The aim of this qualitative study is to explore how staff at three Icelandic universities attend to the needs of students of immigrant background. The theoretical background includes critical multicultural studies which focus on analysing the position of minority groups in societies and education from a critical perspective [Parekh 2006.…

This comparative case study examined how graduate students in two student affairs preparation programs were socialized to constructions of professionalism. One program regularly conveyed that professionalism was reflected via formal communication and dress, and through demonstrating professional competency as defined by ACPA and NASPA. The second…

The Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) has conducted biennial surveys of postsecondary disability resource professionals since 2008. The day-to-day work of disability resource offices on college campuses has undergone significant changes in this time period, potentially requiring new technical skills, expanded content…

While many studies have examined work-life satisfaction within the field of student affairs, few have examined the dissonance between new professionals' expectations for professional practice and their experience in the first few years. Using a narrative inquiry method, this qualitative study investigated how professionalism is both practiced and…

While outreach has long been considered an important component of counseling center efforts, the increasing demands for clinical services, along with increased severity and acuity of presenting concerns, pose a challenge for centers that also aim to incorporate a robust outreach effort into their overall services. Outreach has been defined and…

The authors, coming from different generations, know that their colleagues have differing perspectives on how one responds to the demanding work in student affairs. Generational differences, however, create a diverse work environment that benefits students. Currently there are four generations gainfully employed in the US workforce. This includes…

Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model (1979, 1993), we analyzed grounded theory data from 31 student affairs professionals about supporting students with and without disabilities in, and beyond, the university microsystem of housing. Participants described the challenge of simultaneously meeting the needs of students with and without…

Residence Life Training Programs have evolved over the past quarter century, yet few studies have explored how changes in training impact the preparation and retention of staff. Utilizing a mixed-method design of survey and interview data with housing professionals trained since 1993, this study explores trends in residence life training and…

This chapter explores the issues of transition from an administrator to faculty. This exploration includes considerations of various types of faculty positions available in higher education, institutional culture, and tenure and promotion expectations.

Supervision is considered an integral function of managing student affairs personnel, yet there is a dearth of literature on this issue. Winston and Creamer (1997) stated that the role of supervision in management is to not only support the institution but also support the staff by encouraging improvements in both their personal and professional…

Emerging from a worldwide study of 29 U.S.-trained student affairs professionals with higher education work experience abroad, this study explored the perspectives and skills developed through working abroad. The findings of this study provide useful advocacy for this group of professionals to demonstrate their unique perspectives and critical…

Recent scholarship suggests that sense of calling may strongly correlate with a host of positive life outcomes. It follows that further investigation into the construct of calling may have promising applications for student affairs professionals, whose work is oriented toward helping students achieve such outcomes. To that end, this study drew…

The collaboration between the career services office and the general education faculty at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia began with storytelling. In fall 2014, while teaching a course on how people create and use narratives, Meriel Tulante (one of the authors of this article) approached Tracy DePedro, Jefferson's director of career…

Resident assistants are unique among undergraduate leaders since they straddle the roles of student and university employee simultaneously. Through a phenomenographic approach, this study examines how Black women resident assistants (RAs) describe institutional support at a historically White institution (HWI). Three findings were identified:…

Employability is a key concern for students and it is of increasing importance to universities with the inclusion of employability outcomes affecting performance in league tables and in the Teaching Excellence Framework. Universities typically teach employability either by embedding it within a course curriculum (embedded approach) or via the…