Wentworth Institute of Technology

Joseph Rios

Student Success Authority

Values, Trust and the Art of Student Advising

I currently work at a technology institute, where our students major in science, technology, and design, which allows them to use and develop technology tools as part of their everyday curriculum. And yet, we still see the same needs in our students to develop meaningful in-person relationships with their peers in the same ways their peers a decade or two decades ago did. What has shifted is how students use technology to sift through and filter out the experiences that meet their expectations. Students want to know about learning outcomes and how the experiences will help them differentiate their experiences than their peers.

Our students are also invested in building a community where everyone has an opportunity to feel a sense of belonging. The challenge, now, is to provide that experience! Our student engagement platform is connected with our student information system, which allows us to track the engagement of students based on their identity groups. This allows my staff to ask critical questions about who is attending, who isn’t attending, and how we can meet the needs of the students who may be at most risk of missing out on community building and belonging before they leave our institution.

“Institutions should review their engagement data that includes class or income when possible to ensure that all students are able to participate fully in their campus traditions and community.”

That commitment to belonging is rooted in a leadership philosophy shaped early in his career. In 2002, I was selected as a small group facilitator for a national LeaderShape session. As I learned more about values-driven leadership and how our leadership styles can help build strong teams, I began to understand that my role in developing strong leaders began by helping clarify the values of the students I worked with and the outcomes they wished to create. Since then, I tell students that my role is to help them understand the impact of their choices as leaders and to hold them accountable for the choices that they make. But until they make a choice, I am a safe space to explore ideas and impact. In any new student advising situation, I always lead with this clarification of my role, and then I help students navigate their choices before they decide. It has helped me build trust and competence among the students I work with and I am proud of the outcomes that the students develop with this style of advising and support.

Inclusion, Access and the Path to Leadership

To create meaningful connections and engagement opportunities for diverse student communities, our university has embedded inclusive excellence as an institutional goal and strategic pillar, which will help our students graduate with the skills to navigate a diverse and complex world. We train our students to understand that the intentionality of inclusion, in the same way they develop products and machines that need to meet a variety of needs, is the same concept when creating programs and services for their members and students across the campus.

Yet inclusion without access is incomplete. Our engagement data suggests that increased student engagement is correlated with higher grade point averages, but this engagement can come at a financial cost. One very real challenge that institutions of all types and sizes need to face is the increasing costs involved in engaging students outside of the classroom. For instance, Pell-eligible students may lack the resources to afford off-campus tradition events and students commuting to class may take on higher expenses when all campus-wide events are held in the evenings and weekends. Institutions should review their engagement data that includes class or income when possible to ensure that all students are able to participate fully in their campus traditions and community.

I would encourage new professionals to focus on two types of professional development: one that improves their current skill set to benefit their institution, and another that prepares them for an elevated role. Ask for support from your institution about skills that directly benefit the institution now, while taking control of skill development for your next venture. Taking control of your professional development gives you agency and agility, and perhaps even the ability to follow your own professional goal. This type of professional development doesn’t have to come in the form of a conference or institutestyle learning. It can come from taking on a leadership role in a professional organization or within your division. It could be researching and writing blogs on topics that interest you. Or it can be seeking out mentors in your field who can help give perspective on how to achieve your goals.