The chapter discusses learning that has resulted from selected international professional development experiences.

This chapter explores how students' interactions with student affairs professionals influence college outcomes with a particular focus on applying findings to student affairs practice.

This chapter reviews the impact of using race caucuses with members of a student affairs leadership team to deepen their capacity to both recognize common dynamics of racism, internalized dominance, and internalized oppression, and explore specific strategies to create greater equity in their organization.

In July 2011, the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees approved a new strategic plan called VolVision for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) campus. VolVision provides the road map for UTK to become a Top 25 university. For more than a year before the board approved the plan, faculty and administrative leaders led focus groups and…

This chapter focuses on how the climate of accountability in higher education is compelling student affairs organizations to develop comprehensive assessment programs, the challenges faced in creating those programs, and ways student affairs professionals can meet those challenges. For the purpose of this chapter, the author has defined assessment…

What is a culture of assessment? According to this author, in a culture of assessment, staff members recognize that they must collect evidence systematically to demonstrate accountability to their stakeholders, and that they must use that evidence to improve. Fundamental to the concept is the author's back-of-the-envelope definition of…

Colleges and universities are developing both the next generation of leaders as well as state-of-the-art technology that allow climate reduction aspirations and triple bottom-line outcomes to become realities. Divisions of student affairs play a crucial role in the sustainability movement in colleges and universities. The technology-savvy,…

Helping students prepare for the complex transition to life after graduation is an important responsibility shared by those in student affairs and others in higher education. This chapter explores theories and models that can inform student affairs practitioners and faculty in preparing students for life after college. The focus is on roles,…

Historical context informs the work of student affairs professionals and others in higher education in striking the right balance in helping prepare students for life after college, but significant new pressures face students, their mentors, and educational institutions today. This chapter discusses the contexts that shape the work of student…

Historically, those responsible for administration of student conduct resolution in U.S. higher education have sought some manner of moral development for students, whether labeled as such or not. It is clear that contemporary conduct officers are more deeply concerned with such student development as an extension of their practice. Many such…

In this era of increased accountability, it is important to consider how student affairs researches and assesses the outcomes of efforts to increase moral competence. This article examines both qualitative and quantitative inquiry methods for measuring moral development. The authors review the instrumentation and methods typically used to measure…

Student affairs professionals traditionally struggle with how to bring the proper balance to their work. Their work takes place in a variety of settings--some informal, some structured. In each of these settings, they may find opportunity to serve as moral mentors. The authors describe the moral mentor as a professional practicing in the field of…

The successful supervisor, like the successful executive, is focused on the long term: decisive, inclusive, and personally humble--what Robert Greenleaf (1977, 2002) would call a servant leader. A student affairs supervisor also is a leader, manager, coach, and coworker. These can be daunting responsibilities, especially during times of…

The use of technology in student affairs is not as advanced as depicted in the 1960s cartoon "The Jetsons," however, there has been a steady increase in the use of technology to enhance the education, programs, services, and support of the students on campuses. Technology changes rapidly, and the use of it differs with comfort, interest, access,…

Supervision, as this author discovered, is about building relationships with groups and individuals, as well as implementing policies and practices to create clear expectations. These policies, practices, expectations, and relationships should give rise to a work environment that encourages creativity, learning, and personal growth. In this…