Tough Choices: Challenges of Working In A One Person DSS Office Andy Christensen Carleton College

Genesis of Topic  Conversation at AHEAD 2010 with fellow member  Very few presentations aimed at solo practitioners  What would I want to learn about being a solo practitioner at a conference presentation?

Essential Questions:  For those of us working alone, except for office support staff and student workers, which duties must we do ourselves, and which can we delegate?  Each of us makes this decision again and again in isolation by ourselves. Purpose of presentation is to aggregate and confirm our thinking on this question

Questions and Input  Data are meant as a springboard for discussion  Provides context for your own thinking and procedures on your campus

Background Data  Subjects: DSS Professionals working in one-person offices  Method: Online survey  Participants: Recruited through DSSHE-L and other listservs

Survey Questions  Likert scale rating (1 to 5) of various DSS duties and appropriateness of delegating to others v. handling personally  1: Most Likely To Delegate  2: Somewhat Likely To Delegate  3: About Average  4: Somewhat Important To Do Personally  5: Most Important To Do Personally

Sample Size  N = 31  Not bad for week of July 4  Many professionals at small schools are released in the summer

Survey Findings (1=least important to do personally; 5=most important to do personally)  Evaluating Disability Documentation  mean=4.96. All but one respondent indicated this was the most important for them to do personally.  Thank goodness.

Survey Findings (1=least important to do personally; 5=most important to do personally)  Notifying Professors of Student Accommodations  mean=3.10. Kind of all over the place.  1: n=6; 2: n=4; 3: n=6; 4: n=7; 5: n=6

Survey Findings (1=least important to do personally; 5=most important to do personally)  Obtaining Accessible Course Materials  mean=3.48. Surprisingly high—no confidentiality at risk  1: n=2; 2: n=5; 3: n=6; 4: n=6; 5: n=8

Survey Findings (1=least important to do personally; 5=most important to do personally)  Proctoring student exams  mean=1.74  1: n=18; 2: n=3; 3: n=3; 4: n=1; 5: n=2  Has a lot to do with campus culture around exams

Survey Findings (1=least important to do personally; 5=most important to do personally)  Returning completed exams to professors  mean=1.68  1: n=18; 2: n=3; 3: n=3; 4: n=1; 5: n=2

Survey Findings (1=least important to do personally; 5=most important to do personally)  Meeting with prospective students and families  mean=4.81  1: n=0; 2: n=1; 3: n=0; 4: n=2; 5: n=23

Survey Findings (1=least important to do personally; 5=most important to do personally)  Making sure campus is physically accessible  mean=3.43  1: n=2; 2: n=5; 3: n=7; 4: n=10; 5: n=6  Pretty close to a Bell curve

Survey Findings (1=least important to do personally; 5=most important to do personally)  Supervising student workers  mean=3.30  1: n=3; 2: n=5; 3: n=5; 4: n=9; 5: n=5

Survey Findings (1=least important to do personally; 5=most important to do personally)  Serving as campus expert on universal design  mean=3.59  1: n=3; 2: n=0; 3: n=10; 4: n=9; 5: n=7

Survey Findings (1=least important to do personally; 5=most important to do personally)  Overseeing residence life and meal plan accommodations  mean=2.19  1: n=11; 2: n=9; 3: n=2; 4: n=1; 5: n=4

The Big Picture  Documentation Evaluation (4.96)  Notifying Professors (3.10)  Obtaining Course Materials (3.48)  Proctoring (1.74)  Returning Exams (1.68)  Meeting Prospectives (4.81)  Physical Access (3.43)  Student Workers (3.30)  Universal Design (3.59)  Res. Life & Meals (2.19)

Questions and Comments Andy Christensen