Marie Jarra

EDLD 8735
Midterm Email Reflection
Fall 2017

Describe your practicum environment. Identify your mentor, other employees, clients
served, and the organization itself. Identify some ways you initially tried to orient yourself
to and gain acceptance within the organization. Rank your practicum experience thus far
on a scale of 0-5 with 0= poor and 5= outstanding. Explain your response - two paragraph
minimum.
My Practicum assignment is in the Office of Administrative Services for the College of
Arts and Science. Administrative Services is a part of the Deans Office for Arts and Science at
Georgia State University. For my assignment Im working with the College Research Officer
(CRO) Lindsey Hornsby, who is responsible for the management of the Colleges Research
Administration team, a staff of grants and contracts (G&C) officers, including myself, servicing
the entire college. She also serves as the liaison for the college to the Director of the Office of
Sponsored Projects and Awards (OSPA). As a G&C II my immediate supervisor is a G&C III
and her supervisor is the CRO. In my career I feel that I have enough qualifications and
experience to become a G&C III and thus the reason I chose to work with the CRO instead of my
immediate supervisor for the practicum.
While attending meetings and interviews with the CRO I conducted myself in a
professional manner. Because I am quite experienced in research administration often times in
meetings I was able to answer questions that were brought up by the associate Deans. I made
sure that I was answering questions accurately and also asking the questions that I thought the
Deans would have in order to gain their acceptance. I would rate my practicum experience thus
far as a 5 (outstanding). Although I have been with this department for a few years now, I feel
that this assignment has exposed me to my career goal directly and has helped me gain
confidence in myself as a research administrator. I also think its been outstanding because I have
had the opportunity to network with many distinguish people.

Discuss/reflect upon at least one of the components of your portfolio and its application to
your practicum experience and/or a work experience one paragraph minimum.
One component of my practicum that has been most applicable to my experience and
work is the course of Higher Education Governance. Because I work in an office that is higher
up on the organizational chart and part of the Deans office of Arts and Sciences, Im able to have
access on others that are higher in the organizational chart. As my role as a G&C II I come
across many distinguished faculty and administrators. These are the people that are part of the
governing boards and have a say in the governance of the College and the University. During
the practicum assignments Ive had the opportunity to meet staff from the office of the president
of the University and I met the Provost of the university. The office of the President and the
Provost are the two highest governing boards at Georgia State University and many of the
decision making of how the university is ran comes from these two offices.
 Another course that is applicable to my work and practicum experience is Politics of
Higher Education. An area in politics of higher education that we discussed in the course was
financing higher education. There are politics surrounding state and federal funding of higher
education. The office of Administrative is responsible for the creation and maintenance of the
budget for Arts & Sciences. Working with the CRO, I was able to hear some of these
conversations about funding cuts from the state and how the budget for fiscal year 18 would have
to be adjusted for each of the departments.

What has been the biggest eye-opener from your experience thus far? Explain your
response two paragraph minimum.
One of the biggest eye-opener for me thus far has been the amount of work and
responsibility that comes with being a CRO. As Ive been working closer with the CRO these
past few weeks, I realized that there is more to the position than just attending meetings as I
thought before. It always appeared to me that the CRO only attended meeting and requested
reports from the G&C officers. My CRO not only attends important meetings but she also is
responsible for the management of all the G&Cs, by making sure that all the research accounts
in Arts & Science are being managed appropriately. She is also responsible for the training and
continues training of all the G&Cs. If there is an issue with a grant she is always required to
attend along with providing a solution. These past few weeks have definitely changed my
outlook on what it means to be a CRO.
Another eye-opener that I experienced is that of office politics. Ive often heard people
use the term office politics and have experienced it a little of it in my current office, however I
was very supervised about the amount of it in our office currently. Working with the CRO these
past few weeks, I learned of a great deal of issues that was going on in the office. Some of these
issues seem very miniscule and not worthy of discussion, but they create friction among the
employees if they are not handled appropriately, and the CRO is one of those roles that are
responsible for handling such matters. As part of the office I try to work well with everyone no
matter what issue is going on but now Im starting to understand why some people in the office
act the way they do.

How is your and your mentors administrative philosophy the same? How is it different?
Explain your responses one paragraph minimum for each part.
My mentors administrative philosophy is similar to mine in that we are both detailed
orientated, and seek to be perfectionist in our work. For a while now Ive trained myself to be
through in my work, I pay close attention to detail and put forth a good effort in my work. My
mentor has similar values in that she makes sure that she is an effective leader to the G&Cs and
encourages everyone to put forth their best effort in their work and that if they dont have to tools
necessary to do their best, she is willing to provide the tools.
One administrative philosophy that I have that is different from my mentor is I am the
type of person that likes to be on time to meetings and events. The culture in our office is pretty
relaxed, and I often find myself going to meeting before everyone else because I like to be there
on time. My mentor is very relaxed on time unless when it comes to meeting grant deadlines.
This is one thing that Ive found that as Im shadowing her Ive had to adjust a little bit.

Identify areas in which you wish you had more content knowledge or skills to better
perform within your practicum experience. Explain the areas and the reasons one
paragraph minimum.
This practicum assignment and many other courses Ive taken in this higher education
program has improved my knowledge in higher education administration. Through out this
assignment, Ive learned many things on what it takes to be a College Research Officer, the area
in which I wish I was more knowledgeable in is the Pre-Award aspect of higher education
research. Although I have some pre-award experience Im stronger in post-award administration.
I believe having more training and experience in pre-award will make me a more well-rounded
research administrator and a more comparative candidate for future director positions in
Research Administration.