There are five categories by which this competency is measured: Interpersonal Skills; Professional Development; Group Dynamics; Partnering with Others; and Conflict and Crisis Situations. As with all of these areas of competency, the attainment of the advanced level is taken to be equivalent to mastery, but comes not without the understanding that there is always continual room for growth. For two of the categories in the A/S competency, the highest level of achievement is intermediate. My interpretation of this is that regardless of mastery for the two skills in either Interpersonal Skills or Group Dynamics, there is no way to truly attain mastery as these categories require an ever evolving understanding of the players involved, and not ever is there a time when one person can know or master other people and situations completely. While I do believe that this is my one of my strongest competencies, with the aforementioned interpretation in mind, and taking into consideration all of the other categories, I would place myself at the intermediate level of competency.

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I came into my master’s program in Higher Education Administration having done a lot of work on this area of competency. All of my experiences have culminated into the professional that I have been, but I knew that these experiences needed bolstering. The formal education that I have since been receiving and the mentorship from the professionals that I have been fortunate to learn from are what continue to bolster that experience. I have been able to take what I have learned in HEA 622 Techniques of Counselling to not only actively listen to those seeking advice, but also to “Strategically and simultaneously pursue multiple objectives in conversations with students” and “demonstrate culturally inclusive advising, supporting, coaching, and counseling strategies” (ACPA & NASPA, 2016, p. 10) which are two of the prominent measures of competency for Interpersonal Skills. I have been able to use these techniques, putting theory to practice, as a Staff Advisor on Alternative Break through one of my internships with the Civic and Community Engagement Office. Similarly, the course also helped me to understand how to “Recognize and analyze unspoken dynamics in a group setting” and “Facilitate or coach group decision-making, goal-setting, and process” (p. 11) which are the top two measures for competency in Group Dynamics.

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Although I feel as though there is a certain amount of natural ability that is needed to be competent in A/S, I also think that gathering tools for the proverbial tool box is not only smart, but critical. My Techniques of Counselling course had a strong focus on the teaching and honing of these techniques to be used as tools. Without the formal education in this area, I may have innately understood how to advise and support, but I would not be able to proliferate that into the intentional teaching of others. This proliferation comes as a key concept in the competency categories of Partnering with Others and Professional Development, where intermediate competence is gained when you are able to “provide training for staff to increase advising and helping skills” (ACPA & NASPA, 2016, p.  11) and “develop virtual programs and initiatives to meet the needs of students with limited access to services” (p. 11), and “Develop and implement successful prevention and outreach programs on campus, including effective mental health publicity and marketing” (p.12), among other similar measures.

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In addition to the valuable techniques that I have garnered from coursework in this area, my experience as an Alternative Break Staff Advisor has provided valuable experiential learning. The theory behind high-impact practices, such as direct service-learning like participating in an Alternative Break, is a core concept for the Civic and Community Engagement Office at Buffalo State. Paired with theoretical learning from the classroom, putting these techniques into practice has yielded specific growth to my competency in Conflict and Crisis Situations. Three of the topmost areas for my growth were in managing interpersonal conflict among the group, mediating differences, and identifying patterns of behavior that may affect the group or individual. Again, while I feel that I had a keen ability to do some of these things prior to this program, my education in theory from both my Techniques of Counselling class, and also my Student Development class have provided a firm foundation for my experiential practice.

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As I move forward into my last semester of grad school, and also as I grow comfortable in my position as Student Affairs Coordinator at the University at Buffalo (UB), I will keep a laser focus on honing my advising and support skills. My current role at UB works directly with student clubs, overseeing club activities, and also involves planning events with all undergraduate and graduate students. My innate skills in active listening and helping students to author their own paths is critical, but as I tackle this role, the feedback from my supervisor - who has been in the field of higher ed for at least twice as long as me, if not more - will be unbelievably important to my growth as a professional.