Title: Leading with Care: Relational and Strengths-Based Supervision for Today’s Students
Presenter(s):
Alyssa Fenix (They/She)
Bailie Gregory (They/She)
Mary Rose Pedron (They/Them)
Isaac Hollis (They/He)
Room: Atrium 1107
Session Block(s): Session I and Session II
Time: 10:25 a.m. to 11:25 a.m. AND 11:35 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.
Duration: 120 minutes
Program Abstract:
This session introduces student affairs professionals to compassionate and equity-centered strategies for supervising graduate and undergraduate students, emphasizing strengths-based practice, anti-deficit framing, and Relational Cultural Theory. Through an exploration of supervision as a relational and developmental practice, participants will learn how to build trust, affirm students’ lived experiences, and cultivate conditions for mutual growth. By centering compassion, context, and connection, the session equips practitioners with tools to support diverse student staff while promoting belonging, accountability, and professional development.
Program Description:
Effective supervision in student affairs requires more than task delegation, it requires relational depth, cultural awareness, and an intentional commitment to student development. This program introduces a framework for supervising graduate and undergraduate student employees through a lens of compassion, strengths-based practice, anti-deficit thinking, and Relational Cultural Theory (RCT). Grounded in the understanding that students’ work performance is inseparable from their lived experiences, identities, and developmental stages, the session reframes supervision as both a learning partnership and a site for cultivating belonging.
The presentation begins by exploring the importance of compassionate supervision, emphasizing how clarity, care, and contextual understanding promote student confidence and growth. Participants will examine how diverse student experiences, including disability, gender, sexuality, race, culture, socioeconomics, neurodivergence, and previous work exposure, shape the supervisory dynamic, and they will learn actionable strategies for designing equitable, accessible, and inclusive work environments. Building on strengths-based and anti-deficit models, the session demonstrates how supervisors can identify, affirm, and leverage student talents while reframing challenges as opportunities for skill-building rather than indicators of inadequacy.
Relational Cultural Theory is presented as a guiding framework for fostering authentic, reciprocal, and empowering connections with student staff. Participants will learn how mutual empathy, vulnerability, and shared learning can transform supervision into a site of mutual growth rather than hierarchy. Through case studies, reflective prompts, and small-group discussions, the program engages attendees in applying these approaches to real supervisory challenges. Ultimately, this session equips student affairs professionals with practical tools to cultivate thriving, culturally aware, and relationally grounded supervisory practices.