Racial Positionalities, Professional Development, and a Master’s Study Abroad Experience in Jamaica for Preparing Student Affairs Professionals

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Mitchell ◽  
Ashley Maloff
NASPA Journal ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon T Lagana

Involvement in student affairs professional development was investigated using McClusky’s (1963) Power Load Margin (PLM) theory from the adult education field. The PLM theory is a framework for identifying sources of stress (load) and power in one’s life; the amount of power available to handle stress is called margin in life (MIL). This study employed a correlational research design to investigate if relationships existed between involvement in professional development outlets and activities, and MIL scores for student affairs professionals. Sixty-five (60.7%) student affairs professionals from a Midwestern university participated in the study by completing a Professional Development Questionnaire (created by the researcher) and the MIL Scale, developed by Stevenson (1982) and based upon the PLM theory. Results of correlational analyses indicated a slight, but not significant (p = .05), negative relationship between MIL scores and the number of career-related professional development outlets. No correlation was found between MIL scores and career-related professional development activities. Results of this preliminary study suggest the possibility that as the number of professional development outlets in which one was involved increased, one’s available power decreased. This study was one of the first PLM investigations of careerrelated professional development related to the student affairs field. Limitations included the small sample size from one university, and weak and insignificant correlations (at the .05 level). Additionally, this study did not address other life factors that could affect one’s MIL score, such as years in the field, position level, or other circumstances. The methods employed for this study could provide the basis for replication studies with larger samples.


NASPA Journal ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M. Janosik ◽  
Stan Carpenter ◽  
Don G. Creamer

Despite long-standing calls for more intentional professional development as a way to ensure a higher quality workforce in student affairs, little progress has been made. Various committees and task forces have suggested frameworks for program development, the certification of program quality and attendance, the recording of individual participation, and recognition of individual achievement; but associations have failed to act because of a variety of concerns. To date, information on the views of affairs professionals on such issues is limited and has not been studied in a systematic way. This study sought to fill this void.


Author(s):  
Karen J. Haley ◽  
Brandi Hephner LaBanc ◽  
Peggy Koutas

Student affairs professionals have a responsibility for the professional development of graduate assistants (Gas) in the department as these positions are marketed as first professional positions. While prior literature has addressed the transition of graduate students into graduate school, there is little about the transition process for students with graduate assistantships in student affairs. Student transitions are important as they may set the tone for their first professional experience and ongoing professional development. Four key themes emerged from the voices of the graduate student participants in this study as they described their transition process into a GA position. First, they viewed the GA experience as a professional opportunity. Second, their sense of belonging was dependent on their perceived contribution to the department or division. Third, relationships mattered as they navigated the transition into their GA role. And finally, self agency (individual action) was apparent as they became engaged in their own success.


NASPA Journal ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Varlotta

This article charges student affairs professionals who work with student leaders to become more intentional in how they and their students create and contribute to community. Towards that end, this article delineates a process called community-praxis that teaches students how to talk about, think about, and do community. Organization advisors who utilize community-praxis will help student members more deliberately conceptualize and create and recreate the type of community associated with their particular club, organization, or association. The process may have educational value for the advisors as well. By facilitating the community-praxis delineated here, advisors will be prompted to review the democratic theories and procedures that have long shaped educational communities. Additionally, they likely will be introduced to viable postmodern theories and practices that have not traditionally informed the ways educators conceptualize and operationalize their own campus communities.


NASPA Journal ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan B. Hirt

This essay compares the narratives that have emerged in recent years to describe the higher education enterprise with the narratives used to describe student affairs’ endeavors. I posit that the way in which student affairs professionals present their agenda is out of sync with the market-driven culture of the academy. The seven Principles of Good Practice are used to illustrate the incongruence between student affairs and academic affairs narratives on campus. I offer ways that those Principles can be recast to be more closely aligned with the new academic marketplace.


NASPA Journal ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald D. Gehring

Bill Kaplin and Barbara Lee let their readers know up front - on the book's cover in fact - that "A Legal Guide for Student Affairs Professionals" has been adapted from their highly regarded third edition of "The Law of Higher Education" [LHE3](1995) ("the big red book," as my students refer to it). The authors have included material already presented in LHE3 but have completely reorganized, updated, and edited the earlier work.


NASPA Journal ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas R. Pearson ◽  
Joseph Beckham

Student affairs professionals recognize that learning experiences transcend the classroom, and they have expanded the range of programs and services available to students well beyond the laboratory and lecture hall. The authors survey judicial opinions involving institutional liability for negligence and conclude that the expansion of educational programs carries the potential for heightened risk. Student affairs professionals must be sensitive to these risks and take steps to foresee dangerous conditions, making sure that the level of reasonable, prudent care is commensurate with the degree of risk associated with the activity and educating students about the risks attendant to their participation.


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