Student development theory (SDT) is a diverse corpus of academic and popular psychology with real-world application to the maturation of college and university students. It originated during the campus upheavals of the 1960s as part of a collective effort to reconcile restive students to mass higher education and modern technological society.…

The study of student development has long been considered a cornerstone of the higher education and student affairs (HESA) profession. However, perspectives on what constitutes student development have evolved as scholars continuously embrace more critical frameworks to implicate systems of power and oppression--what scholars have termed the third…

In this article, the author explores the essence of student affairs and its enduring nature. She argues that while the vehicles for delivering the work of student affairs may evolve over time, the essential work is well-defined, principled, and lasting. She turns to the 1937 "Student Personnel Point of View" philosophy for the…

Many teachers, pastoral care staff, counsellors, psychologists and others from related disciplines who support children and young people's (CYP's) personal, social and emotional development are concerned by declining well-being and the increased demand for pastoral care and counselling for students with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH)…

This article examines a stated philosophy of university housing and the philosophy's effect on the facilitation of the personal and intellectual growth of students residing in the residence halls and the development of a sense of community. This particular philosophy governs the housing operations at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.…

This article examines the psychological theoretical foundations of college student development theory and the theoretical assumptions of this framework. A complimentary, sociological perspective and the theoretical assumptions of this approach are offered. The potential limitations of the overuse of each perspective are considered. The conclusion…

Though history has long been a part of graduate preparation in higher education administration, new student affairs professionals often struggle to see its relevance to their work. We present a conceptual framework that links organizational ecology, institutional culture and climate, and student development through a historical lens. We then…

Asking college students how much they have learned or grown is a common assessment practice in student affairs and elsewhere. Unfortunately, recent research suggests that these self-reported gains do a very poor job of measuring actual student learning and growth. This paper provides an overview of the psychological process of how students likely…

The author of this article explores student affairs's transition from student development to student learning from the standpoint of philosophical hermeneutics. The hermeneutical perspective further centralizes the role and place of student affairs work in the educational process. This perspective challenges the ego- or identity-oriented…

Dana is a graduate assistant in the second year of a master's program in student personnel. In a class discussion of assistantship issues, Dana reveals that he has decided not to enforce the university's policy of "writing up" all underage students who are in a residence hall room where alcohol is present. He says that in his opinion the punitive…

In this study, we build on two recent works (Gaston-Gayles, Wolf-Wendel; Tuttle, Twombley, and Ward, 2004; Slocum & Rhoads, 2008) that examine faculty and staff work with student activists, but expand the scope to include new questions such as why and how they partner with students, the impact of institutional context, and what role it might play…

This article focuses on understanding how identity development is conceptualized in student affairs. The need to understand the person, context, and interactions between the two advances identity theories as relevant to student affairs practice. The more practitioners understand how students make meaning of their identities, the better they are…

Community colleges have historically been a major gateway to higher education for many students. Students enroll in community college programs and courses for multiple reasons: closeness to home, financial issues, job retraining, remedial work, plans to transfer to a four-year institution, and a love of learning. These divergent goals make…

Student services offices are often designed to react to crisis rather than plan interventions. This program is an innovative approach to academic advising for undecided or undeclared students. Overall, this program was developed on the basis of leading perspectives of student development--both personal development and epistemological…

Describes a program evaluation measure for assessing college student development intervention outcomes. Outlines the management, student-centered, and implementation approaches of the measure and examines the model's application in student development. Uses two case examples in which the model is applied to student services assessment projects to…