Entry-level student affairs staff are the profession's future and seasoned professionals must lay a strong supervisory foundation. Supervision has received little attention in the literature even though practitioners spend substantial time supervising. Although an important role, many seasoned professionals are ill prepared for this task. This…

Over the past several years, there has been a resurgence of interest in--and reconceptualizing of-- character education in primary and secondary schools across the United States. An important question, then, is how this new emphasis on character development at the K-12 level impacts the work of university faculty and student affairs professionals.…

This study examines the ally development process and behaviors of ten white student affairs educators at four-year institutions in the Bay Area region of Northern California who were identified as racial justice allies by a colleague of color. The methods of this study included a survey to understand the context of multicultural competency in…

Community college students, more often than not, face challenges not typical to those of traditional-aged students. They are more likely to attend part-time, tend to be the least academically prepared, more financially challenged, often working, and have a greater likelihood of being single parents. What drives these students to not only graduate…

Within a traditional organizational structure in higher education, academic and student affairs divisions may not be collaborating well, and the lack of such collaboration may be impacting the students' holistic experiences. Students' academic and personal development depends not only on the quality of the curriculum and classroom instruction, but…

This study examined the application and perceived effectiveness of the Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS) in a community college Student Affairs Division. The two research questions were as follows: (1) How does a Community College apply CAS standards? (2) What is the perceived effectiveness of applying those standards? A case study…

Taking a multiperspective approach, seven Latina students, two student services personnel, and one mental health service provider are interviewed to gain different stakeholder perspectives regarding Latina first-generation college educational and coping experiences. Familial involvement and connections with family, peers, and university personnel…

The Assessment Skills and Knowledge (ASK) standards seek to articulate the areas of content knowledge, skill and dispositions that student affairs professionals need in order to perform as practitioner-scholars to assess the degree to which students are mastering the learning and development outcomes the professionals intend. Consistent with…

The purpose of this study was to examine the anticipatory socialization experiences of new student affairs professionals. The focus was to gain a deeper understanding of how new professionals experience their anticipatory socialization, specifically the job search and pre-entry communication with their new organizations. The theory that emerged…

This study is based on interviews with White students graduating from a student affairs preparation program as well as a literature review of whiteness in education. Applying "critical race theory," the author examined the ways that students and institutions protected whiteness. Institutions and those within them concerned with equity must have…

Interim leadership appointments in higher education are a common strategy used to fill leadership gaps in executive positions. Because student affairs executives are particularly vulnerable to high turnover rates, interim appointments are becoming more widespread. Even with the prevalence of this trend, little attention has been given to the…

In this chapter, the author offers some themes that emerged from a set of conversations that he had with six student affairs leaders. The leaders faced an array of challenges involving athletics, academic discipline, cultural identity, institutional image, personal attributes, policy, residence life, and state politics. Their challengers were…

Kenya is increasingly turning to the promise of mass higher education to help solve a range of economic and social issues. These efforts have had profound effects on university students, faculty and professionals who provide the vital student support services necessary for academic success. This case study explores the challenges that face Kenyan…

In the UK, following guidelines set out by the Quality Assurance Agency, personal development planning (PDP) is now operational across all higher education (HE) awards. Like many policy initiatives, PDP requires change, and vital to its implementation are those who facilitate PDP at the grassroots level. Staff given the task of implementing PDP…

Student affairs and services divisions and the partnerships and collaborations in which they engage with faculty, students, and the community form the structural centre of institutions' approaches to student support. Although past research has identified areas typically associated with the student affairs and services portfolio and factors that…