My Professional ePortfolio
ACPA/NASPA Competencies
Introduction to Competencies
There are a diverse range of positions, practices, and goals within the Higher Education and Student Affairs field. For this reason, one professional’s daily tasks may look very different from that of another professional. However, the ACPA/NASPA Competencies help to define the skills and knowledge which are critical for all professional staff members to possess in order to be successful within the field, regardless of functional area. The descriptions of these competencies are both helpful and necessary to use as a guideline for professional development, as foundational, intermediate, and advanced outcomes have been identified by the ACAP/NASPA Joint Task Force on Professional Competencies and Standards.
In order to demonstrate the steps that I have taken to develop my proficiency in this field, I have chosen to highlight my experiences related to a selection of four the ACPA/NASPA Competencies. For each of these competencies, including Personal and Ethical Foundations, Leadership, Student Learning and Development, and Student Learning and Development, I have presented a list of the foundational outcomes established by ACPA/NASPA. I have then provided examples of my experiences, actions, and achievements to show the ways in which I have fulfilled these outcomes.
Competency 1: Personal and Ethical Foundations
Description
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“The Personal and Ethical Foundations competency area involves the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to develop and maintain integrity in one’s life and work; this includes thoughtful development, critique, and adherence to a holistic and comprehensive standard of ethics and commitment to one’s own wellness and growth.”
Why do I believe this competency is important?
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Often, professionals in the Higher Education and Student Affairs field are working with students who are vulnerable. They are facing new challenges, encountering new groups of people who hold different identities and come from different backgrounds, and experiencing an unparalleled opportunity for personal development, growth, and change. Students may be at their very best, or at their very worst. As a professional, I feel that I am responsible for maintaining an understanding of myself and my beliefs, in order to ensure that the work that I am doing aligns with who I am and who I want to be. By doing this, I can then act appropriately as a role model and source of stability for students that I am working with.
How do I express this competency?
Competency 2: Leadership
Description
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“The Leadership competency area addresses the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required of a leader, with or without positional authority. Leadership involves both the individual role of a leader and the leadership process of individuals working together to envision, plan, and affect change in organizations and respond to broad-based constituencies and issues. This can include working with students, student affairs colleagues, faculty, and community members.”
Why do I believe this competency is important?
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To be a good leader does not simply mean that one holds a position at the top of a hierarchy, or a position of authority. It means that a person is willing to step forward to take on a challenge, that a person listens to those around them and collaborates in order to make a decision which is beneficial for a larger community or group, or even that a person is willing to step back to allow another to lead. Embodying all of these components of leadership are critical in this field, as no one person has the correct answer to any one problem or concern. I feel that to be successful as a leader in the Higher Education and Student Affairs field, one must learn to recognize these numerous ways in which leadership manifests.
How do I express this competency?
Competency 3: Student Learning & Development
Description
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“The Student Learning and Development competency area addresses the concepts and principles of student development and learning theory. This includes the ability to apply theory to improve and inform student affairs and teaching practice.”
Why do I believe this competency is important?
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The purpose of the college and university experience is, in my opinion (and in many others’ opinions), to become educated. However, it is critical to recognize that this education occurs in many different ways, and is by no means limited solely to academic learning. Rather, students develop socially, emotionally, physically, ethically, and intellectually. Keeping up to date on both old and new studies and theories related to student learning and development is an important part of a professional’s role in this field. Without maintaining an understanding of this context, a professional’s practices may quickly become stagnant or outdated, and therefore are rendered ineffective.
How do I express this competency?
Competency 4: Organizational & Human Resources
Description
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“The Organizational and Human Resources competency area includes knowledge, skills, and dispositions used in the management of institutional human capital, financial, and physical resources. This competency area recognizes that student affairs professionals bring personal strengths and grow as managers through challenging themselves to build new skills in the selection, supervision, motivation, and formal evaluation of staff; resolution of conflict; management of the politics of organizational discourse; and the effective application of strategies and techniques associated with financial resources, facilities management, fundraising, technology, crisis management, risk management and sustainable resources.”
Why do I believe this competency is important?
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To build up one’s professional skills, it is necessary to have knowledge of one’s overarching organizational structure or institution. This means that a professional must not solely be educated in how to manage people, finances, and other resources, but they must also know how to apply these skills, as well as other types of skills, at their specific institution. For instance, it is necessary to have a baseline knowledge of what it means to respond to a crisis, but without knowing an institution’s policies and procedures, this response is not likely to be successful. Integrating one’s own knowledge and organizational practices is a challenging but valuable tool for Higher Education and Student Affairs professionals.
How do I express this competency?