NODA Journal 18_2.indd


Reflections of an Advancing Professional

Scott Silverman

As I entered into the fifth year of my current position, I found myself waist-
deep in files I had collected over the years.  My mission: to get rid of unnecessary 
stuff, update my work portfolio, and prepare materials pertaining to my position 
for my eventual successor. Granted, I’ve gone through my files before. In fact, I’ve 
referred to them repeatedly: ideas from prior NODA conferences, notes scrawled in 
the margins of my program books, responses to orientation-related inquiries from 
students. I skimmed out materials I no longer needed—recycling some, reusing the 
single-sided paper in my printer, and shredding other content.

Then I discovered a neat packet that dates back to my original, on-campus 
interview for this position, including the original job listing, a spare curriculum 
vita (printed on one of ten types of resume paper I had purchased for that job 
search), the outline for the on-campus interview, my handwritten notes from the 
committee interview and lunch with senior administrators, and a presentation I 
delivered on a plan of implementation to support first-year student success. This 
sparked a great deal of reflection of my career to date and what I’ve learned in this 
role.

I value the entirety of my experiences with the students here. I love seeing 
students grow and develop during their time at the university. To play a role in 
that growth is a great feeling. I hope that at least a few of the students I have had 
the opportunity to supervise and mentor may go into student affairs, present at 
conferences, and work on college campuses. I’d like to think that I’ve made my 
mark on campus as a professional, as I did before as a student (yes, this is my alma 
mater). Sure, I’ve made mistakes along the way, but I’ve learned from each one. I’ve 
also challenged myself to keep a fresh perspective and stay excited about the work I 
do. 

Here are some ways for all of us in student affairs to challenge ourselves and 
take time to reflect on our own journeys:

1) Experienced professionals: Spend some time reminiscing about your first 
  orientation-specific job. What did you enjoy most about it? What did you 
  enjoy the least? How did you learn from your mistakes? What decisions 
  got you to where you are now? How can you help new and advancing 
  professionals move forward in their careers?

2) Advancing professionals: Go through your file cabinets. You’ll be 
  pleasantly surprised by what you find in there. Some of the resources that 
  you no longer need could be passed on to others in your department or 

PERSPECTIVES

Scott Silverman (scotts@ucr.edu) is the Coordinator of Orientation Programs at the University of 
California, Riverside, and an Associate Editor for The Journal of College Orientation and Transition.

SPRING 2011  •  VOLUME 18, NUMBER 2 113



  campus. Some content related to your program can be donated to the 
  university archives, while other material like payment-related documents, 
  can be shredded (in accordance with your record-keeping procedures). 
  What will you do with the years of materials you find in your office? 
  Perhaps they will inspire new ideas or recall old plans that you want to 
  incorporate in your work.

3) New professionals: If you think you’re a pack-rat, try not to keep 
  everything in your file cabinet. File and organize what you do keep. Check 
  out what is already in your file cabinet. What did your predecessor leave 
  for you? What has your supervisor passed on to you for reference? What 
  system will you use for filing?

4) Graduate students: Find someone you can go to for career advice. It 
  may be your faculty advisor or your supervisor from a graduate 
  assistantship or job. It could even be people you worked with or worked 
  for as an undergraduate, when you first discovered that student affairs was 
  your passion. Pick a person (or two or three) and meet with them to 
  ask if they’ll be your mentor. Ask them what they see for you in 3-5 years 
  post-graduation? Do they recommend getting a doctorate? What might 
  your second job after graduation look like?

A wise person once said to me that you can tell a lot about a person’s work 
performance by what they do when they are transitioning out of a job. I would like 
to think that when I do eventually move on, I will have left this position, and the 
programs with which I worked, much stronger than when I started them. I hope 
that the work I did to develop our program and organize our resources will enable 
whoever comes next to propel this program to great heights for our students.

114  THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE ORIENTATION AND TRANSITION