Analysis Of The CACUSS Student Affairs And Services Competency Model

When reading through the skills required for each level of competency for leadership, management, and administration in the CACUSS Student Affairs and Services Competency Model (Fernandez et al., 2017) I considered how competent I felt I am at each skill based on my previous experiences, actions, and mindset to determine some of strengths and areas for improvement (see appendix A). Further, I believe that I am adequately intermediate at this competency based on my self-assessment (see appendix B).

Strengths

The skills that are my strengths tended to be related to my stronger competencies like communication, emotional and interpersonal intelligence, and student support. For example, a strength that I have developed through my work experience

Therefore, developing my proficiency in these areas would help develop my leadership, management, and administration competency. Completing this program is a great way to develop in these areas because I am finding it really enlightening to engage with the perspectives from my peers and learn from their experiences that they share in discussions. Most of my classmates are further in their careers than myself, so their contributions allow me to consider higher education and leadership in a way that is different than what I am familiar with because I do not have much experience in roles where divisional strategy, organizational structures, or other “big picture thinking” items are

Although I have gained a lot of experience and developed my skills through my current positions at McMaster and Laurier, I would be interested in a role where I have more positional power, like legitimate power, because in my low-level positions as assistants to others I am currently limited by hierarchy and the scope and responsibilities of my roles in the ways that I can grow and further support students. I started in my role as an administrative assistant at McMaster four years ago and I feel that my professional growth has stagnated because the scope of our office is self-contained and does not grant me the opportunity to branch out much