office of residence life august ??, 2003stevens institute of technologyj. d. meyer ethics,...

Office of Residence Life

August ??, 2003 Stevens Institute of Technology J. D. Meyer

Ethics,Professionalism

&Being a Role Model

RA Training 19Aug03

Presented by

Justin Daniel Meyer

Please set all beepers & cell phones to silent.



Overview

• Professionalism — Who?

• Role Modeling — How?

• Ethics — What / when?

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Who is professional?

• Name names! Why do you regard each as such?

• What is “professionalism”?



Who is professional?

• Name names! Why do you regard each as such?– Justin, Trina

– Bill Clinton / GWB, Jr. / the President

– Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw, Bryant Gumble

• What is “professionalism”?– How a person performs in a position of responsibility

– (inherent) not the outcome but the approach

– Actions and preparedness



What is “Professionalism”?

• The way you dress

• How one approaches others (not offending others with appearance, attitude, or dress)

• Living up to your word

• Following through on commitments

• Preparing for responsibilities

• Demanding more of yourself and those around you (striving)



Characteristics Required

• Genteel — not using profanity

• Consistency

• Polish — appearance and enunciation

• Education — application of knowledge

• Experience — the ability to learn from it

• Trust others — the foundation of all long-term relationships

• Credibility — so others will listen to you

• Preparation — chance favors the prepared mind

• Respect — treating others as they desire (or at least equal to you

• Teamwork & Communication



Role Modeling

• Working definitions?



Role Modeling

• Working definition?– Leading by example

– Being visible

– Visible consistency



Role Modeling

• My working definition: exemplifying through action those characteristics to which you expect others to live up.

• At least 2 required attributes in this dynamic:– The desire to better oneself (your resident)

– Follow through in leading by example (you)

• Examples?– First, is imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?

– Examples of obvious influence: former residents on whom you made an impression?



Common Role Models in our Society

• Parents and other senior family members• Political, religious and social leaders• Professional colleagues / mentors, teachers• Coaches, team captains• Friends• Celebrities and other public figures

• Who are your role models and why? (5 examples)

• All these people have something in common—what is the common element?



Role Models Have Something We Want!

• Dignity

• Selflessness

• Goals and Aspirations

• Accomplishments

• Respect

• Power / Authority

• Ambition

• Principles (strong)

• Leadership

• Motivation

• Decision-making power

• Honesty

• Influence

• Courage

• Love

• Charisma

• Success

• Altruism

• Accountability

• Responsibility



Exercise: Picking a New Role Model for Yourself

• Imagine for a moment that you are traveling abroad and are planning on stopping in one country for a few years. Since you wish to enter this society, how do you figure out how to pick a mentor or guide (who may not know they are being scrutinized) to emulate?



How One Might Go About It:

• Someone who is respected by others

• Someone who is where you want to be

• Someone who reaches his/her goals fairly quickly

• Look for social infrastructure



What About Residents Who Don’t Want to Improve

• So you have what they want or need (at least for now)…now what?

• Without a drive for self-improvement in your residents, it will be very difficult to reach them through your actions alone.

• How can we reach these residents (they may be few… but the squeaky wheels are the most noticed… and the most likely to get an RA feeling down)? Ideas?



What About Residents Who Don’t Want to Improve

• How can we reach these residents (few… but the squeaky wheels are the most noticed… and the most likely to cause oneself consternation)? Ideas?– Use a roommate or someone else on the ‘inside’ to find out what they

need (asking others for help often leads to success)

– Get them involved in what you are doing

– Be reasonably supportive (don’t commit all your time to one resident)

– Delegate small tasks & increase responsibilities over time to inspire by challenges

– Persevere

– Demonstrate potential negative consequences

– Being feared vs. being loved (Machiavelli)

– If you are not the right role model – help them find someone else!



You Are Not Setting Yourself up to Fail!

• You need to reach them on a different level than that on which you have been trying… intellect, sports, classes, hobbies, et cetera.

• You will not reach everybody… keep your perspective.

• As a voluntary role model, you are willingly jumping into your very own fish bowl, however small.



The Fish Bowl Effect (living under a microscope)

• You are…

• An RA first, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• Held to a higher standard (though we follow the same policies).

• Expected to help RSO’s / others at a moment’s notice.

• Directly responsible for the condition of the hall.

• Recognized by non-ORL staff only when a need/incident arises. Expected to know everything.

• Assumed to be always available.

• Continually imposed upon from many directions and people!

• How do you deal with all this?



Coping with Your Responsibilities

• Compartmentalize your personal life and the RA job as possible

• People are always observing and unconsciously judging you: residents, peers (on and off staff), administrators, and even family & friends.

• Make sure you provide yourself some “downtime” from all

• Never compromise your values, what you believe in

• Maintain a sense of professional self-accountability

• Always remain loyal to your residents and confidentiality reqs.

• “To thine own self be true and then it follows as night the day, thou canst be false to no man.” -W. Shakespeare



What is Ethical?

• Working definition…



What is Ethical?

• Working definition…– Doing what you consider good

– Upholding the (societal?) code of conduct

– Believing in and standing up for your beliefs

– By definition: not always logical or common sense

– Set of standards on which individuals build

• Ethics go beyond the law: they are not a mandatory element as in the law “non-choice.” When there is a choice—no law/policy/etc—ethics come into play.



Application of Values to Voluntary Behavior = Ethics!

• My working definition: the application of one’s values to determine right & wrong action in a given situation.

• This requires either judging others or responding to one’s environment.

• Draw upon your frames of reference– Religion

– Family

– Culture

– Country

– Previous experience



Ethical RAs

• Respectful

• Trustworthy

• Judgmental (reservedly?)

• Full of integrity

• Consistent and Fair

• Honest

• Compassionate

• Firm

• Willing to admit fault and take corrective steps.

• Fair and consistent in policy enforcement training info



Teach Your Residents About Your Position:

• Set clear expectations at your first meeting (take suggestions!)

• Show NO favoritism

• Maintain confidentiality as required by law & Stevens policy

• Always be honest, never hedge

• THINK before you answer a resident’s question (they tell 4)

• Be available when feasible (non-duty night open-door hours)



Common Scenarios:

1. Some of your residents invite you to go out to a bar.

2. You observe students cheating on a test.

3. You overhear freshmen planning to go drinking at a fraternity.

4. You observe a non-burnt candle in another RA’s room.

5. A friend asks to borrow a CD so s/he can copy/rip it.



Wrap-up…

• Carry yourself in the manner you expect your residents to act.

• Provide your residents with your best qualities and work from there.

• Remember to keep your perspective when dealing with a situation

• Questions?



Additional slides



Discussion Questions

1. Who are your top 3 role models? Why?

2. What makes an effective role model?

3. Whom do you respect, professionally?

4. How do you define your ethics?

5. What makes you an ethical person? What about someone else?



Common Scenarios:• You are over 21. Your friends invite you to go out drinking and dancing. Earlier

you overheard some of your underage residents making plans for the same venue. What do you do?

• The RA on duty knocks on your door to investigate marijuana odors. The police have been called. You find a room, knock, and the door is answered. Then the officers arrive and tae over. One of the officers seems to know one of the residents and steps into the room for a few minutes. When the officer emerges, “it has been taken care of” is the only response you receive.

• One of your residents comes to talk to you about an experience they had last night. Their description suggests attempted date rape. The resident does not want to do anything. When you learn the alleged perpetrator’s name, it is someone who has been accused of similar aggressions before. How do you proceed.

• At the next staff meeting, your RD instructs you that the Institute is implementing a new policy. Despite your strong objections, no compromise is possible. How do you reconcile your job with your belief that the Institute’s policy is wrong, possibly morally so?



Further Thoughts • Separating yourself from others due to responsibility & conflict

of interest. (this is what makes you human!) If you didn’t do it, you would have to be an emotional amoeba in order to avoid breaking down!

• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell (examples of social epidemics which started small and grew quickly)

• Truth• Credibility – the reputation you come in with will work for or

maybe against you, you build from there – no illusions, here.• Consistenty• ICFs in fairness/consistency, etc• Pronoun selection “one” for “we”, s/he for they, etc

office of residence life august ??, 2003stevens institute of technologyj. d. meyer ethics,...

Documents

office of residence

meyer role modeling

meyer role models

meyer characteristics

meyer ethics

meyer exercise

preparedness slide

meyer common role models