Running head: FIELD EXPERIENCE REFLECTION

Field experience reflection

Jesus Romero
Western Michigan University

FIELD EXPERIENCE REFLECTION

Field experience reflection

When I started thinking about where I wanted to do my field experience, I knew that I
wanted something other than a four-year public research university. In considering my options
with regards to the different institutional types that are in close proximity to Kalamazoo, I came
to the conclusion that I wanted to do my field experience at a community college. I was advised
to look at Kellogg Community College (KCC) as a potential field experience site and explored
their website to learn more about what they offer. After deciding on a few areas of interest I met
with the Dean to discuss doing my field experience at KCC. I talked about the areas that I was
interested in gaining more experience with and was presented with the option of focusing on just
one or a combination of a few. Since I had difficulty deciding on just one, I chose the second
option so that I could focus on the areas of Student Life, Admissions, and Upward Bound. It was
a great opportunity to be able to work in multiple areas of the institution, which allowed me to
benefit with a better understanding of what student affairs looks like at a community college.
The first part of my field experience was working with Student Life to execute the spring
semester programming. There was a program on the second day of my field experience and I
thought I would be there simply to observe but I was given more responsibility than I expected.
Because the president of the student organization that was supposed to be putting on the program
was in the hospital, it was up to the staff to run the program. Although the program ran
successfully, it was not put on by students but rather staff. The president of the student
organization was unable to fulfill her duties due to a medical condition and was only able to
focus on school for the rest of the semester. Thus, the Manager of Student Life and I decided to
rely heavily on the student employees to help with the rest of the programming. As I worked
with the student employees, I got to know them on a more personal level. We would have

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conversations about their past, present, and future. While one of the students was partnered and
had already been in a previous career field, the other was attending college for the first time. In
my conversations with both, I would use student development theory by encouraging them to get
involved more and offering the necessary guidance to help them through it. I would help them
reflect on their skills and abilities in regards to programming.
Equally as important was making sure that the students felt ownership of the programs.
This was done by asking students what they wanted to see at the programs and ensuring that they
consider what would engage their peers. KCC does not offer on campus housing which makes it
a commuter campus and this can present challenges when it comes to programming. One of the
engagement strategies offered to attract commuter students is to offer programming that occurs
during the lunch hour (Silverman, Aliabadi, & Stiles, 2009). This attracts the large crowd of
students that does not stay on campus in the afternoon or evening because of other
responsibilities. Some of the programs included Earth Day, stress busters, and a coffeehouse
concert series. These programs were easy for students to join in as they were passing by, which
is why they occurred in high traffic areas. The purpose was to engage students whether it was in
an activity or simply by handing out resources. It was great to see how programming differed at a
community college, especially the wide variety of students and staff that participated.
During my time with Admissions, I learned a lot about the work environment at KCC. In
Admissions, I did research on orientation programs at the community colleges in the state and
also helped lead orientation sessions. I noticed how different it was to work in Admissions than
in Student Life after working there only a few times. In Student Life there were only two staff
members and in Admissions there were a total of six. This meant that there were more people for
me to approach when I had questions regarding the work that I was doing. While working on

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orientation, I interacted with a number of different offices from the Registrar and Financial Aid
to Academic Advising and Testing. According to Hirt (2006): "Student affairs professionals at
community colleges are significantly more likely to work with faculty, to be known by faculty,
and to work with and be known by other administrators than their colleagues at other types of
institutions (p. 154). It was evident to me how true this was when there was a retirement
celebration for one of the faculty members. Students, faculty, and staff all showed up to wish her
a happy retirement and thank her for her work over the years. The staff all knew who she was
and she also knew them, which was something I was not used to witnessing.
Another area I worked with during my field experience was Upward Bound. It is a
federally funded, college preparatory program for high school students. The program is aimed at
helping first generation and low-income students attend college. At Kellogg Community College
(KCC), the Upward Bound Program works with Battle Creek Central High School students year
round. During the school year, the staff works out of the high school and in the summer they
relocate to the college. In the summer, students attend Summer Academy where they are on
KCC's campus for six weeks. They are in class Monday through Thursday and Fridays are set
aside for excursions. Students take classes in English, Math, Science, Spanish, and they get to
choose one elective course in the fine arts. On Fridays, students go on excursions to volunteer in
the community, participate in science camps, or visit college and university campuses. I
shadowed the sophomore students by going to class with them and seeing how they interacted
with one another.
Most of the students in the program were African-American but there was a small group
of them that were Latino/a in the sophomore group. Something that I noticed about the Latino/a
students was that they always sat together in class and during meals. In speaking with the

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director of the program, I learned that the Latino students were all related, which explained a lot
about why they were seen together all the time. The director asked me to develop a project so
that I could work with the Latino/a students more closely and help the group dynamics. I choose
a reading that explored looking at communities of color through a view of cultural wealth rather
than a deficit perspective. After giving the students time to do the reading we met over lunch to
discuss what they had learned and what their thoughts were regarding the reading. We had a very
engaging conversation and I was pleased to realize that they not only understood what they had
read but were also able to connect to it. The second part of the project was for the students to
create a presentation about Latino/a culture that would be presented to everyone at the annual
awards ceremony. "Promoting opportunities for Latinos to develop their ethnic identities is an
important component to promoting Latino student success" (Nez, Hoover, Pickett, StuartCarruthers, & Vzquez, 2013, p. 36). As indicated in the literature, it is crucial that we appreciate
student's ethnic identities as a way to help them succeed. It also allows students to learn from
each other and help them be more accepting of those from different backgrounds.
One of the goals of my field experience was to explore the ACPA/NASPA Professional
Competencies in the areas of advising and helping as well as equity, diversity and inclusion. To
accomplish this, I was supposed to advise the Kampus Activities Board (KAB), which is
responsible for the programming that happens on campus. However, there was no student group
to advise since the president was out sick most of the semester. Usually the president recruits
students to volunteer and help organize the programs because there are no executive board
members or standing KAB members. I was able to gain skills in the equity, diversity, and
inclusion competency area because of the wide variety of students that attend KCC. Students are
diverse in terms of age, ability/disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status,

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religion, and race. It was a learning experience to work with students with different social
identities or backgrounds than I am used to. For example, one of the students I planned a
program with presented a gender identity different than what was assigned to them at birth.
Another student that I worked with was a grandmother who had returned to school to earn a
degree and change career paths. The conversations were different from those that I typically have
with students but I learned how much language matters in making someone feel comfortable.
One of the areas that I did not expect to gain competency in was assessment, evaluation and
research. During my time with Admissions, I did research on the various community colleges in
Michigan and how they run their orientation programs. This correlates with the basic
competency area of assessment, evaluation and research in being able to "effectively articulate,
interpret and use results of assessment, evaluation and research reports and studies, including
professional literature" (ACPA & NASPA, 2012, p. 10). Before leaving admissions, I reported
my findings to the staff and compiled a list of the data so that they could use it to inform changes
they planned to make to their Orientation program.
This experience gave me the opportunity to learn a lot about myself and clarified what
type of environment I want to work in as a student affairs professional. I can definitely see
myself working at a community college since I now understand the environment. Some of the
aspects that really appeal to me are the flexibility needed to fulfill multiple responsibilities as
well as working closely with faculty, staff, students, and the community. Also, I realized that I
would much rather work in a team setting and not in a one or two person office. While working
with high school students was enjoyable, I cannot see myself doing it as part of my daily
responsibilities. Programming at the community college is very different because of how diverse
the student population is and what will actually get them to value activities outside the

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classroom. I think I would really enjoy doing admissions work at a community college due to the
team environment but also because of being responsible for orientation. Community colleges do
important work in the field of higher education in terms of providing transfer education,
workforce development, and life-long learning courses for the community but it often goes
unrecognized. I truly value what community colleges offer, which is why I can see myself
working at one.

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8
References

American College Personnel Association (ACPA) & National Association of Student Personnel
Administrators (NASPA), (2012). ACPA/NASPA professional competency areas: For
student affairs practitioners. Washington, DC: American College Personnel Association.
Hirt, J. B. (2006). Where you work matters: Student affairs administration at different types of
institutions. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Nez, A.M., Hoover, R.E., Pickett, K., Stuart-Carruthers, A.C., & Vzquez, M., (Eds.) (2013).
Latinos in higher education and Hispanic-serving institutions: Creating conditions for
success [ASHE Higher Education Report]. Wiley Periodicals, 39(1).
Silverman, S. C., Aliabadi, S., & Stiles, M. R. (2009). Meeting the needs of commuter, part-time,
transfer, and returning students. In S. R. Harper & S. J. Quaye (Eds.), Student
Engagement in Higher Education: Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Approaches
for Diverse Populations (223242). New York, NY: Routledge.