Alexandra Hughes:
Welcome to season three of the ASCA Viewpoints Podcast, the podcast where we talk about the student conduct profession in higher education. I'm Alexandra Hughes, your Viewpoints host.
Alexandra Hughes:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the ASCA Viewpoints Podcast. As always, I am your host, Dr. Alexandra E. Hughes, and we are back with another episode, another week. We are actually one week away from our annual national 2021 ASCA conference. So if you are not registered, you need to be registered.
Alexandra Hughes:
I don't know what you're doing, go get registered. It is going to be an amazing conference. Of course it's virtual. Yeah, I know. I'm disappointed like everyone else. I miss in person conferences, so hopefully in the future, we will be able to do those, of course safely, but that is okay. The team of people that have put together this conference have been working. I am ecstatic to see just all the different presentations that will be happening this year.
Alexandra Hughes:
And I wish I could be in five different virtual sessions at once, and I tried to think if I could figure out that, but I can't. Not even going to stress myself out, but I can't wait. It's going to be a great time. Please make sure if you are not registered and you want to know all things that are happening in student conduct, go to the conference. This week on the show, my guest and I actually talked about the idea or the topic of age in student conduct and how we display ourselves and connect with students based off of if we're older, if we're younger, or somewhere in between. It was definitely an interesting conversation, a different perspective, and I truly think you will enjoy the episode.
Alexandra Hughes:
Now, the guest that I have on the show this week, her name is Sydney Scheiner. Sydney serves as the current coordinator for conduct and community engagement in the Dean of Students Office at Villanova University. Originally she is from central New Jersey where she earned her bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Delaware in 2016. During her time at UD, Sydney was heavily involved in the orientation program, which is where she got her start in higher education. She immediately moved to Knoxville, Tennessee to pursue her master's degree in college student personnel from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. There, Sydney first entered the world of student conduct as a graduate assistant in the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.
Alexandra Hughes:
And it was certainly not love at first sight. However, Sydney credits mentors and a serious shift in perspective for empowering her to find her place in this work. She started at Villanova University in July of 2018 and has remained in her position since. Sydney currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania right in the heart of the Historic District. And she is an American history nerd, so this is a perfect place for her right now. When a pandemic happens and therefore creates a lot of downtime, Sydney reluctantly enjoys watching The Bachelor, making homemade bagels, and has recently tried out a new hobby, which is indoor rock climbing.
Alexandra Hughes:
Also something that Sydney does, and she talks about it on the show, she actually does watercolor paintings. No, let me re-say that. She does incredibly beautiful watercolor paintings of university buildings, and it's a thing. She actually sent over some pictures, so I'll probably have to post those just on our social media. If you don't follow us, it's of course @ASCApodcast on Instagram and Twitter, so make sure you do that so you can connect with Sydney, connect with her watercolor paintings, and go from there. I hope that you enjoy this episode, and I look forward to connecting with you all on the web. Bye. Welcome to the show.
Sydney Scheiner:
Thank you so much.
Alexandra Hughes:
Oh my goodness.
Sydney Scheiner:
We're having too much fun. We're having too much fun for two student conduct professionals.
Alexandra Hughes:
I feel like we have to have fun as student conduct professionals because we deal with the hardest stuff ever, so I think that we are probably the most fun people on campus, whether anyone else acknowledges that or realizes that.
Sydney Scheiner:
I agree. And you and I briefly talked about this earlier, but bringing humor into the conduct process and just your work, whether it's behind the scenes, sometimes in front of the scenes, is so important to offset what we do, for sure.
Alexandra Hughes:
It is. It is. Will you please tell everyone who you are? Talk a little bit about yourself. Remember we're on a recorded podcast, so no deep down dark secrets unless you just want to share that with the world. But if you could share a little bit about who you are, what you do, just so everyone knows who we have on the show today.
Sydney Scheiner:
Absolutely. First of all, thanks so much for having me. My name is Sydney Scheiner. I use she/her pronouns, and currently, I work at Villanova University. I've been here going on about two and a half years now. I started in July of 2018, a day after my 24th birthday, which I will get into a little bit. I've been here for two and a half years. And my experience in conduct really started as... I was a graduate assistant in the Student Conduct and Community Standards Office at the University of Tennessee.
Sydney Scheiner:
That's where I did my master's degree in college student personnel, graduated from there and came on over to Villanova. So a little bit about my role here, I work in the Dean of Students Office and predominantly focus on the student conduct process. I have a little bit of a focus on our off campus population, so I'm a lot of times hearing some of those cases, but definitely do a lot of on campus stuff as well, and really just across the board.
Sydney Scheiner:
And being at a Dean of Students Office is really great because there are so many other things I can do in addition to being a conduct officer, which I'll also talk a little bit more about. A little bit about me, I live in Philadelphia. I live in Old City, so I am right around all the fun historic things. I pass the Liberty Bell every day on my way to work. I pass Independence Hall, all that good stuff. I, over the course of quarantine, got really back into painting. I'm actually a watercolor artist and specialize in buildings, houses, and I've kind of found my niche in college campus buildings, so I actually paint college campus buildings.
Sydney Scheiner:
That's been a really fun activity that I've done to loop in my higher ed interest and what I do, but that's been a really great activity for me to do as well. I like to bring that in. That's a really fun thing that I do. I'm an avid Survivor fan. I've never missed an episode of Survivor, so I would love to chat with people about that. And I love to cook.
Alexandra Hughes:
Okay, so I have to go back. You paint... We need to talk about that. That's important. You paint college buildings.
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah.
Alexandra Hughes:
Talk about this.
Sydney Scheiner:
Absolutely. I painted a lot when I was younger, through the college years let it go a little bit, and as we all did over quarantine, we were looking for things to do, and I pulled out my watercolors, and I started painting. And it evolved into a little bit of a side hustle into painting specifically prominent buildings on college campuses. People reach out to me with where they are and what building they want, and I do custom painting, and would love to show you sometime. [crosstalk 00:08:55]-
Alexandra Hughes:
That is so cool. Okay, yeah, that's really, really cool that you do that, because I could see that being a really good hustle. That's like a full-time job. You never know where life is going to take us, so that's actually really cool.
Sydney Scheiner:
[crosstalk 00:09:13]. Exactly. Yeah. I really enjoy it.
Alexandra Hughes:
And all because of COVID, you just came out and you were like, hey, I need something to do, because like everybody, we're all trying to find something to do, and so you picked back up on that skill and the love and the passion that you have, and you can do it. That's really cool. Okay. So we'll do a whole nother episode about that, because clearly I'm going down a rabbit hole that has nothing to do with student conduct and the episode, but I will do that, because that's just who I am as a person, right? I'm constantly going down rabbit holes.
Alexandra Hughes:
Well, thank you for being here. We are definitely happy to have you on the show. So let's talk a little bit about this topic that we kind of had a past conversation about revolving really around the idea of student conduct and age. And I guess I'm going to preface this with the understanding, and most people I think know, in student conduct, really when we're dealing with students, we're not talking about terrible people. 99.9% of time, they're just college students that have probably made a mistake, and we are just a part of their educational journey along the way to get them to understand rules and policies, accountability, all of that good stuff.
Alexandra Hughes:
And so there is a perception of student conduct offices and the administrators and all these things that when you walk into the Student Conduct Office, either A, we're like the vice principal's office, or B, we're going to be super old, super gray, and basically not understand anything about anything important that the students are going through. And then they walk into the office, and they see you or me, or whoever, someone who they weren't expecting.
Alexandra Hughes:
One of the things that you shared with me was that in the past, you hid your age to the students that came in due to you being slightly younger than maybe your student conduct coordinator counterparts, right? How am I doing for explaining that as far as getting [crosstalk 00:11:34]?
Sydney Scheiner:
Perfect. Totally.
Alexandra Hughes:
Okay. Okay, we're good. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about age, student conduct, your story about what made you hide your age. Let's get into that. I want to hear about that.
Sydney Scheiner:
Sure. Just as a little bit of background, I went to the University of Delaware for my undergraduate degree. I was an orientation leader. I was a tour guide. That was how I found my way into higher ed. So the total, that type of archetype college student. I mentioned I went to the University of Tennessee for my graduate degree, and my graduate assistantship was in the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.
Sydney Scheiner:
I'll tell you the SparkNote version is that at first, I hated it. I absolutely hated it. I was unsure of what I was doing in the office. I didn't see how I fit. I quite honestly thought to myself, I have too much of a personality to be doing this work. Why am I showing up to this assistantship every day to essentially see the worst parts of the university? And I don't mean the worst students. Just like you said, we don't meet with bad students.
Sydney Scheiner:
But we show up to work every day and see the worst situations. At the lowest points in these students' lives, we show up and that's our job, is to read about it, help them get through it. And I could not understand why I was there. And I had a really eye opening conversation with my supervisor, who's a mentor to me to this day. Her name's Amanda Samsel. She is the director currently at the University of Tennessee's Conduct Office.
Sydney Scheiner:
She really helped me frame that I don't not fit into this field because I have a personality. "Don't view that as a reason to not be here. View that as, that's a gap in this field, that we need people with energy, we need people with a sense of humor, we need people with that empathy. And I think I really see you in this field. There's a place for you. You're actually really needed." And long story short, I started to see it that way, until when I decided that I wanted to go into conduct, an insecurity of mine was my age.
Sydney Scheiner:
Like I said, I applied for this Villanova job. I ended up getting it. I started a day after my 24th birthday, so here I am, this really eager 24-year-old who's showing up, getting paid now to do this, and that was [inaudible 00:14:06]. Oh, wow. Okay. Now it's me. I can't lean on that I'm just the GA anymore. Here I am, I'm calling the shots. Oh no, what do I know? And so at first I, I guess hid my age in the sense that I... I mean, how many times are we explicitly talking about our age at work? Probably not often.
Sydney Scheiner:
But I felt myself overcompensating, whether that was in my language in emails, making it super formal, or when students came in, kind of covering up that friendliness. I'm probably being too hard on myself. I'm sure that I was approaching it the way that I do and the way that I love, so I'm probably being a little bit hard on myself, but I felt myself trying to overcompensate, because here I am, 24 years old a couple years ago, sitting in front of a 21- or 22-year-old, telling them that they're on disciplinary probation for X, Y, Z violation.
Sydney Scheiner:
And there's part of me that's saying, "Who am I to tell you that you're now on probation for, quite frankly, something I probably did two, three, four years ago, whatever it was?" And so I thought that they were coming into my office thinking the same thing, and I assumed that, that they were going to call me out, they were going to come in here and say, "Who is this girl who's talking to me? She can't be more than two, three years older than me," which true at the time. And I really felt myself covering that up because I had this moments of sitting here, I've been in their shoes. Who am I to tell you? And that's really where that insecurity started.
Alexandra Hughes:
Two things. One, do you actually thinking, looking back now, that even with all the formal things that you did and the overcompensation, do you think that it actually worked? And people-
Sydney Scheiner:
No.
Alexandra Hughes:
Okay, all right. So that was the first question. And then the second thing is, did any of those students ever actually call you out on it and say, "Oh, you're young. You must only be two years older"? Did it ever happen?
Sydney Scheiner:
Never.
Alexandra Hughes:
Never?
Sydney Scheiner:
No.
Alexandra Hughes:
Okay. So one, they knew, or they assumed, right? And I think part of it, too, is they probably didn't know exactly, you know what I mean, as far as how many years or what it could be. I think there's also an assumption. I mean, we have all these things about, oh my goodness, you're actually this old. I know I'm Black, and you say Black don't crack, so there's all these different things. So it's probably like people can kind of guess, but they never really know. But even still, with that, they knew you were young, but no one ever called you out on saying, "Oh my God, you did this two years ago. Who are you to tell me what to do?"
Sydney Scheiner:
Absolutely not. Absolutely not. And I think, if I can talk about the shift that I started to see in myself, was as I came into this job... We all have some sort of imposter syndrome when we come into a new job. And especially it being my first job out of grad school, I certainly did. But over time, you get good at your job, and you get comfortable. And I started to get good at my job, and when that started to happen, I don't even want to say accidentally, that's the wrong word, but I just became more myself.
Sydney Scheiner:
And through that, what started happening is I really couldn't hide that age piece anymore. And when I say age, I guess I more so really mean that relatability element. And when I started getting more comfortable in the conduct meetings and more familiar with the process, I started to let my own guard down, and what came out was just that natural way that I'm going to approach something. And sometimes, that's going to be with a joke. That's going to be with asking them something just because I'm a conversationalist.
Sydney Scheiner:
We all are in this field. We're conversationalists. We got to build that rapport with someone really quickly. And what I started to really lean on was, wait, well, I'm really not that far off in age from you, and I can't hide it, because now it's taking more energy for me to try to put a barrier between that, rather than just let it happen. And when I started to let that happen, what actually started happening was students calling me out on it, but in a positive way.
Sydney Scheiner:
What I started to recognize was, and I would sit there with the students, say, "Hey, listen. I get it. I've been to the frat parties, too. I totally get it. Hey, yep. Jungle juice. It's going to get you. You want to be really careful with that." When I started slipping those things into the meetings and just being honest with them and letting my guard down, then students would start to say to me, "Wait, you get it. You really get it, and it sounds like you really understand where I'm coming from."
Sydney Scheiner:
And when I started to get that response, I was like, why am I trying to act like I am some upper level administrator who is older and maybe a little bit more out of touch with this generation? Why am I not leaning on this more? And so I started to really leverage that aspect of what I was bringing to my job, and I really have just found a way to infuse that personality that I like to bring to work into my conduct meetings and not just keeping it behind the scenes, but actually using it in my meetings.
Alexandra Hughes:
Well, it's that authenticity piece, right? We're asking students to come into our offices and be authentic in who they are and share their story and explain what, why, and who, what, when, where why. What were you thinking in this particular case? And so in a sense, it's also that same kind of mirror, right? We need to be authentic in a way as well. And I think it goes into what you were saying.
Alexandra Hughes:
You're not so far off to understand the language, the lingo, if it's the jungle juice, whatever it may be. But I think that goes into the idea of language. We always talk about how important language is, and understanding what students are saying can really make a difference in if we're finding students responsible or not responsible. And if you speak the language of whatever student and they know that you get it, then they're going to be able to tell their story and feel comfortable telling their story to you.
Sydney Scheiner:
Absolutely. And like you said, bringing that authenticity into the meeting, if we're expecting it out of our students, we got to expect that of ourselves. And sometimes we'll get an opportunity to explicitly state that to a student. There have absolutely been plenty of conduct meetings where, like I was saying earlier, I'll say to the student, "Hey, the RA once knocked on my door, too." Or, "Hey, I've been to that kind of party before. I know it can get crazy. I know it can go downhill real quick. I've been there."
Sydney Scheiner:
Sometimes I am able to incorporate that explicitly, but even just being honest with yourself, and given that that's going to find its way into the process by just how you're approaching it. And I know you and I talked about this earlier, but I had this idea for maybe, sometime down the road, a presentation at ASCA, and I was going to open it up with this question. I'll ask the listeners now to ask yourselves this question.
Sydney Scheiner:
One, when you were in college, did you go through the conduct process? Or two, should you have gone through the process? I will tell you all right now, I never once went through the conduct process at the University of Delaware. I should have. I am not going to lie to you. I absolutely did things that if I got caught, I would have landed myself straight into a conduct meeting, and I don't know how it would have gone, honestly.
Sydney Scheiner:
I use that to say, rather than how I originally approached this job, saying, "I never got caught. Who am I to tell you now that you are getting caught and you are getting held accountable in this process?" Now I view it, "Hey, I should be the one hearing your case, because guess what? I'm not far from you. I've had these experiences, and let me tell you how to go about this smarter, more safely, whatever it might be, because I relate to you."
Alexandra Hughes:
That's so true. And I think there's so much education that comes into those conversations because of experience. And I think in life, we recognize that, right? You talk about parents and grandparents. I talk to my dad. He's almost 70. And he says, "Well, I've done it before. I had life experience, Alex. I've been there. I've done that." Now, yes, things have changed, like the internet didn't exist when he was my age, or any of that stuff. And so yes, there's always going to be differences, but it's also the experience of life that gets people to understand, like, "I know where you're coming from."
Alexandra Hughes:
And even those educational conversations, I'll take it a step further, because you know what jungle juice is, and because we know how it can impact different situations, even me being able to talk to students and say, "It has pineapple. I understand that you believe that you understand how much alcohol that you can consume, and maybe normally that's the case, but anything with pineapple juice, pineapple juice cuts the alcohol taste, so you really don't have a good frame of reference."
Alexandra Hughes:
And I think it's all of those experiences that allow us to be able to talk to students and say, "Hey," and really being able to understand, "Okay, you're telling me you had, if it's a red solo cup with this much amount, well, I know what this is made of, so I know that you really don't know what's in there." And honestly, I don't know if anyone ever knew what was in [inaudible 00:24:06]-
Sydney Scheiner:
[crosstalk 00:24:07]
Alexandra Hughes:
... really don't know all the stuff that was in it at the fraternity parties. My goodness, that's crazy when you think back.
Sydney Scheiner:
[crosstalk 00:24:15] no idea.
Alexandra Hughes:
Right. First of all, let's talk about this. Why did we drink stuff out of a cooler? All the stuff that you did in college that you think back, and I'm like... And in the age of COVID, I would never.
Sydney Scheiner:
Can you imagine? I showed up to parties and drank what was there.
Alexandra Hughes:
I didn't ask questions. I just drank the juice.
Sydney Scheiner:
[inaudible 00:24:37]. But that was it. We did that.
Alexandra Hughes:
That's so terrible.
Sydney Scheiner:
And we didn't think anything of it, or I didn't. So I get it. Other professionals will say to me, "How could they ever be so whatever to do that?" I'm like, "No, think about it." [crosstalk 00:24:58]-
Alexandra Hughes:
Right. Well, we have to think about it from the lens of someone who's 18 years old.
Sydney Scheiner:
Yes.
Alexandra Hughes:
And I think that's part of it, too. Whenever I look at conduct cases, and even when I'm looking at this idea of, would a reasonable person know, I take it a step further, and I say, "Not would a reasonable person at my age, who has a job, knows this, this, this, this, this now, but would a reasonable person who's 18, straight out of their house, never had any type of freedom before, all these different things, would they know?"
Alexandra Hughes:
And I think as we get older, even in this role, we often forget what these things were like. But even we do that when it comes to [inaudible 00:25:46] higher education, even the job search process, right? I often think about, when I'm reviewing people's resumes for positions, and I'll see things that are absolutely wild or crazy, like, why would you ever put, I don't know, colored ink and this, and all this crazy stuff?
Alexandra Hughes:
But what I like to do with that is take an extra five seconds to not judge this person for that, but to say, "Maybe someone just didn't teach you." Because none of us know everything. And if we're not taught the skills of how to do a resume, a cover letter, a whatever, whatever, whatever, then you're trying your best, and who's to say you wouldn't be the perfect person for the position that I have?
Alexandra Hughes:
You may be honestly 10 times better than anyone that I ever could have thought of, but if I don't take the time to look at that and I think back to that role, or the first time I ever had to apply for a job, and all these different things, we often forget as we keep moving up. And we keep moving up in age. We forgot about college students. And that gap honestly could really end up being a downfall rather than something positive if we're not careful.
Sydney Scheiner:
Exactly. You said it perfectly when you said, "It just gets harder as you get older." Doesn't mean that as you age in this field, you can't relate to students. That's not what that means, but you have to work a little bit harder. And so that's where when I'm coming from and wanting so badly to talk about this, is let me and let younger conduct professionals leverage this time in your career where you don't have to think back as far, you don't have to put in as much, I guess, explicit effort to reach back because it wasn't that long ago, because it is going to come quickly that you start to be out of touch.
Sydney Scheiner:
And I feel like I'm starting to kind of hit that right now. I'm 26 now, and I'm starting to kind of hit that cusp where I'm starting to hear words, and I'm like, what does that mean? For example, one of the first words that I'm hearing Gen Z say, because I am a millennial, and I'm going to hold onto that, is they say, "Oh, I'm really emo today." And I'm like, "Emo?" When I think of emo, I'm thinking My Chemical Romance [crosstalk 00:28:10]-
Alexandra Hughes:
That's what I would think.
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah, that's what you think, right? Emo. And they're like, "Oh, no." [crosstalk 00:28:15]-
Alexandra Hughes:
Hot Topic back in the day.
Sydney Scheiner:
Right. Right? They're like, "No. That just means that you're feeling emotional. I'm feeling [crosstalk 00:28:22]-"
Alexandra Hughes:
Oh, literally emotional. Emo. Oh.
Sydney Scheiner:
I'm emotional. Like, "Oh, that song made me emo, or I'm feeling real emo. It's my last semester here." I'm like, oh, whoa, this is changing. This language is changing [crosstalk 00:28:35]-
Alexandra Hughes:
That is interesting.
Sydney Scheiner:
So I'm starting to kind of hit that cusp where I'm starting to feel myself turn that corner, so I'm really trying to hold onto... And it's about finding those things. And I think something also that's so important as conduct professionals that I'm so grateful that my institution allows me to do, and my supervisor allow me to do, is get exposure outside of the conduct process. For example, I do a whole bunch of other stuff on campus that, yes, it's not in my job description, as we all do, but really taking that opportunity to allow the student body to get to know you outside of the conduct process.
Sydney Scheiner:
Whether it's being a facilitator for Safe Zone training, or we have a low ropes course on campus that I facilitate. Student groups, just having your door open. I'm so grateful that I'm right across from the Student Government Office, so my students who I've never met through the conduct process but are across the hall, we stop in, we talk Bachelor, we talk Bridgerton, whatever it is that they're watching and I'm watching, and we get to know each other. Because it's so important for you to start making a name for your office on campus through those little interactions, because what's going to happen eventually, and this has happened... I get so happy when this happens.
Sydney Scheiner:
Once in a while, because the student will tell me, I'll have a student come to me and say, "Hey Syd, one of my friends is actually meeting with you next week, or one of my friends met with you last week, and they were really nervous, but I told them they're in good hands with Syd." And that's the best thing I can hear. And I always clarify. I always say, "Make sure you're not telling them... It's not like they're going to get off easy with me, right?" And like, "No, no, no, no. It's just that you're like a normal person." And I'm like [crosstalk 00:30:27]-
Alexandra Hughes:
But it's true. I love everything that you said. It was funny. Even when I moved to even this current position that I'm in now, when I first got here, I spent, and obviously with my supervisor's permission... And he knew what I was doing, right? But I spent as much time in the office as I did outside of the office, and I was very intentional in going and doing exactly what you said, walking around, and going to, I don't know, the union, and getting food, and calling people out, and just doing all of these different things.
Alexandra Hughes:
Because like you said, I wanted people to know me outside of just student rights and responsibilities. And I'm so thankful for that, and I think one of the things that I miss about being in person and in the office is just truly that... I mean, honestly, I probably didn't get much work done during the day, which is why I would have to stay after hours, you know what I mean, and everything else, truthfully. But I miss them, I mean, students walking into the office being like, "I'm here to see Alex. I'm here to see..."
Alexandra Hughes:
And I mean, it would have nothing to do with student conduct, but they felt that my office was a safe space, which I think is incredible when you are a student conduct officer and you have the ability to do all the things that we do, and even still, students still feel that your office is still a safe space. I think what you're doing is incredible. But that's how we make those connections. And so it's been harder, I think, with COVID and being online and what that looks like now, and so even trying to still find intentional ways, and groups that I'm a part of on campus, and things that I'll do. Or in this case, last year I got TikTok. I truly got TikTok because I needed to understand what the-
Sydney Scheiner:
[crosstalk 00:32:20].
Alexandra Hughes:
... students were doing. I've kept TikTok because I could care less what the students are doing, and it's the most fantastical, amazing thing ever.
Sydney Scheiner:
We all did it. We all resisted, and then we all did it. And we even got to the point, I'll tell you, in my office, we even made a TikTok. We just really went for it, and we just-
Alexandra Hughes:
Ran with it.
Sydney Scheiner:
We ran for it.
Alexandra Hughes:
You know what? I'm here for it. I absolutely love that, because I was like, this is the best thing ever. And I know the people in my life get so annoyed, because literally every day, I'm like, "Oh, I saw on TikTok where... Oh, I saw on TikTok where..."
Sydney Scheiner:
I keep saying the most used phrase of 2020 was, "There is this TikTok where..." Or, "Did you see the TikTok where...?"
Alexandra Hughes:
It is.
Sydney Scheiner:
Dot, dot, dot.
Alexandra Hughes:
So bad. I've even done it with students, and I'm like, "Oh, I saw this TikTok about..." And they're like... I said, "Oh yeah, I know about TikTok." Or when I come across... One of the students that works in our office has a... Because sometimes it's by region. I don't know how the algorithm works for TikTok, because I'll see things in Atlanta where I'm from, but then I'll come across students here in the... It's weird.
Alexandra Hughes:
But anyways, I came across his TikTok, and I was like, no, I don't want to know. I don't want to see. I don't want to. Luckily, it wasn't anything inappropriate, but it was so funny, because I think we were in a meeting, and I said, "So I saw your TikTok where you were..." And he was like... I was like, "Yeah, you better watch yourself. You never know."
Sydney Scheiner:
[crosstalk 00:33:49] great segue into posting on social media, and nothing disappears on social media, and it's a great segue into like, "Yeah, I did see it."
Alexandra Hughes:
"I saw your TikTok." So talk to me about this. We've talked about students and how it's worked. What about other professionals in the field? When you are at, whether it's student conduct conference, I don't want to just say ASCA, but more so just, I think, all of the... ACPA, NASPA. I mean, there's so many different things. And whether it is a conference, whether it is just engaging with people, and maybe there's a separation. I probably should make this distinction.
Alexandra Hughes:
I think higher ed is a little bit better than the faculty academic side, because I think all of us on the higher ed side, different shapes, sizes, this, that, whatever, ages. We're a little bit more, I think, and maybe I'm just partial to us, I think we're more inclusive. But then you have faculty members that are not in the student affairs type of side. So what has your experience been, I guess, with other professionals?
Sydney Scheiner:
That's a great question, and I would agree with you that we are such an inclusive field. And it perpetuates itself. It's inclusive, so people want to get into it, and then they stay in, and then they're the people who are inclusive, and it's just this awesome perpetuated community that I do really think we are really exceptional in that. And not by any means perfect, but I think we are an exceptionally inclusive field.
Sydney Scheiner:
I can't think of any explicitly negative experiences that I have with professionals. I think if anything, I have censored myself and not given myself opportunities, and put that barrier on myself when it comes to interacting with higher level, upper level administrators. And then I realize that when I do voice my opinion, when I do put myself out there, it's received really well. Because in the conduct field, generally speaking, I'm the youngest person in the room.
Sydney Scheiner:
I think with residence life, there's a little bit more of a focus on younger professionals. Typically with area coordinators or RDs, you're going to see some younger professionals. But when it comes to coordinators or [inaudible 00:36:07] or conduct, I'm generally one of the youngest people in the room, and that's why I think I so badly wanted to talk to you about this, because I was having trouble finding that community in ASCA or higher education with a conduct focus specifically.
Sydney Scheiner:
And so I know that we're out there, but it's definitely a skill to be able to navigate these meetings where, yeah, I'm talking to VPs, and I'm talking to deans, and I'm talking to directors who are generally a lot older than me. And I have really found that they are super receptive, and it's kind of at the point where people that I work with here, they'll say, "Syd, you're young. What do they mean when they say this?" Or, "What do you think? You're not far out of college. What's your inside view on this?"
Sydney Scheiner:
And I can kind of share that. And again, it's that leverage. I think that other professionals actually really gravitate toward people closer to my age, and I really have not experienced any sort of people not listening to me, or not hearing what I say as valid. And maybe I'm just not noticing. Maybe I'm just choosing to not notice this. But I think generally, those interactions are really positive, because I think some older people in the field are really excited to see a new generation of conduct professionals, because the field has just evolved so much.
Sydney Scheiner:
And quite honestly, if the field was what it was five, 10, 25 years ago, I don't even know if I'd be in it, to be frank with you. One of my professors at the University of Tennessee is Dr. Karen Boyd, who's really well known in the field, and she's totally mentored me into this field, and she's an excellent of someone who's been in the field for a long time but is current and knows where the field is going. And when she's explaining to me what it was like to be in, we'll say, quote, judicial affairs in the '90s, I'm like, "Oh my God, I don't even know if I'd want that job."
Sydney Scheiner:
And so I think it's really exciting to bring myself and for younger professionals to bring themselves into the conduct process and into the field, because it's evolving, and now it's way more focused on social justice and education, and we're leaning away from that legalistic nature that I really only experienced maybe a little bit at some other institutions. But where we're headed is just so progressive, I think.
Alexandra Hughes:
I agree.
Sydney Scheiner:
And so we're really needed here, and we got to speak up.
Alexandra Hughes:
I think that's why I love student conduct so much. I agree with you. I think that I'm in it at the right time. I've often questioned if this would have been my thing in the '80s or in the '90s, or I don't know, years ago, right?
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah.
Alexandra Hughes:
Or even 10 years ago, right, what that would look like. And so I agree with you. I love the direction where it's going. And I think that people who have even been in it, like you said, Dr. Boyd who's been doing this for years, the people that are still in it who have been doing it, they love it to the point of where I think they're very intentional with ensuring that they are current. Because if you weren't intentional and you aren't current, when something says something about, I don't know, someone posted something on Instagram, TikTok, whatever it may be, the internet didn't exist years ago. So if you weren't aware of how these things worked, then you wouldn't be able to navigate these conversations with students.
Sydney Scheiner:
Right, talk about staying current. If you're dealing maybe with a certain conduct case, maybe a Title IX case that involves a certain dating app, well, hey, I can tell you the difference between Bumble, between HER, between Tinder, between Grindr. I know the nuances because that's our generation. I can tell you what the difference is between those apps, where someone who maybe didn't grow up with that, they think of it, oh, maybe as Match.com. I don't know. And I'm like, "No, it's way more nuanced than that."
Sydney Scheiner:
So maybe that can actually really impact how we're going to hear this case, because I know the differences, and I know the nuances, whether it's language, whether it's TikTok versus Snapchat. So it's really important to give attention to those younger conduct [crosstalk 00:40:41]-
Alexandra Hughes:
And even, like you said, the nuances of each one and what it means. I also think it would be incredible to see how, I'm a researcher through and through, to see how COVID has impacted, or well, we're in it right now, but will impact this next generation moving forward. Because I think you'll have a whole generation of people, whereas before, it was like, "Oh my God, you met someone online, on Match.com? Oh my God, why would you do that?"
Alexandra Hughes:
Well, now you have a whole year in which we were inside the house, which I'm pretty sure... This is an arbitrary number. [inaudible 00:41:15] 98% of people who met each other probably met on an app of some sort because you could not meet in a traditional, I don't know, bar or restaurant, wherever people would meet. So now you probably met someone on an app, so now you're going to have a whole generation of people where that's going to be normal, or that's the whole way they got together.
Alexandra Hughes:
So I think it's incredible to see how that changes the perceptions behind things. And like you said, what you do on Snapchat is different than what you do on Twitter, what you do on... It's so different. And it's important to stay relevant and consistent. And we have to meet students where they are. I always get really upset with administrators, old, young, whoever, who say, "Well, the student has to come... We can't do this, or we are going to have to do a traditional style lecture. We're going to have to do whatever it is because that student is in college, and they need to be able to sit in a lecture hall for two hours."
Alexandra Hughes:
And I'm like, "But even you wouldn't want to do that, so why would you ask them to?" I wouldn't want to do that. Trust me, when I have to give... And I teach. When I give lectures, I have to give actual lectures in a lecture... Well, I guess now I do it from my home. But even when I do lectures in a lecture hall, I'm like, "Okay, what are we doing? Let's get some involvement." I don't even want to sit there, so why would I want you to sit there?
Alexandra Hughes:
When we're talking about programming and everything else, but getting students to understand the importance of student conduct, they're going to understand it more from a 60-second TikTok than they will from a 60-minute lecture that you're going to give.
Sydney Scheiner:
And this could be a whole other conversation, but I think something I'm really interested in is how we are going to start adapting our codes of conduct to be more digestible for students, because we have these huge books of all these policies, and yes, you are responsible for knowing them, absolutely. We know that our students are not sitting there reading 100 pages of a code of student conduct, so do we need to start making one-minute videos to highlight these really important policies? Do we need to start getting on Instagram to say, "Hey, here's a snapshot of what this policy looks like."
Sydney Scheiner:
Like you said, meeting them where they're at, because is it fair anymore to hand them a book, or at least maybe in a PDF, and say, "Well, you're responsible for knowing these 100 pages"? Yes, they are, and that is part of [inaudible 00:43:38], just in the same we need to know laws, and we're responsible for knowing our state, local, federal laws, whatever it might be. Yes. But we have such an opportunity in higher ed to meet people where they're at, and our processes can change sometimes a lot faster than government policies and whatnot.
Sydney Scheiner:
And that's why I love it, is because... And again, this can vary per institution, but we just have the ability to make those changes at a quicker pace. And so I always say there's a reason I work in higher ed and I don't work in law or government. While there's a lot of parallels, I just love that student element and that educational element.
Alexandra Hughes:
That's so funny. I always say things move at the speed of higher education, and I think I'm still on the side of higher ed being so slow when it moves. But for me, this year was so incredible because we saw how quickly we were able to adjust. I think there were things that-
Sydney Scheiner:
[crosstalk 00:44:33]
Alexandra Hughes:
I mean, there has been things for years I've been trying to get people to do at this institution. And I'm not going to name names, but I was just like, if we would just do one, two, three, X, Y, Z, come on. And literally in a matter of a week, it happened, and I was like... But-
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah. And it could happen.
Alexandra Hughes:
I was like, "I knew it could happen. I told you it could happen, and I told you it could work." But I-
Sydney Scheiner:
[inaudible 00:44:58].
Alexandra Hughes:
It was. It has to be in the right season. I've learned that more than anything, which is pretty terrible, but I think now we're starting to see and people are starting to understand, because... I remember at the beginning of the pandemic, almost a year ago, I literally said, "Let's just..." I just threw the whole rule book out, and that's what we all did. I remember getting phone calls from professors about, I don't know... It was Zoom bombing, that's what it was.
Alexandra Hughes:
But I had no idea, and of course I'd never heard of it before, and we were, what, [inaudible 00:45:26] in. And a professor was like, "Well, all this happened. What do I do?" And I said, "You know, that's a great question. Let me think about that." We were literally making up stuff. I know Christine with ASCA, she had all of those almost town hall meetings of us coming together to say, "How? Help. What do we do?"
Alexandra Hughes:
And those were great, because we were able to really just think about things, and come together, and create. But I think if we can still continue that same idea of recognizing and realizing that there might be something that could work a little bit better to meet our students, then maybe we should at least look into it and bridge those sides. We still have that 100-page student conduct PDF, but now we have some TikToks of me dancing, talking about it. I mean, honestly, I can't wait to get back to the office, because I'm so here for partnering up with my students and making some TikToks and doing the whole thing. So I'm completely, 100% down.
Sydney Scheiner:
Yes. Like you said, the rule book is gone. It's absolutely gone. And so yeah, why not hop onto a TikTok with some of your students and use that to show your personality and show your office in a way that you want? Because like you said, we proved that changes can be made. They had to be made. When they said, "Unprecedented times," and then you actually had to face the fact that you didn't have a precedent for the case that you were hearing, you're like, oh, I get it now. That's what unprecedented means. [inaudible 00:47:01]. I got it.
Alexandra Hughes:
And now we're here.
Sydney Scheiner:
So you're exactly right that we proved that we can make the changes, and so let's just not go back.
Alexandra Hughes:
Yeah, no, I think we should still continue to move forward. So Syd, is there anything that you would like to share with our audience? I don't know, a book, a recipe, a watercolor set, anything that you would recommend. I used to do this when we started to say to get through COVID, foolishly thinking that it would be over in a couple of months. But is there just anything that's giving you life that you're just here? I know you shared the watercolor, but is there anything else that you would recommend to our audience?
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah. I was thinking about this. Yeah, first of all, if you would like an original watercolor, reach out. I'm sure you'll share [crosstalk 00:47:54]-
Alexandra Hughes:
What's your social? Where can people find you? Share that with our audience.
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah. People can find me. I mean, I definitely like to connect with people in the field. I do have a rule that students don't follow me on Instagram until they graduate. I promise you I'm not doing anything that I wouldn't want to show them, it's more so to protect them. I say, "I don't want to know what you're doing, so let's hold off on that." But I'm happy to connect with student conduct professionals, so you can find me on Instagram @SydSchein, S-Y-D-S-C-H-E-I-N.
Sydney Scheiner:
Happy to connect with you over that. Shoot me an email at Sydney.Scheiner@Villanova.edu. But I'm mostly on Instagram and just via email, so reach out if you're interested in any sort of artwork. As far as a recommendation, I am going to recommend a book that I always recommend. I would recommend it to anybody, especially student conduct professionals. If you have not read Know My Name by Chanel Miller, I highly recommend.
Sydney Scheiner:
Chanel Miller is a young woman who, when she had just graduated college, she was sexually assaulted by a student who went to Stanford University who also happened to be on the swim team. It was a really high profile case, and the book is from her perspective. It's called Know My Name because she actually spent a lot of the case and a lot of the trial under an anonymous name.
Sydney Scheiner:
She went by Emily Doe. And this book tells her story, and it focuses a lot on the criminal process, but she does dip a little bit into the student conduct process. And so I just highly recommend it for any student conduct professional, but quite honestly, just anybody in general. She's hilarious. It's relatable. It's insightful. It's really an incredible read.
Alexandra Hughes:
Okay. I haven't heard of it or read it, so I think I will add that to my list myself. I've just now gifted myself Audible, because-
Sydney Scheiner:
Great.
Alexandra Hughes:
... I was like, I don't have time to read stuff. And I'm a big podcast person, obviously, so I was like, well, maybe I should just get Audible so it's like a podcast and it's reading. It's been fantastic. I've now accomplished even more stuff, so I'm reading a book and listening to a book at the same time. It's just-
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah, audiobooks are the way to go.
Alexandra Hughes:
I'm here for it, so I will add that to my list. Well, good. Well, Syd, it was amazing to have you on the show. Please come back, because I would love to continue this conversation. I'm also curious about, in a certain amount of time, your experience as you progress through this field, so maybe we'll have to have you come back every so many years. And I probably won't even be hosting the podcast anymore, and it'll probably be some type of virtual hologram type thing, but we're just going to come back together and do it and be like, "Well, we just have to, because we started this."
Sydney Scheiner:
We have to. I mean, I would love to, Alexandra. You've been awesome. You made me want to reach out to you.
Alexandra Hughes:
Oh, thank you.
Sydney Scheiner:
So you really set this in motion, and I'm just happy that I could kind of help and shed some perspective. But I would love to come back. I have a million and one things I could talk about. I love the ASCA community. I'm devastated that we won't be able to see each other in person this year, but this is hopefully the last year maybe we need to be virtual, because it's my favorite week of the year. And I'm sad that we'll have to do it differently this year, but it's still going to be great. I love the community, and I'm just excited to be in this field.
Alexandra Hughes:
Well, wonderful. Well, with that, we will talk to our audience next week. This episode was produced, edited, and hosted by Alexandra Hughes. That's me. If you're enjoying the podcast, we ask that you like, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps others discover us and become more visible to our podcasting community. If you have suggestions for future guests or would like to be featured on the podcast yourself, feel free to reach out to us by email at ASCApodcast@gmail.com, or on Twitter @ASCApodcast. If you'd like to connect with me on Twitter, you can find me @AlexandrasView. Talk to us. We talk back.
Welcome to season three of the ASCA Viewpoints Podcast, the podcast where we talk about the student conduct profession in higher education. I'm Alexandra Hughes, your Viewpoints host.
Alexandra Hughes:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the ASCA Viewpoints Podcast. As always, I am your host, Dr. Alexandra E. Hughes, and we are back with another episode, another week. We are actually one week away from our annual national 2021 ASCA conference. So if you are not registered, you need to be registered.
Alexandra Hughes:
I don't know what you're doing, go get registered. It is going to be an amazing conference. Of course it's virtual. Yeah, I know. I'm disappointed like everyone else. I miss in person conferences, so hopefully in the future, we will be able to do those, of course safely, but that is okay. The team of people that have put together this conference have been working. I am ecstatic to see just all the different presentations that will be happening this year.
Alexandra Hughes:
And I wish I could be in five different virtual sessions at once, and I tried to think if I could figure out that, but I can't. Not even going to stress myself out, but I can't wait. It's going to be a great time. Please make sure if you are not registered and you want to know all things that are happening in student conduct, go to the conference. This week on the show, my guest and I actually talked about the idea or the topic of age in student conduct and how we display ourselves and connect with students based off of if we're older, if we're younger, or somewhere in between. It was definitely an interesting conversation, a different perspective, and I truly think you will enjoy the episode.
Alexandra Hughes:
Now, the guest that I have on the show this week, her name is Sydney Scheiner. Sydney serves as the current coordinator for conduct and community engagement in the Dean of Students Office at Villanova University. Originally she is from central New Jersey where she earned her bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Delaware in 2016. During her time at UD, Sydney was heavily involved in the orientation program, which is where she got her start in higher education. She immediately moved to Knoxville, Tennessee to pursue her master's degree in college student personnel from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. There, Sydney first entered the world of student conduct as a graduate assistant in the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.
Alexandra Hughes:
And it was certainly not love at first sight. However, Sydney credits mentors and a serious shift in perspective for empowering her to find her place in this work. She started at Villanova University in July of 2018 and has remained in her position since. Sydney currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania right in the heart of the Historic District. And she is an American history nerd, so this is a perfect place for her right now. When a pandemic happens and therefore creates a lot of downtime, Sydney reluctantly enjoys watching The Bachelor, making homemade bagels, and has recently tried out a new hobby, which is indoor rock climbing.
Alexandra Hughes:
Also something that Sydney does, and she talks about it on the show, she actually does watercolor paintings. No, let me re-say that. She does incredibly beautiful watercolor paintings of university buildings, and it's a thing. She actually sent over some pictures, so I'll probably have to post those just on our social media. If you don't follow us, it's of course @ASCApodcast on Instagram and Twitter, so make sure you do that so you can connect with Sydney, connect with her watercolor paintings, and go from there. I hope that you enjoy this episode, and I look forward to connecting with you all on the web. Bye. Welcome to the show.
Sydney Scheiner:
Thank you so much.
Alexandra Hughes:
Oh my goodness.
Sydney Scheiner:
We're having too much fun. We're having too much fun for two student conduct professionals.
Alexandra Hughes:
I feel like we have to have fun as student conduct professionals because we deal with the hardest stuff ever, so I think that we are probably the most fun people on campus, whether anyone else acknowledges that or realizes that.
Sydney Scheiner:
I agree. And you and I briefly talked about this earlier, but bringing humor into the conduct process and just your work, whether it's behind the scenes, sometimes in front of the scenes, is so important to offset what we do, for sure.
Alexandra Hughes:
It is. It is. Will you please tell everyone who you are? Talk a little bit about yourself. Remember we're on a recorded podcast, so no deep down dark secrets unless you just want to share that with the world. But if you could share a little bit about who you are, what you do, just so everyone knows who we have on the show today.
Sydney Scheiner:
Absolutely. First of all, thanks so much for having me. My name is Sydney Scheiner. I use she/her pronouns, and currently, I work at Villanova University. I've been here going on about two and a half years now. I started in July of 2018, a day after my 24th birthday, which I will get into a little bit. I've been here for two and a half years. And my experience in conduct really started as... I was a graduate assistant in the Student Conduct and Community Standards Office at the University of Tennessee.
Sydney Scheiner:
That's where I did my master's degree in college student personnel, graduated from there and came on over to Villanova. So a little bit about my role here, I work in the Dean of Students Office and predominantly focus on the student conduct process. I have a little bit of a focus on our off campus population, so I'm a lot of times hearing some of those cases, but definitely do a lot of on campus stuff as well, and really just across the board.
Sydney Scheiner:
And being at a Dean of Students Office is really great because there are so many other things I can do in addition to being a conduct officer, which I'll also talk a little bit more about. A little bit about me, I live in Philadelphia. I live in Old City, so I am right around all the fun historic things. I pass the Liberty Bell every day on my way to work. I pass Independence Hall, all that good stuff. I, over the course of quarantine, got really back into painting. I'm actually a watercolor artist and specialize in buildings, houses, and I've kind of found my niche in college campus buildings, so I actually paint college campus buildings.
Sydney Scheiner:
That's been a really fun activity that I've done to loop in my higher ed interest and what I do, but that's been a really great activity for me to do as well. I like to bring that in. That's a really fun thing that I do. I'm an avid Survivor fan. I've never missed an episode of Survivor, so I would love to chat with people about that. And I love to cook.
Alexandra Hughes:
Okay, so I have to go back. You paint... We need to talk about that. That's important. You paint college buildings.
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah.
Alexandra Hughes:
Talk about this.
Sydney Scheiner:
Absolutely. I painted a lot when I was younger, through the college years let it go a little bit, and as we all did over quarantine, we were looking for things to do, and I pulled out my watercolors, and I started painting. And it evolved into a little bit of a side hustle into painting specifically prominent buildings on college campuses. People reach out to me with where they are and what building they want, and I do custom painting, and would love to show you sometime. [crosstalk 00:08:55]-
Alexandra Hughes:
That is so cool. Okay, yeah, that's really, really cool that you do that, because I could see that being a really good hustle. That's like a full-time job. You never know where life is going to take us, so that's actually really cool.
Sydney Scheiner:
[crosstalk 00:09:13]. Exactly. Yeah. I really enjoy it.
Alexandra Hughes:
And all because of COVID, you just came out and you were like, hey, I need something to do, because like everybody, we're all trying to find something to do, and so you picked back up on that skill and the love and the passion that you have, and you can do it. That's really cool. Okay. So we'll do a whole nother episode about that, because clearly I'm going down a rabbit hole that has nothing to do with student conduct and the episode, but I will do that, because that's just who I am as a person, right? I'm constantly going down rabbit holes.
Alexandra Hughes:
Well, thank you for being here. We are definitely happy to have you on the show. So let's talk a little bit about this topic that we kind of had a past conversation about revolving really around the idea of student conduct and age. And I guess I'm going to preface this with the understanding, and most people I think know, in student conduct, really when we're dealing with students, we're not talking about terrible people. 99.9% of time, they're just college students that have probably made a mistake, and we are just a part of their educational journey along the way to get them to understand rules and policies, accountability, all of that good stuff.
Alexandra Hughes:
And so there is a perception of student conduct offices and the administrators and all these things that when you walk into the Student Conduct Office, either A, we're like the vice principal's office, or B, we're going to be super old, super gray, and basically not understand anything about anything important that the students are going through. And then they walk into the office, and they see you or me, or whoever, someone who they weren't expecting.
Alexandra Hughes:
One of the things that you shared with me was that in the past, you hid your age to the students that came in due to you being slightly younger than maybe your student conduct coordinator counterparts, right? How am I doing for explaining that as far as getting [crosstalk 00:11:34]?
Sydney Scheiner:
Perfect. Totally.
Alexandra Hughes:
Okay. Okay, we're good. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about age, student conduct, your story about what made you hide your age. Let's get into that. I want to hear about that.
Sydney Scheiner:
Sure. Just as a little bit of background, I went to the University of Delaware for my undergraduate degree. I was an orientation leader. I was a tour guide. That was how I found my way into higher ed. So the total, that type of archetype college student. I mentioned I went to the University of Tennessee for my graduate degree, and my graduate assistantship was in the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.
Sydney Scheiner:
I'll tell you the SparkNote version is that at first, I hated it. I absolutely hated it. I was unsure of what I was doing in the office. I didn't see how I fit. I quite honestly thought to myself, I have too much of a personality to be doing this work. Why am I showing up to this assistantship every day to essentially see the worst parts of the university? And I don't mean the worst students. Just like you said, we don't meet with bad students.
Sydney Scheiner:
But we show up to work every day and see the worst situations. At the lowest points in these students' lives, we show up and that's our job, is to read about it, help them get through it. And I could not understand why I was there. And I had a really eye opening conversation with my supervisor, who's a mentor to me to this day. Her name's Amanda Samsel. She is the director currently at the University of Tennessee's Conduct Office.
Sydney Scheiner:
She really helped me frame that I don't not fit into this field because I have a personality. "Don't view that as a reason to not be here. View that as, that's a gap in this field, that we need people with energy, we need people with a sense of humor, we need people with that empathy. And I think I really see you in this field. There's a place for you. You're actually really needed." And long story short, I started to see it that way, until when I decided that I wanted to go into conduct, an insecurity of mine was my age.
Sydney Scheiner:
Like I said, I applied for this Villanova job. I ended up getting it. I started a day after my 24th birthday, so here I am, this really eager 24-year-old who's showing up, getting paid now to do this, and that was [inaudible 00:14:06]. Oh, wow. Okay. Now it's me. I can't lean on that I'm just the GA anymore. Here I am, I'm calling the shots. Oh no, what do I know? And so at first I, I guess hid my age in the sense that I... I mean, how many times are we explicitly talking about our age at work? Probably not often.
Sydney Scheiner:
But I felt myself overcompensating, whether that was in my language in emails, making it super formal, or when students came in, kind of covering up that friendliness. I'm probably being too hard on myself. I'm sure that I was approaching it the way that I do and the way that I love, so I'm probably being a little bit hard on myself, but I felt myself trying to overcompensate, because here I am, 24 years old a couple years ago, sitting in front of a 21- or 22-year-old, telling them that they're on disciplinary probation for X, Y, Z violation.
Sydney Scheiner:
And there's part of me that's saying, "Who am I to tell you that you're now on probation for, quite frankly, something I probably did two, three, four years ago, whatever it was?" And so I thought that they were coming into my office thinking the same thing, and I assumed that, that they were going to call me out, they were going to come in here and say, "Who is this girl who's talking to me? She can't be more than two, three years older than me," which true at the time. And I really felt myself covering that up because I had this moments of sitting here, I've been in their shoes. Who am I to tell you? And that's really where that insecurity started.
Alexandra Hughes:
Two things. One, do you actually thinking, looking back now, that even with all the formal things that you did and the overcompensation, do you think that it actually worked? And people-
Sydney Scheiner:
No.
Alexandra Hughes:
Okay, all right. So that was the first question. And then the second thing is, did any of those students ever actually call you out on it and say, "Oh, you're young. You must only be two years older"? Did it ever happen?
Sydney Scheiner:
Never.
Alexandra Hughes:
Never?
Sydney Scheiner:
No.
Alexandra Hughes:
Okay. So one, they knew, or they assumed, right? And I think part of it, too, is they probably didn't know exactly, you know what I mean, as far as how many years or what it could be. I think there's also an assumption. I mean, we have all these things about, oh my goodness, you're actually this old. I know I'm Black, and you say Black don't crack, so there's all these different things. So it's probably like people can kind of guess, but they never really know. But even still, with that, they knew you were young, but no one ever called you out on saying, "Oh my God, you did this two years ago. Who are you to tell me what to do?"
Sydney Scheiner:
Absolutely not. Absolutely not. And I think, if I can talk about the shift that I started to see in myself, was as I came into this job... We all have some sort of imposter syndrome when we come into a new job. And especially it being my first job out of grad school, I certainly did. But over time, you get good at your job, and you get comfortable. And I started to get good at my job, and when that started to happen, I don't even want to say accidentally, that's the wrong word, but I just became more myself.
Sydney Scheiner:
And through that, what started happening is I really couldn't hide that age piece anymore. And when I say age, I guess I more so really mean that relatability element. And when I started getting more comfortable in the conduct meetings and more familiar with the process, I started to let my own guard down, and what came out was just that natural way that I'm going to approach something. And sometimes, that's going to be with a joke. That's going to be with asking them something just because I'm a conversationalist.
Sydney Scheiner:
We all are in this field. We're conversationalists. We got to build that rapport with someone really quickly. And what I started to really lean on was, wait, well, I'm really not that far off in age from you, and I can't hide it, because now it's taking more energy for me to try to put a barrier between that, rather than just let it happen. And when I started to let that happen, what actually started happening was students calling me out on it, but in a positive way.
Sydney Scheiner:
What I started to recognize was, and I would sit there with the students, say, "Hey, listen. I get it. I've been to the frat parties, too. I totally get it. Hey, yep. Jungle juice. It's going to get you. You want to be really careful with that." When I started slipping those things into the meetings and just being honest with them and letting my guard down, then students would start to say to me, "Wait, you get it. You really get it, and it sounds like you really understand where I'm coming from."
Sydney Scheiner:
And when I started to get that response, I was like, why am I trying to act like I am some upper level administrator who is older and maybe a little bit more out of touch with this generation? Why am I not leaning on this more? And so I started to really leverage that aspect of what I was bringing to my job, and I really have just found a way to infuse that personality that I like to bring to work into my conduct meetings and not just keeping it behind the scenes, but actually using it in my meetings.
Alexandra Hughes:
Well, it's that authenticity piece, right? We're asking students to come into our offices and be authentic in who they are and share their story and explain what, why, and who, what, when, where why. What were you thinking in this particular case? And so in a sense, it's also that same kind of mirror, right? We need to be authentic in a way as well. And I think it goes into what you were saying.
Alexandra Hughes:
You're not so far off to understand the language, the lingo, if it's the jungle juice, whatever it may be. But I think that goes into the idea of language. We always talk about how important language is, and understanding what students are saying can really make a difference in if we're finding students responsible or not responsible. And if you speak the language of whatever student and they know that you get it, then they're going to be able to tell their story and feel comfortable telling their story to you.
Sydney Scheiner:
Absolutely. And like you said, bringing that authenticity into the meeting, if we're expecting it out of our students, we got to expect that of ourselves. And sometimes we'll get an opportunity to explicitly state that to a student. There have absolutely been plenty of conduct meetings where, like I was saying earlier, I'll say to the student, "Hey, the RA once knocked on my door, too." Or, "Hey, I've been to that kind of party before. I know it can get crazy. I know it can go downhill real quick. I've been there."
Sydney Scheiner:
Sometimes I am able to incorporate that explicitly, but even just being honest with yourself, and given that that's going to find its way into the process by just how you're approaching it. And I know you and I talked about this earlier, but I had this idea for maybe, sometime down the road, a presentation at ASCA, and I was going to open it up with this question. I'll ask the listeners now to ask yourselves this question.
Sydney Scheiner:
One, when you were in college, did you go through the conduct process? Or two, should you have gone through the process? I will tell you all right now, I never once went through the conduct process at the University of Delaware. I should have. I am not going to lie to you. I absolutely did things that if I got caught, I would have landed myself straight into a conduct meeting, and I don't know how it would have gone, honestly.
Sydney Scheiner:
I use that to say, rather than how I originally approached this job, saying, "I never got caught. Who am I to tell you now that you are getting caught and you are getting held accountable in this process?" Now I view it, "Hey, I should be the one hearing your case, because guess what? I'm not far from you. I've had these experiences, and let me tell you how to go about this smarter, more safely, whatever it might be, because I relate to you."
Alexandra Hughes:
That's so true. And I think there's so much education that comes into those conversations because of experience. And I think in life, we recognize that, right? You talk about parents and grandparents. I talk to my dad. He's almost 70. And he says, "Well, I've done it before. I had life experience, Alex. I've been there. I've done that." Now, yes, things have changed, like the internet didn't exist when he was my age, or any of that stuff. And so yes, there's always going to be differences, but it's also the experience of life that gets people to understand, like, "I know where you're coming from."
Alexandra Hughes:
And even those educational conversations, I'll take it a step further, because you know what jungle juice is, and because we know how it can impact different situations, even me being able to talk to students and say, "It has pineapple. I understand that you believe that you understand how much alcohol that you can consume, and maybe normally that's the case, but anything with pineapple juice, pineapple juice cuts the alcohol taste, so you really don't have a good frame of reference."
Alexandra Hughes:
And I think it's all of those experiences that allow us to be able to talk to students and say, "Hey," and really being able to understand, "Okay, you're telling me you had, if it's a red solo cup with this much amount, well, I know what this is made of, so I know that you really don't know what's in there." And honestly, I don't know if anyone ever knew what was in [inaudible 00:24:06]-
Sydney Scheiner:
[crosstalk 00:24:07]
Alexandra Hughes:
... really don't know all the stuff that was in it at the fraternity parties. My goodness, that's crazy when you think back.
Sydney Scheiner:
[crosstalk 00:24:15] no idea.
Alexandra Hughes:
Right. First of all, let's talk about this. Why did we drink stuff out of a cooler? All the stuff that you did in college that you think back, and I'm like... And in the age of COVID, I would never.
Sydney Scheiner:
Can you imagine? I showed up to parties and drank what was there.
Alexandra Hughes:
I didn't ask questions. I just drank the juice.
Sydney Scheiner:
[inaudible 00:24:37]. But that was it. We did that.
Alexandra Hughes:
That's so terrible.
Sydney Scheiner:
And we didn't think anything of it, or I didn't. So I get it. Other professionals will say to me, "How could they ever be so whatever to do that?" I'm like, "No, think about it." [crosstalk 00:24:58]-
Alexandra Hughes:
Right. Well, we have to think about it from the lens of someone who's 18 years old.
Sydney Scheiner:
Yes.
Alexandra Hughes:
And I think that's part of it, too. Whenever I look at conduct cases, and even when I'm looking at this idea of, would a reasonable person know, I take it a step further, and I say, "Not would a reasonable person at my age, who has a job, knows this, this, this, this, this now, but would a reasonable person who's 18, straight out of their house, never had any type of freedom before, all these different things, would they know?"
Alexandra Hughes:
And I think as we get older, even in this role, we often forget what these things were like. But even we do that when it comes to [inaudible 00:25:46] higher education, even the job search process, right? I often think about, when I'm reviewing people's resumes for positions, and I'll see things that are absolutely wild or crazy, like, why would you ever put, I don't know, colored ink and this, and all this crazy stuff?
Alexandra Hughes:
But what I like to do with that is take an extra five seconds to not judge this person for that, but to say, "Maybe someone just didn't teach you." Because none of us know everything. And if we're not taught the skills of how to do a resume, a cover letter, a whatever, whatever, whatever, then you're trying your best, and who's to say you wouldn't be the perfect person for the position that I have?
Alexandra Hughes:
You may be honestly 10 times better than anyone that I ever could have thought of, but if I don't take the time to look at that and I think back to that role, or the first time I ever had to apply for a job, and all these different things, we often forget as we keep moving up. And we keep moving up in age. We forgot about college students. And that gap honestly could really end up being a downfall rather than something positive if we're not careful.
Sydney Scheiner:
Exactly. You said it perfectly when you said, "It just gets harder as you get older." Doesn't mean that as you age in this field, you can't relate to students. That's not what that means, but you have to work a little bit harder. And so that's where when I'm coming from and wanting so badly to talk about this, is let me and let younger conduct professionals leverage this time in your career where you don't have to think back as far, you don't have to put in as much, I guess, explicit effort to reach back because it wasn't that long ago, because it is going to come quickly that you start to be out of touch.
Sydney Scheiner:
And I feel like I'm starting to kind of hit that right now. I'm 26 now, and I'm starting to kind of hit that cusp where I'm starting to hear words, and I'm like, what does that mean? For example, one of the first words that I'm hearing Gen Z say, because I am a millennial, and I'm going to hold onto that, is they say, "Oh, I'm really emo today." And I'm like, "Emo?" When I think of emo, I'm thinking My Chemical Romance [crosstalk 00:28:10]-
Alexandra Hughes:
That's what I would think.
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah, that's what you think, right? Emo. And they're like, "Oh, no." [crosstalk 00:28:15]-
Alexandra Hughes:
Hot Topic back in the day.
Sydney Scheiner:
Right. Right? They're like, "No. That just means that you're feeling emotional. I'm feeling [crosstalk 00:28:22]-"
Alexandra Hughes:
Oh, literally emotional. Emo. Oh.
Sydney Scheiner:
I'm emotional. Like, "Oh, that song made me emo, or I'm feeling real emo. It's my last semester here." I'm like, oh, whoa, this is changing. This language is changing [crosstalk 00:28:35]-
Alexandra Hughes:
That is interesting.
Sydney Scheiner:
So I'm starting to kind of hit that cusp where I'm starting to feel myself turn that corner, so I'm really trying to hold onto... And it's about finding those things. And I think something also that's so important as conduct professionals that I'm so grateful that my institution allows me to do, and my supervisor allow me to do, is get exposure outside of the conduct process. For example, I do a whole bunch of other stuff on campus that, yes, it's not in my job description, as we all do, but really taking that opportunity to allow the student body to get to know you outside of the conduct process.
Sydney Scheiner:
Whether it's being a facilitator for Safe Zone training, or we have a low ropes course on campus that I facilitate. Student groups, just having your door open. I'm so grateful that I'm right across from the Student Government Office, so my students who I've never met through the conduct process but are across the hall, we stop in, we talk Bachelor, we talk Bridgerton, whatever it is that they're watching and I'm watching, and we get to know each other. Because it's so important for you to start making a name for your office on campus through those little interactions, because what's going to happen eventually, and this has happened... I get so happy when this happens.
Sydney Scheiner:
Once in a while, because the student will tell me, I'll have a student come to me and say, "Hey Syd, one of my friends is actually meeting with you next week, or one of my friends met with you last week, and they were really nervous, but I told them they're in good hands with Syd." And that's the best thing I can hear. And I always clarify. I always say, "Make sure you're not telling them... It's not like they're going to get off easy with me, right?" And like, "No, no, no, no. It's just that you're like a normal person." And I'm like [crosstalk 00:30:27]-
Alexandra Hughes:
But it's true. I love everything that you said. It was funny. Even when I moved to even this current position that I'm in now, when I first got here, I spent, and obviously with my supervisor's permission... And he knew what I was doing, right? But I spent as much time in the office as I did outside of the office, and I was very intentional in going and doing exactly what you said, walking around, and going to, I don't know, the union, and getting food, and calling people out, and just doing all of these different things.
Alexandra Hughes:
Because like you said, I wanted people to know me outside of just student rights and responsibilities. And I'm so thankful for that, and I think one of the things that I miss about being in person and in the office is just truly that... I mean, honestly, I probably didn't get much work done during the day, which is why I would have to stay after hours, you know what I mean, and everything else, truthfully. But I miss them, I mean, students walking into the office being like, "I'm here to see Alex. I'm here to see..."
Alexandra Hughes:
And I mean, it would have nothing to do with student conduct, but they felt that my office was a safe space, which I think is incredible when you are a student conduct officer and you have the ability to do all the things that we do, and even still, students still feel that your office is still a safe space. I think what you're doing is incredible. But that's how we make those connections. And so it's been harder, I think, with COVID and being online and what that looks like now, and so even trying to still find intentional ways, and groups that I'm a part of on campus, and things that I'll do. Or in this case, last year I got TikTok. I truly got TikTok because I needed to understand what the-
Sydney Scheiner:
[crosstalk 00:32:20].
Alexandra Hughes:
... students were doing. I've kept TikTok because I could care less what the students are doing, and it's the most fantastical, amazing thing ever.
Sydney Scheiner:
We all did it. We all resisted, and then we all did it. And we even got to the point, I'll tell you, in my office, we even made a TikTok. We just really went for it, and we just-
Alexandra Hughes:
Ran with it.
Sydney Scheiner:
We ran for it.
Alexandra Hughes:
You know what? I'm here for it. I absolutely love that, because I was like, this is the best thing ever. And I know the people in my life get so annoyed, because literally every day, I'm like, "Oh, I saw on TikTok where... Oh, I saw on TikTok where..."
Sydney Scheiner:
I keep saying the most used phrase of 2020 was, "There is this TikTok where..." Or, "Did you see the TikTok where...?"
Alexandra Hughes:
It is.
Sydney Scheiner:
Dot, dot, dot.
Alexandra Hughes:
So bad. I've even done it with students, and I'm like, "Oh, I saw this TikTok about..." And they're like... I said, "Oh yeah, I know about TikTok." Or when I come across... One of the students that works in our office has a... Because sometimes it's by region. I don't know how the algorithm works for TikTok, because I'll see things in Atlanta where I'm from, but then I'll come across students here in the... It's weird.
Alexandra Hughes:
But anyways, I came across his TikTok, and I was like, no, I don't want to know. I don't want to see. I don't want to. Luckily, it wasn't anything inappropriate, but it was so funny, because I think we were in a meeting, and I said, "So I saw your TikTok where you were..." And he was like... I was like, "Yeah, you better watch yourself. You never know."
Sydney Scheiner:
[crosstalk 00:33:49] great segue into posting on social media, and nothing disappears on social media, and it's a great segue into like, "Yeah, I did see it."
Alexandra Hughes:
"I saw your TikTok." So talk to me about this. We've talked about students and how it's worked. What about other professionals in the field? When you are at, whether it's student conduct conference, I don't want to just say ASCA, but more so just, I think, all of the... ACPA, NASPA. I mean, there's so many different things. And whether it is a conference, whether it is just engaging with people, and maybe there's a separation. I probably should make this distinction.
Alexandra Hughes:
I think higher ed is a little bit better than the faculty academic side, because I think all of us on the higher ed side, different shapes, sizes, this, that, whatever, ages. We're a little bit more, I think, and maybe I'm just partial to us, I think we're more inclusive. But then you have faculty members that are not in the student affairs type of side. So what has your experience been, I guess, with other professionals?
Sydney Scheiner:
That's a great question, and I would agree with you that we are such an inclusive field. And it perpetuates itself. It's inclusive, so people want to get into it, and then they stay in, and then they're the people who are inclusive, and it's just this awesome perpetuated community that I do really think we are really exceptional in that. And not by any means perfect, but I think we are an exceptionally inclusive field.
Sydney Scheiner:
I can't think of any explicitly negative experiences that I have with professionals. I think if anything, I have censored myself and not given myself opportunities, and put that barrier on myself when it comes to interacting with higher level, upper level administrators. And then I realize that when I do voice my opinion, when I do put myself out there, it's received really well. Because in the conduct field, generally speaking, I'm the youngest person in the room.
Sydney Scheiner:
I think with residence life, there's a little bit more of a focus on younger professionals. Typically with area coordinators or RDs, you're going to see some younger professionals. But when it comes to coordinators or [inaudible 00:36:07] or conduct, I'm generally one of the youngest people in the room, and that's why I think I so badly wanted to talk to you about this, because I was having trouble finding that community in ASCA or higher education with a conduct focus specifically.
Sydney Scheiner:
And so I know that we're out there, but it's definitely a skill to be able to navigate these meetings where, yeah, I'm talking to VPs, and I'm talking to deans, and I'm talking to directors who are generally a lot older than me. And I have really found that they are super receptive, and it's kind of at the point where people that I work with here, they'll say, "Syd, you're young. What do they mean when they say this?" Or, "What do you think? You're not far out of college. What's your inside view on this?"
Sydney Scheiner:
And I can kind of share that. And again, it's that leverage. I think that other professionals actually really gravitate toward people closer to my age, and I really have not experienced any sort of people not listening to me, or not hearing what I say as valid. And maybe I'm just not noticing. Maybe I'm just choosing to not notice this. But I think generally, those interactions are really positive, because I think some older people in the field are really excited to see a new generation of conduct professionals, because the field has just evolved so much.
Sydney Scheiner:
And quite honestly, if the field was what it was five, 10, 25 years ago, I don't even know if I'd be in it, to be frank with you. One of my professors at the University of Tennessee is Dr. Karen Boyd, who's really well known in the field, and she's totally mentored me into this field, and she's an excellent of someone who's been in the field for a long time but is current and knows where the field is going. And when she's explaining to me what it was like to be in, we'll say, quote, judicial affairs in the '90s, I'm like, "Oh my God, I don't even know if I'd want that job."
Sydney Scheiner:
And so I think it's really exciting to bring myself and for younger professionals to bring themselves into the conduct process and into the field, because it's evolving, and now it's way more focused on social justice and education, and we're leaning away from that legalistic nature that I really only experienced maybe a little bit at some other institutions. But where we're headed is just so progressive, I think.
Alexandra Hughes:
I agree.
Sydney Scheiner:
And so we're really needed here, and we got to speak up.
Alexandra Hughes:
I think that's why I love student conduct so much. I agree with you. I think that I'm in it at the right time. I've often questioned if this would have been my thing in the '80s or in the '90s, or I don't know, years ago, right?
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah.
Alexandra Hughes:
Or even 10 years ago, right, what that would look like. And so I agree with you. I love the direction where it's going. And I think that people who have even been in it, like you said, Dr. Boyd who's been doing this for years, the people that are still in it who have been doing it, they love it to the point of where I think they're very intentional with ensuring that they are current. Because if you weren't intentional and you aren't current, when something says something about, I don't know, someone posted something on Instagram, TikTok, whatever it may be, the internet didn't exist years ago. So if you weren't aware of how these things worked, then you wouldn't be able to navigate these conversations with students.
Sydney Scheiner:
Right, talk about staying current. If you're dealing maybe with a certain conduct case, maybe a Title IX case that involves a certain dating app, well, hey, I can tell you the difference between Bumble, between HER, between Tinder, between Grindr. I know the nuances because that's our generation. I can tell you what the difference is between those apps, where someone who maybe didn't grow up with that, they think of it, oh, maybe as Match.com. I don't know. And I'm like, "No, it's way more nuanced than that."
Sydney Scheiner:
So maybe that can actually really impact how we're going to hear this case, because I know the differences, and I know the nuances, whether it's language, whether it's TikTok versus Snapchat. So it's really important to give attention to those younger conduct [crosstalk 00:40:41]-
Alexandra Hughes:
And even, like you said, the nuances of each one and what it means. I also think it would be incredible to see how, I'm a researcher through and through, to see how COVID has impacted, or well, we're in it right now, but will impact this next generation moving forward. Because I think you'll have a whole generation of people, whereas before, it was like, "Oh my God, you met someone online, on Match.com? Oh my God, why would you do that?"
Alexandra Hughes:
Well, now you have a whole year in which we were inside the house, which I'm pretty sure... This is an arbitrary number. [inaudible 00:41:15] 98% of people who met each other probably met on an app of some sort because you could not meet in a traditional, I don't know, bar or restaurant, wherever people would meet. So now you probably met someone on an app, so now you're going to have a whole generation of people where that's going to be normal, or that's the whole way they got together.
Alexandra Hughes:
So I think it's incredible to see how that changes the perceptions behind things. And like you said, what you do on Snapchat is different than what you do on Twitter, what you do on... It's so different. And it's important to stay relevant and consistent. And we have to meet students where they are. I always get really upset with administrators, old, young, whoever, who say, "Well, the student has to come... We can't do this, or we are going to have to do a traditional style lecture. We're going to have to do whatever it is because that student is in college, and they need to be able to sit in a lecture hall for two hours."
Alexandra Hughes:
And I'm like, "But even you wouldn't want to do that, so why would you ask them to?" I wouldn't want to do that. Trust me, when I have to give... And I teach. When I give lectures, I have to give actual lectures in a lecture... Well, I guess now I do it from my home. But even when I do lectures in a lecture hall, I'm like, "Okay, what are we doing? Let's get some involvement." I don't even want to sit there, so why would I want you to sit there?
Alexandra Hughes:
When we're talking about programming and everything else, but getting students to understand the importance of student conduct, they're going to understand it more from a 60-second TikTok than they will from a 60-minute lecture that you're going to give.
Sydney Scheiner:
And this could be a whole other conversation, but I think something I'm really interested in is how we are going to start adapting our codes of conduct to be more digestible for students, because we have these huge books of all these policies, and yes, you are responsible for knowing them, absolutely. We know that our students are not sitting there reading 100 pages of a code of student conduct, so do we need to start making one-minute videos to highlight these really important policies? Do we need to start getting on Instagram to say, "Hey, here's a snapshot of what this policy looks like."
Sydney Scheiner:
Like you said, meeting them where they're at, because is it fair anymore to hand them a book, or at least maybe in a PDF, and say, "Well, you're responsible for knowing these 100 pages"? Yes, they are, and that is part of [inaudible 00:43:38], just in the same we need to know laws, and we're responsible for knowing our state, local, federal laws, whatever it might be. Yes. But we have such an opportunity in higher ed to meet people where they're at, and our processes can change sometimes a lot faster than government policies and whatnot.
Sydney Scheiner:
And that's why I love it, is because... And again, this can vary per institution, but we just have the ability to make those changes at a quicker pace. And so I always say there's a reason I work in higher ed and I don't work in law or government. While there's a lot of parallels, I just love that student element and that educational element.
Alexandra Hughes:
That's so funny. I always say things move at the speed of higher education, and I think I'm still on the side of higher ed being so slow when it moves. But for me, this year was so incredible because we saw how quickly we were able to adjust. I think there were things that-
Sydney Scheiner:
[crosstalk 00:44:33]
Alexandra Hughes:
I mean, there has been things for years I've been trying to get people to do at this institution. And I'm not going to name names, but I was just like, if we would just do one, two, three, X, Y, Z, come on. And literally in a matter of a week, it happened, and I was like... But-
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah. And it could happen.
Alexandra Hughes:
I was like, "I knew it could happen. I told you it could happen, and I told you it could work." But I-
Sydney Scheiner:
[inaudible 00:44:58].
Alexandra Hughes:
It was. It has to be in the right season. I've learned that more than anything, which is pretty terrible, but I think now we're starting to see and people are starting to understand, because... I remember at the beginning of the pandemic, almost a year ago, I literally said, "Let's just..." I just threw the whole rule book out, and that's what we all did. I remember getting phone calls from professors about, I don't know... It was Zoom bombing, that's what it was.
Alexandra Hughes:
But I had no idea, and of course I'd never heard of it before, and we were, what, [inaudible 00:45:26] in. And a professor was like, "Well, all this happened. What do I do?" And I said, "You know, that's a great question. Let me think about that." We were literally making up stuff. I know Christine with ASCA, she had all of those almost town hall meetings of us coming together to say, "How? Help. What do we do?"
Alexandra Hughes:
And those were great, because we were able to really just think about things, and come together, and create. But I think if we can still continue that same idea of recognizing and realizing that there might be something that could work a little bit better to meet our students, then maybe we should at least look into it and bridge those sides. We still have that 100-page student conduct PDF, but now we have some TikToks of me dancing, talking about it. I mean, honestly, I can't wait to get back to the office, because I'm so here for partnering up with my students and making some TikToks and doing the whole thing. So I'm completely, 100% down.
Sydney Scheiner:
Yes. Like you said, the rule book is gone. It's absolutely gone. And so yeah, why not hop onto a TikTok with some of your students and use that to show your personality and show your office in a way that you want? Because like you said, we proved that changes can be made. They had to be made. When they said, "Unprecedented times," and then you actually had to face the fact that you didn't have a precedent for the case that you were hearing, you're like, oh, I get it now. That's what unprecedented means. [inaudible 00:47:01]. I got it.
Alexandra Hughes:
And now we're here.
Sydney Scheiner:
So you're exactly right that we proved that we can make the changes, and so let's just not go back.
Alexandra Hughes:
Yeah, no, I think we should still continue to move forward. So Syd, is there anything that you would like to share with our audience? I don't know, a book, a recipe, a watercolor set, anything that you would recommend. I used to do this when we started to say to get through COVID, foolishly thinking that it would be over in a couple of months. But is there just anything that's giving you life that you're just here? I know you shared the watercolor, but is there anything else that you would recommend to our audience?
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah. I was thinking about this. Yeah, first of all, if you would like an original watercolor, reach out. I'm sure you'll share [crosstalk 00:47:54]-
Alexandra Hughes:
What's your social? Where can people find you? Share that with our audience.
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah. People can find me. I mean, I definitely like to connect with people in the field. I do have a rule that students don't follow me on Instagram until they graduate. I promise you I'm not doing anything that I wouldn't want to show them, it's more so to protect them. I say, "I don't want to know what you're doing, so let's hold off on that." But I'm happy to connect with student conduct professionals, so you can find me on Instagram @SydSchein, S-Y-D-S-C-H-E-I-N.
Sydney Scheiner:
Happy to connect with you over that. Shoot me an email at Sydney.Scheiner@Villanova.edu. But I'm mostly on Instagram and just via email, so reach out if you're interested in any sort of artwork. As far as a recommendation, I am going to recommend a book that I always recommend. I would recommend it to anybody, especially student conduct professionals. If you have not read Know My Name by Chanel Miller, I highly recommend.
Sydney Scheiner:
Chanel Miller is a young woman who, when she had just graduated college, she was sexually assaulted by a student who went to Stanford University who also happened to be on the swim team. It was a really high profile case, and the book is from her perspective. It's called Know My Name because she actually spent a lot of the case and a lot of the trial under an anonymous name.
Sydney Scheiner:
She went by Emily Doe. And this book tells her story, and it focuses a lot on the criminal process, but she does dip a little bit into the student conduct process. And so I just highly recommend it for any student conduct professional, but quite honestly, just anybody in general. She's hilarious. It's relatable. It's insightful. It's really an incredible read.
Alexandra Hughes:
Okay. I haven't heard of it or read it, so I think I will add that to my list myself. I've just now gifted myself Audible, because-
Sydney Scheiner:
Great.
Alexandra Hughes:
... I was like, I don't have time to read stuff. And I'm a big podcast person, obviously, so I was like, well, maybe I should just get Audible so it's like a podcast and it's reading. It's been fantastic. I've now accomplished even more stuff, so I'm reading a book and listening to a book at the same time. It's just-
Sydney Scheiner:
Yeah, audiobooks are the way to go.
Alexandra Hughes:
I'm here for it, so I will add that to my list. Well, good. Well, Syd, it was amazing to have you on the show. Please come back, because I would love to continue this conversation. I'm also curious about, in a certain amount of time, your experience as you progress through this field, so maybe we'll have to have you come back every so many years. And I probably won't even be hosting the podcast anymore, and it'll probably be some type of virtual hologram type thing, but we're just going to come back together and do it and be like, "Well, we just have to, because we started this."
Sydney Scheiner:
We have to. I mean, I would love to, Alexandra. You've been awesome. You made me want to reach out to you.
Alexandra Hughes:
Oh, thank you.
Sydney Scheiner:
So you really set this in motion, and I'm just happy that I could kind of help and shed some perspective. But I would love to come back. I have a million and one things I could talk about. I love the ASCA community. I'm devastated that we won't be able to see each other in person this year, but this is hopefully the last year maybe we need to be virtual, because it's my favorite week of the year. And I'm sad that we'll have to do it differently this year, but it's still going to be great. I love the community, and I'm just excited to be in this field.
Alexandra Hughes:
Well, wonderful. Well, with that, we will talk to our audience next week. This episode was produced, edited, and hosted by Alexandra Hughes. That's me. If you're enjoying the podcast, we ask that you like, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps others discover us and become more visible to our podcasting community. If you have suggestions for future guests or would like to be featured on the podcast yourself, feel free to reach out to us by email at ASCApodcast@gmail.com, or on Twitter @ASCApodcast. If you'd like to connect with me on Twitter, you can find me @AlexandrasView. Talk to us. We talk back.
