Volume 43, Issue 4

A sample of 3,484 incoming first-year students at a large, mid-Atlantic University were surveyed to assess a variety of attitudinal and behavioral variables pertinent to the college experience. The current study focused on how student value system orientation, or the degree to which values are open or closed, related to key aspects of college student development. Results revealed that students with open value systems had a greater investment in social problems, had more interaction with and tolerance for diverse groups, had more favorable attitudes toward multiculturalism and affirmative action, and engaged in slightly more alcohol consumption. Also, those with closed value systems were more likely to be religious and male. It is suggested that the ability of college students to have an open set of beliefs or values may be critical to their experiences in a diverse college setting and that administrators should be cognizant of this when promoting diversity initiatives.

This study examined the relevance of higher education institutions’ existing student activity programming and its effectiveness in promoting students’ multicultural learning. Employing path analysis, this study explored the level of undergraduates’ participation in selected college organizations and activities and its linkage to multicultural competence development. Findings show significant positive effect of extracurricular activities on multicultural learning. This study taps into a timely topic and has important implications for institutions’ day-to-day policy and practice in sustaining a continued commitment to multiculturalism.

Individuals who are supportive of social justice efforts are not always effective in their anti-oppression efforts. Some who genuinely aspire to act as social justice allies are harmful, ultimately, despite their best intentions, perpetuating the system of oppression they seek to change. Different underlying motivations of those who aspire to be allies can lead to differences in effectiveness, consistency, outcome, and sustainability. The conceptual model presented here, using underlying motivation to frame the different issues and challenges facing those who are aspiring allies, is offered as a tool for student affairs professionals’ self-reflection and developing students as allies for social justice.

Issues surrounding student cheating and plagiarism are ubiquitous in higher education. Research has consistently found gaps between policies and practices on our campuses, a struggle for those student affairs professionals charged with institutionalizing the value of academic integrity. While the motivations and roles of students have been explored in some depth, there has been less research on the roles of faculty and administrators in managing academic integrity issues institutionally. Using a survey developed from institutional theory and academic integrity research, the authors collected academic affairs administrators’ perceptions of academic integrity institutionalization. The results suggest the utility of a sharper focus on cultivating faculty as key change agents and reduced attention to students. The implications for student affairs and academic administrators are several including increased strategic attention to reducing obstacles to successful institutionalization of academic integrity while engaging faculty more thoroughly in the process.

First-generation college students face a number of unique challenges in college. These obstacles may have a disparate effect on educational outcomes such as academic achievement. This study presents findings from an analysis of the Baccalaureate & Beyond Longitudinal Study using hierarchical multiple regression techniques to measure the influence of first-generation status on cumulative grade point average (GPA) in college, controlling for precollege and college variables. Findings suggest that firstgeneration status is a significant predictor of GPA controlling for an extensive array of background and intervening variables. Initially, background variables accounted for a small but significant proportion of college GPA variance. Final results suggest that first-generation status significantly explains differences in cumulative GPA, accounting for nearly 22% (p < .001) of GPA variance. Findings are congruent with college impact theory and support prior conclusions. Still, a number of important relationships and implications for future research are discussed.

Universities have become sensitized to the potential for students’ illegal downloading of copyrighted materials. Education has been advocated as one way to curb downloading of copyrighted digital content. This study investigates the effectiveness of a university-sponsored computing ethics education program. The program positively influenced students’ ethical beliefs about downloading and increased awareness, agreement, and compliance with university policies on copyright infringement. The study offers encouragement that education can be an effective preventative measure for discouraging digital copyright infringement on campus.

Despite long-standing calls for more intentional professional development as a way to ensure a higher quality workforce in student affairs, little progress has been made. Various committees and task forces have suggested frameworks for program development, the certification of program quality and attendance, the recording of individual participation, and recognition of individual achievement; but associations have failed to act because of a variety of concerns. To date, information on the views of affairs professionals on such issues is limited and has not been studied in a systematic way. This study sought to fill this void.

In November 1903, 18 women gathered together for the Conference of Deans of Women of the Middle West. Variations of this conference were held over the following 20 years, constituting the earliest period of professional association in what was to become known as student affairs. When creating their associations, the early deans needed to consider issues of leadership, membership, and purpose that would best help them and their colleagues to do their work on their home campuses. As student affairs professionals of today ponder the challenges of structuring and reorganizing twenty-first century professional associations, they might benefit from considering the decisions of their earliest professional ancestors, gaining an appreciation for the pioneers as well as a new understanding of their own efforts.

When suicidal behavior is reported, student affairs officers on many campuses notify parents as one component of a multifaceted campus suicide prevention plan. In response to proposals to mandate parent notification, the author argues that practical considerations warrant against expanding state laws to require notification following campus suicide attempts. The recent experience with parent notice at one university confirms the work of earlier researchers who concluded that parents rarely withdraw suicidal students from enrollment. Although a policy of sending the letters may deter further episodes of selfdestructive behavior, parents once alerted to the situation are not likely to intervene in a manner that will reduce significantly the risk of suicide.

Over the past 5 years, ACPA and NASPA have promoted conversations about an exploration of scholarship in the field through dedicated special issues of their journals (2001 and 2002 respectively) to the topic. The leadership of NASPA called a “summit” in 2006 for scholars and practitioners to gather and discuss the state of scholarship in the field of student affairs. The purpose of the summit was to make recommendations for the future production and dissemination of scholarship. This article provides an overview of the summit, the questions asked and answered, and future directions to take as a community of scholars and practitioners.