As regular readers will recall, I have been writing a lot about the idea of “gurus” out there who promote themselves as the be-all, end-all authorities for this-that-and-the-other-thing, and contrasting them with “who-dos,” which are people who are out there putting their passion and purpose to work, to change the way we do things in higher education, with social media, in helping people in their careers, and other ways that have positive impacts on society and the world.

Last month, I was glad to applaud our friends over at BreakDrink for their efforts to create free and low-cost-of-entry professional development programs for student affairs professionals, and for their groundbreaking attempt to put together a podcast network of sorts serving the field.

As I said in the introduction to this concept, I would like to take nominations each month and announce a “Who-Do” of the Month.

The Process

Here’s how I would like to do this:

• I’ll put up a post, like this one, once a month, asking people to submit nominations. Ideally, I’d like to take them in the comment section, so people can read all the good things about those nominated.
• I’ll post a poll on the blog about a week later with persons nominated
• People will vote.
• I will review nominations and votes and have a discussion with an advisory committee (which I am currently putting together-more on the makeup of that, once I have people lined up.)
• The last week of each month, I will announce the “Who-Do” of the month.
• In the latter part of Spring semester, I will have a process announced for selecting the “Who-Do” Highsman (get it?) award for the year.

Nominate Someone Now!

Please take a few minutes between now and next Tuesday at noon to nominate someone who deserves recognition, and to tell the world why you see this person as defining the spirit of the “Who-Do.” If you want to send the nomination directly to me, e-mail it to sean@higheredcareercoach.com and I will post some of the essential pieces here, so people can at least know who was nominated and why.

Have an Idea for How I Should Structure the “Highsman” selection?

Send me your ideas. I’d love to hear them, and I want to make this process engaging and fun. I’m looking forward to reading the nominations!