It is time for the field of student affairs to put aside its four-decade preoccupation with professional status and recognize that its identity as a field is essentially an administrative convenience linked by an allegiance to a common philosophical perspective on its work and by nature of its clientele and the milieu in which it is practiced.…

Nontraditional college students are causing institutions of higher learning to re-think the focus of academic and student affairs programs. Nontraditional students have needs that differ from traditional-age students. The willingness of institutions to modify existing programs and develop new services geared to adult populations will have a…

This digest focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the student affairs profession in higher education. The strengths of student affairs include diversity and involvement. Student affairs staff are trained in many different disciplines and are located throughout the campus. The diversity of student affairs professionals is seen as the thread…

For student affairs, a professional field heretofore dominated by the positivistic design structure imposed by quantitative research methodology and traditional graduate research courses, an increased utilization of an alternative methodology, the qualitative, would lead to a greatly expanded range of researchable questions. The use of qualitative…

Internationalization of higher education and of the student services areas within universities is almost certainly a subject to be dealt with now or in the near future. Career centers may be pressed to internationalize sooner than other areas because of student demand. The university career center should respond to this demand and seek to assist…

With the rapidly changing population demographics of the United States and significant growth of diverse multicultural groups, schools and professionals are being challenged on how to provide the best comprehensive educational and support services to their increasingly diverse student population. The changes between 1980 and 1990 have been…

This digest urges greater collaboration between academic departments and student affairs personnel at institutions of higher education for the purpose of providing students with a seamless culture of learning. Reports of the American College Personnel Association, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, and the American…

Student development has become a buzz word within the student affairs profession and the concept of student development has become the guiding paradigm of the student affairs profession. Unfortunately, this embracing of student development lacked the necessary critique or debate essential to academics. This digest provides an abstract of a major…

The efforts of student affairs aimed at improving quality of life, integrating new student groups, and attracting and retaining students are becoming critical to colleges and universities. Student affairs organizations can respond to the changing conditions and take a leadership role in new institutional strategies; they can become…

This digest looks at two community college programs designed to aid students with disabilities in accessing the educational offerings of the college, as well as two programs that help students with disabilities attain jobs after their educational goals have been met. Longview Community College, in Lee's Summit, Missouri, offers the Academic…

Adult learners, who comprise over half of all students in higher education, are typically part-time students in transition and present special challenges to colleges and universities. These students are primarily seeking to improve their situation through education, and their commitment to self-improvement dictates a different set of aspirations…

Although the role of the student development professional has changed along with the mission of the community colleges, the models providing a theoretical framework for the profession have remained relatively unchanged. In 1937, the American Council on Education published a statement which declared that student development professionals were to…

Learning style is a concept that can be important in the movement toward improved college teaching and learning. Information about students' learning style can help faculty become more sensitive to the differences students bring to the classroom and can guide the design of learning experiences that either match students' styles or stimulate…

The educational approaches, programs, and services developed for American Indians at both tribal colleges and non-tribal community colleges can be used as models by other institutions seeking to serve minority populations better. The community college is an important avenue for American Indians pursuing postsecondary degrees; in 1988, 50,400 of…

The efforts of college student affairs professionals aimed at improving student life, integrating new student groups, and attracting and retaining students are becoming critical to institutions attempting to maintain enrollments of qualified students, ensure academic achievement, place graduates, and develop supportive alumni. Changes in student…