Volume 42, Issue 3

Little has been written about the roles and functions of student affairs administrators during the civil rights era. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how the civil rights era influenced the student affairs profession, paying particular attention to the roles played by student affairs administrators in relation to students, other administrators, and the community. A secondary analysis was conducted based on interviews with 18 student affairs professionals who served on a variety of college campuses during the civil rights era, primarily from the 1950s through the 1970s. Our findings suggest that these administrators took on roles such as educator, advocate, mediator, initiator, and change agent in order to effectively and efficiently resolve issues that arose on their campuses as a result of the civil rights era and the student protest movement.

The study examines the perceptions of 104 mid- and senior-level student affairs administrators of positions, responsibilities, competencies, and theories important for professional practice for new student affairs professionals. In regard to competencies, the results of this study provide important information about preprofessional abilities that are integral to professional practice, and participants also identified several competencies not identified in prior research that may be important to positions involving high contact with students. These results, then, provide vital information for curriculum development in graduate preparation programs and for professional development training for new professionals.

This qualitative study explored the intersection between social class and college outreach. The service-learning experience was perceived differently by students of different social classes. The benefit was that the interactive classroom forum allowed diverse students to exchange views. Regardless of their personal backgrounds, students shared a heightened sense of civic responsibility. These findings have implications in designing service-learning courses that value multiple perspectives and aim to facilitate social change.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between involvement in an experiential learning program for Holocaust education and participants’ worldview, academic interests, leadership involvement, and reflection activities; and to determine which variable(s) accounted for most of the variance within each of these four areas. Results indicated that the reflective activities model had a very strong relationship with program participation and the variables that accounted for most of the variance in this model were journals, formal discussions, informal discussions, and recorded thoughts. Further, a moderate relationship was discovered between involvement in the Holocaust program and students’ academic interests, with the variable a change in major or minor accounting for most of the variance in this model. Weak relationships between participation in the program and students’ worldview and leadership activities were noted as well.

Although a growing body of scholarship describes the development of LGBT identity in college students and abundant literature provides evidence of the developmental impact of campus involvement, little has been known about the experiences of LGBT student leaders. We interviewed 15 students from three Midwestern institutions and analyzed data using an emerging model of Leadership Identity Development (Komives et al., 2003, 2004) to identify experiences that supported participants’ growth as student leaders. Students experienced challenges specific to leading in the LGBT context (e.g., having to come out as a spokesperson), as well as supports that were context specific (e.g., entering an LGBT community through involvement in campus activities). We discuss implications for the practice of leadership education and student group advising, as well as for future research.

Student portfolio development is an area of interest and activity on many campuses. This article describes an 8- year effort by leaders in student and academic affairs at a large research university to implement an e-portfolio. Initiated in response to a suggestion by the university president, the 5-year development process has led to the creation of a system now used by over 25,000 students. The e-portfolio program features activities that enable students to learn about and document nine general skills related to life/career development, which can then be shared with employers, faculty, and other referred users. This provides a framework for students to reflect upon and integrate their full learning experiences. Outcomes of an evaluation process are briefly described, followed by a review of e-portfolio program accomplishments, ongoing work, and future possibilities.

Over the past decade, there has been a steady increase in the number of mandated students who have been referred to campus alcohol programs for violating campus alcohol policies. However, the severity of alcohol use and problems varies widely in mandated students, indicating that a “one size fits all” delivery of treatment may be inappropriate. Instead, an approach that tailors treatment may be more clinically effective, efficient, and cost-effective. Stepped care assigns individuals to different levels of treatment based on personal characteristics. This article discusses the promise of implementing stepped care with mandated students. We review previous applications of stepped care in the alcohol field, along with empirically validated interventions that could be incorporated into this approach. In addition, we address several issues to be considered when implementing stepped care with mandated students.