Let’s look at what it means for NASPA to be a Virtual-Networked

Organization…

From my standpoint, NASPA has traditionallybeen a Learning Organization, mastering the

five disciplines is various ways(1):

Engaging in Systems ThinkingThrough it’s interconnected nature

Fostering Personal MasteryMany opportunities for personal growth, learning, feeding the soul

Challenging Mental ModelsBy creating a space for reflection, dialogue and action

Building Shared VisionsBy listening to personal visions, “NASPA is it’s members”

Embodying Team Learning Through commonality of purpose. The whole exceeds the sum of it’s parts.

But, as we have seen in the video, online networks are allowing for an even greater

Collective Intelligence within the organization

I did some crowd sourcing to find out how Student Affairs professionals

describe the benefits of tweeting within the profession,

in hopes that this would help shape my theory…

It started with:

www.twitterfall.com

• Connection• Networking• Conversation• Dialogue• Support• Personal & Professional Development • Keeping Current with Relevant News• Knowledge Sharing• Community Building• Job Searching• Celebration• Twitter Connections > IRL Connections• Connection with our students on a new level!

In sum, the benefits of tweeting within Student Affairs:

Building a theory...

Morgan’s brief discussion of Virtual and NetworkedOrganizations:

Temporary, ad hoc committees Project-oriented Answer to geographic challenges(2)

Morgan’s description of “Networked Intelligence”: “Information systems that…create a potential for

individuals throughout an enterprise…to become full participants in an evolving system of organizational memory and intelligence”

“…create a capacity for the evolution of a shared “organizational mind””

The Virtual-Networked Organizationor Theory-#

URL

URL

• Organization has a website– Resource for information, events– Website may have many visitors, but users do not

have a way of further engaging with the organization online

Big 3• Organization has a Twitter, Facebook and

YouTube account– Presence has been established within the social

media world– May have a few followers based on organization

following alone– Easy to stop here, think this is enough(3)

Bulletin Board

• Organization uses their social media presence to share information, advertise upcoming events, and to relay important dates (3)

– One-way flow of information– Slightly more followers

Engaging Space• Organization engages their social media

community– Shared information adds value to follower’s lives (3)

– Followers engage with website moderators and other followers around topics

– Connections, Conversations, Networking, Knowledge Sharing, and Sharing of Relevant News takes place

– Tipping point with regard to followership

Independently Functioning• The online presence of the Virtual-Networked

Organization (VNO) becomes it’s own entity– Online communication happens independently of website

moderators or organization representatives– Members integrate use of VNO into their every day lives– Critical Dialogue, Support, Personal & Professional

Development, Community Building, Celebration and Online Connections turn into Real World Connections

–

Peak Virtual-Networked Organization• What happens online becomes transcendent– Members bring the conversation into real life– Real world changes occur as a result– A shared, evolving “organizational mind” exists – Online aspects of the VNO get tied into the more

traditional aspects of the organization– i.e. becoming standard aspect of conferences or being

tied into Student Affairs graduate programs (4)

+ perhaps, we don’t even know what else can flow from a fully functioning Virtual-Networked Organization…

#thankyouReferences:

[1]: Senge, P. (2006). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization- Revised. New York: Doubleday.

[2]: Morgan, G. (2006). Images of Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

[3] Stoller, Eric. (2011). Closing speaker session. NASPA Western Regional Conference.

[4] Cabellon, Ed. (2010). The New Student Affairs Conference. The Student Affairs Collaborative.