Volume 15, Issue 1

This excerpt consists of the Foreword, Preface, and Introduction to Arthur Chickering’s forthcoming book, Cool Passion: Challenging Higher Education . In these sections, Chickering provides an introduction to personal insights and observations about American higher education as well as reflections on a life devoted to the improvement of student learning and development.

This article explores the ways faculty and student affairs professionals can impact the student experience, particularly for Students of Color. Experiences at two institutions illustrate how developing deeper relationships and broader perspectives make a significant difference not only for students, but also for those who teach and support them. Characteristics of faculty who are most successful with Students of Color are shared, and the role of student affairs professionals is examined. In both instances, faculty who made the most impact on Students of Color shared the following characteristics: maintaining transparency with students, holding students to the highest standard, being open and sharing data, and building strong relationships with students. Faculty’s willingness to acknowledge difficult issues-and engage with each other, students, and student affairs professionals- was critical for change to occur. By developing deeper, more meaningful relationships, faculty, students, and student affairs professionals can create a more rewarding experience in the academic setting.

Individuals with greater levels of purpose and meaning tend to be happier, demonstrate greater selfcontrol, strong values, and have healthier mental attitudes (Molasso, 2006a; Steger, 2009). It has been suggested that knowing one’s talents may be related to the development of purpose, but this hypothesis has not been previously tested. This study examines the self-efficacy belief in one’s talents identified through the Clifton StrengthsFinder® and its relationship to hope, well-being, and meaning in life among college students. Results from a path analysis indicate that these self-efficacy beliefs can predict hope and the presence of meaning in life, and the results may suggest that this inventory can be a practical assessment tool.

In working to develop undergraduate student leadership capacity, Florida State University created the Undergraduate Certificate in Leadership Studies. This program, grounded in leadership theory and framed by a seamless learning model, has been influential in development of student leadership perceptions and capacity. This article addresses the benefit of a seamless learning model, discusses the power of reflection, and provides insight to the successes of the program and suggestions to create a similar program.

Gender-neutral housing (GNH) offers a safe and inclusive environment for students who have need and desire for a space that is gender inclusive and does not limit placement to sex as assigned at birth. In predominant gender-based housing models, students who are gender nonconforming find limited options. The request for, and implementation of, GNH on college campuses is rising to fulfill the needs of students. This article describes the development, implementation, and strategies of the successful GNH community at Ohio University. The author offers a path to follow for implementation of GNH on other campuses.

Recent research points to a 40% decline in college students’ capacity for empathy over the past 4 decades (Konrath, O’Brien, & Hsing, 2011). In this article, the author reflects on undergraduates’ reaction to the case study “Toys for Haiti,” which the author created and designed to foster empathy in her students. She provides an overview of the downturn in empathy among this generation, and discusses research that demonstrates that changing daily culture can substantially increase capacity for empathy and understanding. She concludes with a discussion of why empathy is a critical and necessary skill for both individual students and for the future of the planet.

This article examines the field of international higher education (IHE) and its application to the practice of student affairs. The author proposes that IHE is a crossroads between international comparative education and higher education, exploring their shared historical roots. She gives an overview of the current state of the IHE field, looking at its emergence in the 1990s through research and scholarship as a cohesive canon and through various professional and paraprofessional developments in centers of study, journals, councils, programs, and more. She then demonstrates how the development of IHE relates to and informs the practice of student affairs in a new international context, suggesting a shift from a “helping hands” and “learning from” approach to an “engaging with” approach.

Too often educators pay too little attention to the psychological and emotional impact subject matter has on students. Teaching effectiveness would be greatly enhanced if educators would consider students’ affective reactions to material delivered in courses, workshops, and other collegiate learning experiences.

Contributors to Facilitating the Moral Growth of College Students introduce and apply James Rest’s four component model of moral functioning to diverse student affairs contexts and discuss ways to support collegians’ moral growth. This edited book contains both theoretical and historical overviews of moral development in higher education, as well as diverse and innovative campus initiatives that foster moral growth. Student affairs educators will find the tightly interwoven theoretical and practical discussions beneficial.