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…

This conversation started in the fall of 2019 and continued through the pandemic transitions in the spring of 2020. The conversation was between faculty and graduate students about what student affairs (SA) says it values and what practice actually looks like. The authors talk about SA aspiring to support all students personally, academically, and…

In this article, the author explores how higher education and student affairs (HESA) administrators can conceptualize servingness by understanding the experiences of Black students, administrators, and faculty at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). The author uses an organizational conflict lens to propose recommendations that could support HESA…

Author Anne Lamott wrote "This is a difficult country to look different in...and if you are too skinny or too tall or dark or weird or short or frizzy or homely or poor or nearsighted, you get crucified." Lamott's comment speaks to what happens when people do not fit into neat social categories. Such experiences of not fitting, of being…

Informal partnerships between divisions of academic and student affairs units are common practice on many university campuses. History and traditions are rich at institutions, and individuals often assume successful programs and services between divisions of academic and student affairs will always continue; however, there is no guarantee because…

Abusive leadership has multiple interchangeable terms, such as destructive leadership, dark side leadership, petty tyranny, toxic leadership, tyrannical leadership, and harassment, to explain roughly the same thing. Whichever term utilized, none of them are healthy for a work environment in Student Affairs, whose purpose is to provide guidance,…

Community colleges are a 20th-century phenomenon. This sector of higher education started in 1901 and historically served any number of varying purposes, such as teacher training, homemaking, and, potentially, transfer credits for admission to a four-year college and the receipt of a baccalaureate degree. In the early 20th century, because of its…

This article describes one Syrian student's experience coming to the United States to study at a private research university. Based on his time in the US, Musbah Shaheen asserts that the current practices of working with international students on college campuses contribute to the erosion of international students' cultural belonging. The ability…

The alarming low completion rates in postsecondary education for Latinx students should be a national concern. Teachers can have a strong and direct impact on the academic success of students. College students spend a large portion of their time interacting with faculty in class or during office hours. To assist Latinx students in getting to the…

When Case Willoughby took his first community college job, he started by applying student development and student engagement theory to advising. He refocused advising to support students in exploring academic and career goals and teach them the intellectual and practical skills they need to learn. This experience led Willoughby to notice that…

When making decisions that impact student learning, college educators often consider previous experiences, precedent, common sense, and advice from colleagues. But how often do they consider theory? At a recent state-level educators' meeting, the authors of this article asked 50 student affairs educators about the use of theory in their practice.…

Collegiate athletics has exploded into a multimillion-dollar enterprise that has brought with it a host of issues, including the exploitation of student athletes, concerns about student athletes' academic success and low graduation rates, cheating by student athletes and staff, and misbehavior and crimes committed by student athletes, coaches, and…

The authors interviewed two dozen educators at several institutions who were responsible for administration of the survey on their campus to better understand how data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) were (or were not) being used. The project managers they interviewed had successfully used strategies to make sense of NSSE…

Dana is a graduate assistant in the second year of a master's program in student personnel. In a class discussion of assistantship issues, Dana reveals that he has decided not to enforce the university's policy of "writing up" all underage students who are in a residence hall room where alcohol is present. He says that in his opinion the punitive…

In this article, the authors share an approach to enriching student learning through building on relationships among faculty, student affairs educators, and administrators. As their examples suggest, campuses where academic and student affairs educators work together most effectively have broad representation on campuswide committees and other…