Professional development in higher education is increasingly shifting to online formats. However, online professional development often does not lend itself well to fostering meaningful human interconnection. Taking a constructivist approach, we share findings from a qualitative research study that explored what participants found meaningful in a…

Trauma-informed practices were initially designed for children; however, we argue that higher education is well-positioned to address the needs of adults as well. This paper discusses adopting trauma-informed practices in organizations and relational spaces. We also share preliminary findings from a qualitative pilot study that explored the…

The combination of Black Lives Matter activism, college student protests across the country, and the recent Supreme Court ruling on the historic Fisher v. University of Texas-Austin case have placed race at the center of many national and collegiate conversations. Such an amalgamation of race-centered politics is likely to affect Black faculty and…

Negative outcomes for students of color and those who are economically disadvantaged are troubling patterns in schools nationwide. Systemic racial disparities are part of the problem. Children who live with poverty, however, also have heightened exposure to adverse experiences. Implementing a culturally responsive trauma-informed whole-school…

Leadership development is essential to the future of the student services profession and to student services. Opportunities for professional development can be a key factor in enhanced leadership, creativity, and growth. The lack of funding and administrative support for professional development is a major concern to the community of student…

Ever since the publication of the Council of Student Personnel Associations in Higher Education (COSPA) of the Student Development Services in Post Secondary Education, arguments and debates have ensued as to whether this document: (1) was a statement of philosophy for student affairs; (2) was a philosophical replacement for the near-universally…

A survey was conducted of 174 senior student affairs officers (SSAOs) at public institutions in the United States concerning their perceptions of the role of campus-based student religious organizations (CbSROs) in the recruitment and retention of students. Eighty-three surveys were returned. In general, the SSAOs perceived campus-based religious…

This pilot study looks into how information technology practices are being conducted in student affairs. It compares common practices against which exemplary programs and best practices can be measured. After gathering information from five universities, a model was created that encompassed policy, staffing, technology, and practice as the best…

Student development theory has been adopted as the guiding theoretical framework of the student affairs profession. Unfortunately this adoption has largely occurred without a critical analysis of the concept of student development as a gestalt. A case can be made that for the most part the theories of student development are logically coherent in…

In recent years student development theory has been adopted as the guiding theoretical framework of the student affairs profession. Unfortunately, this adoption has largely occurred without a critical analysis of the concept of student development as a gestalt or of the individual theories touted as central to understanding college students.…

Student development leaders must identify what of importance and value should be retained from past approaches to student services delivery and what approaches should be discarded. To accomplish this, community colleges must address certain key internal student development issues: (1) the changing nature of the student body (which is characterized…

This paper applies business marketing principles to college student services, introduces a model for measuring the life cycle of a service, outlines strategic planning procedures, and describes the implementation of a comprehensive student service marketing program at Seminole Community College in Florida. An overview of marketing defines…

The literature affecting the growing profession of student development can be broken down into three basic forms: text books and text/practitioner books; refereed and non-refereed journals; and monographs and Jossey-Bass New Direction Series paperbacks. These printed materials are directed to and serve a very disparate audience of about 50,000…

Much of the thinking and writing about typical student affairs organizations has been grounded in core assumptions consistent with scientific and bureaucratic models of organizing. These questionable assumptions describe how things are supposed to work; however, most divisions of student affairs operate under multiple and sometimes competing…

The changing face of personnel in higher education amidst a competitive marketplace has inspired student affairs administrators to place greater emphasis on hiring practices in an effort to recruit future colleagues from existing resources. To that end, the attempt was made to (1) propose the Empowerment Model as a means by which future student…