Sara Selwanes

Looking for improvement opportunities and taking initiative to make things better are two crucial things I learned in the process of collaboration. I hope to use this by taking initiative when I see an issue arise that I see an opportunity for improvement. 

It's important to consider others' preference of communication over your own.  

This module provided insight on the range of people you will encounter at work and how to use that information to communicate with each person with a different lens. I intend to use this information as I work with both students and coworkers from different generations that share different values.  

Active listening is so important to help students feel heard and validated. A part of active listening that I found fascinating was body language of both the listener and the speaker. As a listener it's important to be aware of the speaker's body language as that can also relay a certain message. Also, I found that listening requires control an interesting concept. This helps steer the conversation into the intended direction to achieve the set-out goal. 

One of the greatest things learned is to listen more and talk less. Even more so, to talk with empathy and to push away any bias. I truly believe students can read into these cues and appreciate when we are active listening and treating them with respect. 

The concept of talk less and listen more is really helpful in student interactions. Sometimes students just want to vent, and after you listen you can then offer them a helping hand with a careful choice of words rather than just try to interject and explain something prematurely. 

Both open and close-ended questions are beneficial, each having a purpose to help clarify or further a discussion. 

It's important to catch up students who miss orientation or the first week! Additionally, early intervention in terms of attendance, grades or conduct is so important to better help the student and address any needs early on.

I enjoyed reading how important faculty involvement is during orientation. I also found it helpful that faculty should include personal information to allow students to see the instructors as a person and "approachable". My question would be, should all representatives of other departments include this personal touch in their presentations, such as financial aid, student services, etc.?

It is so helpful to learn about the reality that students face buyer's remorse. This is especially helpful in planning orientation. I plan to use this by trying to implement Student Services more in the orientation and welcoming process when students come in.