Ryan O'Malley - Blueprint for Action
Student Voice: Where does it belong in the Peer Advising Fellow program? Where is it now and where would it be most effective?
With this question, I hoped to explore what the avenues for student voice currently are, if students used them, and what kind of advice they would give to the program or other PAFs if given more opportunity to share.
Methods:
I conducted interviews with members of the organization in order to find out opinions of the feedback structure.
In interviews, the goal was to see what structures of gathering student voice exist (as seen from the student perspective) and where room for improvement exists.
6 PAF Interviews:
(4) 2 year PAFs, (2) 1 year PAFs
2 Eagle Interviews:
(1) current Eagle, (1) former Eagle
I also drew comparisons between two comparable universities, Rice University and Manchester Metropolitan University. I did so by completing interviews with the dean and a peer advisor from Rice, and by analyzing a study done on feedback mechanisms from Manchester Metropolitan. In these comparisons I hoped to gauge the following: What has been successful in terms of feedback collection? Where have other universities succeeded and struggled?
Data:
The following are quotes from responses to the most pertinent questions to my project, anonymized for the ability to give more honest feedback.
How much input does the APO ask PAFs to give on the program?
“Almost none. I guess we probably could’ve talked to our Eagles if we wanted to… In terms of the program at large I don’t think we were ever asked to give feedback”
“Every semester they encouraged meetings with Brooks mostly to discuss the PAF’s performance, but this was in a 1 on 1 setting with Brooks, which can be intimidating. There are monthly [Yard] meetings to discuss what PAFs should be doing, but not what they thought about the program”
“What I remember most distinctly about the APO is the changes they made to the program without letting us know. They did have multiple meetings for PAFs to come to [after academic advising was removed] where they could ask questions about decisions made, but they didn’t ever ask us beforehand”
“PAFs are always welcome to speak to their Eagle, as they are assigned in their first year, or meet with Brooks to give suggestions about the program. You don’t need a position of power to make a change to this program, and we always try to uplift the wishes of the students” -Eagle perspective
To your knowledge, how are Eagle PAFs chosen?
“I’m not totally clear on how this happens. I would assume Brooks chooses the ones who perform the best.”
“I think there’s an application process and they interview you the same way they do the PAFs. That’s why you see the most motivated people who often have really similar ideas as Eagles. It probably helps them work together well.”
“I actually applied to be an Eagle. The process was a written application followed by an interview in which they asked for your ideas on how to best improve the program. I would assume they chose the people who had the best ideas on how to shape the program for the next year. I was not chosen.”
“I guess that they pick a group who reflect the ideas of all PAFs. Or I hope so.”
“Any PAF can apply to become an Eagle. Once they complete a written application, we give them the opportunity to interview with a current Eagle and Brooks. We select based on many things, but some main considerations are their vision for the future of the program and a general commitment to the values of the PAF program” - Eagle perspective
Deliverables:
I hope to provide two things in the conclusion of my project: a list of common issues that PAFs had in giving feedback to the program for the APO to consider, and a list of best practices that PAFs have learned during their experience that they believe would help improve the experience of future PAFs.
Feedback PAFs had for the program (commonalities)
It’s very difficult to give feedback to the person who leads the program and pays you
“Brooks is a very intimidating method of feedback. I don’t see myself talking to him even if that’s opened up as an option”
“I’m sure they’ve heard from other PAFs that the training isn’t great. I don’t really want to be the one knocking on Brooks’ door about it”
“It just feels like I wouldn’t be invited back if I say something they don’t like”
Training quality and consistency
“The trainings are always long and boring and I don’t know that I’ve ever walked away having learned something”
- “I’m still not clear on if we’re supposed to be giving academic advice? They told us not to last year and then second semester this year there was a training on how to give it? But also my Eagle said I don’t have to if I don’t want to?”
- "The trainings vary from year to year and give conflicting instructions on what our job is"
List of PAF Best Practices:
"I would tell PAFs that it can be stressful when they start, but if they build relationships in the beginning of the year, it'll be so much easier at the end when pafees start to skip meetings and study breaks"
"Make sure you establish a good way of scheduling individual meetings from the beginning. It's hard to make that many meetings happen at once, so using something like google calendar or calendly will be a huge asset"
"Remember that even though there's a lot of PAFs, no one else is doing quite the same job as you. You have completely different pafees who give you completely different things to work on in addition to your own workload. Comparing yourself won't help."
"You should have an honest budget meeting with your team before the first study break. What are your priorities for spending? How much is the proctor going to contribute to each study break versus the PAFs? Will one PAF pay per study break, or is it broken up between the team? How much should you be planning to spend per study break?"
"There will be pafees who don't need as much advice from you and skip your meetings. Don't take it personally! Just be there for them to listen to their experience and they'll appreciate you for it."
"It's okay to ask for help when something crazy happens. Most of PAFing is totally within your control, but occasionally there will be an absolutely chaotic mess that comes up and it's not on you to solve everything."
"Set good boundaries for when you will and won't be available. Letting your pafees call and meet with you at any moment on any day isn't sustainable."