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I think I first learned the oxymoron “mandatory fun” when I was an RA. When you work in a large organization, there can be a long list of events that might be classified as mandatory fun at this time of year. Of course, as is true of so many things, one person’s mandatory fun is…

And suddenly, it’s the first week in December. How did that happen? Even though I’ve thought in academic years for most of my life, I still like the idea of taking time at the end of the calendar year to reflect on the months past and those to come. At the first of this year, I…

One of the messages that resonated for me during Kamala Harris’ campaign was that she has always had the same client – the people. She spoke of her work as an elected representative and her days as a prosecutor, rising to introduce herself as representing the people. While there are many differences in the work of…

As you know, I read a blog by storyteller, grade school teacher, and author, Matthew Dicks regularly. It’s easy to read him often because he posts something every day and has for years. He says the way he can write on this schedule is because he collects ideas all the time. Amazing. I, however, only post weekly…

During my senior year in high school, my school offered a couple of one semester courses as electives for students who had room in their schedule. The only two I remember were psychology and sociology and I have no idea what I took. But I do remember learning about advertising and the ways advertisers try to…

Recently I gave a speech at the annual conference of the Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel Administrators (TACUSPA). Its first title was “Courage to Serve.” I added a title later and, with apologies to Taylor Swift, called it “The Eras Presentation.” I began with the story of my very first TACUSPA conference.…

One of the realities of ballroom dancing is that you are always moving in close proximity to other people, especially your dance partner. If the dance floor is crowded, there will be people moving closer to you and moving away from you constantly, while you keep moving around them. There’s a lot going on. In other…

Of the seven competencies listed by this study*, competency #4, “crafting a cabinet and team building”, is the one formulated in a way that is most specific to a senior leadership position. While anyone can call their leadership team a cabinet, it’s rare in my experience for that term to be used except at the most…

Number three on the list of competencies needed for leaders in the Inside Higher Ed* article is Communication Savvy. In other words the necessary skill is being knowledgeable about one’s communication, thoughtful about what and how one is communicating, and effective in that communication. This takes work, practice, and sadly learning from mistakes as we go.…

My first semester as Assistant Dean for Student Conduct at UT Austin was, to say the least, challenging. In addition to learning a new job and making the transition from a very small college to a very large university, we had two high-profile profile cases we had to manage. Somewhere in that semester, as I was leaving work, the…