It's Conference Season Again Going to Sessions and Presenting at Sessions: Taking Advantage of Mentoring, Professional, and Personal Development Opportunities
A Personal Perspective
Gary Rhodes
Associate Dean, International Education & Senior International Officer,
College of Extended & International Education
Director, Center for Global Education
California State University at Dominguez Hills
As I think about my professional development in the field, I know that one of the ways I’ve been able to expand my knowledge and build my network has been through presenting at and attending conferences. This was particularly important when I was working as a full-time study administrator.
With the broad range of responsibilities in supporting a study abroad office and students, there were always a lot of ideas I had about things I wanted to work on beyond the day-to-day realities, but it was difficult to find time to work on those while keeping up with programmatic responsibilities. People working on specific issues that interested me were also not necessarily based at my home institution or at campuses near enough to allow for easy communication about their research and resource development efforts.
The work I did on health and safety and study abroad started with interactions with others in the field and getting a clear idea of what they were doing by attending conference sessions. I still remember a NAFSA conference session led by Mickey Hanzel Slind and Joan Gore about study abroad health and safety issues and challenges before I started the SAFETI Clearinghouse. That session gave me the opportunity to hear about the work Mickey, Joan, and others were doing and gained me new insight. By speaking with them after the session, I was able to begin a conversation with them about the issues involved. This extended into a continued correspondence and sharing of ideas after that time, which helped me think about what I could do to present on these issues with them and others in the field.
My efforts to develop online resources to support cross-cultural and re-entry development began when I attended a conference session led by Bruce LaBrack. He was an expert on cross-cultural and re-entry issues for study abroad and had been doing work developing in-class courses at the University of the Pacific for students before and after study abroad. Like Mickey and Joan, he was willing to share his knowledge and resources and we ended up collaborating, which resulted in his development of “What’s Up With Culture” and my development of the GlobalScholar.us Online Courses for Study Abroad.
Before I started doing research on the impact of study abroad on retention and success, I had similar reactions to those above while attending conference sessions. Don Rubin and Richard Sutton were involved in the GLOSSARI Project, doing research on the impact of study abroad on retention and success across all public colleges and universities in Georgia. After attending their session, I was able to engage in a dialogue about their processes and the importance of collecting additional data that would show that study abroad did not delay time to graduation, but that students who studied abroad graduated earlier than their peers in many cases, even when using control group comparison data. Our discussions included a special focus on how important this data was when looking at the impact on African American students in Georgia. Since that time, we have continued to collaborate and they have provided support for our CCC SOAR Project, looking at the impact of study abroad on retention and success at California Community Colleges.
As I look back on my interactions with Mickey, Joan, Bruce, Don, and Richard, I know that I owe much to them and their openness to share their expertise and discuss ideas of ways to improve the quality of health and safety resources as well as doing more to look at issues of the impact of study abroad on retention and success. These opportunities were also made available through the openness and mentoring spirits of Mickey, Joan, Don, and Richard. As I’ve continued to interact with all of them, it has become clear that one of their purposes in making the presentation was to create an environment where they were clear about their interest in collaborating with others and sharing their knowledge. For them, conference attendance and presentations created opportunities to share information during their short presentation, while demonstrating to attendees that they were interested in collaborating on the topics in their presentations.
None of the people I've mentioned are based on my campus or in a city near where I live and work. Even though e-mail, Skype, Go-To-Meeting, Linkedin, and other communication resources allow for an expansion of interactions at a distance, I still think that in-person communication at conferences is a critical way to share information and develop oneself as a professional in the field.
Whether it is health and safety, cross-cultural and re-entry training, or the impact of study abroad on retention and success, or other issues in the field, we cannot say we know all the answers. However, there are many good researchers and practitioners in the field that are making a positive impact. There is an increasing number of study abroad staff with doctoral degrees who are focusing research on study abroad issues, writing articles and developing resources that are available in books, journals, newsletters, online and through other sources.
However, the sharing of information through in-person interactions at conferences is critical for expanding knowledge and creating connections with others who can provide support for moving the field forward and allowing individuals to make an impact on the many challenges facing the study abroad field.
I am not saying that collaboration can’t start from a distance or that continued collaboration can’t take place online. However, learning about another country online or in books is not the same as having students actually studying abroad and experiencing the country and culture first-hand. In a similar way, having a person present about their research in person, with follow-up opportunities for public as well as private dialogue, allows for experts to create relationships with others interested in learning and moving the research and resource development forward in ways that online connections may not.
I know that my personal and professional development, as well as my work in the study abroad field has been enhanced through personal and professional relationships which began at conferences and workshops. This would not have happened without the openness and mentoring spirit of people like Mickey, Joan, Bruce, Don, and Richard. I hope that if you attend a conference presentation that I make, I provide an opportunity for dialogue and sharing information so that others can also take the ideas and work I’ve done to the next step.
When you think about whether to attend a regional or national conference, my advice is “GO!” When you attend a session, think about how to connect with presenters and where you can make a positive impact through a connection you are able to make with them at the conference. As a conference presenter, I hope you can also make it clear to attendees that although you are now on the stage making a presentation, you hope that some of the people in the audience will take the work you have done and move it forward with your support and collaboration as well.
A Final Thought… along with the personal and professional development, it is much more human and much more fun to be at a conference together and take the opportunity to get to know each other as people and enjoy time together.
Dedication: I’d like to dedicate this article to my father, Max Robert Rhodes, who passed away in September. He was a great mentor and taught me to see the value in others and to find ways to collaborate with others and, even if you are dedicated to your work, to connect to the person (human) you are working with and to find time to appreciate each other and enjoy the time you are spending together.