Organizational and Human Resources (OHR)
There are seven subcategories to the rubric for assessing competency in this area. For each one, I believe that I fall squarely into the foundational levels. The subcategories are as follows: Assessment, Advocacy, and Networking; Skill Development; Hiring and Staffing; Supervision, Communication, and Conflict Resolution; Crisis and Risk Management; Resource Management, Stewardship, and Sustainability; and Technology. Although I feel that in some of these subcategories I have more than a basic foundational understanding, and have learned to put concepts into practice, it has not been a steady part of my roles regularly enough to consider myself intermediate.
For example, the goal for the first subcategory of Assessment, Advocacy, and Networking is to “Know institutional policy and goals; professional networks and their impact on goal achievement. [Have an] Ability to communicate with various groups; motivate others; interview and select staff and assess professional performance” (ACPA & NASPA, 2016, p. 22). I would consider myself to have all of the intermediate qualities for reaching this level of competency such as understanding the value of creating alliances with others, and what those alliances say about me professionally. I have a demonstrated ability to implement interview protocol and make staffing decisions to meet institutional goals, and am able to motivate others. For each of the remaining six subcategories, I feel that I am similarly represented as being right on the cusp between foundational and intermediate.
There are two important pieces of reflection that I take away from assessing my competency in the Organizational and Human Resources category. Firstly, reading more about this topic has made me aware of some weaknesses that I will be able to more intentionally focus on throughout the remainder of my experiences as a graduate student. Through my internship and graduate assistant positions, I hope to be exposed to programming which will allow me to more thoroughly understand budgeting and strategic planning. This is something that I have presented to my supervisor as an area of growth what I would like to work on. Similarly, the coursework that I will continue to take during my Master’s program will be geared toward becoming more competent in areas relating to resource management. Although I have not yet completed HEA 620 Planning and Finance in Higher Education, this course will be critical to advancing my competence in this professional area. I believe that this is incredibly valuable to understand and be able to speak to my weaknesses and areas for growth, in the event that I am in an interview for a position requiring this expertise. Facing my weaknesses with understanding shows not weakness at all, but rather the strength of self-awareness.
Secondly, I feel it is important to reflect on the fact that for each of these subcategories, there are dispositions listed with which a person competent in these areas would be equipped. I feel that I do embody all of these dispositions, which shows that I am on the right path for growth in the overall competency area of OHR. A few that resonate with me the most are “the disposition to act with transparency” (ACPA & NASPA, 2016, p. 22), “to value continuous learning and growth” (p. 23), “to create and value a diverse workplace” (p.23), “to use resources ethically and conscientiously for long-term sustainability” (p. 25) and “to value innovation and adopt technology that enhances one’s work” (p. 25). As I continue to learn more about the theories of managing resources and people throughout my coursework as a graduate student, I feel that I will become more confident in doing so in practice, as well.
Portfolio Artifacts
The professional position that I currently hold incorporates certain aspects of OHR that overlap with the Leadership competency. A few of these duties are:
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Managing the school's grievance process, which would fall under the OHR sub-category of "conflict resolution". Additionally, my role largely consists of effectively communicating with faculty, staff, and students, providing direction for student workers, and doing a fair amount of event planning and budgeting - all of which fall under this competency.
My internship with Civic & Community Engagement provided me with the opportunity to get some hands-on experience in the OHR competency through creating position descriptions for our student club board members, and also through interviewing and selecting the candidates.
For HEA 618 Student Affairs Administration the culmination of our learning was to act as the Dean of a collage and overhaul each department in our purview. This assignment really got us thinking about the principles of OHR and gave me more insight into this competency area in a way that I have not had through my professional work.
HEA 618 also provided me with the opportunity to sit down and talk human resource management with the Director of the Intercultural and Diversity Center at UB. Having in-depth conversations with people in charge of large departments is an excellent way to expand competency in any professional area.
HEA 620 Planning and Finanace in Higher Ed has given us the opportunity to learn how important it is to have the right people in the right positions in higher ed. Strategic planning and budgeting are critical facets of how institutions run and survive and without the right human resources and organizational structure, there is a big potential for failure. This has really added to my OHR competency.
Additionally, HEA 750 Methods and Techniques of Educational Research delved pretty deeply into organizational structure. We specifically looked at structures of Institutional Advance and Institutional Research, but we spent a fair amount of time on this topic. It was fascinating to see how different institutions of different sizes organize their units!