This phenomenological study examined how student affairs professionals learn advocacy skills and what they learn in their education on this topic. Findings based on 22 interviews show participants felt underprepared by their graduate programs for the myriad challenges involved with advocating for students. Findings indicate participants found…

The increased diversity of students enrolling in courses on college campuses today brings increased expectations regarding the capabilities of faculty and staff to address the many different needs of students. If colleges and universities are to promote greater staff effectiveness, they will need to create open environments that encourage campus…

This article examines the field of international higher education (IHE) and its application to the practice of student affairs. The author proposes that IHE is a crossroads between international comparative education and higher education, exploring their shared historical roots. She gives an overview of the current state of the IHE field, looking…

What does student coaching involve and what considerations make sense in deciding to engage an outside contractor to provide personal coaching? The author explores coaching in light of his own professional experience and uses this reflection as a platform from which to consider the pros and cons of student coaching when deciding whether to choose…

Student affairs, as an integral part of universities, has taken on a key position in contributing to social justice as one of the central imperatives of higher education in South Africa. This article sketches the development of this role and outlines some important tasks for contemporary student affairs. Three conceptual models within the social…

Multicultural education and global learning have long been acknowledged by higher education professionals to be necessary in advancing student development. Both of these agendas overlap in significant ways and can be characterized as two sides of the same coin. Notwithstanding, there has been a historical divide, even a tension between these two…

Social media have challenged us in our journey to support our students. Administrators have entered into new web-based conversations with one another and with their students. Personal branding has created a sense of performativity that conflicts with a growing trend towards online vulnerability. Our leaders have increasingly been engaged in…

Student affairs is a relatively new profession in higher education, and only recently has its history begun to be systematically examined. This article describes one of the earliest venues in which student affairs leaders gathered to discuss current issues and to reflect with colleagues about the emerging student affairs profession. This article…

Faculty, student affairs professionals, and most importantly, students, are paying the price as institutions of higher education increasingly operate in a top-down manner with an over-emphasis on the bottom line. The corporatization of higher education creates lopsided reward (and punishment) systems for faculty, unreasonably stressful…

In the late 19th century, faculty members on American college campuses turned their attention away from life outside the classroom, a responsibility they had assumed from the earliest days of the colonial college. The result was the establishment of a field known familiarly today as "student affairs", which focuses on the work of…

As resources have become tighter, campus leaders must make tough decisions about priorities. Many people value the out-of-classroom experience, but there is a cost to staffing and providing these opportunities and resources. Some argue that technology will change education so completely that campuses as we know them today will become extinct.…

Colleges and universities are places where students are immersed in course work and planned activities outside the classroom, where habits based on values and character can be formed. Whether working with students to achieve learning outcomes specifically related to academic courses or helping them work through the consequences of a conduct issue,…

Student poverty is an issue with which far too many students are confronted. Student affairs professionals must increase their awareness of this human dynamic and develop programs, services, and personal knowledge to support students faced with this challenge.

In order to build local capacity in an international higher education setting, the Qatar Study Tour and Young Professionals Institute (QST and YPI) was created as an inquiry-based learning experience shared among diverse participants and designed to enhance learning at both the local and international levels. The intent of the QST and YPI model…

In a recent volume of the "Journal of College and Character", Peter Magolda (2010) suggested that student administration professionals and campus religious groups should strive to overcome the separation that has been observed between the groups. In the present article, the author contends that good historical, moral, and legal reasons remain for…