Running Head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTION PLAN

Artifact I: Professional Development and Action Plan Eden Tullis Seattle University

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTION PLAN

In 5 years, I plan to be Director of a Student Activities office or Program Director for a college access organization (TRIO or non-profit). This allows me to be the relational advocate I identify as, highlighting my values of service development, inclusiveness, and community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005). Prior experiences and my identity as a first-generation college student will allow for confidence in my qualifications, but I will be proactively challenged to practice skills I have not yet mastered. These skills include: supervising professional staff, writing job descriptions, and navigating political governance. Next steps will be to obtain an entry level job as Assistant Director or Program Coordinator. I want to stay for two to three years, and institution fit is my top priority. I am considering colleges/ organizations that live out advocacy, college access, and social justice. This means, they are challenging societal systems and caring for their students. I want to be at a small, mission-driven university or community college but am open to transitioning into nonprofit work. Areas of growth include: navigating law and governance; managing crises; and, multicultural competency skills for the LGBTQ community and veteran community since I do not identify as either and I have had little to no contact with those diverse students. If the institution has these populations, I will practice these skills daily as situations arise and ask for continual feedback from my supervisor on how I handle them. If the institution is lacking in diversity and those populations are rare, I will consider being a mentor to someone not affiliated with the institution. I plan to have interactions with graduate assistants and upper level administrators anyways to be engaged with micro-level and the macro-level issues. Both positions will drive me to utilize my strength of creativity; they are visionary roles that will set me up for a Director role.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTION PLAN

Grant writing and academic advising are two areas of exploration. These do not seem to be necessary for the entry positions but could be essential at the Director level. They will not be prominent experiences at entry; I must be strategic about how I advance. I need to be in contact with mentors and colleagues who directly work on grants because I see grant writing as an implication for professional practice. Membership in TRIO-MAEOPP will be another option I consider as I look to engage in conversations about the federal funding process. NASPA and LeaderShape are other professional development opportunities I plan to participate in. I already have connections in Region V & VI of NASPA. By year three, I hope to have a regional leadership role helping with the institutes. I want to also develop mentee relationships through this affiliation. By year five, I hope to present at a regional or national conference. LeaderShape is one more way to create genuine and professional connections while also maintaining undergraduate mentoring and facilitation skills that provided me with a solid community of peers and mentors when I was an undergraduate.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTION PLAN References Yosso, T.J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 8 (1), 69-91.