Band 49, Heft 4

In this article, we synthesize existing theory-to-practice approaches within the student affairs literature to arrive at a new model that incorporates formal and informal theory, institutional context, and reflective practice. The new model arrives at a balance between the rigor necessary for scholarly theory development and the adaptability needed to implement theories. Finally, the model elevates the importance of reflective practice among student affairs professionals as the means to evaluate both formal and informal theories.

Scholars and practitioners continuously espouse the importance of research in student affairs work. This study empirically examined student affairs professionals’ engagement in research. Results indicated that professionals desire to engage research, but struggle to do so regularly. Gender and education are not factors in level of research engagement, but job level is. Graduate students reported significantly higher research engagement than did full-time professionals.

This study is based on interviews with White students graduating from a student affairs preparation program as well as a literature review of whiteness in education. Applying critical race theory, the author examined the ways that students and institutions protected whiteness. Institutions and those within them concerned with equity must have awareness of whiteness and rework curriculum, pedagogy, polices, and practices to fracture educational hegemony of whiteness.

This paper interrogates the concept of opportunity. Opportunity programs provide access to educational services and assist students to overcome barriers. However, the language governing them constricts and controls both the programs and staff–student relationships. A Foucauldian analysis of the regulations governing a federally funded program reveals how they produce a “discourse of disadvantage.” Understanding the disadvantaged underside of opportunity brings subjugated knowledge to light, so we will better serve students in their wholeness.

This ethnographic study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduates expands the higher education conversation about campus climate beyond the traditional organizational-level paradigm. Findings suggest that LGBT individuals with similar organizational roles shared common experiences and perceptions that were informed by localized socio- spatial environments, or microclimates.

Declining response rates among college students threaten the effectiveness of survey research at institutions of higher education. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the conditions that promote participation in survey research among this population. The researcher identified three themes through this study. First, participants perceived surveys as agents for institutional change. Second, participants viewed surveys as ubiquitous artifacts. Third, trust played an important role in students’ willingness to participate in survey opportunities.