Running

head: AREAS OF GROWTH

Learning Outcome Narrative: Areas of Growth

Alexa Forster

Seattle University

April 10, 2015

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Integrative Theme
In reflecting back on my SDA graduate experience, I grew drastically in many ways. When
thinking about this assignment on the area(s) in which I grew the most during my time as a student
at SU, I determined that my integrative theme was navigating political landscapes and
multicultural responsiveness. There were several learning outcomes that contributed to my
learning in these two areas and they are listed below.
Prior to enrolling in this program, although I had experience working in a department with
a large hierarchical structure, I had little understanding of what politics in an organization meant,
even smaller of an understanding on how to navigate that. As far as multicultural responsiveness,
being enrolled in the SDA program really reframed my understanding of social justice and being
able to look at all of the work I do from that framework.
Learning Outcomes
The following learning outcomes most closely contributed to my growth in navigating
political landscapes and increasing my multicultural responsiveness:

1. Understanding the foundations and emerging nature of the Student Affairs profession
and higher education
4. Understanding and fostering diversity, justice, and a sustainable world formed by a
global perspective and Jesuit Catholic tradition
9. Understanding issues surrounding law, policy, finance, and governance, and
10. Establishing and enhancing professional identity
Learning Outcome 1: Artifacts E & H
Understanding the foundations and emerging nature of the student affairs profession and

higher education was essential to learning how to navigate politics. The three dimensions that
encompassed this learning outcome for me were (1) understanding the history of higher
education, (2) understanding of the historical context of student affairs, and (3) understanding

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why student affairs is an essential field now and in the future. Artifact H, the NASPA competency,
showed my growth in this particular area of education over the course of my two years in the
program. I knew very little about the history of higher education or student affairs when I began
this program, but SDAD 577: Foundations SDAD 576: Leadership and Governance were the two
courses in particular that helped broaden my knowledge of this learning outcome. The Leadership
I and II courses also contributed to my learning in this area. Artifact E, my presentation on gender
identity and trans* students that I presented at the University of Washington, spoke to my
articulation of this outcome. The presentation was focused narrowly on the history of trans*
student access in higher education as well as the integral role that student affairs professionals can
have in advocating and creating access for marginalized student populations. Understanding the
emerging nature of the student affairs profession helps give context to understanding politics that
are in play on college campuses. My professional work at the UW has given me the time and space
to really understand politics and see them play out live. While the SDA courses and artifacts
helped me make sense of institutional politics, being on the ground in a large department with a
hierarchical ladder was probably the most valuable experience in terms of being able to navigate
political landscapes.
Learning Outcome 4: Artifacts B, C1, & E
Understanding and fostering diversity justice and a sustainable world formed by a global
perspective and Jesuit Catholic tradition plays exceptionally well into my area of growth being
multicultural responsiveness. The three dimensions that help me make sense of this learning
outcome are (1) awareness of my personal identities and privilege, (2) a focus on holistic
education, and (3) fostering multicultural responsiveness for myself and others. Being a student at
SU has opened my mind to reframing the way I think about education and really being astute to

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the different people and populations that are present on our campuses. Because social justice in
particular is so important to the SU campus, I felt as though this learning outcome was fulfilled in
many of the courses that I took while here including, most notably, in EDUC 515: Multicultural
Perspectives, EDUC 5200: Social Justice, and SDAD 578: Theory, Research and Practice. My
multicultural responsiveness and developing responsible student citizens was further enhanced
through my work as a course instructor at UW for my internship as well as the opportunity to
present various presentations during my time in the SDA program. Artifact B, my mission
statements, was an example of my commitment to educating the whole person and fostering
diversity as a professional. This plays in to my continued pursuit of multicultural responsiveness in
my future career. In addition to multicultural competence, I want to instill the importance of
thinking critically about knowledge gained both inside and outside of the classroom as well as
being able to make meaning of what they are learning. Artifact C1 displayed my understanding of
multicultural responsiveness and diversity through a theory integration paper. I was able to
synthesize two theories that focused on racial identity and then articulate its impact on the
awareness of my own identity. This spoke to the thought that in order to help individuals grow,
educators need to participate in their own self-exploration to better understand themselves and
then work collectively toward helping others do the same (Evans et al., 2010, p. 270).
Additionally, this artifact displayed my ability to take research and make meaning of this
information by translating it to my professional work outside of the classroom. Lastly, artifact E,
my presentation on gender identity and trans* students on college campuses, allowed me to
foster multicultural awareness for others in talking about a marginalized student population that
too few people are aware about. This presentation allows students to learn about how they can
impact themselves and their community by learning more about a sub-population that many are

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rather unfamiliar with. This increased my personal understanding of multicultural responsiveness

because of the amount of research that I conducted to learn about this student population and
resources available to them on campuses.
Learning Outcome 9: Artifacts E, H, & J
Understanding issues surrounding law, policy, finance, and governance is a learning
outcome that greatly contributed to me learning about navigating political landscapes and
understanding policy and law on university campuses. The three dimensions of this learning
outcome that I picked out were (1) understanding how institutional type affects policy, (2)
awareness of hierarchical structures in higher education and how to navigate them, and (3)
understanding of higher education law. This was a topic area I knew very little about before
entering the SDA program. There were two classes in particular that contributed to an expansive
amount of the knowledge I gained and those were SDAD 580: Higher Education Law and SDAD
576: Leadership & Governance. SDAD 576 really helped me understand political structures and
how they can look different across different institutional types and SDAD 580 highlighted the
importance of knowing the law and how to conduct oneself as a professional in order to avoid
getting in trouble with the law. Understanding policy and governance also happened a great deal
in my professional practice at UW by way of understanding the organizational chart of my
department and the university and being well versed in housing policies. Artifact E, a presentation
on gender identity, allowed me to grow in understanding policy on campuses around trans* and
gender non-conforming students. I also learned through developing that presentation the barriers
that exist for these students by way of politics at various institution types. Artifact H, my NASPA
competency, shows my tremendous growth in the area of navigating politics, law, and governance
during my time in the SDA program. There is significant growth from the first time the analysis was

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completed in Fall 2013 and when it was taken recently in Winter 2015. Lastly, artifact J, the career
development guide I created for SU Athletics, is an example of understanding policy and having to
navigate politics. Within Division I Athletics, there is significant NCAA that is crucial to know when
providing any resource to student-athletes. This project required me to know who to meet with
and navigate various departments in order to (1) gather all of the correct information and (2) to
have the guides printed for all of the student-athletes on the SU campus.
Learning Outcome 10: Artifacts A, B, F, I, & K
Establishing and enhancing my professional identity greatly contributed to my better
understanding of both navigating political landscapes and multicultural competence. The three
dimensions of this learning outcome that spoke to me were (1) understanding how to articulate
professional identity, (2) making meaning of that professional identity, and (3) understanding the
fluidity of professional identity. Both areas of my growth contributed to defining and enhancing
this identity. I am a firm believer that every course I took at SU, every internship and professional
experience I had, and frankly every single artifact and product of this program in some way shaped
my professional identity. If I were to single out a couple of courses that did this, I would say that
SDAD 578: Theory, Research, and Practice, EDAD 570: Leadership I and SDAD 5900: Capstone did
this the most. There were many artifacts that display how I enhanced my professional identity and
grew during my program. First, Artifact A, my resume, is place in which I articulated my identity
through my experiences. In regards to navigating politics and multicultural responsiveness, there
are several presentations and experiences in my professional work that have contributed to these
areas of growth. Artifact B, my mission statements, was another area in which I named my growth
and focus on developing students holistically and with an awareness of diversity in the world.
Artifact F, my letters of promise, shows the perception of my growth from both a professional

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colleague and a fellow peer in the SDA program. Artifact I, my 5-year professional development
plan, doesnt speak necessarily to my growth while in the program, but emphasizes my desire to
continue growing particularly in the realm of multicultural competence and being a socially just
leader. Lastly, artifact K, my portfolio assessment, articulated my growth during this process,
including having the space and time to make meaning of my learning while here at Seattle U. As I
stated above, every opportunity I have had and will have can, in some way, contribute to the
enhancement of my professional identity and development in navigating politics and becoming a
socially just leader.
Implications for Future Practice

While I grew immensely during my time as a student in the SDA program in the areas of

navigating political landscapes and multicultural responsiveness, these are area that I will need to
continue to grow in throughout my whole career in order to be a competent professional.
Especially if/when I were to go to a different institution, the political landscape would need to be
completely re-learned as it varies so much from campus to campus. Multicultural responsiveness
will always be an area of significant growth, but an area for growth for me. Because of the
systemic privilege I carry, I need to be diligent about further unpacking what that means for me,
but also doing all I can to not only foster diversity on college campuses, but do my part to
dismantle systemic oppression. That is a tall order to fill, but one that I am absolutely committed
to.

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References
Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010). Racial Identity
Development. Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice
(2ed., pp. 252-271). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.