Hi all!

I thought I provide a little summary for the 2011 Case Study Competition… because it was awesome. Seriously. I was impressed.

First of all, we had 10 grad students sign up. This is extra cool considering there were only 18 grad students signed up for the conference this year! Way to represent!

Second, the case was a doozy and all three teams did very well with it.

Third, the judges were fab. Thanks to Paul Shepherd, Jacque Bollinger, Mary Beth Vahala and Robin Jens for your time.

And now, without further ado, the winners!

In first place, from UW LaCrosse: Collin Zimmerman, Abby Novak, Kara Good and Miranda Panzer!

In a tie for second place, from UW LaCrosse: Colin Burns-Gilbert, Anna Morgen, Lucas Graf and Jennifer Buelow and from UW Oshkosh: Becca Girard and Ben Sattler!

Well done, you bunch of smarties!

Thanks to Stephanie Kann for sending me this article to post for all of you GNPers (Graduate & New Professionals Commission Members).

Check it out!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/education/26debt.html?_r=2

Hi GNPers!

I just realized that I haven’t talked about LinkedIn in what feels like decades. You must have missed it. My apologies.

Here is a fun LinkedIn tidbit (no, I am not getting paid for each time I type the name LinkedIn):

There is a HigherEdJobs group on LInkedIn! Just log into your LinkedIn page (which you all have by now, right? Right?) and go to the Groups tab on top. Search for Higher Ed and it’s the first thing that comes up. Here is the description of the group:

“The purpose of the group is to facilitate discussions between Higher Education professionals about job search strategies, current topics in academia, and college and university careers. Some of your comments posted here may be used in a HigherEdJobs feature!”

Sounds pretty good, right? Right?

You are welcome

Sheila

Hi all!

The call just went out for conference proposals! This could mean a few different things for you.

1. You could be starting to think about topics you know a lot about and would like to share.

2. You could be wondering if there was someone out there you could pair up with to create a program.

3. You could be wishing someone would decide to present on _________ and be trying to send them messages telepathically.

This blog can help you with all three! I know, pretty amazing, but true.

1. Follow this link to fill out the Conference Program Proposal Form!

2. Comment on this post or send an e-mail to the GNP list serve at gnp@mywcpa.org to share your ideas and see if anyone else out there would like to work with you.

3. Comment on this post, e-mail the list serve, or call or e-mail me with the topics you would like someone to present on and I will try to find someone. Save the telepathy for helping your fave athlete catch that pass or hit one out of the park.

Problem solved!

Sheila

—

Sheila Keaton
Commission Chair for WCPA Graduate & New Professionals

Coordinator of Advising and Technology Services
The Center for Leadership and Involvement (CfLI), Division of Student Life
University of Wisconsin-Madison
716 Langdon Street, 3rd floor Red Gym, Madison, WI 53706
608-263-1020
skeaton@studentlife.wisc.edu
http://www.cfli.wisc.edu/

Follow this link and subscribe to the Graduate and New Professionals group and get added to the list serve!

http://mywcpa.org/commissions/commissions.php

Hello!
If you are quick, you can still sign up for the 2010 WCPA Graduate Case Study Competition!

If you will be attending the conference and you are a graduate student (and not working full-time in the field of Student Affairs), just send me an e-mail and I can get you confirmed and send you the case and get you on the schedule. My e-mail address is skeaton@studentlife.wisc.edu.

I am attaching some guidelines for how this thing will work. Take a look and let me know if you have any questions.

You would present your case during the third (and possibly fourth) session of the conference on Thursday. That will be 1:45pm in Sandstone 2.

Thanks so much for your interest!

Hey Graduate Students, What Would You Do?

You are a Dean of Students at a mid-size public institution. A copy of a police report is submitted to you by your Director of Residence Life about a female student, who is the Student Senate President, who has filed harassment charges against a male student, her ex-boyfriend and Resident Assistant. The break-up occurred almost two months ago. The ex-girlfriend contends that the ex-boyfriend has been sabotaging her efforts to be a successful student body president. The ex-boyfriend denies the charges and claims it is the ex-girlfriend who has been making contact with him. Because of their leadership roles on campus, the issue is a “high profile” case. The ex-girlfriend’s mother is calling because she is fearful for her daughter’s safety and wants you to do something about it.

Does the scenario interest you? Scare you? Excite you? Intrigue you? All of the above?

Do you want to experience a real-life critical and ethical issue faced by senior level professionals?

If so, participate in the Graduate Student Case Study Competition at this year’s fall conference! It is an opportunity to exercise your presentation skills, your critical thinking skills, your ability to link theoretical knowledge to practical experience, and win recognition and prizes.

This year’s case study will be based off of our conference theme: Being your Best: Navigating from Challenge to Opportunity conference. Case study teams can consist of 1-4 individuals and you can sign up for the competition when you register for the annual fall conference.

If you have any questions in the meantime, contact Ashlie Kohl (akohl41@yahoo.com) or Sheila Keaton (skeaton@wisc.edu).

Are you a graduate student or professional in your first year or two in the field? Is this your first WCPA Conference?
If so, you can sign up to get a WCPA Conference Mentor – someone who will show you the ropes and help you navigate the conference!
Stay tuned to this page for more information. To sign up, follow this link: Conference Mentee Survey Form
Are you a WCPA Conference pro? Someone who has been sailing the seas and would like to share your wisdom?
If so, you can sign up to be a WCPA Conference Mentor – you will be matched with a graduate student or new professional who could benefit from your experience.
Go to the Professional Development Commission page (http://mywcpa.org/commissions/pd/) to learn more and sign up.

You may already be sick of hearing me go on and on about LinkedIn after the last WCPA Newsletter (http://www.mywcpa.org/files/WCPA_newsletter_winter09.pdf -  on page 10), but here I go again. Not writing this time, just posting a link and explaining it. Find it in the links section. It is about using social media for networking in general, I just recommend LinkedIn above the other options.

Ok, I guess I’m writing a little. For most of the students I work with, and a lot of the professionals I communicate with, getting on LinkedIn is easy. It’s figuring out what to do once you are on that is hard! I hear you.

Here are my quick top-three tips for using LinkedIn:

1. Profile. Make sure it is very full and complete. Make it public (you should not have anything to hide on LinkedIn). Ask some colleagues to recommend you.

2. Groups. Join some. Then get active with them!! Read discussion boards, comment on posts, start posts of your own.

3. Contacts. Search for colleagues, invite them to join LinkedIn if they aren’t already on it. Really – it will make you look cool. At least professional and into networking – which is the epitome of cool in my world. It’s not a popularity contest so make sure you go for quality over quantity.

What else? What else have you done on LinkedIn that has been helpful? What tips do you want to share? How about questions?

Hi all! One of the benefits of the commissions is that you have someone (that would be me) to bring your issues to the board and to coordinate programming that relates to what you are most interested in.

With that in mind, is there anything (related to being a graduate student or new professional) that you would like to learn about at the conference coming up in October? Maybe you want resume tips, job search strategies, networking advice, tips from seasoned professionals… just for example.

Well, just let me know and I will see what I can do to help!

Hoping to hear from you,

Sheila Keaton (WCPA Commission Chair for Graduate and New Professionals)