scholarly journals New School, New Job, New Life

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Haley ◽  
Brandi Hephner LaBanc ◽  
Peggy Koutas
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Affairs ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Student Affairs Professionals ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Individual Action ◽  
Graduate Assistants ◽  
New School ◽  
Prior Literature

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.

Preliminary Investigation of the Relationships Between Involvement in Student Affairs Professional Development and Margin in Life

NASPA Journal ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon T Lagana
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Affairs ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Student Affairs Professionals ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Replication Studies ◽  
Power Load ◽  
Student Affairs Professional

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.

Intentional Professional Development: Feedback from Student Affairs Professionals

NASPA Journal ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M. Janosik ◽  
Stan Carpenter ◽  
Don G. Creamer
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Affairs ◽  
Program Development ◽  
Student Affairs Professionals ◽  
Program Quality ◽  
Task Forces ◽  
Individual Achievement ◽  
Individual Participation ◽  
And Task

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.

“No Space for Humanizing Us:” Men of Color Identifying Institutional Needs at a Rural University

2021 ◽  
pp. 152102512110586
Author(s):  
Adrian H. Huerta ◽  
Maritza E. Salazar ◽  
Jude Paul Matias Dizon
Keyword(s):  
Student Affairs ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Peer Groups ◽  
Student Affairs Professionals ◽  
First Year ◽  
The West ◽  
Men Of Color ◽  
Enrollment Status ◽  
Asian American Men

Men of color are not persisting or graduating from college at similar rates as their same-aged peers. This qualitative study seeks to understand how men of color understand and experience college at a rural comprehensive public four-year university on the west coast. This study draws on focus group and interview data from 23 Black, Latino, and Asian American men whose enrollment status at the rural university varied from first-year undergraduate to graduate students. Using the notion of sense of belonging as the theoretical lens, we find that students highlighted the importance of peer groups and the need for vulnerable spaces on campus to explore their gender identity. With the findings from this paper, we aim to help student affairs professionals better understand how to support men of color in rural universities.

Leading the Transformation of Higher Education Institutions Through Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 39-55
Author(s):  
Maricela Alvarado ◽  
Catherine Ward
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Student Affairs ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Student Affairs Professionals ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
Equity And Inclusion ◽  
Beliefs And Attitudes

This chapter will highlight the stories of two student affairs professionals who have some identities and experiences in common, but their differences have marked essential lessons for how they lead. This chapter also proposes being a student-ready educator takes a commitment to examine ourselves, our values, beliefs, and attitudes, and how they play out in our service to students. With this in mind, the authors recommend essential characteristics for being a student-ready educator, which includes (1) self-reflection, (2) empathy and compassion, (3) authenticity, (4) gratitude, (5) advocacy, and (6) personal sense of belonging. This chapter will expand on these characteristics and ways to skillfully engage them in meeting the needs of students from diverse backgrounds in these contested times to become more effective student-ready educators.

Teaching students how to talk about, think about, and do community

NASPA Journal ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Varlotta
Keyword(s):  
Student Affairs ◽  
Community Organization ◽  
Student Affairs Professionals ◽  
Student Leaders ◽  
Educational Value

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.

The Student Affairs Profession in the Academic Marketplace

NASPA Journal ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan B. Hirt
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Affairs ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Student Affairs Professionals ◽  
Academic Affairs ◽  
Seven Principles ◽  
Market Driven ◽  
Principles Of Good Practice ◽  
The Way

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.

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