A unique professional development program took place for senior student affairs officers at The University of Salamanca (Spain) in June 2005. Participants had first-hand experiences with studying abroad and had opportunities to exchange ideas and perspectives with professionals from a variety of institutions from within and outside of the United…

Student affairs practitioners must reconceptualize traditional support services in order to use the resources allocated to them more effectively, meet the needs of today's students, and increase their value to community colleges. This chapter identifies student affairs programs that are vital to the community college's mission, describes best…

In the cycle of a student's college life, student affairs professionals have opportunities to engage parents and families. On these occasions, parents are searching for information about the institution and the experiences of their children. It is important that student affairs professionals be ready to provide this information and respond in a…

At the beginning of the first year, student affairs staff members serve as educators through special programs and activities that have an impact on students' success in college.

This chapter provides an overview of e-portfolio concepts and designs. It describes a model that outlines an array of dimensions for the categorization of e-portfolio systems, reviews selected systems, and makes observations regarding the importance for student affairs units to understand, collaborate, and include e-portfolio systems within their…

For-profit higher education has expanded dramatically over the last decade and represents a newly prominent choice for students pursuing postsecondary education. How do for-profit institutions serve and support students? The practice of student affairs in the for-profit sector was explored through campus visits and interviews with administrators…

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an organization development (OD) philosophy that utilizes and builds on past successes, using these as positive momentum for future change. AI provides student affairs with an alternative and generative approach to improving their organizations' processes and culture. As student affairs professionals look to the future…

This article gives an overview of a new model for assessment practice within student affairs divisions. With the current increase of accountability and greater demands from higher education stakeholders, student affairs practitioners need to understand how to demonstrate the effectiveness and value of their work as it relates to the mission of…

This biennial survey, issued to all New Jersey postsecondary institutions, provides the Commission on Higher Education with current information about both the population of college students with disabilities in the state, as well as the extent to which this population is served by the state-funded regional centers. The survey was sent to all…

The past decade has provided a unique opportunity for the New Hampshire College & University Council (a multipurpose statewide consortium) and Campus Compact for New Hampshire (a state affiliate of a national consortium) to leverage the role of consortia toward building campus cultures of service-learning and civic engagement among member…

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact that Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is having on the professional worklives of international student and scholar advisors (ISSAs) on U.S. college and university campuses. ISSAs are clearly satisfied with their work and hold their institutions in high regard. However,…

Professors, department chairs, and deans no longer are the sole sources of the learning experiences that undergraduate students benefit from on our campuses. Recent years have seen the growth or expansion of a wide variety of out-of-the classroom supplements to classroom education, including learning communities, "theme" housing beyond the…

If a random sampling of student affairs professionals was taken, they'd all agree: without the work they do with students, campus functions would simply grind to a halt. "Student affairs professionals spend 80 percent of their time with students. We do admissions and registration, we house them and feed them, we do the counseling and guidance…

This chapter identifies significant barriers to developing effective programs and services for men and offers a framework for addressing this growing problem.

Defining competencies of student affairs and other professionals in higher education who plan, implement, and offer programs and services is the mark of a maturing profession. This document seeks to define a list of necessary attributes for professionals in higher education that is broader than competencies and includes other markers of…