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Dissertation in Practice
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A Dissertation in Practice done as a requirement of degree completion. This study offers higher education and student affairs professionals specialized training focused on workplace culture, staff support, and organizational change, with personalized coaching to develop impact projects tailored to your department's needs.
This study developed from two cycles of research focused on interviews with industry professionals.
To the left, I have included the advertisement for this study and below I have included slides from a recent presentation on the first two rounds of study that predated this current work. Finally, the bottom of the page includes real quotes from real practitioners in higher education and student affairs about their work within the field and their experiences with their supervisors.
Quotes that Inspired this work
"I had a supervisor grabbed my face and yell at me."
"It wasn't the lack of pay. It was a mental health thing"
“You didn’t experience anything, stop being dramatic”
"…remember who is really important here"
“Death should not become an administrative function"
"My supervisor showed up at my apartment"
"I had to go in to COVID postive rooms without PPE"
“Because I grew up in a bad home.”
"Before I joined, I had 3-4 panic attacks a year, now I have 3-4 a month."
“I currently work in a hospice organization as their volunteer coordinator… it's actually less stressful than when I was in higher ed.”
“When I left I was very burnt out, very stressed. Definitely hit that point where I didn't really realize until I got out how much I had not processed that I had experienced and how many things that to me were just like normal everyday things that really shouldn't be normal everyday things. So that was definitely a lot to unpack. When I left the role, I didn't have another job lined up yet.”
“....like I saw six kids dying a year. Right. And so most people when I was when I was a when I was, you know, an entry level Hall Director, we had one kid die, like maybe one could die in a car accident. You know, I saw four kids die by suicide and to die, you know, in an accident in one year. And so, the first time, it was very jarring, second time, that is much third time. It's like, Alright, here's the play, here's how we're doing this.“
"I remember, 9/11 happened and I put my team in to action. It was go-go-go. We were at a school in New York and I knew that the students needed help. It was only much later when I realized that my staff were also from NYC. I had forgotten about them."
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