Jayne Rohlfing
Connection Seeker
Email:
Location
Muncie, Indiana
Education
MA Executive Development for Public Service
Minor: Adult and Community Education
Graduate Certificate: Community College Leadership
Ball State University
December 2021
BA Journalism Graphics
Ball State University, May 1998
Guiding Principles
Perhaps the first question to answer is why am pursued a career in academic advising and coaching? At first glance, a career shift from photographer to advisor seems vastly different. However, the similarities lie in the reason I am drawn to both. LaPorte’s Model of Core Desired Feelings essentially states that “feelings and inner desires create the compass that leads to a meaningful life” (La Porte 2012, 2014 as cited in Santoro & Steward, 2015, p. 84). I resonated with the same reasons Santoro and Steward (2015) had as they reflected on their motives for being drawn to higher education and coaching. Those motives are a “desire to help others, extend generosity, exert influence, and create connections” (p.84). Santoro and Steward believe that their future career paths will be satisfying if these desires continue to serve as their compass. For me, while I resonate with all four of those reasons and think they all relate to why I’ve enjoyed my job as a photographer for so many years, the aspiration to create connections would probably be at the top of my guiding principles. Advising and coaching have given me more opportunities to build upon all of these compass points and build trust and connections with students to better help them succeed.
Santoro, J., & Steward, M.D. (2015). Voices from the field: Career advising: A new paradigm. In P. Folsom, F. Yoder, & J. E. Joslin (Eds.), The new advisor guidebook: Mastering the art of academic advising (pp. 83-89). Kindle.
Academic Advising Philosophy
Overall, my goal is to humanize the college experience for my students. My personality is naturally drawn to three advising theories and philosophies: The theory of Mattering and Marginality, Appreciative Advising, and Proactive Advising. Simply put, Nancy Schlossberg’s theory of mattering and marginality asserts that people matter. She acknowledges that students must believe that someone—an individual or group—finds them important at the educational institution for students to achieve academic success. If students feel marginalized or insignificant, one of the best ways to replace that feeling with confidence is for the advisor to show that the advisee matters to her. Excellent relational skills such as active listening, remaining calm, and a welcoming environment for the advisee are great ways to apply Schlossberg’s theory (Roufs, 2015). Appreciative Advising focuses on six different phases to help the student accomplish goals: Disarm, Discover, Dream, Design, Deliver, Don’t Settle. I’ve found myself naturally implementing these phases in many of my student appointments. After each appointment, I send the student an email about what we talked about with a proactive plan. The last phase, Don’t Settle, resonates deeply with me and ties in nicely with Proactive Advising. It’s in my nature to reach out and follow up. I've been greatly inspired by Georgia State University's student success initiatives. Feel free to check out my mini-research paper for an overview of the great work they've accomplished.
Roufs, K. (2015). Theory matters. In P. Folsom, F. Yoder, & J. E. Joslin (Eds.), The new advisor guidebook: Mastering the art of academic advising (pp. 67-81). Kindle.
Work Experience
Jan 2023 - present
Aug 2020 - Jan 2023
May 2021 - June 2021
2002 - Jan 2023
Student Success Coach - Ball State University
• Serve as a coach and mentor to students to aid in their development of the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs they need to succeed in college.
• Guide students in learning how to problem solve on their own.
• Teach a one-credit hour, 16-week course for academic probation students with a focus on academic success skills.
• Co-facilitate workshops for academic probation students involving student success strategies.
• Build relationships with other departments on campus to help with their student success initiatives.
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Skills: Active listening, positive psychology, presentation, proactive communication
Academic Advisor - Ball State University
Graduate Assistant, Part-Time: Aug 2020-Jan 2022
Full-Time Employee: Jan 2022-Jan 2023
• Manage and maintain regular contact with student caseload of almost 300 to nurture students and assist in their academic journey using proactive and appreciative advising theories.
• Regularly use student success technology to manage caseload, facilitate outreach, conduct campaigns, and input documentation on student appointments and individualized success plans for students on academic probation
• Monitor student academic progress, communicating with students regularly on a personalized basis; intervene as necessary to assist those students in need in accordance with FERPA regulations.
• Focus on humanizing the college experience through building quick connections.
• Create and maintain degree plans for student caseload.
• Teach students how to register and view their academic plan in DegreeWorks.
• Actively listen to students to share the best resources for their needs while giving timely advice and tips on study skills, communication with professors, time management, and major exploration.
• Familiar and comfortable with academic advising theories, philosophies, and ethics, student development theory, and advising diverse populations of students.
• Lead project manager and editor/creator of promotion video promoting the Ball State University College Exploratory Program for incoming college freshmen
(see media on LinkedIn).
Skills: Rapid problem-solving, creative workflows, clear communication with students and staff, self-motivator, project-starter, initiator, observation, active listening, interviewing, design and presentation skills, time management, proactive communication
Student Success Intern - Ivy Tech
(Part-time)
• Observe, interview employees involved in student and academic affairs, and reflect on strengths, gaps, and weaknesses in different areas of student success.
• Wrote a comparative analysis between 4-year and 2-year educational institutions.
• Gain insight into the community college entrepreneurship mindset through a
10-week community college leadership graduate course.
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Skills: Active listening, workflow efficiency, interviewing, observation, research, relationship building, creating rapid connections
Business owner for jayne ellen creative, llc.
Freelance graphic designer and photographer.
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Skills: Photography, design, project management, content management, content editor, client communications, active listening, customer service, workflow efficiency