Student Affairs

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Student Affairs staff are responsible for out-of-classroom learning in colleges and universities (higher education) in the United States and abroad. The chief student affairs officer at a college or university often reports directly to the chief executive of the institution.

1 Student Affairs Areas
2 Enrollment Services Areas
3 History of Student Affairs
4 Preparation for Student Affairs Work
5 Principles of Good Practice
6 Professional Organizations

[edit] Student Affairs Areas

The Student Affairs division of a university can include:

Academic Advising: depending on the institution or the academic department within a college/university, advisors may fall under student affairs or academic affairs. While some advisors are faculty in the appropriate discipline and others are graduate students with an assistantship as an advisors, some advisors are degree-holding student affairs professionals.
Community Service-Learning and Volunteerism: engages students in community service within the local community, often including national alternative spring break programs
Commuter Services: provides services for students who do not live on the campus such as social programs and other opportunities these students are often perceived to miss or be unaware of due to their status as non-residents
Graduate Student Services
Living/Learning Programs in campus residence halls are almost exclusively joint ventures between student affairs--particularly residence life and academic departments or an over-arching division for undergraduate education
College Health Services: provides individual medical and/or mental health care to students to improve their physical and/or emotional health and serves as the public health arm of the university community. Health services at colleges and universities may include primary care medical services, counseling and psychological services, health promotion/health education services, disability services, and/or sexual violence prevention services--each of which provide a unique set of services and programs on campus.
Health Promotion in Higher Education: works to support students by creating healthy learning environments. Based on a public health/population health model, health promotion services often coordinate primary prevention and secondary prevention on campus.
International Student Services: assists incoming students with passport and visa issues in addition to providing programming and support for international students; this area may also report to Academic Affairs
Leadership Development
LGBT/GLBT Student Center & Equity Offices
Fraternity & Sorority Life/Greek Affairs
Multicultural Affairs
Orientation and First-year programming
Disability Support Services
Residential Facilities Management: or similar departments handle maintenance of on-campus housing, including emergency response and support
Psychological Counseling and Counseling Centers: why fully accredited counselors staff most counseling centers on college and university centers, most institutions with graduate programs in counseling-related fields (including college student personnel) have graduate students who are required to complete a practicum in the counseling center, counseling and advising students
Recreation and Intramurals: provides recreational activities and events for students, often including intramural sports, club sports, and outdoor activities (kayaking, mountain biking, hiking, etc.)
Residence Life or Housing: oversees programming and operations of campus residence halls
Student Activities: provides co-curricular programming on campus, advises program boards and student governments, provides leadership development opportunities
Student Development
Judicial Affairs and Conduct: enforces community standards
A Dean of Student Affairs: often a first contact point when problems come up for a student
Career Services
Athletics can sometimes fall under student affairs, particularly on smaller campuses (often NCAA Division II or III).
Public Safety or university police can also fall under student affairs.
Public Transit Systems can fall under student affairs at some institutions

[edit] Enrollment Services Areas

The following areas traditionally either fall under student affairs or a separate area called enrollment services:

University Admissions
Financial Aid and the Bursar
Student Learning Support and Retention
Registrar / Academic Records
Student Business Services

[edit] History of Student Affairs

As early higher education in the United States was based on the Oxbridge model of education, most early institutions were residential colleges where the tutors lived in the halls with the students. These men were the precursor to student affairs professionals in the United States.

The profession of student affairs came out of the first Dean of Men, created at Harvard University in 1890. LeBaron Russell Briggs was appointed as Dean of Men in charge of academic advising as well as disciplinary duties. This appointment took the day-to-day administration of student issues away from the president and gave it to an individual. In 1892, Alice Freeman Palmer at the University of Chicago became the first Dean of Women.

The Student Personnel Points of View, written in 1937 and 1949, further developed the area of student affairs.

In the 1970s the landscape of student affairs began to change when the voting age was lowered and 18 year olds were granted adult status in the eyes of the law.

Recently, things have begun to change again as case law has begun to set a precedent that colleges and universities have a special relationship with their students which requires special duty under the law.

[edit] Preparation for Student Affairs Work

Today, student affairs practitioners typically have at least a Bachelors degree. Many institutions require student affairs professionals to have earned a Masters degree in College Student Personnel, Educational Leadership, Higher Education, College Counseling, Student Affairs, or some other relevant discipline (e.g.: Human Resource Management, Organizational Psychology, Public Administration, etc.) as a prerequisite. A Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in either higher education or another academic field are often required for chief student affairs officers.

Both NASPA and ACPA publish directories of graduate preparation programs.

[edit] Principles of Good Practice

For more complete information, please see the article at http://www.myacpa.org/pgp/principle.htm

From the ACPA site above:

Good practice in student affairs:

Engages students in active learning.

Helps students develop coherent values and ethical standards.

Sets and communicates high expectations for student learning.

Uses systematic inquiry to improve student and institutional performance.

Uses resources effectively to achieve institutional missions and goals.

Forges educational partnerships that advance student learning.

Builds supportive and inclusive communities.

From the NASPA site: (http://www.naspa.org/gradprep/index.cfm?show=2)

College student affairs professionals provide services and develop programs that affect all aspects of students' lives inside and outside the classroom. For example, student affairs practitioners work to:

improve the quality of campus life

enhance student learning

attract and retain qualified students

provide students with satisfactory housing, health services, and recreational facilities

coordinate student activities

manage financial aid programs

help students make career decisions

meet the needs of commuter and nontraditional students