Individuals can use the core competencies to better understand the foundation of knowledge and expertise required in the unions and activities field.

Specifically, consider the core competencies:

  • When developing training programs for graduate students and staff
  • For self-reflection regarding skills and opportunities for growth
  • During career planning exercises, understanding that senior leaders must have expertise in all competency areas
  • As part of job descriptions, to craft consistent roles and responsibilities across the profession
  • When determining assessment criteria or conducting evaluation projects 

Core Competencies & Skill Sets

Assessment, Evaluation, & Research

The ability to understand the language of assessment, evaluation, and research; collect and analyze different types of data; and communicate the results to drive decision making within the organization.

Assessment, Evaluation, & Research Skill Sets

KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Assessment-, evaluation-, and research-specific language
  • Differences between assessment, evaluation, and research
ABILITY TO:
  • Understand when to use assessment, evaluation, or research methodologies based on data needed
  • Develop working knowledge of various reasoning methodologies
  • Ground assessment, evaluation, and research in relevant theory related to higher education and learning
  • Incorporate student voice in the assessment, evaluation, and research design process
  • Understand the importance of using assessment, evaluation, and research to support decisions, set priorities, and align with campus mission, vision, and values
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Assessment, evaluation, and research methods for various campus populations and institution types
  • Historical development and current trends in assessment methods as well as implications for application based on campus populations
  • The importance of using a social justice lens for assessment, evaluation, and research to prevent disproportionate harm to historically minoritized students
ABILITY TO:
  • Develop and utilize assessment, evaluation, and research tools to align with an institution’s priorities and values
  • Demonstrate critical thinking and analysis
  • Utilize assessment and planning as a tool to address student learning outcomes and inform institutional decision-making and accreditation priorities
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Software used for creating, implementing, and analyzing assessment, evaluation, and research projects
  • Research methods and applications of assessment, evaluation, and research
  • Correct use of assessment, evaluation, and research data to make decisions
ABILITY TO:
  • Develop data collection strategies that complement methodology choices
  • Implement data governance programs that comply with institutional policy
  • Employ privacy, security, and equity when collecting and utilizing demographic data
  • Accurately interpret data
  • Align decision making with desired outcomes and use of critical thinking skills
  • Write empirically based reports and recommendations
  • Share data effectively to a wide variety of audiences
  • Assist students in understanding the importance of assessment, evaluation, and research, and how these techniques can be used in their future work
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Ethical implications of assessment, evaluation, and research, such as human subject research, development of data-gathering tools, and interpretation and communication of results
ABILITY TO:
  • Conduct assessment, evaluation, and research in a socially just and equitable manner
  • Ethically use and share data, being conscious of issues of confidentiality and respect
  • Consistently ensure that references to research are appropriately cited and attributed
  • Create and be an active participant in scholarly contributions
  • Submit research proposals and follow campus-specific institutional review board guidelines

Event Management

The ability to successfully plan and execute high-quality programs with and for campus and external stakeholders.

Event Management Skill Sets

KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Venue-specific scheduling and room reservation policies
  • Contract creation, review, negotiation, and execution
  • Event planning timelines
  • Best practices related to on-site work with contracted talent and vendors
  • Environmentally responsible event practices
  • Relevant local and national laws and ordinances
ABILITY TO:
  • Gather and utilize student and community input relative to proposed content
  • Create balanced event programming to serve the full campus community, paying attention to cultural and social identities
  • Develop and maintain relationships with agencies and third-party vendors
  • Establish event objectives, such as revenue generation and learning outcomes
  • Create and operate within an event budget
  • Develop a volunteer or staffing plan, including training
  • Generate assessment and post-event follow-up plans
  • Liaise with campus groups and event stakeholders to build relationships across campus
  • Organize catering and food as needed for events while following campus and venue-specific guidelines
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Various customer service models
  • Venue-specific layout and capacity, including software used to facilitate reservations
  • Basic production and audio-visual terms and capabilities
  • Accessibility compliance regulations and best practices
ABILITY TO:
  • Create diagrams utilizing software and equipment inventory
  • Create schedules and sequencing for staff duties
  • Create and implement communication plans, set-up information, day-of-show plans, and clean-up/strike plans
  • Enhance events through audio-visual and technology
  • Tactfully negotiate last-minute requests and challenges
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Emergency management, including fire code requirements
  • Security and risk mitigation strategies
  • Institution-specific event policies and insurance requirements
  • Venue-specific risk and safety policies and procedures
  • When and how to consult with upper administration, supervisors, campus partners, and institutional legal counsel related to risk and safety
ABILITY TO:
  • Communicate fire and safety requirements and mediate concerns
  • Anticipate risks, including reputational risks, and develop contingency plans
  • Execute emergency action plans
  • Navigate increased challenges of high-profile speakers/events

Facility Management

The ability to successfully create and maintain attractive, safe, fully operable, built environments.

Facility Management Skill Sets

KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • The management of facility operations
  • Facilities’ role in the institution’s educational mission
  • Institutional collective bargaining practices and agreements as they relate to facilities management and associated trades
  • Ethics in collective bargaining and contracting
  • The use and creation of audits, deferred maintenance, and capital renewal planning
  • Inventory processes and control systems
  • Appropriate work health and safety practices and legal requirements
ABILITY TO:
  • Formulate and execute operations and capital replacement budgets
  • Develop and implement plans to ensure work quality and service levels
  • Formulate and articulate risk management, emergency management, and business continuity plans per institutional guidelines as well as all relevant laws
  • Create and maintain policies and procedures to support diverse campus population needs
  • Develop and implement plans for preventative, periodic, and corrective maintenance
  • Implement a duty of care to provide a facility that complements the priorities of the institution
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Current practices and data used in delivering facility maintenance services, including transportation; grounds care; custodial services; access/security; furniture, fixtures, and equipment care
  • Tasks, planning, and impact of individual facilities management trades (such as HVAC, plumbing, and carpentry) on the facility and the building’s systems
  • Current products and technology for floor coverings, wall coverings, and other fixed assets
  • Industry standards, such as APPA (Association for Higher Education Facilities Officers) Level of Service Standards, for custodial, maintenance, and grounds
  • Relevant workplace health and safety requirements as they relate to the appropriate accreditation of staff and visiting trades
ABILITY TO:
  • Oversee daily facilities management processes including maintenance, projects, and custodial
  • Plan maintenance and equipment replacement cycles
  • Plan outages for repair needs, including communication and management action plans
  • Manage service contracts
  • Communicate and document practices, processes, and expectations
  • Foster and maintain positive tenant relationships
  • Assess staffing and services within facility against industry standards
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Space usage and the impact of losing/gaining space on programs and functions
  • Qualitative and quantitative measurement tools to inform facility enhancements and capital planning
  • Basics of building construction and engineering
  • Fiscal impact of design and lead time
  • Human resource considerations related to building construction and expansion
  • The impact of environmentally conscious (green) design and construction, including familiarity with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) principles and other sustainability standards
  • Basic principles of interior design, including lighting, decorating, furniture, and finishes
  • Threat and risk assessment to create and execute emergency plans
ABILITY TO:
  • Utilize assessment data for the long-term management and planning of facilities
  • Communicate efficiently with various stakeholders and the interdependent trades
  • Develop funding strategies for capital renewal and deferred maintenance cost
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Fundamentals of facility planning, such as feasibility studies and project delivery approaches
  • Principles of universal design and applicable laws related to ability
  • P3 (Public Private Partnerships) concepts
  • Institutional master plans and campus priorities
  • Relevant building codes/regulations including safety, security, and historical preservation protocols
  • Renovation/construction terminology and structural systems
  • Changing trends in construction and renovation design to create inclusive environments
  • Relationship of the physical environment and constructed components to building community, campus climate, and sense of belonging
ABILITY TO:
  • Plan and manage noncapital renovation projects
  • Represent diverse population needs in design, construction, and management of facilities
  • Understand, advocate for, and communicate the Role of the College Union the institutional master plan
  • Consider institutional standards for sustainability
  • Read and understand architectural drawings
  • Create and manage capital projects
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Energy and utilities management and institutional policies related to usage and conservation
  • Relevant recycling laws/ordinances and related compliance issues
  • Environmental impact of chemicals, fumes, and trash produced by food service, programs, and custodial or maintenance activities
  • LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards and green design, recycling, and composting programs
  • Trends in products and processes that promote environmental sustainability and stewardship
ABILITY TO:
  • Manage utilities within institutional policies and environmental guidelines
  • Implement and coordinate recycling, composting, and other sustainable efforts based on institutional requirements and best practices
  • Work with local municipalities or resources outside of campus
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Computerized maintenance management system operation and usage
  • Institutional practices and guidelines regarding implementation and service for information technology needs
  • Information technology procurement processes and practices
  • Smart buildings and the Building Internet of Things (BIoT)
  • Data security requirements
  • Networking needs throughout the building
  • Building Automation Systems (BAS) or Direct Digital Control (DDC) systems
ABILITY TO:
  • Assess usage of technology throughout a building
  • Integrate media and technology into event and other spaces
  • Collaborate on wide-ranging technological needs and upgrades
  • Manage Building Internet of Things (BIoT) within institutional policies and best practices
  • Communicate with a wide variety of stakeholders at different knowledge levels

Fiscal Management

The ability to create simple and complex budgets, understand funding sources, create systems for monitoring and evaluating budgets, and understand investment strategies.

Fiscal Management Skills Sets

KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Accounting principles, such as debits, credits, assets, liabilities, and fund balances
  • Campus accounting systems and software
  • Different budget revenue sources, such as student activity fees, tuition dollars, state funds, auxiliary revenues, and restricted development accounts, and the policies and regulations that govern them
  • Campus and other relevant financial policies and procedures
  • Budgeting approaches, such as incremental, program, formula, zero-based, and responsibility-centered
  • Campus-determined line items that affect budgets, such as salary and benefits, campus overheads, student activity or program fees, and utility charges
ABILITY TO:
  • Integrate planning, programming, and assessment into a budget
  • Make mid-year adjustments in budgets as circumstances require and campus policies allow, based on review and assessment
  • Cooperate with auditors and provide appropriate responses to audit findings
  • Include others in a participatory budget process
  • Understand, communicate, and interpret financial reports
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Departmental, division, and institutional strategic plans and how they relate to budget development
  • Create a repair and replacement schedule for capital budgeting and integrate into the operational budget
  • Create pro forma cash flows to anticipate operational costs of new facilities
  • Create a long-term employee plan which may include employee additions or reductions and integrate this into the operational budget
  • Build partnerships with other departments on campus to increase revenue or reduce costs
ABILITY TO:
  • Create and support persuasive arguments for new initiatives
  • Utilize software and systems to track and monitor expenditures and revenue
  • Understand campus policies and expectations regarding auxiliary support of nonauxiliary campus functions
  • Communicate reasoning to prioritize needed resources
  • Formulate and execute capital replacement budgets
  • Utilize campus financial reporting systems for informed decision making
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Available funding sources and their benefits and challenges
  • Institutional policies regarding departmental and student organization fundraising
  • Development and fundraising principles
  • Grant writing, management, and reporting principles
ABILITY TO:
  • Serve as a responsible steward of funds raised/donated
  • Work effectively with campus development officers
  • Communicate persuasively and ethically with potential donors about identified needs/wishes
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Contract components and various contract types
  • Institutional policies governing contract authority and management
  • The benefits and downfalls of self-operation versus outsourcing
  • Contractual implications with corporations and their social impact
ABILITY TO:
  • Review and understand contracts within institutional context
  • Create a request for proposal
  • Create and negotiate contracts
  • Manage contracts and personnel as they relate to collective bargaining
  • Manage institutional vendor contracting and procurement processes
  • Independently research effectiveness of a proposed vendor

Human Resources

The ability to manage organizational processes, including human resource needs of staff members, in a consistent and equitable manner.

Human Resources Skill Sets

KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Organizational culture theories and how their usage affects various identities differently
  • Group development stages
  • Change management
  • Operating within a campus political environment
ABILITY TO:
  • Intentionally develop and maintain effective organizational culture
  • Provide intentional opportunities for organizational learning
  • Lead departmental change while maintaining morale
  • Communicate effectively with a diverse employee population
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Equal opportunity laws
  • Ethical practices in human resources
  • Policies, guidelines, and ethics of hiring and promotion
  • Institutional and ethical collective bargaining practices and agreements
ABILITY TO:
  • Develop human resource policies through collaboration with institution’s human resource office
  • Create and institute fair, inclusive, and nondiscriminatory hiring and promotion practices
  • Lead an ethical search from beginning to end
  • Ensure compliance with relevant laws and guidelines
  • Ensure privacy and confidentiality of communications and records, including security of electronic documents, as protected under the law
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Training theories, techniques, processes, and programs, including online offerings
  • Talent development and how to maximize human potential
ABILITY TO:
  • Develop and present staff training materials and workshops that include learning outcomes
  • Identify and provide access to continuing education and professional development opportunities to promote the continuous improvement of the professional competence and skills of all personnel
  • Develop and implement on-boarding and off-boarding policies and procedures
  • Develop inclusive training materials to meet all levels of education and ability within the work environment
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Coaching and mentoring principles and techniques
  • Institutional recognition and reward programs and procedures
  • Institutional performance evaluation processes and procedures
  • Institutional and departmental disciplinary and/or termination policies and procedures
  • Conflict management techniques
  • Relevant human resource laws and policies, such as leave, conflict of interest, and reasonable accommodations
ABILITY TO:
  • Utilize effective communication practices
  • Develop an environment of respect
  • Provide timely and effective feedback
  • Develop and implement recognition and reward programs
  • Establish and implement equitable accountability systems throughout the organization
  • Engage in frequent review and update of annual plans to reduce stress levels and negative connotations associated with annual appraisals
  • Utilize performance appraisals to assist with improved employee performance
  • Flex supervision styles to meet the needs of staff

Marketing

The ability to identify and connect with different audiences and to develop and use effective promotions, communication, and information in multiple media and formats.

Marketing Skill Sets

KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Branding and the concepts associated with creation, application, and protection of institutional/departmental identity
  • Institutional and departmental mission, goals, and brand promise
  • Principles of ethical marketing
  • Strategies to identify desired audiences
  • Marketing strategies, channels, and techniques
  • Importance of tone and language
  • Public relations concepts and best practices
  • Inclusive marketing and communication standards and practices
ABILITY TO:
  • Communicate institutional and departmental mission, goals, and brand promise verbally and in writing
  • Apply institutional and departmental mission and goals to branding and audience identification
  • Develop a product, program, or service based on demonstrated audience need
  • Anticipate how a product, program, or service would affect or be interpreted by various campus populations
  • Apply inclusive excellence strategies in departmental marketing and communication
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Market research techniques, such as focus groups, surveys, attendance, best practices, evaluation, and comparisons
  • Connections between marketing strategies and assessment/evaluation efforts
  • Digital and social marketing analytics tools
  • Customer relationship management principles and systems
ABILITY TO:
  • Complete a strategic analysis and assessment
  • Evaluate a product, program, or service based on audience feedback and other relevant metrics
  • Provide input on appropriate channels for distribution of products, programs, or services
  • Use student learning outcomes data to support and drive the selection of developmentally appropriate marketing techniques
  • Measure and understand the impact of different marketing techniques on revenue generation and adjust future strategies accordingly
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Message development
  • Social media, print media, and digital media and their appropriate uses
  • Emerging communication technologies
ABILITY TO:
  • Develop and distribute departmental messages that deliver on brand promise
  • Determine appropriate use of marketing and communication technology
  • Leverage marketing channels to achieve strategic goals

Organizational Leadership

The ability to develop and communicate a vision so that others commit and take action to fulfill the mission and goals of the organization.

Organizational Leadership Skill Sets

KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Self-assessment and evaluation tools and instruments
  • Self-reflection methods
  • Feedback tools and practices
ABILITY TO:
  • Develop and articulate a personal leadership style
  • Convey a sense of personal self-confidence
  • Learn from prior experiences as well as the experiences of others
  • Utilize self-reflection methods toward personal growth
  • Solicit feedback and apply results to future work
  • Develop and apply a personal set of ethics, morals, and values
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Problem-solving methods and techniques
  • Information-gathering and consultation techniques and processes
  • Decision-making models and their application
ABILITY TO:
  • Effectively apply basic problem-solving techniques
  • Examine problems from multiple perspectives
  • Use decision-making models
  • Gather and analyze accurate information to make educated decisions
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Definitions, causes, and consequences of conflict
  • Conflict resolution techniques, approaches, or models
  • Emotional intelligence and its applications
ABILITY TO:
  • Understand causes of conflict and apply theories for addressing those causes
  • Resolve conflict with effective interpersonal skills and mediate conflict between others
  • Neutralize automatic/unconscious reactions when engaged in conflict
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Communication styles
  • Value and benefits of partnerships within and beyond the institutional community
ABILITY TO:
  • Identify potential partners and projects for collaboration
  • Develop ethical and effective collaborative relationships
  • Contribute productively in group settings and work in teams
  • Develop, communicate, and achieve common goals
  • Negotiate how resources will be shared
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Group facilitation theories and methods
  • Theories and techniques related to leadership, mentoring, and mentorship
  • Group dynamics theories and techniques and their application
ABILITY TO:
  • Establish trust among team members
  • Serve as a mentor for students, staff, and colleagues
  • Recognize and capitalize on teachable moments to inspire learning
  • Apply leadership theories and techniques
  • Model desired behaviors and teach through example
  • Foster equity and inclusion across different social identities
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Motivation and empowerment theories and techniques and their application to individuals and groups
ABILITY TO:
  • Inspire confidence in others
  • Develop and maintain a physical and digital environment that encourages appropriate, effective, and innovative work practices
  • Motivate, encourage, and inspire a team
  • Empower others with tasks, projects, and participation in the achievement of the organizational vision
  • Empower underrepresented groups and protect dissenting voices
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Institutional and organizational constituencies and relationships among individuals and groups and the institution’s political climate
  • Relevant politics/current events and their effect on higher education
  • Emergent technologies and how they may affect student culture and higher education
ABILITY TO:
  • Assess an environment’s political climate and adapt behavior as appropriate
  • Navigate challenging situations and achieve consensus
  • Recognize locus of control within the organization
  • Interact with various audiences with respect for the impact of one’s individual social identities

Planning

The ability to identify organizational needs and to initiate strategies aligned with the institutional mission, strategic direction, and values.

Planning Skill Sets

KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Institutional mission, vision, and core values
  • Institutional priorities and the role they play in the development of individual department/division priorities
  • Current department priorities and their relevance to the organization’s success or lack thereof
ABILITY TO:
  • Facilitate discussion and review of both institution and department/division priorities
  • Arrange priorities in order of importance
  • Appropriately allocate a unit’s resources in support of established priorities
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Basic principles used in goal setting for a unit, department, or division
  • Institutional goals and objectives
  • Role of the unit, department, or division within the context of the institution
ABILITY TO:
  • Organize and/or facilitate a goal-setting workshop or retreat
  • Delineate goals at the micro and macro levels
  • Set specific and reasonable goals
  • Align goal setting with annual performance review processes
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Basic strategic planning approaches and other trends in planning philosophy
  • Basic principles used in a strategic planning process
  • Role and importance of a participatory planning process when developing a strategic plan
  • College union’s fiscal, human, capital, technology, and facility resources
ABILITY TO:
  • Implement a strategic planning process that connects department priorities and goals to those of the division and institution
  • Assess current situation using multiple analysis tools
  • Identify current and upcoming industry trends related to the strategic initiatives
  • Write a multi-year strategic planning report
  • Identify targets and key performance indicators to track progress
  • Re-evaluate and update the strategic plan to better fit the unit’s changing needs
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Basic principles of both change management and transition management
  • Basic principles of emergency management and continuance of operations planning
  • Department’s role in institutional emergency management plans
  • Institutional human resource policies regarding emergency management expectations for staff
ABILITY TO:
  • Support and guide staff through change and transition processes
  • Anticipate the unexpected and work within the organization to develop a response plan
  • Consistently review and train on emergency management plans and procedures with all staff who have a role in these plans
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Scope and management of projects, such as goals, structure, timeline, delegation, monitoring, project completion, and evaluation
  • Project management systems and certifications
ABILITY TO:
  • Practice effective personal time management strategies
  • Demonstrate effective project management strategies
  • Exercise responsible stewardship of resources toward the successful completion of projects and programs
  • Manage personnel involved in a project
  • Utilize project management software
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Succession planning policies, procedures, and protocols
ABILITY TO:
  • Incorporate principles of succession planning into departmental annual report processes
  • Develop a strong on-boarding and off-boarding process to collect and distribute knowledge as employee turnover occurs
  • Build future organization leaders
  • Work with student organizations, committees, or teams to develop leadership transition plans and knowledge transfer

Social Justice

The ability to successfully seek understanding and respect for persons of all cultural, social, and ability identities; the work to create environments that foster inclusive participation of all groups and unconditional human worth, and to advocate for equity and social justice with and for all identities and communities through education, support, awareness, advocacy, and allocation of resources.

Social Justice Skill Sets

KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • How one’s own intersecting identities and behaviors shape one’s worldview and lived experience
  • Major aspects of identity and cultural difference within the campus community and in society
  • How and why intersecting identities and behaviors manifest in differing situations
  • Privilege and privileged identities, and the impact of privileged identities on campus and on underrepresented identities and communities
  • How campus climate and identity impact one another
ABILITY TO:
  • Seek appropriate resources and partner with experts on campus and in the community to address issues of identity and culture
  • Identify and take advantage of continuing education opportunities on identity, diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice
  • Use empathy toward others and seek to understand their social perspectives
  • Understand personal biases and mitigate their influence on decision making and relationships
  • Engage in continuous learning as world events and research develop new information in this area
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Various and inclusive communication, leadership, and management styles
  • Cultural traditions and artifacts present in and important to the campus and local communities
  • Manifestation of institutional oppression and strategies to create equity
  • Architectural design and facility management policies and practices that support a diverse, inclusive environment
ABILITY TO:
  • Provide an inclusive, accessible, and creative environment that acknowledges, fosters, and supports differing cultures and identities
  • Develop effective partnerships with academic and other campus administrative units to create and maintain collaboration on issues of cultural awareness and intercultural education
  • Provide opportunities for all students and staff to feel included and represented in the array of physical displays and events offered
  • Implement programs, services, and facilities, whether offered in person or digitally, that meet the needs of diverse identities and populations
  • Modify communication style and interaction style to meet the needs of diverse identities and populations
  • Critically analyze to interpret and apply the local, state, and federal legislation to specific institutional context
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Effective methods for expanding knowledge and skills in equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice
  • History of underrepresented or marginalized identities in higher education and in society, including both personal and structural aspects of oppression
  • Best practices in supporting and partnering with individuals and groups from all identities to dismantle systems of oppression, power, and privilege
  • World events and how they may affect various identity-based communities on campus differently
ABILITY TO:
  • Partner effectively across campus communities in the development of programs, services, and facilities
  • Incorporate equity, diversity, and social justice into recruitment, position descriptions, and professional development plans
  • Evaluate and assess employees, effectively measuring and recognizing active participation and initiative in learning and work related to equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice
  • Evaluate and assess department resources, effectively measuring and recognizing the allocation of resources to support equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice
  • Develop, interpret, and implement policies, regulations, guidelines, and practices that emphasize the value of and strengthen the commitment to inclusion, equity, and social justice
  • Interpret existing laws and advocate for the advancement of laws that emphasize the value of and strengthen the commitment to inclusion, equity, and social justice within and beyond the campus borders
  • Identify and eradicate policies, practices, and cultures that contribute to personal or structural inequities for differing identities
  • Initiate opportunities that produce effective and active dialogue on issues involving identities, representation, equity, and social justice

Student Learning

The ability to create educational environments and experiences, grounded in theory and its application to practice, that intentionally provide students with opportunities for development.

Student Learning Skill Sets

KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Foundational, psychosocial theories, which provide the basis for student development knowledge
  • Identity-development theories, which examine the ways in which individuals come to make sense of their social identity characteristics such as race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation
  • Learning theory, which examines the differences between learning and development
  • Leadership development theories, which look at the types of leadership and leadership styles and how students develop a leadership identity
  • Environmental impact theories, which examine the impact of the college environment, including physical spaces
  • The interrelationship of all theories and understanding of their application to students’ holistic development
  • Historical contexts/limitations of theories
ABILITY TO:
  • Apply appropriate theories and models, based on specific student characteristics and needs, in communication/advising/supervising situations and program development
  • Identify resources for continued learning and professional development
  • Use learning opportunities to amplify individual and collective voices to create equitable spaces
KNOWLEDGE OF:
  • Department and campus-specific student learning outcomes
  • Training pedagogy methods and learning styles
  • Activities and tools related to student advising and group dynamics
  • How policies and practices can affect students differently
ABILITY TO:
  • Develop achievable, measurable learning outcomes for all training and educational experiences
  • Develop training environments and activities that best promote student learning, engagement, and knowledge retention
  • Develop effective advising relationships with students and staff
  • Communicate effectively while having developmental conversations with students
  • Adapt advising techniques and styles to meet the needs of an individual or group based on both learning needs and identity development
  • Identify developmentally appropriate challenges to enhance student or group learning
  • Identify and utilize technologies to present training materials in a way that resonates with current student culture
  • Incorporate developmental outcomes and learning in student supervision and advisement, including student selection, training, job duties, and evaluation
  • Teach the importance of networking and interpersonal relationship development

Competency Area Threads

Threads are common components of the separate core competencies. These threads emphasize these areas in all roles within the union field.

Communication
The ability to successfully exchange information through verbal and nonverbal symbols and behaviors.

Technology
The ability to understand the overall intent of and choose from appropriate tools, equipment, and procedures for service delivery and problem solving.

Ethics
The ability to develop and maintain integrity.

Equity
The guarantee of fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all members of our communities, while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups.

Core Competency Rubric

The Core Competency Rubric allow individuals to reflect on their skills and recognize opportunities for growth, listing outcomes for each of the core competencies across four levels.

Education Plan

The Education Council works to ensure that ACUI’s programs and services are meeting the needs of the profession, which is guided by the Education Plan to set education priorities and related achievement targets.