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Learning Outcome Narrative

José Gámez

Seattle University

SDAD 5900 01: Student Development Capstone Seminar

Dr. Erica Yamamura

6/21/22

https://josegamezsu.weebly.com/
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As a child of working-class immigrants who is the first in the family to attend college,

my core values are community and caring for others. Community and care are core pillars of my

upbringing and have stayed present with me in what I hold dear in my life. I intentionally bring

this caring approach to my work and education. During my time in the Student Development

Administration (SDA) program at Seattle University, I have developed knowledge, professional

experiences, and skills through my professional practice and coursework. These experiences

have molded my student-centered approach and have helped me develop an understanding that I

do this work to create future leaders who can change the world. These values aligned with the

SDA Learning Outcomes to guide my thinking about how my identities and experiences

influence my practice.

Throughout this journey I have also discovered how I can best serve students holistically.

During the SDA program, I have experienced so much transition like returning to classes after 3

years, adjusting to 4 different supervisors within a year, and having to balance full time work

with school. Through these experiences, I have gained valuable knowledge in how theory can

serve those around me. This narrative will cover my areas of strength and growth through

storytelling and how they relate to the learning outcomes. I will explain how theory such as

Schlossberg’s (1989) Marginality vs. Mattering, Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth,

and Baxter-Magolda’s (2012) Self-Authorship influenced my experience.

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome #1: Understanding the foundations and emerging nature of the student

affairs profession and higher education.

I define LO #1 as practitioners needing to understand the history, theory, and context of

higher education, as this informs the way we engage with student needs, emerging trends,
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institutional policies, and practices. Schlossberg’s (1989) Marginality vs. Mattering is a

foundational theory that has informed my practice by showing me the importance of supporting

students to help them understand that they are valued and supported by their institution.

Schlossberg names attention, importance, ego extension, dependence, and appreciation as the 5

components of mattering. Marginality vs. Mattering has guided me through my work and

challenging situations listed below (shown in Artifact B).

LO #1 has pushed me in my practice to be aware of the emerging issues the field of

higher education and the students face. In my practice, the emerging issues are an increase in

mental health challenges in students, the need for belonging and connection during the

pandemic, and DEI around student identities. An example of encountering mental health issues

with students is when I served as the emergency response contact for Housing and Residential

Life (HRL). I supported a student who had self-harmed and was experiencing severe depression

and anxiety. I was able to support this student through active listening and connecting them to

the resources available to them such as a 24/7 hotline for immediate support. I utilized

Schlossberg’s (1989) Marginality vs Mattering theory by sharing that I care about them, by

communicating the importance of their wellbeing, as well as by sharing my appreciation for their

efforts to seek help by reaching out to our on-call team.

While I have been able to develop skills through my experience, leaning on theories plays

a major part in understanding the student affairs and higher education field. Yosso’s (2005)

Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) is a crucial theory in my understanding of the emerging

nature of student affairs. CCW is important because it shows that students of color have capital

and wealth through different lenses such as culture, language, resistance, and familial ties. I have

used CCW in my practice, as demonstrated in my resume (Artifact A), when chairing the cultural
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organization “La Familia” which helped continuing ChicanX/LatinX students mentor first year

students in their adjustment to college life. I advised these students with shared identities see that

their experiences and skills are valuable to their education and their leadership development.

As shown by my Artifact G, I can make sense of the foundation and emerging nature of

student affairs to provide students opportunities for growth and enhance their college experience.

Artifact G is my Residential Curriculum Plan that I implemented throughout the academic year

2021-2022. Through this curriculum, I incorporated Schlossberg’s (1989) Marginality vs.

Mattering by providing opportunities for reflection, appreciation of oneself and others, and for

gaining a sense of belonging. I led an activity that asked students to define their core values and

why they are meaningful. This allowed for the students to connect with one another around their

values and how they hope to use those values to better their community. Through Residential

Curriculum, I understood that student learning beyond the classroom is an emerging topic of the

student affairs field. Understanding the emerging nature of student affairs is crucial to knowing

the development of students. I use this knowledge to guide me and my work.

An area of growth for me is to once again take advantage of the opportunities that

conferences provide. While in undergrad, I attended conferences like NASPA. Conferences help

me be in touch with the field and any emerging practice that colleagues in other campuses may

be implementing. My entire work experience comes from roles in residential life, so learning

from colleagues in other departments is important for my growth as a practitioner. With the

experience gained through my roles and the SDA program, I hope to again go to conferences and

find myself learning from colleagues and their best practices.

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Learning Outcome #2: Understanding students and student issues.

LO #2 challenges practitioners to stay relevant in understanding the issues, tensions,

and obstacles that students face based on their identities and lived experiences while also

developing policies, programs, and systems that are student centered and for all students

despite their backgrounds. In my practice, I have understood students and their issues by

empathizing, allowing space for brainstorming, and engaging with them around the topics that

they needed most. My roles in HRL have taught me that often, students have their best answers

and just need guidance in naming what the problem is and the solution that best suits them. An

example of this was when an RA had financial stressors that forced them to take 2 additional

jobs on top of being an RA. Their mental health and quarterly GPA suffered and in a

conversation with me, they named needing more time and decided to cut back on their other

jobs to prioritize their mental health and academics. This RA was able to finish out the

academic year and was even rehired to be a returning RA and has been working on practicing

balance and prioritizing their health and academics. I put my gained knowledge of student

theories into practice in order to best support students as they face challenges in their daily

lives.

Delgado and Stefancic (2007) talk about Critical Race Theory and posit how it has

come to explore the impact of racism, explaining how racism is routine and not exceptional

(p.132). I believe that to understand students and student issues, I must be willing to see how

the student’s identities show up in their life and educational experience. I demonstrate this

willingness to meet students where they are in my Residential Curriculum (Artifact G) where I

adapted activities and learning outcomes that allowed students to own their identities and lived

experiences. A specific example is when residents participated in an Identi-Tree activity and

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were given a handout of identities and learned to name some of their own. In EDUC 5200 01

Social Justice I was able to engage with the topics of racism and injustice. Understanding and

supporting students is one of the most important parts of the student affairs profession. I have

hosted opportunities for student feedback and looked into my own experiences as a first

generation, student of color to help me get a general idea of issues that could be impacting the

current student population.

As I talked in the previous learning outcome, I feel confident in my skills to understand

students and student issues. My supervisor explains in Artifact E my commitment to connect

with students and support them by seeking to understand their individual situations. One key

aspect of this is to never assume I know exactly what students are going through. I may have an

idea, but each individual experiences and feels the impact of instances differently. This is an

area that is most important to me because without students and their need for support, I would

not enjoy this work. I want to make sure I stay connected to the students and available to listen

and understand their concerns. These concerns may change from time to time as students come

and go. This is another reason why it is important to not assume that I know what students

need.

A continued area of focus is keeping a close pulse on the student population. I have

been asking myself why some students make certain decisions and I have found myself

generalizing. I believe that this practice is dangerous as it leads me to put students in a box and

drives me away from the needs of the students if we cannot connect. I take a second to think

that the needs of this current population are different from mine and from future generations.

As a new practitioner in the field, I aim to always remember that the students and their issues

are what drive my work and I should always seek understanding.

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Learning Outcome #3: Exhibiting professional integrity and ethical leadership in

professional practice.

I define LO #3 as the commitment to lead ethically while holding professional values at

the forefront of my work when handling student affairs. Student involvement theory explains

how positive educational engagement throughout college helps learning and the development

of students through their college experience (Webber et al., 2013). Exhibiting professional

integrity and ethical leadership while creating positive engagement opportunities helps foster a

learning environment conducive for students to succeed and learn.

I take LO #3 to mean that as a practitioner, I need to display professional integrity and

ethical leadership in my daily practice by being an agent of the university who leads with the

mission, vision, and values in mind as well as keeps the students in mind. In SDAD 5760

Leadership and Governance the class studied cases of decisions departments and institutions

made that showed questionable thought process. My Mission Statement (Artifact B) walks

others through my history in student leadership and how mentors have shaped me to lead with

professional integrity.

As a first-generation student, I was privileged to have mentors who created educational

opportunities for me to grow as a student leader. Now, as I am interacting with students daily, I

am reminded of how crucial this learning outcome is, especially in the practice of student

conduct. Student conduct can have real implications to the educational trajectory of students.

Artifact A demonstrates my ability to execute conduct meetings effectively while creating a

reflective environment for the students to grow. I have shown my ability to make ethical

decisions during the conduct process by thinking of the larger community and how each

situation may impact the student facing charges and the larger community.
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Learning Outcome #4: Understanding and fostering diversity, justice, and a sustainable world

formed by a global perspective and Jesuit Catholic tradition.

LO #4 means that as a practitioner, I need to work towards diversity, equity and social

justice while maintaining a global perspective and Jesuit Catholic approach of holistic care and

sustainability. Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth brings forth the skills, knowledge,

and abilities utilized by communities of color to survive and thrive in the face of racist and

oppressive environments (p.69). The capital that students bring with their experiences and

identities informs the importance of LO #4 in relation to the Student affairs field and the efforts

to create a diverse, justice oriented and sustainable world. In EDUC 5200 01 Social Justice I

engaged with the idea of social justice and its relevance to the student affairs field. My social

justice class portfolio is my Artifact C because it demonstrates my vulnerability and desire to

continue having an open mind to DEI and social justice. In this portfolio I submitted a

reflection of my academic growth that was influenced by my personal story, and by the stories

of my colleagues. For example, I speak about the importance of representation to the

communities of color who seek role models that have set the path for them to potentially

follow.

As an Assistant Resident Director at UCSB, I advised a group of Chicanx/Latinx

student volunteers who mentored incoming first year students from the same cultural

background. It is important for students to see others that look like them succeeding in an

environment that they may not feel was built for them. I am confident in my skills and

knowledge around this learning outcome and know that to keep serving students, I need to keep

learning outcome 4 at the forefront of the work that I do. As I continue to gain experiences and

knowledge that prepare me to my transition into my future professional goals of mid-level

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roles, I must remember the importance that fostering diversity, justice, and a sustainable world

has had in my personal life, my work experience, and the student affairs and higher education

field.

LO #4 is crucial because it can mean everything to the experience of our students. As a

straight male, I have needed to educate myself on the importance of Queer Theory and the

resistance of heteronormative structures in society (Abes & Kasch, 2007). Familiarizing myself

with diverse experiences has helped me foster a safe environment where my students have been

able to bring their full selves forward. The Professional Letter of promise (Artifact E) written

by my supervisor speaks to my continued promise to show up for my students and their needs. I

have shown my commitment to LO #4 in situations where students have been vulnerable with

me and expressed the issues they are facing. One example is when my RA mentioned feeling

unseen and unsupported by the department. We sat and talked why this feeling came to be and

how we could show that they were valuable to us. I presented the talking points to my Assistant

Director and together we began to be more intentional with our approach as a department to

ensure students who felt similarly, at least felt seen and recognized for who they are.

Learning Outcome #5: Adapting student services to different environments and cultures.

I define LO #5 as having the ability to consider campus climate, student demographics

and needs, and organizational mission, vision, and values as one thinks of adapting services for

students. Honu (2018) states in Shared Governance: Opportunities and Challenges that the idea

of shared governance has changed in some universities to include students, staff, and others in

decision making process. My understanding of Learning Outcome #5 is that as a practitioner, I

must listen to the needs students express, be flexible and adaptable to mold student services to

meet the needs of the environments and cultures that I find myself serving. This is important
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because as we collaborate and include different voices, student services are a great resource

that may be better prepared to support the student population. Artifact D was a group project

that focused on researching Skyline Community College and sharing the findings around

access to basic need inequities (housing insecurity, food insecurity, technology support and

access to funding). With this project I learned about the community college system, the issues

within it such as the diverse challenges that the students face, as well as the areas that they do

well. My group learned about these basic needs not being met, what the institution is doing to

combat the issues, and we also provided some recommendations for a positive change like

improving the eligibility criteria for emergency funds to include undocumented students.

In SDAD 5760 Leadership and Governance I worked on my leadership profiles where I

interviewed professionals in the field. I interviewed Mr. Brent Calvin, the current

President/Superintendent of College of the Sequoias community college. Mr. Calvin talked

about how important it was for him to be open to change and new environments that not only

gave him new opportunities for professional growth, but also opportunities to better serve

students in a new capacity and environment. This interview was very informative because I

have not felt as comfortable stepping out of my comfort zone regarding my area of practice,

which is residential life. I will say that within residential life I have taken big leaps into new

opportunities and have utilized them to help me progress in my individual professional

experience and how I adapt to new environments and cultures. Some of those leaps include

advocating for outdoor study spaces in my residential community and implementing a small

library for students to exchange course books.

This learning outcome is an area that I would want to grow more in. Although I believe

I am flexible to adjust to the needs of the moment, I wish to develop a more proactive approach
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that allows for collaboration and thinking ahead to adapt services for students before we are in

a crisis that needs those services right away. An example that comes to mind is working with

my housing department to install areas for students to be in community since the building I

serve in does not have communal spaces in half of my building. This can allow for a different

level of engagement with their community.

Learning Outcome #6: Developing and demonstrating skills in leadership and collaboration.

I define LO #6 as continuing to seek opportunities that develop authentic leadership

skills and collaboration with others. I am putting this to practice by challenging myself to lead

our Student Leadership training for Resident Assistants during my first year in my role. I am

also partaking as the only live-in staff in the committee for hiring Assistant Directors in the

housing department. This aligns with Artifact F as I mentioned wanting to challenge myself by

stepping out of my comfort zone and taking leadership opportunities. Both responsibilities also

demonstrate my ability to collaborate with colleagues both as a leader and as a member of the

team.

Developing and demonstrating skills in leadership and collaboration is an area that I

have been privileged to spend years of professional work developing. Student Involvement

Theory explores the way positive educational engagement in college increases learning and

development (Webber et al., 2013). In SDAD 5400 Student Development Theory I leaned into

my experiences with Student Involvement Theory so I could utilize my skills in helping

students grow their college careers by encouraging them to expand their experiences (Astin,

1999). I have had extensive practice in leadership and collaboration through my roles in

housing where I have been involved with the team that created and implemented the Resident

Assistant hiring process. Another opportunity mentioned in Artifact A where I have displayed
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my leadership and collaboration skills was when I participated in piloting the Virtual

Community Assistant (VCA) role in Housing and Residence Life at Seattle University. After

the Assistant Director who was creating the temporary role left, I volunteered to help and lead

the VCA students for the remaining of the quarter. This role came with a challenge as none of

these students lived in the SU community, so all their work was virtual. It was a great

opportunity for me to stretch my leadership skills and learn of new ways to engage with those

around me. As a result, HRL was able to still employ students who relayed on this role for an

income, and we accomplished to still contribute to the goal of supporting residents. I learned

that by collaborating with one another instead of quickly making the easy decision, in this case

it would have been to let student leaders go, we found a meaningful way to give students the

opportunity to grow.

As I have come to acknowledge throughout my SDA journey, this is an area that I will

need to continue being exposed to as I aim to transition to mid-level roles. I am comfortable

being a part of the group who works towards a goal. If I plan to move to an Assistant Director

role of housing, I need to continue being comfortable with stepping up as a leader and

searching for ways to collaborate with others. This is something that makes me both nervous

and excited to make that transition in my professional development.

Learning Outcome #7: Utilizing assessment, evaluation, technology, and research to

improve practice.

I define LO #7 as being intentional to utilize the student experience to create, process,

and implement change based on assessment, evaluation, research, and technological updates to

improve my practice. My best demonstration of putting LO #7 into practice is my artifact G,

Residential Curriculum for the academic year of 2021-2022. In the Residential Curriculum, an
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important aspect is to integrate assessment as an opportunity for growth and development. This

year, I assessed the self-exploration learning goal; specifically, the learning outcome “residents

will be able to identify their own social identities.” This ties to Schlossberg’s (1989)

Marginality vs. Mattering because as students can identify their own identities, they feel like

those identities are seen and valued are an important part of belonging. This helps increase their

sense of belonging and mattering.

In addition to my work experience, in AEDT 5730 01 Human Resources: Training

Education, we learned how important it is to do research and take opportunities for assessment

and evaluations. Through continuous assessment and evaluation opportunities, employers can

be better prepared to give employees tools they need to succeed. Every year, as part of the

Housing department, I conduct 360-degree feedback opportunities for the Resident Assistants

and graduate students I supervise and vice versa (mentioned in Artifact A). Giving feedback to

those I supervise is crucial to my improvement in my practice. In addition, I have also come to

value even more the feedback I receive from them as well because that helps me improve in

how I am landing and impacting those around me. I may have a goal in mind or an idea of how

I want to be seen, but that is not made clear until I receive that feedback directly.

Although I am comfortable with Learning Outcome 7, keeping up with technology and

the new trends is scary and exciting. This is exciting because it means that we are developing

tools that help practitioners be better equipped to support students. The scary part comes from

the fear of not being able to adjust or keep up with the new trends leading the field. Overall, my

experience with LO #7 is only going to continue growing and giving me more tools to better

serve in my roles.
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Learning Outcome #8: Communicating effectively in speech and in writing.

LO #8 pushes me to communicate clearly, professionally, and with accessible language

in speech and writing. To be effective, one needs to communicate in a way that others can

understand. EDUC 5000 02 Intro to Educational Research shows the importance of clear

communication in research. The research needs to be digestible both through speech and

writing for the research to make an impact. I also demonstrate my ability to communicate

effectively in Artifact A: Resume. This is a concise compilation of my education and work

experience that speak to my skills and strengths.

A course that really tested my verbal communication skills was COUN 5910 Basic

Counseling Skills. In this course I got to practice the important skill of intentional language

around different counseling skills like passive and active responses. This course gave me the

opportunity to be concise and direct with my communication, which allows for others to share

their experiences. Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (1984) tells us that the best way to

learn is by gaining experiences. This counseling class gave us weekly opportunities to practice

our skills, which has allowed me to put new skills to practice in my everyday work.

LO #8 is an area that I often need to be intentional on. With English being my second

language, I often need to think hard before saying or writing what comes to mind because it is

not always grammatically correct for the English language. My mind thinks in Spanish, and I

need to translate everything and make it fit correctly. Therefore LO #8 will always be an area

of growth of mine. I am proud of the progress that I have made and know that this outcome will

require continuous work.

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Learning Outcome #9: Understanding issues surrounding law, policy, finance, and

governance.

I define LO #9 as understanding law, policy, finance, and governance to utilize best

practices to support students, colleagues, and the institution I serve. I have always believed this

is difficult for me and reminds me of the political organizational model which can feel like a

jungle when negotiating with administrators (Manning, 2018). I learned about the political

model in the SDAD 5760 Leadership and Governance class as we talked about the obstacles

that faculty faced as they navigated challenging the university and the functions they could

play. Through my housing roles, I have been trained on understanding and abiding by FERPA

laws. Artifact F mentions that over the next few years, I plan to continue honing my

understanding of law, policy, finance, and governance through trainings and leadership

opportunities where I lead my future teams. We have mandatory Title IX and Clery Act

trainings each year and must follow strict finance policies that impact the daily operations of

our communities. I am confident in my abilities to implement LO #9 into my work and know

that I have to continue working to be consistent throughout my career.

The SDA program has given me many experiences that have helped my growth in this

learning outcome. I was most worried about LO # 9 when I first entered the program because I

was not confident in my ability to comprehend issues around law, policy, finance, and

governance. I took courses like SDAD 5850 Higher Education Finance to help my

understanding of historical context around finance and SDAD 5800 Higher Education Law. I

was also able to work on Artifact D to gain knowledge about the financial differences between

a 4-year institution and a community college. In conjunction with these courses and

assignments, I used self-authorship (Baxter-Magolda, 2012) in my learning to reflect on the

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policies at hand and make decisions in the workplace. My skills with LO #9 have grown since

my time in these courses and I know that as I gain more experience and transition into other

roles, I will be more familiar to the challenges with LO #9.

Learning Outcome #10: Establishing and enhancing professional identity.

I define LO #10 as utilizing my professional and lived experiences to reflect, develop,

and express what my authentic identity is in the professional setting. Patton and colleagues

explain that Magolda’s self-authorship theory tells us that students can name and explain what

their trajectory looks like and how their own sense-making and beliefs are also crucial to their

experience (Patton et al., 2016). As a first generation, professional of color, self-authorship

theory plays a part in how I show up and develop in the field. I demonstrate this learning

outcome in my practice by trying to be my authentic self in every room I enter. I have learned

to take ownership of my mistakes and learn from the experience. I have also learned that part of

the professional identity I want to have is one that makes space for vulnerability and communal

support of one another.

In SDAD 5400 Student Development Theory we explored the impact that self-

authorship theory has on students in their college experience. As a professional, being able to

establish and enhance a professional identity is crucial to the success of a new practitioner. In

my ongoing 6 years of professional work, I have had to learn what my professional identity is.

Having the ability to codeswitch is important when speaking to people who hold different

positions of power and identities. Codeswitching and adjusting to a new environment remind

me of Schlossberg’s transition theory because I have needed to begin new chapters and new

opportunities. Over the last 3 years, I have had 3 different roles because of moving up to
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support my department or being called back to my alma mater. I rose to the challenges and

opportunities and grew as a professional because of it.

With that being said, I also want to make sure I am not rigid in what my established

professional identity is. To me, part of enhancing my professional identity is to leave room for

areas that I may not know are important to me and that I can discover along my professional

journey. I have learned to have a goal in mind while staying open minded to any unforeseen

changes. I have learned that I value flexibility and hold it as a strength I am proud of.

Conclusion

The SDA learning outcomes have helped me reflect on my strengths and the areas I want

to continue growing in. My development and skills are ongoing, and I hope to always have the

mindset of never knowing enough. Throughout this experience, I have found that I can rely more

on theory and research to inform my work in areas that I may not be as familiar in. If I am honest

with myself, my last 3 years in the SDA program had to be heavily focused in my work life

because of the severity of work. I could have made more of an effort to connect my work with

theory, research, and my classes. My reality is that in trying to balance it all, I juggled them

separately most of the time and was not able to connect them often.

Being in and building community through a caring approach has been values that I hold

deep in my core. I truly believe that theory and research have valuable information that can help

me become a more successful practitioner. In the same way I know theory and experiences can

inform my work, I also want to continue to be curious and not assuming that I know what those

around me are going through. I believe that these learning outcomes and my growth so far will

continue to shape the practitioner that I want to become. I am hopeful for the unknown future

ahead and trust that this experience has prepared me to be the best practitioner I can be.
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Abes, E. S., & Kasch, D. (2007). Using queer theory to explore lesbian college students’ multiple

dimensions of identity. Journal of College Student Development, 48(6), 619–636.

https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2007.0069

Astin, A. W. (1999). Student Involvement: A Developmental Theory for Higher Education.

Journal of College Student Development, 40(5), 518–529.

Baxter-Magolda, M.B., King, P.M., Taylor, K.B., & Wakefield, K.M. (2012). Decreasing

authority dependence during the first year of college. Journal of College Student

Development, 53(3), 418-435.

Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2007). Critical race theory and criminal justice. Humanity &

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Honu, Y. A. K. (2018). Shared Governance: Opportunities and Challenges.   Academy of

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Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and

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Yosso, T.J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community

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