SEAHO Report - Spring 2017 - 32

SEAHO Features
like to implement in leading my life in Student Affairs is, "Believe
in the goodness of each student who walks through your door.
Treat them like you would want your son/daughter/best friend
to be treated" (Bloom & Martin, 2002). Key ways to live out this
phrase is by meeting the student in the waiting area or in your
doorway as well as welcoming the student and giving a proper
introduction of yourself and your role. One consideration often
overlooked is the presentation of your office. Before any hearing,
or at the start of the year, brainstorm five things you can do to
make your office more disarming. An exercise you can use to
assist with this is to sit on the other side of your desk and simply look at your space from the student's perspective. Are you
creating a welcoming sight? Alternatively, is your space bare or
uninviting? Is your desk neat and organized or is it cluttered and
messy? Do you have things that interest you around your office or
do you have bare walls? Every object present in an office is an opportunity to start a conversation with a student,
so consider putting something that interests you somewhere in view of a student so that it might catch their eye,
allowing them to start a conversation with you. Once the conversation has started, capitalize on that conversation topic.
Phase II: Discover
The opportunity to capitalize on the conversation you have with your student happens in the second phase,
Discover. The Discover phase covers a bulk of the conduct process, as you need to discover information not only
about the student but also about the incident. Once the student has sat down, build rapport through conversation. Get to know them and why they are attending the school. Not only does it allow you to tailor sanctions to
their needs and interests, it allows you to better understand them as a person and student. Some important hearing officer behaviors during this phase are affirming and summarizing what the student has shared, as well as
feeling it out and digging a little deeper past surface level responses. Questions to consider asking are: Where are
you from? Have you always lived in the southeast? What were you involved in in high school? Have you attended
any programs in your Residence Hall? Who are the most important role models in your life? Since attending the
institution, what have you accomplished? The purpose is to make the student feel comfortable opening up to you
a little more so that they can feel more relaxed in discussing the incident at hand. Going through this phase is
extremely important as it allows you to learn more about the student's strengths, fears, and passions.
Phase III: Dream
The next phase is the Dream phase and it can be interspersed with the Discover phase. This phase allows you to
figure out what the hopes and dreams of the student are and how you might assist them in reaching those goals.
An important hearing officer behavior during this phase include continuing to listen purposefully and making
connections between the Discover phase and this phase. Questions you might ask a student during your hearing
are What do you believe and hope accomplish by being in college? and What do you want to do in the future?
This is the perfect opportunity to learn more about the student's drive. Based off what you have learned during
the previous phase, it is important to connect the dots with them as well as encouraging them that there are
many means to an end. Often, as the hearing officer, at this point in the hearing, I hand the student a wand (pen)
and ask, "If you could do anything you wanted without any limitations, what would you do or what would you
become?" Students are usually taken aback by this activity, but more often than not, what they want to become
is very tangible. With the information gathering during this phase, I set out to the Design phase and assist in
mapping out a plan.
SEAHO Report Spring 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Spring 2017