Running Head: IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Implications for Professional Practice

Elisabeth Goss
Seattle University

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Implications for Professional Practice

Integrative Theme: Whole Picture The Student Affairs Profession
As I discussed in my strengths and areas of growth narratives, I entered the SDA program
with a somewhat lopsided skillset. While I was extremely passionate about serving students, I
lacked knowledge and awareness of the administrative side of student affairs. This program has
shown me that, in order to be an effective practitioner, I will need to successfully engage with
both in my future career. I believe that doing this will involve continuing to engage in reflective
practice, further evolving my conceptualization of professional leadership, and developing an
administrative perspective.
Reflective Practice (LO 10; Artifact E, H)
When I first began the SDA program, I realized that I had rarely been asked to engage in
reflection in the past. Though I have struggled with reflective writing, I do think that it has made
me a better student affairs practitioner. Because of this, I believe that continuing to have a
reflective practice is extremely vital and ties in strongly with LO #10: establishing and
enhancing professional identity. As I discussed in Artifact H, reflection has allowed me to see
the benefits of experiences that I may have thought were less than useful at the time that they
occurred. Engaging in reflective practice also allowed me to make the most of my internships
(SDAD 5640-60) at Seattle Us Disabilities Services office and Seattle Central Colleges TRiO
office. Because I was asked to critically reflect on what I was learning in these situations, I feel
that I can much better articulate my internship experiences than I can regarding other positions
that I have held in the past. This is because, without reflection, it can be easy for me to get
sucked into my work without stopping to think of how I am developing or what student
development theories I am currently using. However, when asked to engage in tasks like creating

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Artifacts E1 and E2, I am able to refocus myself on what I do well and what I need to work on.
This will continue to be extremely important in my future career, as there will never be a time
when I will be fully competent in any one area.
Conceptualizing Professional Leadership (LO 10; Artifacts C2, B, D, E, G, H)
As I have mentioned in my previous narratives and throughout my portfolio (such as in
Artifact H), the concept of leadership has always been a struggle for me. Because of this,
becoming comfortable with being a leader in a professional setting as well as continuing to
develop my leadership style will also feed in strongly to LO #10: establishing and enhancing
professional identity. As I mentioned in Artifacts B, C2, and E2 as well as in my previous
narratives, I currently think of myself as engaging in a less traditional form of leadership, one
that has citizen leadership at the core. That is, I see myself as a leader who steps up when needed
to make a political, economic, and social system accountable (Couto, 1995). I think this
leadership style showed up throughout my internship experiences (SDAD 5640-60), and that my
professional conceptualization of leadership developed immensely through my time in
Disabilities Services and TRiO. Studying the moral and ethical decision-making of different
university administrators in classes such as Leadership 1 (EDAD 5700) and Leadership and
Governance (SDAD 5760), also provided me with the opportunity to put myself in a leaders
shoes (as can be seen in Artifact G). Additionally, opportunities like serving on the SUSDA
Professional Development Committee, being a MAGIS Co-Editor in Chief, and having various
roles within ACPA have allowed me to demonstrate my leadership potential to myself and to my
colleagues (as outlined by Kiana Parker in Artifact D). I plan to continue defining leadership for
myself in my future career in order to further shape my professional identity.
Administrative Perspective (LO 9; Artifacts E, G)

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A final implication for my professional practice is the need to focus on learning more
about the administrative side of student affairs as it relates to decision making, creating
institutional change, and reconciling personal values with institutional and governmental
policies. This relates strongly to LO #9: understanding issues surrounding law, policy, finance,
and governance, which have been major areas of growth for me in the SDA program (as outlined
in Artifact E1 and E2). I like to think of myself as a student-centered practitioner, but that can
sometimes come at the expense of not understanding the organization that I am working within. I
know that, in order to be a successful professional, I must also engage with issues that will
inherently touch on economically-driven decisions and organizational reputation/image.
Additionally, I may also have to address laws or policies that directly harm the students that I am
committed to serving. I believe that developing a stronger administrative framework will be
imperative to addressing these barriers appropriately. Leadership 1 (EDAD 5700) and Leadership
and Governance (SDAD 5760) both provided me with a strong framework on how other
professionals have engaged with these types of issues (as discussed in Artifact G), but I look
forward to learning from my own experience as I begin my professional career as well.
Conclusion
Overall, gaining a larger, more complete picture of the student affairs profession will be
extremely important for my development as a practitioner. Learning to see the field as a whole
(rather than two separate components of serving students versus being a successful
administrator) will take both engaging in reflective practice and the further development of my
professional leadership style. The SDA program has provided me with an excellent starting point
in these areas and I find myself greatly looking forward to utilizing and building upon this
knowledge in my future career.

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5
References

Couto, R.A. (1995). Defining a citizen leader. In J. T. Wren (Ed.), The leaders companion:
Insights on leadership through the ages (11-17). New York, NY: The Free Press.