Navigating the Career Transition: Lessons from a Student Affairs Professional Turned Tech Leader With Chrissy Roth Francis

SA Voices From the Field

In this episode of "Student Affairs Voices from the Field," Dr. Jill Creighton discusses transitions in Student Affairs with her guest, Dr. Chrissy Roth Francis, who made the leap from student affairs to a career in the tech industry. The episode highlights the challenges and opportunities faced by student affairs professionals considering a pivot into adjacent roles. Dr. Creighton emphasizes the importance of this discussion, acknowledging the diverse experiences within the field.

Dr. Chrissy Roth Francis shares her journey through higher education, starting as an involved undergraduate student, pursuing a master's degree at New York University, and eventually landing a dream job at the University of Southern California, where she worked with international students. She later became the Director of New Student Services at UC Berkeley, overseeing orientation for a growing number of students. However, the transition to a "welcome week" structure became a significant challenge and contributed to her decision to pivot out of higher education.

The conversation delves into why Dr. Roth Francis chose to pivot into the corporate world, specifically in talent development at LinkedIn. She highlights the transferable skills gained in higher education, such as problem-solving, strategic planning, and public speaking, which have proven valuable in her new role. Dr. Creighton discusses the various options available to student affairs professionals, including staying in the field, changing the field from within, or pursuing opportunities outside higher education.

Dr. Roth Francis emphasizes the need for clear boundaries and work-life balance in her new career, a departure from the long hours and weekend commitments common in student affairs. She discusses the practicality of her decision, citing the desire for a better lifestyle and higher income as motivating factors. Both hosts express appreciation for student affairs professionals and the essential work they do in supporting students.

The episode concludes with a discussion of career trajectories, with Dr. Roth Francis sharing her experience of initially taking a step down in her career to gain experience in the corporate world. She highlights the importance of recalibrating and expanding one's skill set while also acknowledging the financial benefits of her decision.

Dr. Creighton emphasizes the need for higher education to adapt and connect with industry to prepare students with the skills necessary for success. She encourages SA professionals to explore all available options, connect with others who have made similar transitions, and conduct thorough research before making career decisions.

In summary, this episode provides valuable insights for student affairs professionals considering career transitions, whether within or outside higher education, and highlights the importance of self-care and financial well-being in making such decisions.

Please subscribe to SA Voices from the Field on your favorite podcasting device and share the podcast with other student affairs colleagues!

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:02]:

Welcome to Student Affairs Voices from the Field, the podcast where we share your student affairs stories from fresh perspectives to seasoned experts. This is season nine on transitions in Student Affairs. This podcast is brought to you by NASPA. And I'm Dr. Jill Creighton. She her hers your essay, Voices from the Field. Host today's episode of Essay Voices from the Field is one for all of you who are considering a pivot into an industry that takes your well earned and well honed student affairs skills into adjacent roles.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:00:37]:

So I'm pleased to introduce you today to Dr.Chrissy Roth Francis, who is a loud and proud former student affairs professional. In 2018, with a master's, a doctorate and eleven years of higher ed experience, she packed up her diplomas, conference name tags and pictures of orientation teams. She shed some tears and then ventured into the tech industry with her eyes and ears wide open. Chrissy is now the Director of Talent Development at LinkedIn, where she leads a team that onboards and develops the company's 3500 people managers. Chrissy has been an outspoken voice on LinkedIn for higher ed expats and for those still working on college campuses, but considering a pivot elsewhere. I want to acknowledge the importance of today's episode in Centering, the total experience of being a student affairs professional. For all of us who are thriving on our campuses, this is an episode that we're hoping you can hear where others are positioned for transition. And for those of you who are figuring out that maybe you are looking for other opportunities, maybe this one can be practical for you.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:33]:

But to all of you, we appreciate you and all of the work you're doing to support our students on all campuses worldwide. Chrissy, we're so glad to have you on SA voices today.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:01:43]:

So happy to be here.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:44]:

We know each other through a mutual friend, dDr. Kelly Alvarado Young. So I'm going to give her a shout out right now. Kelly and I work together at WSU. So Kelly, if you're listening, hello.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:01:54]:

Hey, Kelly, Chrissy, we really love to.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:01:56]:

Start with getting to know our guests through your very excellent come up story. We'd love to hear your journey through higher ed and also the journey to your position now.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:02:06]:

So happy to share it. Jill thank you for having me. My journey starts like almost everybody's journey in Student affairs. I was an undergrad. I was a super involved student. I love doing all the things at my college. And at some point I had that moment where somebody pulled me over and said, I think you should consider this as a professional. Go get a master's degree.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:02:26]:

And I didn't know anything and I said, okay, let's go for it. Right? Like that story is very true for so many of us. Ended up getting a master's degree from New York University. Fantastic way to continue my involvement in a college and a university setting. Learned so much working all across that area. And then I ended up getting an incredible job at the University of Southern California. I really think this was the dream job that any entry level professional like me could only hope for. It was in the orientation space, but specifically it was working for international students.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:03:04]:

So I had the honor of getting to onboard every new student to that university, but having a focus on students coming from all over the world and learning so much from them as they shared with me their cultures. I stayed several years at USC, and then I was ready for the big job. Ended up getting the big job at UC Berkeley, where I was the director of New Student Services. So still in the orientation space, which I really loved, this was the space that I focused on as an undergrad. Stuck with it all throughout my time in higher education. So when I was at UC Berkeley, I oversaw orientation for what started out as about 6000 students when I got there in 2013, 6000 students annually. By the time I left in 2018, we were onboarding about 10,000 students annually.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:04:00]:

That's quite a scale up.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:04:02]:

Yeah, it was a big transition over several years. But the biggest transition of that time was that when I got there, we had a summer orientation. So you all know the glory. Small groups cranking out session after session all throughout the summer. And at one point our higher up administration decided, let's go ahead and change it to a welcome week. Typically, welcome week orientations are only seen on very small campuses, medium campuses at the biggest. Definitely not common among large public universities. That was, I believe, to this day, one of the biggest challenges I will ever see in my career was shepherding our entire campus through a two year transition to get us to be able to successfully onboard 10,000 students in a welcome week structure.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:04:56]:

It was a great endeavor. I had so much fun learning how to do it. And I'm not going to lie, it took everything out of me. And it is not at all a coincidence that I left soon after doing that.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:07]:

So I think you're talking about what a lot of us are facing in higher education, which is extraordinary shifts in our work, high expectations from all of those around us, and likely working with some fairly limited resources. And this is all pre pandemic.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:05:24]:

Yes.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:05:25]:

So thinking about that and your journey, can you talk a little bit about what led you to pursuing the Pivot that you did? So we hear about higher education professionals going all sorts of places, customer success, sales, talent and development. The list is actually fairly long because our skills end up being quite transferable if we package them well. So how did you decide on L and D?

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:05:48]:

Yes, so you're absolutely right. When I was in higher education, I saw all those constraints all the constraints that probably all of us feel and see in the field and throughout my time there. Because of those constraints, I very much attribute my skills and my experiences to those constraints. So because of those constraints, I built up this massive portfolio of skills problem solving, navigating, tough times, working with stakeholders, public speaking. What about large scale programming with very little money, training leaders, switching directions because of politics or because of a strategic change in the university? All those things, right? Because of constraints and because of the skills and experiences that I accumulate, I believe it helped me be quite successful pivoting into the corporate world. So I now work, as you know, at LinkedIn in learning and development, talent development, where I get to leverage many of those skills that I use on a daily basis in higher education. So when I think about onboarding new students, we onboard new employees to LinkedIn every single week. When I think about training those student leaders on a weekly or a monthly basis at UC Berkeley and University of Southern California, I get to train people at LinkedIn also on a weekly basis.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:07:10]:

When I think about problem solving, event planning, strategic planning, all the things that we used to do, I get to do that at LinkedIn all the time. So what I learned was that the skills were very much transferable. If anything, I very truly, strongly believe that we develop more skills in higher ed than probably any other industry.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:33]:

That's a bold statement.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:07:34]:

Oh, I mean it. I really do mean it, because given those constraints, we wear so many hats, and we have learned to be so successful and so resourceful with very few resources. And in other industries where you have the resources, you don't need to be that scrappy. You don't need to be so resourceful. You don't need to stretch yourself in all the different directions. So I do mean it, Joel, and I know it is a bold statement.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:07:59]:

I really appreciate kind of hearing the confidence boost of the transferability of skills. I'm wondering if we can back up a little bit and talk about you said that it had taken everything out of you, and I think a lot of us can relate to how that feeling is. Sitting with many parts of the profession right now. There are some of us that are choosing to persist forward and power through that exhaustion. There are some of us who are looking to change the profession from within to make that not a thing as part of the culture of student affairs and higher education. And there are some of us who are going maybe there is greener grass in other places. I'm wondering if you can tell us about your decision to go for that third option rather than one of the first two.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:08:39]:

Those are a great way to map out the three options. I have definitely been very public about my opting out for greener grass. And I think that all those options are fitting and perfect for whichever one that you want to choose. For me, it was a matter of I was recognizing that I wasn't living the lifestyle that I wanted to live. Meaning I had two little kids that I birthed when I was at UC Berkeley and I was struggling to find time with them between weekend trainings or night trainings, weekend retreats, or the three weeks straight where I nearly lived in the office because it was time for a welcome week. I also didn't make enough money, frankly, to really pay for my family and our growing needs. So for me, it was very practical. We were not able to do the things that we wanted to do.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:09:31]:

I had been paycheck to paycheck my entire career, and now that I'm no longer paycheck to paycheck, I feel much more comfortable saying I was paycheck to paycheck. But back then, I don't think I was ever really free to verbalize how much of a struggle it was for me and my family to sustain on a higher education income. I also think about the people who are like, let's stay in, let's rise to the top, let's make it better, let's really fight to make higher education what it can be. And there are incredible people in higher education who I worked with closely, I adore, and they are in very high up positions, and I know that they are going to make the best that they can possibly do with the situation at hand. And by the way, I never even worked in higher education since COVID so I know it's only gotten more difficult for those people to be able to turn it around. For me, aside from the practicality of wanting a better lifestyle, I really left higher education because I didn't see a path forward for me, I loved working in orientation and I also knew that I wanted to keep climbing or keep moving around. And as I looked moving around, different types of jobs, not physically moving around, which also is very common in higher education. So when I thought about what could be next for me, I scanned my university, I scanned all other universities in the Bay Area, and I couldn't see or envision any jobs out there that would have been a pay increase, a level up, and that I would have appreciated or that I would have enjoyed.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:11:08]:

So I looked at our Dean of Students, our VPSA, other high ups who I think most up and coming student affairs professionals aspire to become. And the more I worked with them and the closer I watched what their job was, the more I wanted to run away from that job. I just didn't want the crisis, I didn't want the budget woes, I didn't want a lot of the yuck that comes along with those jobs. And it takes a really special person to do those jobs and it simply wasn't for me. And that was how I really decided it was time to go find that greener grass outside of higher education.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:44]:

Sometimes I call my portfolio trauma and drama.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:11:47]:

It's a great description.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:11:48]:

I wish it were not true. But part of the joy of the work is getting to hold space for students who really need an ear for their development. And then part of it too is caring for my well being and those things sometimes can't align, and then the question is what gives? And I think that's very true for a lot of people sitting in the CSAO or the Dean of Students seat. For me especially, I know that working with families of students who have passed away is the number one thing that weighs really heavy on my mind, on my heart, and on my mental health. And that is something they don't teach us how to do in graduate school. We figure it out along the way. And that is a special skill set and honestly, one that I wish I didn't have to have had developed over time because of what comes with it.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:12:33]:

Jill, it's the perfect description of why you and people in like positions are so incredible and why I needed to bow out. I knew I didn't want to do it. I knew it wasn't right for me, and I don't even know if I would have been good at it because I didn't even want to give it a try.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:12:50]:

So that transition space for you. I've heard you talk about this on a different podcast about being okay with a squiggly line for a career trajectory. Because in higher ed we often measure success by did you up level. And I don't know that that's a great measure of success because I also think in student affairs especially, we don't necessarily do a good job of succession planning from a skills up level. We teach people how to do their jobs and then we say, you're really good at your job. That means you must be ready for the next thing. We didn't necessarily develop the talent from a truly skills basis, whether it be management skills, leadership skills, scaling skills, all of those things. And so you've talked about it's okay to move, quote unquote, down a level or left, right, sideways, diagonally.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:13:38]:

Tell us about that.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:13:39]:

Absolutely. When I was in higher ed, as evidenced by my previous answer, I felt like I had to move up, had to out of pride, had to out of continually expanding my skill set and my opportunities, and also had to simply to garnish a higher salary. And what I learned was that there are other ways to be successful. And jumping outside of higher education, I knew that I was going to have to take at least a step down because I didn't have corporate industry experience. I didn't have the direct learning and development experience that HR professionals of six years had, even though I was much older and experienced than them. So I knew that I had to take a step down. I was a director and assistant dean at UC Berkeley when I left, and I knew that I wasn't going to become a director right away or I wasn't even going to be able to manage a team of individuals in the corporate world. So what stepping down allowed me to do was look at a variety of positions, take a lot of pressure off of me, and allow me to learn a brand new industry, expand my skill set, and really get comfortable in another space and also prove myself.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:14:56]:

So I feel quite confident that because of the step down I took, I was able to launch myself a lot stronger and faster than other folks. So, yes, I needed the time to step down and recalibrate, but it very much paid off in the end. I will also say that my step down from higher education into the corporate world was leaps and bounds higher of a salary than anything I ever would have been making in higher education. So that, of course, made my step down a lot more palatable.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:29]:

Thinking about all of the things that you did to transition, I know you've written a blog post I referenced, so I'll let folks know. Please check out Chrissy's blog on LinkedIn. It's called how higher ed pros can find greener grass by Dr. Chrissy Roth Francis. If you just Google for that, you'll be able to pull that blog up easily. Chrissy gives some really practical advice for those of you who are pivoting and if you want to go back and listen I think it was almost three or four seasons ago now. We did a crossover episode with the podcast pivoting out of with Dr. Jamie Hoffman, dr.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:15:58]:

Tom Stuttert. They're both pivoters who took their doctoral degrees and entered the corporate worlds very, very successfully. So if this is you, please check those things out. Chrissy, I'm wondering if you can give us any advice for those that are persisting through the profession and know it's the right home for them. Things that you wish higher ed was doing now that you know what the corporate world is also doing.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:16:21]:

There's just so many things, and I think for me, it starts out with folks in higher ed like me went to college, went to grad school, got all their jobs, and never left a college campus. So they don't have any clue what else is out there unless they have close friends or a spouse possibly, that work in the corporate world. So I've been quite surprised, happily surprised, by what I've seen outside of higher education. Things like people's well being are actually taken care of. Like, I shut down my laptop at 05:00 every day, and I don't worry about an on call or I don't have to work a weekend retreat. So for me, the work boundaries are much more firm and I don't have to worry about my student affairs life bleeding into my personal life. So that's a big deal is having people really be able to honor their boundaries and take care of themselves in a much more holistic way. You've heard me talk about salary quite a few times and when I was in higher education, I wasn't comfortable thinking that I deserved or that I needed a higher salary.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:17:34]:

That to me was anti higher ed. Higher ed where we believe that we are sacrificing everything, including our family's lifestyles and our salaries to do the job. I would love to see people throughout all levels of higher education or education in general get paid much better commensurate with the work that they are actually doing, because the work is valuable and necessary and requires such a tremendous skill set and education that people should be paid accordingly. And I want to see that happen, which really means higher education needs to be restructured financially. And that's many more podcasts for you, Jill.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:18:13]:

I think we just had an interesting conversation with Eric Stoller on kind of an adjacent topic and it was all about the transition and transformation of the digital space for higher education. And those two things for higher education to keep up with industry is going to be critical, especially because of the gradual but continual loss of faith in the value of higher education as a market for what people need to pursue after high school. We're seeing that decline happen in a lot of places, and for me, I believe that is because we've done a poor job of really telling the story of what an education can do or working in higher education can do. I'm still a firm believer. Higher education has a huge ROI, and that is because of the way it teaches you how to think about problems and solve problems with elasticity that you can't see if you go straight for other types of training. So that's the value for me, but we don't sell it well and we also aren't really connecting with industry well on what are the skills that students need to come out with with their degree in order to make it happen for them.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:19:10]:

I think you hit it on the head right at the end there. It's that higher education is not connecting it with the industry. So we know what various industries need and are looking for, and higher education sometimes is a bit old school and traditional compared to what tech or other industries want. And when I think about a well rounded liberal arts education as a human being, I think that is absolutely the right way to go. I want someone who knows how to problem solve, who understands the history and who understands culture and different types of people. And when it comes to doing a job, some companies just want someone who knows how to code for example. And that's a gap, right? And I don't think either one is more right, but it is a gap that somebody needs to go ahead and be able to fill or at least sell how they're filling it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:01]:

And I'll give it a shout out to our career services colleagues because I know that they are doing it and creating that bridge. Yes, for sure.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:20:07]:

Absolutely.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:20:08]:

Chrissy, any other thoughts for our SA pros who are both persisting through the profession or those who are really thinking that maybe it's time for a shift?

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:20:17]:

When I started thinking about leaving higher education, I believe I knew about five people who had successfully left higher education because nobody talked about it back then. So I left in 2018, and back then I wasn't able to have conversations with people and let them know, this is what I want to do, help me build the skills or help me build a network to get there. Now, I hope that higher education is at a place where it's more open and even this podcast is evidence of that, that we can talk openly about people's needs and desires or even just thoughts about leaving higher education. So what I want people to know is there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who currently work in the corporate world from higher education. And you might not know us all because you're in your higher education bubble, but we are out there and we are thriving, and we are showing folks across various sectors that higher ed expats can do really well, and if anything, that we are incredible and we have an incredible skill set. So reach out to folks, get to know folks, learn what is out there. I didn't know any types of jobs. I didn't know different companies.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:21:32]:

I didn't know anything when I was trying to get out there. And I wish back then that I had the network of higher ed expats that I do have now. So do your research. Take it as a second job for a few months and get to know people. Ask them what they do. Ask them about their company. Start learning about what you might want to do or what's important for you as you are looking to pivot out of higher education. And in those conversations, you might learn that, yes, indeed, it is time for you to jump out and you're going to learn some strategies on how to get out.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:22:07]:

Or you might learn that you really love working in higher education and you do not want to leave. I've talked to people who were interested in Pivoting, and by the end of my conversation, I'm like, they are never going to leave, and they shouldn't leave because they got it going and they've figured it out. You need to make the best decision for you. And I just hope that you are able to make that decision based on all the data that you can accumulate.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:31]:

And whether you are persisting in the profession or looking elsewhere. I want to express my gratitude to you personally for everything that you're doing to make student affairs and higher education a place that's really being the catalyst of change on our campuses and the safest places for the students. So thank you to all the out there.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:22:50]:

Great job, everybody.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:51]:

Keep it up. It's time to take a quick break.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:53]:

And toss it over to producer Chris.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:22:55]:

To learn what's going on in the NASPA world.

Christopher Lewis [00:22:57]:

Thanks, Jill. So excited to be back again in the NASPA world and as always, lots of things happening in this association really want to focus a little bit on some of the focus areas of NASPA. And many of you have been members of NASPA for a long time. You may think you know all that NASPA does, but I'll bet you that there are some things you might not know and some focus areas that you might not always be thinking about. Today, I would highly encourage you to go onto the NASPA website and there is a link at the top of the webput site, at the top of the website that says Focus Areas. If you go there, you're going to see that there are eight different areas that are focused on and NASPA is working to serve as a leading role in the innovations that are shaping the future of student affairs in many different areas. The focus areas that you're going to see on the website include career and workforce development, civic engagement, justice, equity, inclusion and diversity, student financial, wellness, health, safety and well being, policy and advocacy, student success, and supporting the profession. If you go under that tab on the website and you click on any of those different focus areas, you're going to learn more about each of the different areas.

Christopher Lewis [00:24:23]:

Each of those will be broken down and will allow for you to see different types of resources, different types of events, different types of blogs and awards that are available for you as a professional. So, for example, you click on Career and Workforce Development, you're going to see what that focus area is all about. You'll see some books that tie into that. You're going to see events that are specific to that specific focus area, some articles in the blog that are tied directly to that specific focus area, as well as some awards and initiatives that the association has that to encourage you to think about these focus areas in a different way. Again, not all of us are working in all of these different areas. Not all of us are thinking about these different areas. But through this resource on the NASPA website, you're going to be able to find out a lot more about what NASPA is doing, but also about resources that are available to you so that you can become more adept at these areas, as well as a better support for students in these areas. The other thing today that I'm going to talk about is a little bit of a breakdown of how NASPA is structured.

Christopher Lewis [00:25:39]:

All of you live in different areas of the world, and each of those areas is broken down into different regions and areas. And if you don't know what region you're in or what area that you are in based on where you live and what you do, I highly encourage you to go again to the NASPA website, click on Communities and go to Regions and Areas. And if you go to that, you're going to see that NASPA is broken down into regions within the United States that range everywhere from region one to region six. And you're going to find that of those regions, there are seven different areas because region four is broken down into east and west. Beyond that, there are two international areas that are broken down. The first is called the Lac or Latin America and Caribbean. And the other is Menasa, which is Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. If you want to find out more about what's happening in your region or what states are in your region, if there's specific things that are happening in the states that you live in, I encourage you to go and check out the regions or your area and learn more.

Christopher Lewis [00:26:57]:

Because there are directors of those regions, there are other leaders in those regions and areas that can help you, to connect you, to get you involved in different ways based on what's happening. And it's a great way to connect with people in your area that you can work with, on common goals, common vision, try to identify best practices, and more. Every week we're going to be sharing some amazing things that are happening within the association. So we are going to be able to try and keep you up to date on everything that's happening and allow for you to be able to get involved in different ways. Because the association is as strong as its members and for all of us, we have to find our place within the association, whether it be getting involved with a knowledge community, giving back within one of the centers or the divisions of the association. And as you're doing that, it's important to be able to identify for yourself where do you fit, where do you want to give back? Each week. We're hoping that we will share some things that might encourage you, might allow for you to be able to get some ideas that will provide you with an opportunity to be able to say, hey, I see myself in. That knowledge community.

Christopher Lewis [00:28:18]:

I see myself doing something like that. Or encourage you in other ways that allow for you to be able to think beyond what's available right now, to offer other things to the association, to bring your gifts, your talents to the association and to all of the members within. The association, because through doing that, all of us are stronger and the association is better. Tune in again next week as we find out more about what is happening in NASPA.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:28:48]:

Chris, once again, you're always such a wonderful voice for our NASPA World segment. Thank you for teaching us what's going on in and around NASPA. Chrissy, we have reached our lightning round on the show, which is about seven questions in 90 seconds. You ready to go?

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:29:03]:

It's timed. You didn't warn me it was timed. Okay, here we go.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:09]:

We don't put like a 60 minutes ticker on the back end or anything.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:29:12]:

I'm going to accept the challenge here.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:14]:

All right. Number one, if you were a conference keynote speaker, what would your entrance music be?

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:29:18]:

Thunder.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:19]:

Number two, when you were five years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:29:23]:

A mail Judy. And by that I mean our mail person. Her name was Judy, and I wanted to be her.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:29]:

Number three, your most influential professional mentor.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:29:32]:

I'm not going to say one. I'm going to say there are a collection of people that I look to for different reasons and in different capacities who all have inspired me in very different ways.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:43]:

Number four, your essential higher education. Read.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:29:46]:

You know what? I was always a very big fan of Schlossberg. We're talking about transition, and I worked in orientation, so for me it was all about schlossberg.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:29:54]:

Number five, the best TV show you binged during the pandemic.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:29:57]:

I just finished watching. Is it still the pandemic? Does that count?

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:02]:

I think so now.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:30:04]:

Okay. I just finished watching Suits. I have never binged such a long show because it is multiple seasons, multiple years. Great to actually learn what that show was all about. I loved it.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:15]:

Number six, the podcast you've spent the most hours listening to in the last year.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:30:19]:

I am a big fan of Reed Hoffman's masters of Scale. Reed Hoffman is the founder of LinkedIn, and he features different companies who have really figured out how to get big very quickly. So it's been a great education for me to learn more about the corporate world.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:30:35]:

And finally, number seven, any shout outs you'd like to give personal or professional.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:30:39]:

Shout out to everybody who is doing all the great work in higher education. Shout out to all those folks who have helped me along the way. Get out. And like you talked about Dr. Tom Stutter, so didn't mention earlier, he was actually my very first boss outside after I graduated with my master's. So it's quite fun that we have both ended up on this side. I'm going to give another shout out. I'm just going to go through all my people.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:31:04]:

Andreen Kaibi, who was my very first boss, who actually encouraged me to go into higher education. And then lastly, I will say Dr. David Serat, who was a critical person for me in higher education as I considered leaving higher education.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:19]:

It's been such a pleasure to have this conversation with you today, Chrissy. I'm sure that there are many others that would like to connect with you. How can folks find you after the show airs?

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:31:28]:

Y'all can find me on LinkedIn. You can find me at Dr. Chrissy Rothfrancis. I post a good amount on LinkedIn. A lot of it is targeted toward folks in higher education considering to get out of education. So find me on LinkedIn.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:41]:

Thank you so much, Chrissy, for sharing your voice with us today.

Chrissy Roth Francis [00:31:44]:

It's been my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:31:47]:

This has been an episode of SA Voices from the Field brought to you by NASPA. This show is always made possible because of you, our listeners. We are so grateful that you continue to listen to us season after season. If you'd like to reach the show, you can always email us at [e-mail] or find me on LinkedIn by searching for Dr. Jill L. Craighton. We welcome your feedback and topic and especially your guest suggestions. We'd love it if you take a moment to tell a colleague about the show.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:16]:

And please like rate and review us on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you're listening now. It really does help other student affairs professionals find the show and helps us become more visible in the larger podcasting community. This episode was produced and hosted by Dr. Jill L. Creighton SAP Mi. Produced and audio engineered by Dr. Chris Lewis. Guest coordination by Lu Yongru.

Dr. Jill Creighton [00:32:37]:

Special thanks to Duke Kunchan University and the University of Michigan, Flint for your support as we create this project. Catch you next time.