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February Calendar 2008

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Ted Hoef

Giving Thanks
In the past month, I spent some time sending thank you notes to friends and family for holiday gifts and to show appreciation for the time we were able to spend together during the holiday break. This got me to thinking about all the things for which I am thankful. On the professional side of my life, I am thankful for the fantastic staff of student affairs professionals with whom I have the pleasure of working every day. These folks are passionate about providing an excellent learning environment for Webster University students. I am also thankful for the opportunity to have an influence on students’ lives. And I am thankful for those who inspire me.

I have been inspired by colleagues, faculty, friends, and family. Current and former students often provide inspiration in a variety of ways. I am inspired by the growth and development of new students and the seemingly boundless energy that they have. I recently did a workshop at our emerging leader retreat where three-fourths of the participants were freshmen. This was the most impressive group of new emerging student leaders that we’ve ever had at this annual retreat. I am looking forward to all that they will accomplish in campus life over the course of the next 3-4 years.

Recently I had dinner with a group of alumni from the class of 1999 with whom I have remained close over the years. They were not trying to inspire, but they should did. It was great to hear about all the amazing things going on their lives. They were sincerely grateful for the way in which their experiences at Webster helped shape the people that they are today.

Career Development
I have just completed an extensive assessment of career services at Webster, a project that took eight months. During this process, I learned a great deal more about what employers and grad schools are demanding. We are in the process of planning how we will educate our students about these demands, so that our students can prepare themselves to be marketable to employers and grad schools. The job market is very competitive and we need to help our students prepare, which often goes beyond what they are doing in the classroom. I urge you to encourage your son or daughter to contact Career Services early in their college years. There are a couple of articles in this issue that can offer some more specific steps that first-year students should be taking now.

Struggling Students
I just read an interesting article on the Reasons Why Students Struggle During the Freshman Year and What Can Be Done About It. Carol Carter, the author of Keys to Success, a book used in many first year experience courses around the country, offers the following insights.

1. Students lack self-awareness and often make career decisions based on very little information. Students should plan to do one or two internships. Without this kind of experience, students can’t make good decisions about their future. Another benefit is that companies are expecting students to have had 1-2 internships and this can make a huge difference when competing with other graduates in today’s job market.
2. Technology has allowed students to isolate socially. We can’t let students hide behind technology and avoid human contact. They must take risks and talk with people who are different from them and to speak with faculty and staff, who might otherwise intimidate them, to take advantage of the resources the University offers. Young people will be hampered if they do not learn the basics of self advocacy. They need to learn who is here to help on campus and take the initiative to get the assistance they need.
3. First-year students lack healthy boundaries and make poor judgments. Parents need to be aware of this but not jump in to quickly to solve problems for their students. Some parents protect their sons and daughters from making adult choices. If parents are always there to coddle them, students will not learn the important life skills gained from dealing with setbacks.
4. Some students do not have positive role models in their life on campus. There are many students who are willing to serve as peer mentors, whether it be an RA, student organization leader, or just an older student in the same major who has been around campus a little while longer.
5. New students are often stressed. Some of this stress is the result of parental pressure. Some of it comes from the lack of emotional intelligence, such as knowing when to calm themselves down.
6. Some new students experience a lack of on-campus connections. There are over 60 student organizations at Webster and all kinds of activities and programs offered every week. Students can check out the list of student organizations at: http://www.webster.edu/studlife/stud_orgs/studorgs.html. Calendars of campus events can be found at: http://www.webster.edu/studlife/calendar/calendar.html and http://www.webster.edu/calendar/calendar.html.

We hope to have another newsletter out to you in March. Please send us your suggestions for future articles.

Go Gorloks!

Sincerely,

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