Category Archives: Student Affairs

Amazed and Encouraged

Posted on November 8, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Students continue to amaze me. With so much talk about whether or not college is worth the costs, I would guess that if four students at a private university costing just at $60,000 a year, not counting all the ancillary expenses of involvement and stuff students “have to have,” were asked if the mounting costs of a college education outweighed the benefits, at least two of them would say “Yes” the costs outweigh the benefits.

One reason I would guess that students don’t see the great benefits of college is because in the new book by Jane Fried, Transformative Learning through Engagement: Student Affairs Practice as Experiential Pedagogy, I believe I read that many students think that what they are learning in the classroom is irrelevant and disconnected from the real world, and that after they complete their courses they will learn what they need to learn in order to get a job or whatever else their goal might be.

In the Wake Forest University student newspaper, students on the Quad were asked just this question, and four out of four students in the class of 2015 said that a college education was worth the money. What were their reasons?

  • The job market is so competitive.
  • The wealth of knowledge we will gain make it worth it.
  • Despite the debt, the payoff is tremendous.
  • Education is important for the future of America.

It is so encouraging to hear these kinds of comments from today’s college students.

Students continue to amaze me. When I was sharing my thoughts during a speaker series at Wake Forest University, I was describing the context of the world in which our graduates will have to survive and hopefully thrive. I referenced the chaos, uncertainty, and disruption ahead, and I quoted Robert Safian from his Fast Company article on “Generation Flux” where he said students will have to “embrace instability” and “enjoy recalibrating their careers.”

I thought this would terrify the students, and I would guess that some of them were anxious in hearing this, but one student raised her hand and said, “What’s the problem with having to recalibrate and be prepared for disruption and chaos? I look forward to it and think it’s exciting!” I wanted to hug her and hold her up as the model to emulate! Is this kind of thinking and attitude amazing or not?

Student affairs can help students prepare their mindset to adapt to new situations, to continue to learn new things, and to see the world through the lens of an optimistic and competent generation. What some see as disruption will be just another challenge to meet and overcome for our graduates. I’m so encouraged.

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Posted in Higher Education, Student Affairs, Students

Pressing Issues – Yesterday and Today

Posted on November 5, 2012 by | 1 comment

In going through some files recently, I came across a list of what I saw as pressing issues in colleges and universities:

  • Violence on campus and the changing expectations for security
  • Students in psychological distress and the changing nature of confidentiality for mental health services
  • Fear of Pandemic diseases on campus
  • Success gap between majority and underrepresented students
  • Alcohol-related injuries, disruptions and enforcement of the legal drinking age
  • Creative parent involvement
  • Measuring and assessing student learning outcomes for accountability
  • Social networks
  • Students’ expectations of college and figuring out who our students are today

I wrote this list in 2008. What do we see now as the pressing issues for colleges and universities? Are they the same and more so? Are they fewer? Are they different?

What I’m hearing as I visit campuses and speak with colleagues is that the pressing issues are the same and more so. For example, underage students are still drinking to get drunk and the new thrill is to “go get black out.”  Students used to drink in excess but to black out was a serious episode that most students took as a signal to stop drinking to excess. Today, I hear that some students begin the evening drinking with a goal to black out.

In 2008, we were honing our skills to figure out creative ways to have parents work with us rather than attempting to push them away as our earlier instincts had suggested. Today, some report that our efforts to control the participation of parents in the lives of their college students are encouraging more involvement to the detriment of our efforts to support students in their natural development of independence. There is agreement that some parental involvement is a good thing, but is there even a line to be drawn today?

I would love to hear what you think about the pressing issues of today for your college or university. I did not mention the obvious issue of technology and learning because it deserves a space all to itself.

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Posted in Student Affairs, Students

Now Trending in Higher Education: Internationalization

Posted on September 25, 2012 by | 1 comment

What’s trending in higher education? 

When 34 higher education leaders from 15 countries agree on a set of principles to guide universities and graduate schools in preparing doctoral and masters students to meet the demands of the global workforce and economy, as reported in University World News, and when the Council of Higher Education and Accreditation (CHEA) launches an international division because there is a pressing need to establish a shared global system of quality assurance, also reported in University World News, and when IASAS and NASPA host a Global Summit on Student Affairs with 24 countries represented and close to fifty participants, what’s trending is the realization that geographic boundaries have no influence on the competition students will face in employment and in their careers, and we must prepare students to live and work with people from all over the globe.

What the IASAS–NASPA Global Summit participants realized is that the important skills needed for job acquisition and career advancement that have historically been referred to as “soft skills” are even more important with the advent of the internationalization of opportunity.

The IASAS–NASPA Global Summit was invigorating and inspiring, with educators talking about the similarities and differences in how student services and education outside the classroom are provided. Respecting each approach to serving and educating students, we had very similar concerns about students who are presenting similar issues worldwide around financial ability to attend and remain in college, the hard lessons from alcohol abuse, and anxieties about securing jobs upon graduation.

I was encouraged as we spoke about sharing best practices, collaborating, and the possibility of adopting a common set of student learning outcomes that are global in nature and that student affairs can help students acquire, such as those “soft skills” that are becoming more critical than ever in a global and transnational environment.

Stay tuned for more news on the IASAS–NASPA Global Summit as the proceedings and summaries from the gathering are finalized.

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Posted in Higher Education, International, NASPA, Student Affairs

The Life-changing Work of Student Affairs

Posted on August 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment

In the spring, I was in the airport to take a flight to Charleston, Illinois, where my alma mater Eastern Illinois University (EIU) is located. I’ve returned to campus twice since graduating: Once to received the Distinguished Alumna Award from the University and now to receive the Outstanding Alumna Award from the Graduate School and the Department of Student Development. It is beyond anything I could have imagined while a student at EIU.

The first recognition was the same month and year I came to NASPA, I believe. When I made remarks at the celebration, I remember referencing how bittersweet the homecoming was. The bitter was when I reflected on being a student at the University at a time when I did not feel welcome and counted. I had the temerity to be there because the courts said I had that right.

This time the visit had no bitter. Only sweet. Two African American graduate students took me on a tour of the campus and everywhere I looked, there was racial diversity and students all looked as if they belonged at EIU. The progress made helped me think of all the benefits I have enjoyed as a graduate.

Other alums who were recognized spoke of faculty who had a profound impact on their lives. I talked about the incredible experiences in which I learned that I could be given responsibilities and be expected to do well. It is because of EIU and the support and encouragement of student activities advisers that I have had the confidence necessary to face and overcome challenges. I don’t remember their names or their faces, but I will always remember what they gave me in character and skill development.

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Posted in Student Affairs

Embracing Friends and Colleagues

Posted on July 7, 2012 by | Leave a comment

I was just reading an article in The Washington Post about a visit to Northern Virginia by Mata Amritanandamayi or “Amma” known as the “Hugging Saint.” Thousands of people line up and wait for hours to hug her and to be hugged. The amount of money raised from donations for the hugs support a humanitarian organization that builds schools, provides free health care and more. Millions of people follow her and have been hugged.  She continues to hug people for up to twenty-two hours or just as long as the people keep coming. Reading this story of the miracles that people feel as a result of being hugged made me think of something I miss in not being with my NASPA friends and colleagues. What I think I miss most are the hugs.

People who are not in student affairs tease us about always hugging one another. I never let that bother me because there is something special about embracing friends and colleagues. That something may be different for every person just as being embraced by the “Hugging Saint” was about energy to some and unconditional love to others. I have not analyzed what the hugs mean for me, but I do know that I value them and miss them. I leave for the ACUHO-I conference in Anaheim tomorrow and certainly hope that there will be some huggers there.

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Posted in Retirement, Student Affairs

Navigating Diverse Identities with Students and Colleagues Alike

Posted on July 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment

When I was mid-career, I used to consult with senior educators I admired for their wisdom borne out of experience and what I thought was their infinite intelligence. I hoped that one day I would be seen as one who had such gifts. I also wanted to have a young spirit and not look my age. What I have attained is the age where many younger professionals do seek my opinions and advice on a variety of topics, and surprisingly to me, I have either experienced what is challenging them now or I have some thoughts that they consider pondering.

I found myself wanting to know what others would say that was a cogent and insightful response when a younger professional asked me how best to “navigate” the challenge of holding onto one’s beliefs when one’s job responsibilities ran counter to these beliefs. This professional was referring to the incidences when one’s role responsibilities required advising and supporting the activities of LGBTQ students when one, personally, did not accept the idea of LGBTQ in any form or lifestyle. This young professional declared that they held no negative feelings about individuals who identified as LGBTQ, but the staff person could not, because of their religious beliefs, support the work of the LGBTQ students.

My response was about the ethics of professionals in student affairs and this did not resonate with the person. There was genuine conflict.  What would you have said?

Very shortly after this conversation, I received an email from a friend of a friend who posed the following question: How should one’s religious values affect our approach to our work in student affairs?

André is writing this part of the blog with me. André posed questions such as “At what point do we let our own identities influence our practice?” His conflict was not about how he would work with students. His question rose from how professionals value and devalue other professionals based on their identity with religious values. André worries that he would be discouraged from explicitly or prominently referencing his faith, which is very important to him, because it may alienate students. He asked, “Where do we draw the line between being ourselves and obscuring our identity?” and “How do we confront our colleagues when they do not show the same acceptance and open-mindedness toward their peers as they do their students?” He said, for example, I can be black and gay and not hide these parts of my identity, but I don’t have the same freedom to share my religious identity.  He is puzzled about how professionals relate to one another around these identity issues among themselves. Poignantly, André said that “It’s easier being openly gay in a Christian environment than it is being religious in a Queer environment.”

As our conversation moved forward, André shared that it’s not just religious beliefs, but it’s also political leanings that are not part of the dominant narrative that don’t get shared among colleagues. He reported that a few of his peers who are political conservatives don’t generally express their opinions in group settings due to fear of being outcast.

Do you think we need a conversation among ourselves as student affairs colleagues about how we can all present our whole selves and be accepted and respected? If yes, what are your ideas about how to move this forward? If you do not think that we should give these questions further thought, please share your thinking with us.

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Posted in Identity, Student Affairs, Students

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Ambassadors…to China, faculty, and beyond…

Posted on June 3, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Some people can’t write because they have what is called “writers’ block.” Fortunately, this is not a problem for me. I have so much I want to write about that it takes me a while to decide on what not to write about. Returning from a two-week visit to China, I have enough material to write about for some time, but I fear I might bore you, so I’ll just give you a taste.

Over the past weeks, I was fortunate to be among colleagues who participated as presenters in the Macau Student Affairs Institute, which was open to student affairs practitioners from all over China. It is believed to be the first such institute of its kind in China. A colleague created the curriculum and invited many colleagues you know (I won’t call names because these folks have not consented to be subjects in my blog) to do a series of workshops for the participants from China.

I learned an inordinate amount about student affairs in China, both from the institute and from my subsequent visits to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shanghai as “Ambassador for NASPA”, as the Chinese dubbed me.

I was truly impressed by the institute participants because they were eager and attentive learners from the beginning to the very end of the two-day workshop in which I participated. They were active learners and they have adopted what they call “total student development.” What I envied was the interest of faculty in student affairs work. The institute included professors from law, psychology, and information technology, all of whom were eager to learn how best to help students reach their maximum potential. It was terrific to have faculty and student affairs staff all working together to support students.

I’m encouraged by my recent experiences with faculty wanting to educate and support the whole student. The day before I left for China, I was making a presentation, along with a former MUFP alum of whom I am so proud, to veterinary medical education doctors about seeing their students through the lens of student affairs. They, too, were eager to support students and to learn what it means to view students from a holistic perspective.

I think our next frontier is to engage with faculty directly in professional development that has heretofore been reserved for educators who claim student affairs as their field. Student affairs practitioners are educators primarily outside the classroom. Why not be ambassadors to academic affairs, working with faculty to use the lens of student affairs in their teaching inside the classroom?

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Posted in Academic Affairs, Higher Education, International, Student Affairs

Extracurriculum? Cocurriculum? Role of Student Affairs?

Posted on May 1, 2012 by | 2 comments

I would really like your thinking on an article I’m writing for the NASPA Journal of College and Character, edited by Jon Dalton and Pam Crosby.  My working title is really long and describes what I want to write about: “Connecting and Collaborating with Students on Self-regulating Behavioral That Promote Academic Success and Further the Intellectual, Civic, and Moral Purposes of Higher Education.”

When I was asked to write the article, the editors used the term “extracurriculum.” When I asked a colleague for thoughts on the subject, in the response the term “cocurriculum” was used and the programs and activities described sounded as if they would complement and support the academic curriculum. 

If the term “extracurriculum” was purposely used, is there a role for student affairs in the extracurriculum to promote academic success and further the development of these qualities of citizenship? Or is the extracurriculum what students do on their own without input from student affairs?

Do you have any examples of student affairs promoting the moral purposes of higher education? Is this something that student affairs dare attempt in a public institution? 

I hear that the work of student affairs is more purposeful than ever before. To what purposes do we in student affairs aspire in contemporary higher education? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Posted in Cocurriculum, Higher Education, Student Affairs, Students