Volume 44, Issue 2

This essay compares the narratives that have emerged in recent years to describe the higher education enterprise with the narratives used to describe student affairs’ endeavors. I posit that the way in which student affairs professionals present their agenda is out of sync with the market-driven culture of the academy. The seven Principles of Good Practice are used to illustrate the incongruence between student affairs and academic affairs narratives on campus. I offer ways that those Principles can be recast to be more closely aligned with the new academic marketplace.

This article presents a synthesis of recent literature on professionalism in student affairs. Attention is given to the nature of professionalism, a discussion of student affairs as a profession, the scholarly practice of student affairs, and professional development in student affairs. The authors note that an assumption of professionalism pervades all activities in the field of student affairs, especially staffing and personnel matters. Implications are noted for individuals and organizations.

Most conversations about ethics and professional behavior involve case studies and hypothetical situations. This study identifies and examines the most common concerns in professional behavior as reported by 303 student affairs practitioners in the field. Differences by gender, years of experience, organizational level, institutional type, and institution size are also explored.

Student affairs professionals in the United States were surveyed to determine the predictive value of overall job satisfaction, organizational support, organizational politics, and work/nonwork interaction on affective organizational commitment. Results indicate that a supportive work environment leads to increased affective attachment to the organization. Additional findings identify potential factors that contribute to the creation of a supportive work environment.

Involvement in student affairs professional development was investigated using McClusky’s (1963) Power Load Margin (PLM) theory from the adult education field. The PLM theory is a framework for identifying sources of stress (load) and power in one’s life; the amount of power available to handle stress is called margin in life (MIL). This study employed a correlational research design to investigate if relationships existed between involvement in professional development outlets and activities, and MIL scores for student affairs professionals. Sixty-five (60.7%) student affairs professionals from a Midwestern university participated in the study by completing a Professional Development Questionnaire (created by the researcher) and the MIL Scale, developed by Stevenson (1982) and based upon the PLM theory. Results of correlational analyses indicated a slight, but not significant (p = .05), negative relationship between MIL scores and the number of career-related professional development outlets. No correlation was found between MIL scores and career-related professional development activities. Results of this preliminary study suggest the possibility that as the number of professional development outlets in which one was involved increased, one’s available power decreased. This study was one of the first PLM investigations of careerrelated professional development related to the student affairs field. Limitations included the small sample size from one university, and weak and insignificant correlations (at the .05 level). Additionally, this study did not address other life factors that could affect one’s MIL score, such as years in the field, position level, or other circumstances. The methods employed for this study could provide the basis for replication studies with larger samples.

A majority of recent graduates from master’s level student affairs preparation programs report having a clear understanding of 58 of 60 foundational learning outcomes derived from the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) guidelines. While there were only two significant differences between selfreported learning of graduates from CAS compliant and non-compliant programs on 60 items, data suggest that recent graduates from CAS compliant programs report greater confidence in their preparation in 48 of the 60 outcomes presented in the questionnaire.

Ten new student affairs professionals participated in this longitudinal study of their first year on the job. This qualitative study used online data collection. Participants submitted monthly responses to open-ended prompts inquiring about their experiences, challenges, and surprises. Over three time phases (Pre-Employment and Orientation, Transition, and Settled In), three themes emerged: the importance of relationships, institutional and professional fit, and issues of competence and confidence. Findings suggest several implications for practice, including preparing new professionals, being a new professional, and supervising new professionals. The authors suggest areas for future research.