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.

The Organizational and Human Resources competency area is likely the one in which my current level of mastery needs the most development. Part of this discrepancy derives from the large number of sub-competencies within this area, as demonstrated by the ACPA-NASPA competency rubric. I typically excel in areas that relate to communication, technology, and sustainability. I believe that I am a very effective communicator; my years in a call center taught me to be able to speak with almost anyone and make them feel reassured. Living in Cambridge has required me to become knowledgeable about sustainability practices, as our city is an early adopter of initiatives like single-stream recycling, municipal composting, and protected bike lanes. Moreover, my technology skills are used extensively in my admissions work. One of my tasks in admissions is to help our college’s program directors to learn and implement a new form of technology that eliminates excess paper use. Our goal is to use technology to go completely paperless in admissions and student records. In addition, my understanding of technology can be very useful at institutions where forms are very important. Transitioning forms from paper onto digital platforms can save students and employees time and resources.  I would enjoy being part of such an initiative because increasing students’ accessibility to university resources is important to me. In these areas, I believe that I possess some aspects of Intermediate mastery.

While I am proficient in communication, technology, and sustainability, there are a number of other sub-competencies that are areas of weakness for me. For instance, I have never directly supervised employees or managed a department budget. My only accounting experience has been with personal or household budgeting. Since my Finance in Higher Education course was more of a “bird’s-eye view” of the topic, I plan to take a basic accounting course in the future. Although I have served as a sexton, a role which involves facilities care and maintenance, I oversaw care for a 120-year-old church with a 50-year-old boiler; gaining proficiency in caring for the facilities systems in a modern university will likely be a re-education.  Although I have direct experience “managing up” and facilitating change in an organization, I have never taken management courses or had to the opportunity to directly supervise other employees. I also feel ambivalent about the prospect of doing so. I currently have no intentions of advancing to a Director position or higher, so I am unsure as to whether I would need to develop those skills. While I feel comfortable delegating work to student employees, this is the limit of interest in or comfort with managing employees. I have not participated in a recruitment and hiring process (from the standpoint of an employer), and I have no experience with determining or adjusting staffing levels. I have been asked to participate in 360 feedback processes, but did not feel comfortable criticizing another person’s job performance, so I only provided the person being evaluated with positive feedback. In the sub-competencies of financial and human resource management and hiring and staffing, I have not yet reached Foundational competency. My personal comfort level with the rubric items in these areas is low.

            In a couple of sub-competencies, I have reached Foundational competency. Under Skill Development, I believe I am a good writer and presenter, and I always come prepared to meetings. As part of this portfolio, I created a professional development plan, which reflects my lifelong commitment to self-examination and improvement. As far as networking and advocacy competencies are concerned, I believe can both network and understand how to navigate organizational politics. Yet while I feel confident in the skills I have developed under these competencies, I do not believe I have reached the intermediate level. I may struggle with “choosing appropriate alliances” as I have a tendency to avoid choosing sides and try to get along with everyone. I have the ability to motivate others, which is part of the reason I am pursuing a career in academic advising. I most hope to motivate students to do well in their classes and to meet their academic and professional goals.