Many student affairs professionals had impactful experiences as undergraduate students, themselves, and they want to facilitate those same opportunities. They believe their work is meaningful to students' experiences and is also valued by institutions. So if that is what motivates many student affairs professionals, what happens when they begin to…

In the spring of 2021, staff from the University of Minnesota Morris participated in Fika Coffee Time gatherings, inspired by a Swedish tradition to slow down, have coffee, conversation, and a treat with friends or colleagues. As Minnesota is the state with the largest number of Swedish Americans, it has a great deal of institutions that celebrate…

An imaginary divide exists between academic affairs and student affairs, fueled by disagreements over responsibility for the educational mission of a university. Some in academic affairs doubt the capability of student affairs professionals to promote rigorous learning, because student affairs is often viewed as the realm outside of the classroom.…

Higher education institutions can often serve as sites of growth and possibility. At the same time, trauma in varying forms permeates higher education across institutional types. The authors define trauma as the short- and long-term direct and indirect response to deeply distressing events. Students, faculty, and staff all experience various…

Student affairs work is built on relationships, but these deep connections should not be devleoped too quickly. Each person should be allowed to choose what they disclose. Student affairs has drifted into the expectation of full disclosure as more valuable than safety and privacy. Student affairs professionals must examine and disrupt forced…

Canonical research and identity-evasive best practices have pushed Student Affairs Professionals (SAP) to limit the applicability and effectiveness of involvement for a swath of the student body. By examining the push for involvement on college campuses, it is imperative to critically examine the impact traditional forms of student engagement have…

In this article, the author describes the changes to their work in higher education due to the COVID-19 international pandemic. The move away from campus and in-person meetings and interactions to work-from-home and videoconferencing led the author to consider the changes to the students lives: What was it like for them taking their last steps off…

Student affairs professionals have often relied on the professional development of staff rather than innovative design approaches to fulfill the challenge of creating programs, services, and activities that serve today's global and multicultural students. In this article, Jordan Harper and Adrianna Kezar introduce Liberatory Design Thinking (LDT)…

The United States continues to become more racially and ethnically diverse, and the nation's colleges and universities' demographics are commensurate with that growth. Between 1976 and 2017, the percentage of White students enrolled in postsecondary institutions fell from 84% to 56%, while the percentage of American college students who identify…

In the ever-changing contexts of higher education in the U.S., the field of student affairs strives to evolve the knowledge and skills for effective professional practice. Through this article, the authors invite their colleagues to start a dialogue about another troublesome phenomenon that observed in the field - professional authenticity.…

This article relays the author's experiences and lessons learned after she was selected to serve as the faculty coordinator for first-year student scheduling at her institution. The new assignment to run the first-year scheduling function in the summer was supposed to be a way to do something interesting and engaging in the summer. It turned out…

Using data from "The National Study on Latino Male Achievement in Higher Education," the authors have spent the last few years seeking to understand how queer Latino men negotiate their familial relationships at selective colleges and universities. After completing a couple of studies, the authors now find it important to ask the…

In the spring of 2020, the US Department of Education updated Title IX guidelines addressing the way campuses investigate gender-based violence. This paper explores how then Vice President of Student Affairs at Phoenix College handled changes to Title IX compliance in the early months of the Coronavirus pandemic while also transitioning to remote…

The authors of this article are both men of color (Chicano and Filipino) and former student affairs educators. For over a year, the authors have been engaged in a multiple case study of five comprehensive state universities that have institutionalized support for men of color. The study sites are all within the same state higher education system,…

Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is a program hosted by college campuses in which students use their traditional vacation to serve the community locally, domestically, or internationally. There are 101 recognized and accredited Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the United States (National Center for Education Statistics,…