Student affairs

Student affairs (also known as student life or student affairs practitioners) staff provide services and support for students at institutions of higher education to enhance student growth and development in the United States and abroad. A Division of Student Affairs is often the Vice President or Vice Chancellor and reports directly to the president/chancellor of the institution. A typical Student Affairs hierarchy might look like this:

• Vice Chancellor/President of Student Affairs
• Dean of Students
• Associate vice chancellor/president(s)
• Assistant vice chancellor/president(s)
• Director(s), departmental
• Associate Director(s)
• Assistant Director(s)
• Coordinator(s)
• Administrative support staff.

As early as 1992 , student affairs began to see a change in the reporting structure (Barr, Desler, & Associates, p. 125). Chief student affairs officers began to shift to the Provost, the chief academic officer.

Student affairs professionals are charged with the tasks of developing programming, advising student organizations and student leaders and conducting research to meet the needs of the whole student – physical, emotional and mental. Challenges in meeting this goal include the budget, staffing and millennial parents, often called helicopter or Black Hawk parents.

Student Affairs areas

The Handbook of Student Affairs Administration and professional associations, NASPA and ACPA, identify typical departments within a division of Student Affairs. Departments may overlap or combined into one office, especially at smaller institutions:

• Academic Advising may be full-time advisors or full-time faculty with part-time advising responsibilities, often graduate students fulfill this role.
• Admissions including recruiters
• Assessment and Research
• Athletics usually in small institutions and/or NCAA Division III institutions
• Campus Safety or Police Services, may be city law enforcement officers
• Career Development or Career Services including employer relations, interview placement, course of study guidance and internships
• College/Student Union or Student Centers, College Centers or University Centers, responsible for day-to-day operation of facility and may include food services/catering or other auxiliary services
• Community Service and Service Learning engage students in community service and experiential learning opportunities
• Commuter Services or Adult Students or Non-Traditional Students, services for students living off-campus including social programs and transition for non-traditional students
• Counseling Services for students, faculty and staff, accredited counseling staff
• Dining and Food Services may be auxiliary and/or part of the College/Student Union
• Disability Support Services include note taking, accommodations and advocacy
• Enrollment Management may include Financial Aid, Bursar and Registrar
• Financial Aid assists students in financial matters including processing federal aid, payment plans and may include student employment
• Fund Raising and Fund Development or Development or Advancement
• Greek Affairs or Fraternity and Sorority Life, including advisement of governing councils, recruitment and leadership programming for new and initiated members
• Health Services provides individual medical and/or mental health care, usually includes public health education programs and counseling services
• International Student Services assists and supports international students, may include Study or Education Abroad
• Judicial Affairs enforces community standards and campus codes of conduct, may include ethical programs/education and mediation
• Leadership Programs provides leadership opportunities, may include Student Government
• Multicultural Affairs provides support and programming to create an environment of respect and education
• Orientation and First-Year Experience provides support and programming for first-year students, usually includes orientation and may include Parent and Family Relations
• Recreation and Fitness Programs or Campus Recreation, provides recreational activities such as intramural sports, club sports and outdoor activities for promoting wellness
• Residence Life or Housing provides housing, programming and support for on-campus residents, may include food services
• Spirituality, Faith or Religious Services usually at private institutions regardless of institution’s affiliation

Student Activities or Student Involvement provides co-curricular programming on campus, advises campus programming, student organizations and student governance. It may include Student Activity Board, student government and student activity fee disbursement.

Institutions may have specialized departments such as a Women’s Center, technology support as well as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Services.

History of student affairs

Student affairs beginnings have been traced back to Athenian education and universities in the Middle Ages, but is largely an American phenomenon. As the number of land-grant institutions increased, enrollment expanded, student populations began to include women, the idea of vocationalism began to influence academics and the institution's president began to be viewed as "the chief moral front" (p. 6). With these changes it became apparent that additional staff members were needed to allow the president to respond to the issues of finance and faculty recruitment.

The profession of student affairs "grew from the campus up, not from theory down" (p. 4). Early higher education in the United States was based on the Oxbridge model of education with most early institutions residential where the tutors lived in the halls with the students. These men were the precursor to student affairs professionals in the United States. Typically, they served as dean of disclipline and in loco parentis (in place of the parent). These early student affairs practitioners focus was on control of the student as opposed to modern philosophy which focuses on the development of the student as a whole, but has always connected those interested in the welfare of students with students needing assistance (p. 4).

These first student affairs professionals were the dean of women, dean of men and personnel workers. Many of the early deans came from "teaching roles in the liberal arts" (p. 8). Cowley (1937) identified the came first Dean of Men, LeBaron Russell Briggs, at Harvard University in 1890 with Adelia Johnston in 1869 at the Oberlin College as lady principal and later named Dean of Women in 1894. Alice Freeman Palmer in 1892 at the University of Chicago was the first to hold the title of Dean of Women. The position description might have read, "that officer in the administration who undertakes to assist the men students [to] achieve the utmost of which they are individually capable, through personal effort on their behalf, and through mobilizing in their behalf all the forces within the University which can be made to serve this end" (Secretarial Notes, 1928, p. 37).

The Dean of Men's position typically included discipline, but could vary depending on the institution's overall philosophy. The one thing that remained consistent was the responsibility to deal with men and help them develop to their potential (p. 9).

Deans of Women were trail blazers. Not only were women at colleges and universities a new development, but women as staff members even more new. The institutional leadership was dominated by men, but still they persevered including the founding of what is now the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in 1903.

In the 1960s the student development movement, the study of the student as a whole - physical, mental and emotional, was introduced.

In December 1918 Robert Rienow, the dean of men at the University of Iowa, wrote a letter to Thomas Arkle Clark, dean of men at the University of Illinois, suggesting a meeting that is now recognized as the founding of the organization now known as NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.

In 1924, May L. Cheney, who organized a teacher placement office at the University of California, Berkeley helped form the National Association of Appointment Secretaries (NAAS). That year, NAAS met for the first time and came as guests of the National Association of Deans of Women (NADW) to a convention sponsored by the Department Superintendence of the National Education Association. In 1929, forty-six NAAS members registered for the Sixth Annual Convention. NAAS became the National Association of Personnel and Placement Officers (NAPPO). The name American College Personnel Association (ACPA) was adopted in 1931. Association communication consisted of one mailed newsletter, the Personnel-O-Gram (P-O-G). In 1937, the Student Personnel Point of View statement was developed by leaders of the American Council on Education (ACE) and ACPA.

The Student Personnel Points of View, written in 1937 and 1949, further developed the area of student affairs.

In the 1970s the landscape of student affairs began to change when the voting age was lowered and 18 year olds were granted adult status in the eyes of the law.

Theoretical Foundations

Student Affairs Personnel or College Student Personnel (CSP) graduate programs may include classes in psychology, business, law, communication, inter and intra-personal counseling, higher education, and group dynamics. These help to form a foundation for creating relationships with students, faculty, staff and parents. CSP programs tend to be found in departments of leadership, counseling, psychology and education. Traditionally these programs have an emphasis in administration, student development theory or counseling.

Developmental theories used in college student personnel programs include

• Chickering's Seven Vectors
• Astin's Theory of Involvement
• Komives, Owen, Longerbeam, Mainella and Osteen's Leadership Identity Development
• Gilligan's Theory of Moral Development
• Erikson's Developmental Theory of Gay Development
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
• Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
• Erikson's Theory of Human Development

Criticism

The field of Student Affairs has been criticized for its emphasis on formal, professional training, calling into question whether the field is theoretical or practical. Complicating this criticism is the question of the role of student development theories in student affairs practice. It is claimed that student development theories are used to “proactively identify and address student needs, design programs, develop policies, and create healthy...environments that encourage positive growth in students.” Yet, often student affairs practices often bear little resemblance or connection to student development theories. As Paul Bloland (1979) wrote in an article in the NASPA Journal, “We have cultivated an expertise that was not requested, is not sought out, and for which there is little recognition or demand. Many entry-level and (many) seasoned professionals know little of student development theory and practice and, in fact, do not really need such expertise to meet the role expectations of their supervisors or, in too many instances, their institutions.”

Another debate has centered on the degree to which available postgraduate programs actually represent a distinct discipline. While the field bears a resemblance to psychology, counseling, and other general concentrations, debate and criticism of the field's major foundations are virtually nonexistent in theoretical discourse, calling into question the academic credibility of the field. As Bloland, Stamatakos, and Russell wrote, while student development theory “...has been widely distributed through the literature, in preparation programs, at workshops and conventions,” academics and professionals in the field have, “...failed to exercise their critical faculties to raise questions about student development, to slow down the head-long pace of its engulfment of the field of student affairs, and to examine alternatives and opinions as they presented themselves.”

Preparation for Student Affairs

Traditionally Student Affairs practitioners and College Student Personnel have completed graduate work with a complementary assistantship. An assistantship can be an entry level position, but is usually a part-time paraprofessional position with compensation including tuition waiver, professional development and a stipend. A graduate program is usually two academic years of full-time study with opportunities for internship and abroad opportunities.

A doctorate of Education (Ed.D) or philosophy (Ph.D.) in a chosen field of study are recommended for practitioners with aspirations of administrator roles of Vice President or Director, but are not required.

For more information on selecting a graduate program, the professional associations ACPA and NASPA have suggestions.

• NASPA "What should I think about with applying to graduate school?"
• NASPA "What is graduate school like?"
• ACPA Graduate Program Directory

See also

• Journal of College Student Development
• College Student Personnel
• National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)
• American College Personnel Association (ACPA)
• Academic Advising
• Admissions including recruiters
• Assessment and Research
• Athletics
• Career Development or Career Services
• College/Student Union or Student Centers, College Centers or University Center
• Community Service
• Service Learning
• Commuter Services or Adult Students or Non-Traditional Students
• Counseling Services
• Disability Support Services
• Enrollment Management may include Financial Aid, Bursar and
• Registrar
• Financial Aid
• Fund Raising and Fund Development or Development or Advancement
• Greek Affairs or Fraternity and Sorority Life
• International Student Services
• Study Abroad
• Leadership Programs
• Multicultural Affairs
• Orientation
• First-Year Experience
• Recreation, Fitness, Intramurals and Club Sports
• Residence Life

External links

• Directory of Student Affairs Professional Associations

References

• Barr, M. J., Desler, M. K., & Associates (2000). The Handbook of Student Affairs Administration. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• NASPA Standards of Professional Practice. NASPA. Retrieved on 2010-10-4.
• Basinger, J. (2003). More Power for Provosts. The Chronicle of Higher Education.