Frederick Community College's assessment of student learning within student affairs has evolved as a result of the confluence of three transformative initiatives: (1) the institution's decision to shape itself into a learning college; (2) the revision of accreditation standards, placing increased emphasis on institutional assessment and assessment…

This qualitative study examined the career shaping experiences and related meaning making processes of 12 interns at The Carter Center, an international, humanitarian organization. Experiences shaping participants' careers were grouped into the following themes--academics and intellectual curiosity; travel abroad; religion; relationships--family,…

This article charges student affairs professionals who work with student leaders to become more intentional in how they and their students create and contribute to community. Towards that end, this article delineates a process called "community-praxis" that teaches students how to talk about, think about, and do community. Organization…

Since their development in the early twentieth century Honors Programs and Colleges within Higher Education serve a variety of functions; from attracting academically talented students to an institution for the purposes of increasing the institutional profile to providing an opportunity for those students to achieve their potential. However, the…

The educational benefits of a diverse student body are clear. However, in order to reap the benefits associated with a diverse student body, campus leaders must create a campus environment that is welcoming and affirming, and fosters cross-cultural interactions. Student affairs professionals are uniquely positioned within the university to be…

There is limited research that identifies the university, familial and community factors that support the persistence of Latinas in higher education from the first to second year. The research that does exist has tended to focus on how institutional programs and activities have failed to work for first-generation students. Therefore, there is a…

The "Talking Stick" is published bimonthly, six times a year in January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, and November/December by the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International. Each issue is divided into three sections, namely: Features, Columns, and Departments. These sections…

This multiple institution case study examines the nature and scope of market(like) behaviors carried out within three student affairs organizations situated in distinct higher education institutional types: a public research university, a public master's university, and a small, private liberal arts residential college. Data was collected via the…

Strong financial management is a strategy for strategic planning success in student affairs. It is crucial that student affairs professionals understand the necessity of linking their strategic planning with their financial management processes. An effective strategic planner needs strong financial management skills to implement the plan over…

In this study, we build on two recent works (Gaston-Gayles, Wolf-Wendel; Tuttle, Twombley, and Ward, 2004; Slocum & Rhoads, 2008) that examine faculty and staff work with student activists, but expand the scope to include new questions such as why and how they partner with students, the impact of institutional context, and what role it might play…

Student computing is now mobile. For college students across the nation, convenient access to information--anytime, anywhere, on demand--has become not only a priority, but a necessity. To successfully serve the needs of this current generation of students, colleges and universities must recognize the trend and align services accordingly.…

Dialogue on religion and sexuality is difficult because these topics consist of deeply seated concepts of self, as well as one's relationship to other selves in the world. This chapter offers practical steps for creating and navigating difficult dialogues with respect to sexuality and religion. It suggests that partnership with departments,…

The primary purpose of this case study was to determine if the university under study had adequate health-related programs, services, and supports in place to develop health-literate young adults. A secondary purpose was to identify strengths and gaps in these university health-related programs, services, and supports, which, if addressed, could…

The purpose of this research was to explore the interactions between senior-level student affairs administrators and the parents of traditional-age undergraduate students. Student development theory had little to say about a role for the parents of college students, yet senior-level student affairs administrators who participated in this study…

This study contributes to the scarce research on U.S. college students studying abroad by documenting general and sexual negative alcohol-related risks and factors associated with such risk. The manner of drinking (quantity vs. frequency), pre-departure expectations surrounding alcohol use while abroad, culture-related social anxiety, and…