theories that are covered as a part of the MSHE’s theoretical coursework. The Maywood Education Fair is a service-learning project that provides the MSHE graduate students with an excellent opportunity to apply theory to practice.

This e-portfolio entry describes my involvement in the 4^th annual Maywood Education Fair as a member of the Resource Committee.  The Resource Committee was responsible for creating three separate interventions that consisted of the following: College Representatives from different higher education institutions and other organizations, a Collegiate Scenery Photo Booth, and an Inspirational PowerPoint presentation. My primary role as a member of the Resource Committee was centered on developing, implementing, and evaluating the College Representatives Intervention.

Learning Outcomes:

SWiBAT:  Design (synthesis) 2-3 theory-informed learning outcomes for College Representatives intervention by drawing on at least 2 types of Yosso’s (2006) Cultural Wealth Capital and 2 other student development theories.

SWiBAT:  Develop, employ, and evaluate a recruiting plan to secure a minimum of 15 College Representatives to participate in the fair as well as construct a recommended time-line for recruiting in subsequent years.

SWiBAT: Assess (evaluate) the learning outcomes for the fair participants who engaged in the College Representatives intervention by collecting assessment data and evaluating the results with quantitative and qualitative measures

Assessment Rubric:

	Advanced	Competent	Basic	Needs Improvement
SLO # 1	I designed 4 or more theory-informed learning outcomes for College Representatives intervention by  drawing on at least 2 types of Yosso’s (2006) Cultural Wealth Capital and 2 other student development theories	I designed 2-3 theory-informed learning outcomes for College Representatives intervention by  drawing on at least 1 types of Yosso’s (2006) Cultural Wealth Capital and 1 other student development theories	I designed 1 theory-informed learning outcome for College Representatives intervention by  drawing on at least 1 type of Yosso’s (2006) Cultural Wealth Capital, but did not include at least 1 student development theory	I was unable to design any theory-informed learning outcomes for College Representatives intervention by  drawing on at least 1 type of Yosso’s (2006) Cultural Wealth Capital and 1 other student development theory
SLO # 2	I developed, employed, and evaluated a recruiting plan to secure 18-20 College Representatives to participate in the fair as well as constructed a recommended time-line for subsequent years	I developed, employed, and evaluated a recruiting plan to secure a minimum of 12-17  College Representatives to participate in the fair as well as constructed a recommended time-line subsequent years	I developed, employed, and evaluated a recruiting plan to secure a minimum of 6-11  College Representatives to participate in the fair, but did not construct a recommended timeline for subsequent years	I developed, employed, and evaluated a recruiting plan to secure a minimum of 1-5  Representatives to participate in the fair, but did not construct a recommended timeline for subsequent years
SLO # 3	I assessed the learning outcomes for participants who engaged in the College Representatives intervention by collecting assessment data and evaluating the results with quantitative and qualitative measures as well made recommendations for subsequent cohorts	I assessed the learning outcomes for participants who engaged in the College Representatives intervention by collecting assessment data and evaluating the results with quantitative and qualitative measures	I assessed the learning outcomes for participants who engaged in the College Representatives intervention by collecting assessment data and evaluating the results with either  quantitative or qualitative measures	I was unable to assess the learning outcomes for participants who engaged in the College Representatives intervention by collecting assessment data or evaluate the results with quantitative and qualitative measures

Evidence:

CSUF News: Master's Students Promote Higher Education

http://news.fullerton.edu/2012fa/Maywood-Educational-Fair.asp

Fair Flyer:

http://news.fullerton.edu/Attachments/10279maywood_8x11.pdf

Pictures:

Resource Committee Report: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0By5wELYJmuCSQVJKRzJqZEdVdGc

Reflection:

The Maywood Education Fair was a truly transformational learning experience that enhanced my knowledge and skills on each learning domain of the MSHE program: Leadership, Social Advocacy and Justice, Education, Assessment and Evaluation, and Personal Development. I was able to develop stronger leadership skills by engaging my committee in effective group work. I increased my sensitivity to Social Advocacy and Justice issues by working on a collective effort to extend more educational opportunities to an underprivileged local community. I strengthened my educational knowledge by incorporating theoretical foundations into real-life applications.  I expanded my skills in educational research by having a chance to evaluate and assess our Maywood interventions.  Lastly, I experienced personal development by learning how to work as a part of team as well as forming new professional relationships through my outreach efforts with various representatives of higher education.

   For the first learning outcome, I accomplished my learning at the competent level of the rubric. I designed 3 theory-informed learning outcomes for the College Representatives intervention that drew on Yosso’s (2005) navigational capital of the Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) theory and Chickering and Reisser’s (1993) vectors of competence and developing purpose. For the second learning outcome, I achieved learning at the advanced level of the rubric by developing employing, and evaluating a recruitment plan to secure a minimum of 18 College Representatives to participate in the fair as well as constructed a recommended time-line for subsequent years.  I accomplished the final learning outcome at the advanced level of the rubric by writing an assessment report of the learning outcomes for the fair participants, which included quantitative and qualitative measures and provided appropriate recommendations for subsequent cohorts.

References

M.S.H.E. Cohort 3. (2011). College & Resource Exhibit Committee .Unpublished manuscript, College of    Education, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California.

Yosso, T.J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race, Ethnicity and Education, Vol. 1, pp. 69-91.

Evans, N., Forney, D., Guido, F., Patton, L., & Renn, K. (2010). Student development in college: Theory, research and practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass