Western Illinois University Jessica Woods

Western Illinois University
presents
Jessica Woods
Advisor of the Year
Western Illinois University
GLACURH 2014
Indiana State University
Table Of Contents
Experience 2013 - 2014…………………….………….2
Spring and Summer Experience…………...…..…....3
Current Involvement………………………...…..…….4
Conference Experience…………………...…….…5-6
Letters of Recommendation…………….…………7-8
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is
a miracle. The other is as everything is a miracle.”
-Albert Einstein
1
Experience 2013 - 2014
Housing Appeals
Review Board
Jessica served on the board that
reviewed students’ submitted appeals
to live off-campus and alter meal plans.
She was able to see how students
viewed off-campus living and oncampus living to ensure that any major
problems were fixed and people had
the best experience while living in WIU’s
residence halls. She listened to their
concerns and quickly came up with
ways to solve their problems they had
for future students.
IHC Advisor
Jessica advised and worked with the
Executive Board and the general assembly
that was made up of elected student
leaders that lived in the residence halls.
She helped with anything and everything
the organization needed. She was a key
player in ensuring the organization ran
smoothly and was always there to
troubleshoot any problems they ran
across. The Executive Board enjoyed
having someone with a wide range of
experiences to get a different opinion a
wide variety of issues and new programs.
"Jessica Woods is by far one of the most prepared, consistent and
organized advisors I've ever had the pleasure of working with. She
is the perfect balance of advisor, mentor and friend. She is the best
at challenging us to think outside the box, experience things outside
of our comfort zone and making sure we have fun."
- Lydia Quiñones, former Thompson Hall President
2
Spring and Summer
“Jessica will push
us to do our very
best, because she
sees the amount of
potential in us. She
pushes us past our
comfort zones at
all times.” - Zach
Clark, current RA
Curriculum
Jessica served on the governing board that revamped the curriculum for Transfer Year
Experience (TYE) to ensure that they had a class that better suited our University and
their upcoming experiences, First-Year Experience (FYE) to aid in incoming students and
their transition to college, and CSP 450 (RA class) to assist the first year RA’s with
different aspects of residence life such as building a community, new and attractive
programming ideas, and difficult conversations.
Residence Life
RA Training
She served as a member of the Assistant
Director of Residence Life Screening
Committee and was on the Qualification
Basis Selection (QBS) Team for residence hall
demolition. She served as a member of the
Oshkosh Placement Exchange (OPE)
Interview Team for ACD and CD candidates
to ensure that we held the high standards for
our professional staff members.
Jessica contributed a phenomenal
amount to the training of our
Resident Assistants. Among the things
she did are: taught a section of CSP
450 (RA class) and put on several
programs during training. The
Resident Assistants and other
professional staff were impressed with
her dedication to helping the RA’s.
3
Current Involvement
Advising
Campus
UHDS
Hall Government
University 100 Facilitator
UHDS Academic
Initiatives Committee
Since last year, Jessica
supervised the Thompson
Hall government.
Thompson also won IHC’s
Hall of The Year this
previous academic year
for her hard work as an
advisor and her
commitment to aiding in
the progress of the
organization and it’s
members.
University 100 is a eightweek course to aid first year
students in the transition
from high school to college.
Jessica works with a peer
mentor to create programs
and explore different ways
to get involved on WIU’s
campus to make the most
of their college experience.
Alpha Sigma Alpha
“Building Connections”
Mentor
Jessica advises Alpha
Sigma Alpha, which is a
brand new social sorority
on WIU’s campus. She
played a major factor in
their chartering and being
able to be recognized as
Panhallenic chapter for
our campus.
Big Pink Volleyball
Big Pink Volleyball is a
philanthropic event that
started at WIU in 2002. The
committee is made up of
student leaders and she
makes sure that the event
was planned fully and ran
efficiently.
“Building Connections” is a
program where first year
students are paired with a
faculty mentor to discuss
how their first semester of
college is going and build a
relationship with a University
professional who can aid in
their transition.
Jessica served on this
committee which focuses on
retention initiatives in the
residence halls. She works
closely with Inter-Hall
Council’s Issues committee to
bring forth the major
problems that students in the
residence halls have with their
on-campus living experience.
Career Development
Advisory Board
Jessica is the UHDS
Representative for an oncampus group from different
departments that discuss
career-related events and
services for the WIU campus.
She has knowledge of what
students in the residence halls
would like to address for their
career plans.
RA and ACD Training
She presented five training
sessions during the Resident
Assistant and Assistant
Complex Director training to
assist in their development.
4
Conference Experience
GLACUHO
ACUHO-I
The Great Lakes Association of College and
University Housing Officers serves as a
resource for our housing professionals in
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. She is
currently operating as a member of the
2014 GLACUHO Host Committee and
Professional Foundations Committee. Within
this, she wrote two blog posts for
GLACUHO. She is working hard to plan for
the upcoming GLACUHO conference
along with the Host Committee to create
the best experience possible for all of the
housing professionals that will attend. With
her vast knowledge and experience with
undergraduate conferences, she knows
what makes a conference unique.
The Association of College and University
Housing Officers-International includes
housing professionals and students from
around the world. Jessica attended the
ACUHO-I's Living Learning Programs
Conference and presented "Going
beyond Recognition: Academic
Intervention Strategies in Residence Halls."
She was seeking to further the knowledge
that other housing professionals have for
diversity and recognition within their own
residence halls. Jessica has showed her
dedication to creating a comfortable
community for her own residents and
wanted a way to spread that throughout
the nation.
5
Conference Experience
NO FRILLS/IRHA 2014
ACPA
Jessica fulfilled the delegation advisor position
for No Frills 2014 and IRHA 2014. She aided the
Communication Coordinator and the NRHHCommunication Coordinator in the
delegation prep and their own preparations
before a conference. Jessica made sure that
the CC’s were confident and comfortable
with the business being presented as well as
the delegates were ready for an amazing
experience. She bounced back and forth
between boardroom and bonding with the
other delegates during programs.
Jessica attended ACPA's Student Affairs
Assessment Institute. This conference
encourages student learning through
exchanging ideas and providing outreach,
advocacy, research and professional
development. She reviewed ACPA national
conference program proposals which in turn
helped her network as a Student Affairs
professional and aid in the growth of other
students who also want to go into the field of
higher education. Jessica is consistently a
active member of ACPA.
“Jessica showed us how
important it was to step outside
of our comfort zone by joining us
in riding the pony.” -Gwen
Hanford, IRHA 2014 Delegate
NASPA
NASPA is a conference for professionals that work within a University. It offers them the tools to
develop leadership, scholarship, and professional development, as well as a sense of advocacy
for student affairs. Jessica served as the NASPA Undergraduate Fellows Program Conference
Scholarship Reviewer. She is always willing to step up to work with undergraduates because she
loves to watch passionate student leaders further their education in student affairs. NASPA allows
her to reach out to undergraduates who are outside of WIU and help them on a case-by-case
by reviewing their programs. Jessica is a prime example of someone who stays faithful to the
education and growth of anyone she comes into contact with.
“Jessica challenged us to be innovative in our roles as an
RA and supported us no matter how out-of-the-box our
ideas were.” -Ray Ortiz, former RA
6
October 3, 2014
Dear GLACURH,
I am pleased to be asked to submit a letter of recommendation for Jessica Woods as GLACURH Advisor of the
Year. Jessica is currently a Complex Director at Western Illinois University and served as an advisor for our InterHall Council (IHC) group for one year.
During her time as IHC advisor, Jessica showed a great commitment to the students. She gave extra time to meet
with them individually, manage conflicts that arose, worked with them on their goals, and answered any
questions they had. Jessica also showed a great deal of support by attending almost all the events and serving as
an advisor to conference delegations for the department. Jessica is someone who is professionally committed to
all tasks she undertakes. In her day to day Complex Director role, she has a great deal of responsibilities and she
was willing to step up and serve as a co-advisor to IHC. Jessica spent countless hours, in her first year on our
campus, to this student group and the individual students involved. She did this for her own professional
development, to meet a need for our department, and also to gain connections with these students who could
learn from her.
Jessica does not shy away from holding students accountable, having challenging conversations, and helping
students see the outcomes of their actions. She did a great job with this in her role with IHC and the students
came out more empowered to approach things. She not only worked closely with the executive board, but she
guided many students in the general assembly, including committee chairs and a constitutional review
committee. She is someone they would seek out for advice, and someone they would listen to, even if they did
not always like the feedback.
In addition, Jessica had to serve as a co-advisor with another professional staff member. This can sometimes be
challenging in an advising situation as you balance needs of two advisors. Jessica did well in finding her place
alongside the other advisor and giving of her talents, which differed from the other advisor. Finally, Jessica served
as a good communicator to our staff team about IHC and advising issues/updates which helped everyone be
more effective in working with our student groups. This is a skill of communication that not everyone can
articulate as clearly.
I was lucky to have Jessica step up to fill a void during the year of transition in our department with IHC. However,
it was the students who were the lucky ones – to learn from Jessica. They gained some valuable life skills in
working with Jessica, and I believe they challenged her to be a stronger advisor as well. I am happy to support
Jessica Woods as the GLACURH Advisor of the Year. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions: mdoaks@wiu.edu or
309-298-3328
Sincerely,
Student Services
University Housing and Dining Services, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455-1390
Phone: 309.298.2461
Fax: 309.298.2122
7
October 5, 2014
Dear GLACURH Advisor of the Year Selection Committee,
It is my pleasure to submit this letter of support for Jessica Woods in her nomination for the GLACURH Advisor of
the Year award. I have been an Assistant Complex Director at Western Illinois University for a little over a year,
and three months ago Jessica became my direct supervisor. Jessica is a role model in the way she interacts with
students and all that she does above and beyond her role to encourage student success.
During the 2013-2014 school year, Jessica served as a co-advisor for Inter-Hall Council (IHC). Outside of IHC,
Jessica also serves as advisor for Thompson Hall Government which has been very active on campus. This past
May, Thompson won the award of the 2013-2014 Hall of the Year. This fall, the executive board set the goal of
having over 100 students attend a hall government meeting which they successfully met in September. Jessica
also advises the student committees which plan our hall capstone, Big Pink, a campus-wide philanthropic
volleyball tournament to raise awareness and funding for breast cancer research. Additionally, Jessica has advised
the campus chapter of Alpha Sigma Alpha for the past two years.
At the heart of all her work, Jessica really shines in her dedication to student success. For the past two years,
Jessica has served as the chair of Academic Initiatives Committee, which focuses on retention initiatives in the
residence halls. Under her leadership, the committee has started several successful programs including an
academic resource fair and academic norming campaign. Later this month, Jessica will be presenting at the
ACUHO-I's Living Learning Programs Conference to share these academic strategies with other housing
professionals. Additionally, Jessica is involved in several of the transition initiatives here on campus. She recently
revamped the Transfer Year Experience program to ensure a positive living and learning environment for students
who are new to Western Illinois University. Outside of housing, Jessica has also gone above and beyond her role
as a Complex Director to serve as an instructor for the University 100 introductory course and as a Building
Connections Mentor for incoming students. Jessica is truly in tune with student needs and advocates for their
best interests.
On top of all her work here on campus, Jessica is also involved regionally and nationally in the professional
organizations of GLACUHO and NASPA. She serves as a member of the professional networking and host
committees for GLACUHO 2014. Jessica not only encourages our students to get involved in regional
organizations such as GLACURH, but she also role models it as well.
Again, it is my pleasure to recommend Jessica Woods as GLACURH Advisor of the Year. She is a wonderful
example of a professional who is dedicated to student growth. I cannot think of a better candidate for the
Advisor of the Year award.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Gill
Assistant Complex Director, Thompson Hall
University Housing and Dining Services
Western Illinois University
Student Services
University Housing and Dining Services, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455-1390
Phone: 309.298.2461
Fax: 309.298.2122
8