The Bulletin

Alistair Cowie and Eric Margiotta, members of ACUI’s Education Council, recently presented a flash webinar on using ACUI’s core competencies for career advancement. They showed attendees how to apply the core competencies to their daily work, professional development, job searches, and team development.

The ACUI core competencies are 11 fundamental sets of knowledge, skills, and behaviors that form the foundation for college union and student activities work. Each competency is made up of a set of skill sets that demonstrate the achievement of each competency. The ACUI Education Council conducted a literature review and vetting process between 1999 and 2005 to develop the framework for the core competencies. Every few years, the ACUI Education Council develops an education plan for the Association. This plan identifies three core competencies identified by the members as most important. These three competencies provide a focus for education for the Association.

You can use the ACUI core competencies in your own development through self-assessment. You can look at the core competencies and their skill sets to choose personal focus areas for future development. They can be used to aid in writing metrics for personal development or performance plans. This can help you choose which educational opportunities to attend when considering educational sessions at conferences, institutes, digital badge courses, and webinars. The core competencies also provide a common language you can use in networking across positions and institutions, and you can use them as proof of the skills necessary for advancement during discussions with supervisors or potential employers.

There are many ways the ACUI core competencies can help you with your job search:

• They provide easy–to-use descriptors in resume development.
  
• They allow you to bring transferable skills to the forefront.
  
• You can use them to develop a great answer to the “What are your weaknesses?” question in job interviews.

By utilizing the core competencies on your resume and in interviews, you demonstrate to potential employers your commitment to personal and professional development.

You can use the core competencies in supervisory roles to aid team development:

• They can be used as an assessment tool to highlight gaps for recruitment or training.
  
• They can be used in the development of position descriptions.
  
• They facilitate team mapping by highlighting strengths and needs to help create balanced project teams.
  
• They can be used to promote an understanding of work practices that spans across institutional departments.
  
• They also provide a template for performance planning/KPI assessment/goal setting of both individuals and entire organizations.

If you missed the live version, you can view the On Demand version of this program in the ACUI Library. The presenters have continued the conversation in the Open Forum on the ACUI website. You can visit this thread to share how you are using the core competencies in your work and life.