Tag Archives: career

Financial Literacy for the Student Affairs Professional, by Jason Lynch, 2011 alumnus

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How many times have you heard a colleague say, “I’m definitely not in this field for the money”? While it’s true that being a new professional in Student Affairs may not be the most lucrative career choice, you can definitely make your paycheck last longer by paying attention to your monthly budget! For this blog, I enlisted the help of 215 colleagues across the country to give one piece of advice to new professionals about managing their finances.  (You can access the full results of the poll by following this link.)  As with all advice columns, your situation may not match up with the advice given.  Take what resonates with you, and leave the rest.

Creating a Budget

The first, and perhaps most important, thing you can do towards better financial security is to create a personal budget.  How much do you normally spend per month?  Be real with yourself.  An easy way to obtain this information is to look at your last debit and/or credit card statement.  Adding up categories such as food, gas, clothes, etc. will help you see where you are spending the most money.  From there you can decide what is essential to get by every month, as well as what can be reduced or modified.

Follow this link to view the budget excel I use every month.

Student Loans

Many new professionals don’t realize that working at a college or university qualifies as a public service job, and therefore qualify to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLFP).  Through this program, qualifying individuals would make 120 of their lowest possible monthly payments.  This is roughly 10 years of payments.  After this period of time, the remaining balance will be forgiven.  So let’s say I have $50,000 in student loans, and my payments are $250 through the income contingent payment plan.  I would end up paying $30,000, with $20,000 forgiven.

Here are some tips if you feel like this may be an option for you:

  • Make sure to fill out a verification form found on the PSLFP website.  This form will need to be submitted to the HR department at your institution.  You have to fill out a new one every time you change institutions.
  • Save a copy of each of your monthly pay stubs.
  • You can defer payments and still remain eligible for the program.  (It will just take longer for you to qualify for forgiveness.)
  • Only government loans qualify
  • Use this website to contact someone regarding PSLFP or find answers to Frequently Asked Questions  

Credit Cards

Many peers will tell you to avoid credit cards, but, this is one area in which I would have to disagree, particularly if you accept a “live-on” position.  Often, new professionals are in a position where they are starting to build credit.  One way to do this is to appropriately manage a credit card.  Other ways to build credit include car payments, rent/mortgage payments, etc.   If you choose to open a line of credit, make sure that you that you are able to pay the credit card off every month.  I would also advise that you get a credit card with a rewards system, such as cash back or flight credits.  For example, I use an Amazon.com Rewards card through Visa.  For every dollar I spent, I receive one point, or more depending on certain purchases, which equates to a penny per point.  At the end of the month, I can use my points to pay towards my credit balance, or redeem them on Amazon.com.  If I spend $1,000 per month, I would receive $120 per year on rewards!  Remember, the trick is to pay off most of  the card each month so that you are not paying interest.

On the other hand, if you have found yourself already in debt via credit cards, it is highly important that you get these cards paid off as soon as possible.  Carrying large balances on your credit cards can hurt your credit, and you end up paying unnecessarily large amounts of interest.  If you’re in this situation, consider calling your credit company to negotiate a lower interest rate.  You can also obtain a free copy of your credit report once per year.

Resources and Tips

Below, I have bullet pointed some resources and tips that may be useful in finding your own way of managing your finances:

  • Consult a Financial Counselor.  Many institutions offer free consultations with a financial counselor.  They are particularly helpful in obtaining advice about retirement, savings, and investments.
  • Are a techie?  Use an app such as ‘Mint’ to help you budget.
  • Reach out to your Human Resources department.  Often, HR will have special employee programs meant to educate about topics such as personal budgeting and retirement
  • Work with your students to put on a program about personal finance.  I learned a great deal of information when one of the RA’s I supervised collaborated with the business department to put on a personal finance workshop.
  • Your employee ID will often grant you the same student discounts at local businesses such as movie theaters, or just hang on to your current student ID!  Institutions also tend to have a list of local venues that offer student discounts.
  • Keep a jar to put spare change, and don’t touch it!  Use it to contribute to your retirement savings or help pay down any debt you owe.  You’d be surprised how much change you accumulate in a year!
  • Because we all love listacles:  http://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/50-quick-easy-ways-save-money.html

Jason Lynch is a first year doctoral student at Old Dominion University focusing on higher education policy and first generation student access and support.  He is an alumnus of the NCSU program, graduating in 2011 and has worked in Residence Life, Fraternity & Sorority Life, and Multicultural Student Affairs.  You can contact him by email at rjl5883@gmail.com. 

Guide to the Local Job Search, by Staci Thornton, 2012 alumna

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Hello second years!!  I wanted to take a second to write about the local job search because I found it to be a lot different than those doing national job searches.  I would like to preface with the fact that I’m no expert but these are some things I did that I think can help you out:

  1. I basically started my job search right when I started my final year. A dream job might open up that may work around your school schedule or not start until much later.  There was a job opening at UNC in October that I REALLY wanted and I assumed they wanted someone to start soon so I didn’t apply.  It turned out those positions were not filled until March so I may have had a chance if I had just applied.
  2. Apply for jobs that may not perfectly fit into what you want to do. Everyone has his or her filters and if yours is you want to stay local, you may have to sacrifice what you really want to do.  I applied for jobs all over the field!  Don’t choose something you will hate but just don’t be uber picky.
  3. When you start looking at job websites, most of them split jobs into EPA or SPA. Most of us will get EPA jobs but I applied for some SPA jobs and again, they may not have been ideal but the salary wasn’t that different and they were still in the realm of what I wanted to do.  Also, I found that private institutions, like Duke, do not always require a Masters Degree for some of their positions but that does not mean you shouldn’t apply.  They are able to be a bit more lenient when it comes to hiring so read the job description and see if it’s something you want to do; don’t just read the job qualifications.
  4. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “it’s all about who you know,” and that’s SO true, especially in student affairs. Everyone knows each other, it’s random and you can use this to your advantage!  I had weekly informational meetings with people from UNC, NC State, and Duke in fields I wanted to work in or with people who knew people I had worked with.  Talk to your supervisor about who they know and then shoot them an e-mail just asking to speak to them about their experiences.  Then wow them and bring a resume so they want to hire you if they have a position open. 🙂 One caveat to this was that sometimes I got some random advice or people telling me how hard it is to get a job in the area so you need to just brush it off and learn from them but not completely rely on them.  The point is to get your name out there.
  5. Reach out to AJ and ask what alumni are in the area and talk with them as well. I currently work with two alumni who knew me and one current student who met me at Recruitment Weekend so they both vouched me after the interview and voila, got the job. 🙂
  6. Go to local conferences. A lot of national organizations have local affiliates with conferences (usually in the fall).  It will be more helpful for you to network at those than the national conferences.  You can also go to functional area local conferences.  I went to NCAIE, the local affiliate of NAFSA, for two years and made some awesome local connections.
  7. Another important thing to realize is that your job search is going to look A LOT different than those with national searches. You may not have as many jobs to apply for so you may not get as many interviews.  Don’t get bogged down by that!  Also, for people doing a functional job search, their cover letters for different jobs might look pretty similar but it may take you a lot longer to tailor each cover letter to a specific job since you are probably applying for a wider array of types of jobs.  So it might seem like you are doing a lot more work but remember that you won’t ever have to get on a plane or sleep in a hotel or wonder if your suit got all wrinkled in the travel because your interviews will be close by.  Also, since you are close by, I found the interviews to be a little less intense, maybe a half-day as opposed to a day and half.  Or they might have you come in for coffee or something more casual.

Also, one thing that I had a hard time with was people telling me that I needed to expand my job search (not people in my cohort or my professors, just other professionals).   This caused me to lose some confidence in my choices but if you really want to stay in the area (which is totally reasonable because the Triangle is rock solid awesome), then do it and trust your choices!  I think the local job search can be a bit more time consuming but stick with it and it’ll all work out!

On one of my informational interviews, someone once told me that they wished someone had told them that there is more than one hiring period for student affairs.  Just because you don’t have a job in March, doesn’t mean you won’t ever have one!  A lot of people hire in July and August so keep truckin’ along!

If y’all have any questions or want to talk about the local job search process more, please let me know!  Again, I’m no expert but these things worked for me and I’m glad I had people to tell me these things. 🙂 Enjoy your last year, it goes by fast!!!

Staci Thornton is a 2012 graduate of the Higher Education Administration master’s program. She currently serves as an Academic Coordinator for Professional Masters Programs with the Master of Engineering Management Program at Duke University.

When the Students Know More Than You, by Lisa Latronica, 2014 alumna

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When I started my first professional position, I expected to feel some imposter syndrome. I expected to feel like coworkers knew more than me and to be a little intimidated and nervous around them. We talked about it at length in Capstone and throughout the job search process.

I did not expect to be terrified of the students I would be supervising.

In Residence Life at Colorado School of Mines, there is an additional student staff position between professional staff and Resident Assistants and Community Assistants. Our Senior Staff – made up of Hall Directors and Community Directors – are upperclassmen or graduate students who have 1-2 years of experience as staff members. The job they do is basically the same as what a graduate student in student affairs would do – they supervise a staff, oversee a building of residents, and even serve as first responders on a duty rotation.

When I first learned all that the Senior Staff did, I was in disbelief. The number of times I said, “We let undergraduate students do that?” is more than I can count. But the closer we got to their arrival on campus and Senior Staff training, the more the skepticism faded, and the stronger the fear, nervousness, and uncertainty began.

These students had been in Mines Res Life for longer than I had been in residence life anywhere. They could do the job that I just left. They knew more about the campus culture, student population, and policies and procedures than my new professional mind could grasp. And that was uncomfortable and terrifying.

Then the 8 Senior Staff arrived. And they were so nice and talented. And that almost made it worse. My mantras all through our training retreat (which in true Colorado fashion, took place on the side of a mountain and with lots of hiking and bouldering), were, “Fake it till you make it,” and “Don’t let them see the fear in your eyes.” I thought that if I showed any hint of not knowing what I was doing, I would lose their respect and trust.  And on top of it, the more I got to know them, the more impressed I was with them, not just as students or staff, but as people. To this day, I would argue that you won’t find people who can balance as much, give as much, or care as much as our Senior Staff.

I felt this huge amount of pressure, but it took me weeks to realize that it wasn’t the students who were putting that pressure on me. I was doing it to myself.

A few weeks into the start of the semester, after all the training and move-in events were over, I had a conversation with one of the Senior Staff members that changed how I viewed our relationship. I was having an overwhelming day, and felt like I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I finally caved and asked them to tell me about how things were done at Mines from their perspective. It was one of the most helpful conversations I had during those first few months. I later shared with them that I had been terrified to seem like I didn’t know what I was doing.

Their reaction? They laughed and said that was ridiculous.

As real as my fear and nervousness was, it was pretty unfounded. Sure, the students knew a lot more about some things, but I forgot to have confidence in my own experiences and education. I think part of my fear was because I wanted to be the best possible person for my students, and I forgot the most important part of that:

Intentions and trying. If you have good intentions, and you try hard to do the best for your students, you can’t go wrong.

It’s easy to forget that students see us a humans, just as we see them as such. They don’t expect us to be perfect, and it’s not fair to us or them to pressure ourselves to seem as such. We screw up. We don’t know answers. We need help. And the more we are ok with showing that side of ourselves, the more our students will be ok with showing us that side of themselves.

These days, I’m much more comfortable asking the Senior Staff for answers (and it happens almost daily). I’ve realized that they’re happy to help, and it’s so much easier than guessing. They know I’m not perfect, and I’m ok with that. And deep down, I know that they feel better asking me questions because of it.

I’m still scared of them some days, but now it’s more likely to be because they’re leaping from rocks on a mountain than because I think they’re judging me. I like this way much better.

Lisa Latronica is a 2014 graduate of the Higher Education Administration master’s program. She currently serves as a Residence Life Coordinator with the Department of Residence Life at the Colorado School of Mines.

True Life: I Work in Housing, Surviving Your First Year in Residence Life, by Rickita Blackmon

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At some point before or during the application process to higher education graduate programs, you made a decision to apply to the housing assistantship with hopes of serving as a Residence Director. Some of you were past RAs that thrived in the position; others may have an interest in a career in housing with plans to move up the professional ladder. Many of you fall under both. Whether you “live and breathe housing” or view this assistantship as a great opportunity with wonderful benefits, you accepted the challenge! You moved all of your belongings and returned to the residence hall (not dorm). With a meal plan, reserved parking spot and health insurance secured, you felt on top of world. At some point between unpacking and attending summer RD training, you probably searched through your belongings for the RD position description, just to review exactly what you would be doing in this role. Scanning the document, you began to get excited about helping shape the world’s future leaders and revitalizing the spirit of living on campus. In your mind, you started to plan amazing programs. Suddenly, you have a Pinterest board that is dedicated to icebreakers, door decs and RA events. What a joy! As you open your new set of business cards, take the protective sticker off of your fresh name badge and iron your official housing polo, all seems right in the world. You are a housing professional.

Looking in the mirror “I am about to change the game. I have all the tools and resources that I need to be successful. I am a Residence Director. Wow. I’ve made it.”

As the summer RD training comes to a close, you realize that you are a bit unclear or nervous about a few items about the position. Perhaps you decide that you will just hit the ground running and figure it out as things go along (wise but potentially tricky). If you were like me, you planned to set some time aside to review your training binder and go over questions with your supervisor. However, RA training had already begun, which ultimately consumed every minute for the next two weeks. So instead, the night before move-in day you pulled out the position description to glance over it one last time and then you see it…

“Other duties as assigned.”

Below are a few tips to help you successfully navigate your first year in housing.

Resident Advisors. Being a Residence Director at NC State is a tremendous opportunity to gain valuable skills that can be transferred to a variety of functional areas in higher education. One of the many benefits of this role is the experience of supervising undergraduate students. Working with your team of Resident Advisors will allow you to learn more about yourself as a leader and help develop other leaders. In this supervisory role, I recommend being confident, consistent and professional. Being relatable also goes along way with people who look up to you. Utilize your one-on-one meetings with your RAs to get know them beyond their work as an RA. What clubs are they involved in? Are they reconsidering their major? Building these relationships is key. It would also help to identify additional ways to support your staff. Your RAs are college students, some only a year removed from high school. They are balancing school, work and everything else that life throws their way—sound familiar? If you find yourself frustrated, remember that there is no such thing as a perfect RA, and even your Area Coordinator is still learning. Create developmental opportunities for your RAs. Spend time developing yourself as a supervisor. Seek out advice from second year RDs and talk with your Assistant Director regularly about how you can continue to grow in this role.

Managing a Budget. Stay up to date, organized and consistent with your budget practices. It is critical to communicate often with your AD and the person who oversees the management of your building’s budget and receipts, to ensure that you are following the preferred protocol.

Parking. Win.

Laundry. Loss. However, there are tricks that can make this process easier. Monitor the laundry room to find times when residents do not regularly wash clothes. Never leave your belongings unattended for lengthy periods of time. Additionally, the washing machines require less detergent, so if you really think about it, you are saving money.

Professional Development. Make sure to use your professional development funds. Communicate with other RDs about trainings or conferences that people are interested in attending. There may be ways to save on additional costs by combining efforts. Consider ways to maximize this opportunity, such as submitting proposals to present at conferences.

Conduct. Some RDs love the conduct process and others not as much. Regardless, it is a part of your duties. I rely heavily on the NC State specific policy guides in Maxient as well as the support of second year RDs to manage this portion of the job.

Meetings. In housing, we like to have a lot of meetings. I average roughly 15 meetings every week. This is when Google Calendar becomes a lifeline. Ever wonder why housing people always send you a Google meeting invite? It’s simple. It is extremely difficult to manage every meeting on our schedules; so essentially, if it is not on Google calendar then it does not exist. Make the most of your meetings! Plan and prepare ahead to make sure that you are respectful of others’ time as well as your own. Utilize agendas! My RAs really appreciate my weekly meeting agendas because it is a reference point for them to remember deadlines and upcoming dates. If you are a paper saver, share a Google doc. Refrain from “meeting just to meet.” This is not advice to cancel all of your meetings. However, if there are only a few light items on your agendas then ask yourself if meeting is the most efficient way to disseminate the information. For meetings that you are attending and not leading, just get used to them. They are here to stay.

Duty. Make sure that you plan ahead before going on duty. This may mean going grocery shopping, doing laundry and getting ahead on class assignments. When you are on duty, there is no telling when you will receive a call that may take up a large amount of your time. Prioritizing important items the week before you are scheduled for duty will help relieve some of the stress during duty week.

Living Where You Work. Figure out how to personalize your space. Each RD apartment is unique with its own perks, so take some time to embrace your space. Hang curtains, buy a welcome mat or put magnets on your refrigerator. Do whatever you think is best to make your RD apartment feel more like a home. If you are lucky and pull this off really well, there may be a few mornings when you wake up and forget you are in residence hall (this will only be for a few minutes, but still).

Serving as a RD is an amazing opportunity that is truly like none other. You have the opportunity to impact your residents’ college experience in a major way. Leave your mark! One day, hopefully, you’ll have a peaceful home away from campus with laundry machines and a job that will probably still have a line on the position description that indicates “other duties as assigned.” However, I doubt you’ll get to go to BJ’s and load multiple carts with fun program supplies, rent an inflatable and plan team builders that require people to jump through hula-hoops. Make the most of it!

Rickita Blackmon is a first year master’s student in the Higher Education Administration program. She is currently serving as a Residence Director for Lee Hall. She is also the Vice President-Elect for Recruitment for the Higher Education Association at NC State.

Making the Most Out of Your Office Hours, by Lauren Padgett Sutherland

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I don’t know about all of you, but this is about the time of the semester that I find myself getting VERY busy in my assistantship and am finding it hard to get everything done within my “20 hours/week”.  I know that realistically, most assistantships require more than 20 hours per week–I’m looking at you, housing grads!  Being on-duty aside, I’ve found some practices that help me be efficient during my office hours, which helps me keep my office hours to the true 20!

  1. Get Good at Email: we get A LOT of emails every day.  And let’s not talk about what happens over a weekend or a break.  If you can master the art of email efficiency, it can keep you on your A-game, act as a running to-do list, and save you time.  In my job before graduate school, we had a strict 24-hour turnaround response time on emails, disregarding weekends.  I have tried to stick to that policy during my assistantship.  I make it a goal to have a “zero inbox” by the end of the work week, meaning I answer and archive everything before leaving my last office hour.  I treat my email like real mail; I only want to handle it once.  If you read it, respond and tend to it–don’t let it sit in the inbox and get covered!  When you stay on top of your email, it can become a running to-do list for you–if it’s in the inbox, it needs attention.
  2. “On Air” Time: In a perfect world, we would all be completely dedicated to our work 100% of our office hours–except, we’re human, and humans can’t totally drown out all distractions 100% of the time.  I try to work in bursts of 30-60 minutes, especially if I know I have a big week with a lot to accomplish.  Some people call this “on air” time; time that is completely dedicated to your performance.  This could also be known as time that you don’t allow yourself to be distracted by your phone, email, Facebook, Buzzfeed, etc.  After you spend 60 minutes of unadulterated work time, reward yourself for getting done in a hour what typically takes a day!
  3. Learn to Say No: I am still working on this one, but being a graduate assistant is a great time to hone your skills at knowing how much you can handle in a certain amount of time.  If you are being efficient with your time (see above…) and still can’t seem to find the time in your week to complete tasks, talk with your supervisor.  You might have too much on your plate to realistically get done in 20 hours each week.  YOU are your best advocate, and it is more than ok to say no every now and then!

I hope some of these tips are helpful for you to make the most out of your office hours this semester!