Block Scheduling Proposal 2023 Student Leader Training Prepared by: Orlando T. White, MPA Associate Dean of Student Leader Engagement Residential Education | Stanford University
Context & Grounding As Residential Education (ResEd) incorporates feedback from both undergraduate student leaders AND professional staff about Student Leader Training, one clear theme is burnout. This, as it relates to the pacing of the actual schedule. Whereas: Participants frequently report that training is too long. Whereas: Participants are more comfortable with hybrid learning environments, including online and asynchronous options. Whereas: ResEd is supplemented with so many more personnel resources than peer institutions or like programs. Therefore: Residential Education needs to adapt the training schedule to better meet the needs of our constituents ad move away from models that mimic more traditional “Res Life” programs. This because Stanford Residential Education is NOT a traditional “Res Life” program.
Objective Provide more strategically-placed breaks in the training schedule to allow for better pacing, more engagement and increased retention of material.
Timeline & Implementation Administration (NOW) ● ●
Scheduling Logistics
Pedagogy (NEXT) ● ● ● ● ●
Learning Outcomes Learning Styles Philosophy Values Etc.
Timeline & Implementation Buy-In (NOW) ● ● ●
First: AVP consultation Next: Leadership Team Feedback Then: Neighborhood Program Director Feedback
Development (NEXT) ●
Neighborhood Teams: “Marching Orders” ○
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(what is expected of each position for training?) ■ Before May 25th (Memorial Day)
Summer: June - July - August = Development September: Do the THANG! aka Implementation
Informal Mantras 2022: “Back to Basics” 2023: “Less is More” ● Small, achievable goals = BIG RESULTS ● If our outlines are more than one page, it is too damn long and students arenʼt going to remember all of those details anyway. What is MOST important to their role and responsibilities?
Generational Differences ● ●
Millennials: Most (not all) of our professional staff Gen Z: All of our students and SOME of our professional staff ○
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Fair compensation vs. compensation for each individual task
Post COVID: “9-5” is very fluid, if not a thing of the past ○
Different approaches to work
Professional Staff Feedback What did NOT work as well – Areas to Improve “From my understanding this year's training was successful compared to prior years. I am happy this was successful and students learned more. However, the disorganization of training was incredibly stressful as a staff member and I did not enjoy the experience.” “I think the experience was definitely much better for students this year, by far. However, I think it was harder for professional staff overall, this year.”
😒🥴🤯
Training Dates (Review) & Scope ● Week 1: Tuesday, September 5 - Friday, September 9 ● Week 2: Monday, September 11 - Thursday, September 16 ~500 Participants *Scope is important because there are national conferences that do not have 500+ attendees.
Proposal (Basics) Neighborhoods split into two groups or “Blocks” consisting of 4 neighborhoods each. On Days: 2, 3, 4, & 8 (out of 8 days of training), students will only have one half day of training ●
3 Hours in the morning: 9:00 a.m. to NOON -OR-
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3 Hours in the afternoon 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Proposal
Neighborhoods are split into two groups [BLOCKS] consisting of 4 neighborhoods each. On Days: 2, 3, 4, & 8 (out of 8 days of training), students will only have a half day of training. 3 Hours in the morning: 9:00 a.m. to NOON OR 3 Hours in the afternoon 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Pros ●
Ev-er-y-thing is neigh-bor-hood based
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For Days 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Week 1 students will have training in either the morning or the afternoon ONLY. ○
The inverse time of the block schedule is either house prep time or a natural break for students. For professional staff this is also an opportunity to prep or follow-up on other administrative tasks.
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This allows for more flexibility in the studentsʼ schedule with competing needs to prep for the school year.
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RFs also have more flexibility to schedule dedicated time with their teams if they so choose outside of their neighborhoodʼs block.
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Campus partners have one dedicated day to present as opposed to multiple.
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Shorter lines in AFDC (Dining)
Cons ●
A lot of material crammed into 3 hour blocks
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Confusion of which neighborhood is in which block
Summary Neighborhoods split into two groups or “Blocks” consisting of 4 neighborhoods each. On Days: 2, 3, 4, 5 & 8 (out of 8 days of training), students will only have a half day of training ●
3 Hours in the morning: 9:00 a.m. to NOON -OR-
●
3 Hours in the afternoon 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Questions? THANK YOU!