This week we will be joined by:
Dan Berkowitz – Students w/Disabilities – http://www.sds.usf.edu
Joni Bernbaum – Victim’s Advocacy - www.facebook.com/LetsBeREAL
CAS Standards: Disability Student Services
As soon as I get the Q&A returned I will post it. Please check back regularly for updates.
Q&A from Dan Berkowitz
ReplyDelete1.) Describe your career path, how you started and how you got to your current position.
Undergraduate involvement in student govt., student activities, and residence life. Attended graduate school for Student Affairs and found myself with a graduate assistantship in disability services. In the past 15 years I have worked at small and large public and private institutions. I took a year off to attempt a private venture and now am back in the postsecondary workforce.
2.) Explain the particular challenges of your work. What are the special rewards?
Disability Services at the postsecondary level straddles the worlds of academic affairs and students affairs. We work with the Dean of Students office as much as we work with the Office of the Provost and academic deans.
Challenges include each of those camps sometimes being at odds, understanding that the needs of the student may sometimes not take precedence over the needs of the institution, working in a specialty that is sometimes misunderstood or feared or viewed as a compulsory rather than good practice.
Rewards include seeing students be successful, helping faculty find new ways to teach, being part of an institution that wants to learn and grown and makes use of us as SDS as consultants and change makers.
3.) Are there any problems you've faced that you would now handle differently? Can you describe one of them?
Disability Services at the postsecondary level is an ever evolving field. Just about any situation can progress to a positive or negative outcome dependent upon factors many and varied. In this position we are part educator, part counselor, part mentor, part lawyer, part detective, and part negotiator. Any problem faced that could have been handled differently may necessitate a completely different approach under different circumstances.
4.) What advice would you give to a student preparing for student affairs work?
Just know that you are going into a career field that is not going to make you wealthy and may very well exhaust you at times. But on the bright side you will be working in an atmosphere that can be a lot of fun with a population that can be very lively … most of the time. And try not to forget that you are the adult now!
Q&A from Nanci Newton, Director of Students w/Disabilities. She will not be presenting but wanted to share her story with you.
ReplyDelete1.) Describe your career path, how you started and how you got to your current position.
None of us in the department wound up in our positions due to being a student affairs professional. The field of victim advocacy is a relatively new one in student affairs. In fact, many university-based victim services are part of university police, university health, or university counseling centers. I came to my position (director) having been in the feminist rape crisis, sexual assault and domestic violence victim services for over 30 years. I was executive director of two different sexual assault centers prior to coming to USF 3 years ago. I applied to USF Center for Victim Advocacy 3 years ago because I wanted to come back to my home town of Tampa, and because the department badly needed an experienced victim services professional as director.
2.) Explain the particular challenges of your work. What are the special rewards?
One of the challenges is that Victim Advocacy is so new in the field of student affairs, and especially new to USF’s student affairs. What was then called the Advocacy Program, which started in 1992 at USF, was not a department within student affairs until 3 years ago when we moved from HR to student affairs. Initially, it was difficult for other departments to understand what we do and how we fit in. As a department, and as professionals, we kind of had to “prove” ourselves. Luckily, that is now behind us and we are a dynamic, collaborative and respected member of the student affairs family. Another challenge is that as advocates, our job is sometimes to disagree with other university departments on how they are treating a victim of crime. Finding the right balance of being the voice for our clients while maintaining good working relationships within the university is tricky! Another challenge is that we must be available 24/7 for victims of violent crimes, which can lead to long working hours. The rewards are many: having the privilege to be a part of the healing process for our clients; working with other dedicated professionals both in the university and in community-based victim service agencies; working with fabulous students to prevent violence from happening on campus.
3.) Are there any problems you've faced that you would now handle differently? Can you describe one of them?
I wish I had learned more about student affairs as a profession when I first was hired. Perhaps the challenge of trying to help other departments see our role would have been easier.
4.) What advice would you give to a student preparing for student affairs work?
Learn the field! Understand what student affairs is all about, particularly the way in which we contribute to academic success and retention. Most student affairs professionals work long hours, so it takes a great deal of commitment.