Philosophy

The Role of Student Affairs Professionals in the Academy

As members of the academy, student affairs professionals have a responsibility to serve according to its tradition. Through the three pillars of teaching, research, and service, faculty have established the roles within institutions of higher education. Recognizing that our profession developed from faculty who took on administrative roles - Deans of Men and Deans of Women - we should feel a responsibility to uphold these pillars as they relate to our work. As administrators, we put service to the institution first, but we must also recognize that we must also teach our students and keep current with the research of our field. Indeed, the Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Professionals recognize the roles of teaching and research in their descriptions of each competency area (ACPA/NASPA, 2010). While the exact balance of these roles may vary by our functional areas and institutional types, as student affairs professionals we must always keep in mind the many ways our work should impact our institutions.

The Role of Student Affairs Professionals in Access and Multicultural Education

As higher education administrators, we also have a responsibility to make higher education a possibility to all who seek it. For some students, institutions that specialize in serving certain populations, like women’s centered institutions, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), hispanic serving institutions (HSIs), and tribal colleges, will most effectively support their needs. However, many of our institutions have long maintained White, Christian, heterosexual, and male privilege, and as student affairs professionals, we are best equipped to address our exclusionary past. When we discover institutional policies that exclusionary to students of disadvantaged backgrounds, we must take action to correct them. In this vein, we must continually educate ourselves on the experiences of others to be able to advocate for improving those experiences.

As we learn, we also have the responsibility to teach. For many students, attending college or university will be the time in their life where they will experience the greatest diversity surrounding them. To become educated citizens in our multicultural society students must learn about privilege and exclusion, both in the past and at the current, and gain an appreciation for the experiences of others. By facilitating learning and practice of multicultural competency and social justice with our students, we can begin to break down barriers and work to create a more inclusive campus environment.

My Commitment to the Academy, the Profession, and our Students

I am eager to consider my roles in higher education within the contexts of service, teaching, and research, and I am determined to consider how I can help make higher education more accessible to and supportive of all students. I am prepared to engage in such a lifelong process that challenges students to consider the views, values, and beliefs of others and how their actions can impact them. Fittingly, doing so will be “doing diversity right,” as “engaging diversity to improve students’ educational outcomes is an ever-changing and demanding process that must account for multiple facets of a campus community and employ a wide range of interventions” (Chang, Milhelm, & antonio as cited in Schuh, Jones, and Harper, 2011, p. 51).

References

ACPA/NASPA. (2010). Professional competency areas for student affairs practitioners. Retrieved from: http://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/main/Professional_Competencies.pdf

Schuh, J.H., Jones, S.R., & Harper, S.R. (Eds.) (2011). Student services: A handbook for the profession. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.