Cafe Victoria

I’ve been on maternity leave for 2 1/2 weeks now. My first real break from work in a really long time. I’ve done a pretty good job of not responding to work emails. I check my work email maybe every other day to clean out junk email. I think once the baby comes, I will find myself having no time to even think about checking it. However, what I am realizing about myself is how important my friendships and feeling connected to people is to me. My job in the field of student affairs naturally has me connect with people all day. For years, my days were filled with daily student interaction, meetings, and checking in with other staff at lunch time. I also do work that has me connect groups of people to each other. Now, my daily interaction is with people in my yoga class, at a local restaurant, grocery store, etc.  I have this desire to start a mini mom’s group/club from the women and men in our weekly labor classes. Something, I would totally encourage if I was leading the class.

I am scheduled to return to work June 1. I will keep you posted on how I make the transition into motherhood and how I start to see my career in my life. Right now, I see becoming a mom as an extension of myself, kind of the same way I see my work in student affairs. It will be fun to see how many mom groups I connect with. I hope at least one. I’m also interested in how I will view myself  and work down the road.

Reading: “Committed” by Elizabeth Gilbert. Great book for anyone who is thinking about marriage, engaged, recently married, married for years, or choosing not to marry at this time.
Watching: “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” Love it!! I have rediscovered the power of humor.
Thankful: Breaks in the rain storms. The sun is my energy booster.
Looking forward to: The birth of our son. Any day now…

With the baby coming in less than a month, I’ve started to read books on labor. My mom got me this great labor booked called “Better Birthing with Hypnosis, mindful Pregnancy and easy labor using the Leclaire Childbirth Method” by Michelle Leclaire O’Neill, Ph.D., R.N. I’ve starting skimming it and I came across this wonderful meditation about staying in touch your purpose and body. It could be used for more than labor. Here are a few lines from the mediation. Page 180:

• Feet: Walk your own path. What does that mean to you?
• Legs: Support yourself and get proper support from others.
• Hands: Reach out and hold onto what you want and need. Let go of what you don’t need or want.
• Arms: Comfort and embrace yourself, your baby, and others whom you chose.
• Shoulders: Carry what you want and need. Let go of the rest. Ask your own inner guide or your own higher power for the wisdom to know the difference.
• Eyes: See what you choose to see. Fill your eyes with beauty. Choose your literature, television, and movies carefully. Spend as much time as you can in nature in the midst of wherever you are. While you’re pregnant, make a list of what you want to to show your baby.

Reading: “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown.
Watching: My stomach as the baby kicks. So amazing…
Thinking about: All the things we have to buy for the baby.
Thankful: For having the opportunity to have a career and a family.
Looking forward to: A Baby Shower Luncheon hosted by my awesome sister Missy and great friend Maria.

4 time in a row NASCAR Sprint Champion Jimmie Johnson is becoming a father this July. Yeah! Matthias and I totally have something in common with Jimmie, parenthood! Yeah baby, our baby will be born in the same year. Cool beans! Best wishes you two. (Come on, I know…random NASCAR post but, it’s kind of cool if think about it)

As president and member of the California Community College Student Affairs Association (CCCSAA), I have noticed a very hot topic that has come up on our Email List Serve. There have been a lot of questions and responses around what is the role of student government advisors, what can campuses do when the administration is talking about cutting student life programs as part of the budget cuts, and what will be the future of student affairs on community college campuses. To help bring awareness about the importance of student life programs, especially on community college campuses and to help advisors advocate more for their programs, the CCCSAA board decided to bring back a document that was developed in 1994 at our Annual Professional Conference. The document is called the California Community College Student Affairs Association Statement of Professional Standards and Competences. The document provides professional standards and competencies for student affairs professionals on community college campuses. The professional standards and competences address management, supervision, and professional development, along with student development and student relationships. The document also includes Student Affairs/Activities minimum standards for hiring Student Affairs/Activities Personnel.

I encourage all student affairs professionals and managers to visit www.cccsaa.org, click on resources to download a copy of the CCCSAA Statement of Professional Standards and Competences. It is an excellent resource. There is a link off my website under Links.

Reading: “What to expect when expecting” and “Daily Word”
Watching: My tummy grow and grow and grow…I started my 3rd Trimester this week.
Thinking about: How Matthias and I are going to find space for all our stuff! We are moving to an Apartment Home next week.
Thankful: For all the help I am getting from my family. My parents have come down to help pack, take plants to the new place, whatever they can do. Once again, I could not do it without them!
Looking forward to: Thanksgiving at my sister’s house. She is such a great cook and hostess!

Real Simple Magazine December question: How do you stay on budget during the holidays?

Ahh…no budget for me it is more about the rituals. I have a ritual where I buy my close friend Jennifer who lives in Boston a California Calendar and she buys me a New England Calendar. We have been keeping this tradition going since 1998. We met when I was doing my Junior year college in Rhode Island. I always buy a coffee cup for Imelda and Mercy in the business office from the Potter’s Guild Club Holiday Pottery Sale. A few years ago, I was buying everyone close to me the KFOG Live from the Archives CD. This year is number 16, so been thinking about that gift again. And what could be more of a ritual than Christmas cards!

Can the #48 Jimmie Johnson team win another NASCAR Season Championship and make it four in a row?
Let’s me explain something here…if he does, this puts him and his teams up there with San Francisco 49’s Super Bowl wins in the 80’s, or  Michael Jordon and the Chicago Bulls Championship wins in the 90’s and many other historic sports moments. This Sunday is the final NASCAR race of the season. They finish off at Homestead, Miami. Jimmy has the Pole. You go Jimmie! A Southern California kid from El Cajon, 34 years old. We could of gone to high school with Jimmie Johnson! Well…not me…I was living 8 hours away during high school but my fun point is that we are close in age!

Back in October, I presented the “New Advisor Workshop” at the CA Community College Student Affairs Association Student Leadership Conference at the Doubletree in Sacramento.  I always have a blast giving this workshop. It is a great way to meet the new advisors in the field and share our experiences. The following is the handout I gave to the workshop participants.

20 Fun, Helpful and often Truthful Student Affairs Advisor Survival Tips
for the New and Maybe Not So New Advisor.

1. Always give thanks!
2. Network! Become a member of Student Affairs Professional Groups such as CCCSAA and NASPA.
3. You know the campus pulse-communicate that with your Dean, Chief Student Services Officer/Vice President of Student Services or the College President. They want to know what is happening with the students.
4. Put your staff’s needs first. In the end, you will realize, they are the backbone to your department. Take care of them!
5. Know your student government’s constitution and by-laws like the back of your hand.
6. Know your student government and department’s budget, budget process, including signatures and history. I say, re due a form if you need to. Also, keep your own “balance, check book”.
7. Find and review College/District Policy related to student government
8. Learn the Ed Code (76060+) and Title 5 Regulations (51023.7). Key concepts “Student Representation Fees, Shared Governance, G.P.A. and Unit Enrollment”
9. Know thy Brown Act, Roberts Rules of Order and Parliamentary Procedure. (Don’t hide it; I know you love having agendas as much as student government.) You will be surprised, before you know it other departments committees will come to you’re for help on running an effective meeting.
10. Take time to understand the Student Senate…it will make a huge difference down the road.
11. Know and form a first name bases relationships with your business office, risk management, facilities, media center, public relations, print show, cafeteria, etc.before you know, you will realize how important that you know everyone on your campus.
12. Find your favorite Leadership Training Tool, Assessment, or Personality Test. A hot new one is Strengths Based Advising.
13. Email or Call on a colleague, which is what the CA Community College Student Affairs Association is all about! List Serve address is:  CCCSAA@LISTSERVE.CCCNEXT.NET
14. Have food available at as many meetings or events as possible.
15. Schedule weekly meetings with your student government president. Trust us on this one!
16. Keep developing yourself professionally!
17. Find your own personal way to leave work at work.
18. Create boundaries now. Students will think it is okay to call you after work. Keep it at work.
19. Accept your students Facebook invite AFTER they have left the college.
20. Follow your own advice once in awhile :>)

By Victoria Worch, Napa Valley College. This list has been adapted from Doug Barr, Saddleback College, 1997. He originally was part of developing these advisor suggestions for a workshop lead by Marilyn Kaeche, Mt. San Antonio; Joe Hudson, Canada College and Steve Robinson, College of San Mateo for the fall 1997 CCCSAA Student Leadership Conference, Sacramento. As we say in student affairs, add your own tips and suggestions to the list. If you can, try not to develop the wheel. There are plenty of us out there to help you.