The increase of students with disabilities on college campuses requires institutions to reenvision how to serve this population. The partnership and collaboration of institutional departments will offer students with disabilities increased opportunities for academic and social integration. This increased integration has ripple effects that will…

To understand the role and experience of a peer educator, it is imperative to examine the developmental issues and concerns associated with this stage of a student's life as well as the demands and challenges of a higher education community. For years, student affair professionals have used a breadth of theories to guide their efforts in…

Peer education programs have gained popularity on college campuses because peer educators can communicate with other students in ways that faculty and administrators cannot. Peer education programs continue to grow exponentially because college-age students often feel more comfortable talking with peers when it comes to sensitive issues such as…

As more college students face severe mental health issues, peer educators need effective communication skills and knowledge of campus counseling services to properly make referrals while continuing the peer relationship. This chapter presents an overview of current mental health issues in college students. These issues must be understood and…

Peer educators have a critical role to play in the delivery of a wide variety of important programs on college campuses. Nowhere is this more evident than in learning assistance programs. These programs, typically housed in a learning center or learning assistance office, include tutoring and mentoring and often take the form of individual and…

Involving undergraduates in the design, delivery, and evaluation of classroom-based learning enhances student ownership of the learning environment and stimulates peer interest in the transformative possibilities of education. As bell hooks (1994) eloquently describes, the process of honoring student voices in the classroom enhances "the…

Leadership development is an outcome of colleges and universities today stressed both in and out of the classroom. Additionally, leadership is often included in institutional missions, with emphasis on students developing as responsible citizens or leaders. The use of peer educators is standard in many student leadership development programs. In…

Commuter students make up an overwhelming majority of the college student population. At the same time, the amount of research on commuter students is minuscule compared to that of residential students. The characteristics of the commuter student subgroup that is referenced in this chapter can be described as living independent of guardians or…

Peer education on a college campus may be an ideal nexus for two imperatives facing higher education over the next decade: (1) an increasingly needy student population; and (2) a decreasing level of support for program growth. Despite its long history as a method of instruction, both in and out of the classroom, the benefits of peer education are…

The Common Ground Multicultural Dialogue program in the Department of Resident Life at the University of Maryland is an innovative peer education program designed to teach skills for engagement through exploration of contemporary multicultural societal dilemmas. The Common Ground Dialogue Program was launched in 2000 to provide undergraduate…

Planning from a strategic perspective has been a mainstay of organizational management for decades. Founded in the private sector, strategic planning is now embraced by the nonprofit world as a catalyst for sound resource allocation, transformative decision making, and motivating staff. Student affairs professionals who think, plan, and act…

Higher education, like the private sector, is searching for innovative ways to respond to demographic shifts, globalization, greater accountability, and new technologies. New organizational models are needed to meet these challenges. In a rapidly changing world, the development of such models can occur through effective strategic analysis and…

Values-integrated strategic planning provides the opportunity to clarify professional values as one envisions a future that is exciting and perhaps a bit provocative. This chapter explores the role and importance of student affairs and institutional values in strategic planning. It also looks at the historical roots of the profession and methods…

Data-driven planning or evidence-based decision making represents nothing new in its concept. For years, business leaders have claimed they have implemented planning informed by data that have been strategically and systematically gathered. Within higher education and student affairs, there may be less evidence of the actual practice of…

Strong financial management is a strategy for strategic planning success in student affairs. It is crucial that student affairs professionals understand the necessity of linking their strategic planning with their financial management processes. An effective strategic planner needs strong financial management skills to implement the plan over…