Strategic Planning In Student Affairs

Here, finally, is a publication completely dedicated to strategic planning in student affairs. This volume applies business and nonprofit techniques to higher education, bringing the topic of strategic thinking, planning, and acting to the daily work of the profession. Editor Shannon Ellis, vice president of student services in the College of Education at the University of Nevado, Reno, and contributing authors take the student services practitioner through the process of preplanning, implementation and assessment. They explore the role that student services strategic planning plays in budget work, academic relations and crisis management. With case studies from Tulane University and University of Nevada, Reno and in-depth advice from the field, this volume provides student affairs professionals with the guidance needed to launch collaborative, flexible and effective student services strategic planning in their own institutions. This is the 132nd volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Student Services. An indispensable resource for vice presidents of student affairs, deans of students, student counselors, and other student services professionals, New Directions for Student Services offers guidelines and programs for aiding students in their total development: emotional, social, physical, and intellectual.

Here's a breakthrough sourcebook that not only argues that student affairs professionals need to assume leadership roles in campus facilities issues, but also provides step-by-step guidelines in building a successful facility project from the first brainstorming session to the final coat of paint. Editor Jerry Price, dean of students at Drake University, and contributors from all walks of the student affairs profession demonstrate that student affairs professionals are in a unique position of understanding the role of the campus in environment in students' lives. Chapters explore balancing multiple needs through innovative facility design, options for financing residence hall renovation and construction, and the relationship between housing programs and facilities and the institution's education mission. Applicable information on assembling the project team, the role of communication, and ten key lessons for facilities planning, renovation, and building are also presented. Lessons learned in the field are explored as well. The UConn 2000 Initiative Case Study tells the story of one institution's success in developing and implementing a public policy initiative that would lead to billions of dollars in renewed investment in the university's core infrastructure. Student affairs professionals live with students, see how they interact with one another, hear why they picked this particular school, and listen to the reasons they are succeeding or failing. Their education and experience lie in understanding how residence halls, student unions, dining services, recreation and wellness centers, and campus grounds each affect students' experience in different ways. This book demonstrates conclusively that the valuable expertise of student affairs professionals is therefore critical to ensuring that campus facilities projects ultimately achieve their intended goals.

This book is as a primer on the business-related aspects of student affairs that practitioners should understand. The author discusses a variety of skill sets to equip student affairs practitioners-educators with the means to analyze circumstances, alter environments, invest in structures and programs, and lead campus progress.

Student Success in College describes policies, programs, and practices that a diverse set of institutions have used to enhance student achievement. This book clearly shows the benefits of student learning and educational effectiveness that can be realized when these conditions are present. Based on the Documenting Effective Educational Practice (DEEP) project from the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University, this book provides concrete examples from twenty institutions that other colleges and universities can learn from and adapt to help create a success-oriented campus culture and learning environment.

This is a book for any student affairs professional who wants to strategically shape his or her career path—and will be particularly helpful for people in early or mid-career, or contemplating a career, in student affairs.By engagingly offering us the fruits of the reflective and strategic approach she has used to shape her own career, and of the theoretical and practical approaches she has undertaken to map out the culture and dynamics of student affairs, and by gathering the voices of 25 professionals who offer the insights and advice derived from their own experiences, Sonja Ardoin has created a guide for everyone in student affairs who wants to be intentional in setting the course for their professional and personal development.She begins by describing the changing and varied student populations who are the heart of this field, and outlines the typical organizational structures of student affairs, the range of functional areas, and how practice varies by size and type of institution. She highlights major trends, discusses the typical paths of entry to the profession, the expectations and realities of starting in a new position, the process of socialization, and the required skills and competencies. She devotes the core of the book to the five key elements for developing a career strategy: Lifelong Learning, Extending Your Experiences, Planning for Professional Development, Networking/Connecting, and Self-Reflection, and provides advice on the job search, from application through interview. In doing so she ranges over choices to be made about formal qualifications, and describes activities – from volunteering and committee work to conference presentations, writing and teaching – that we can use to strategically develop the proficiencies to attain our goals.

The purpose of this study was to understand the strategic planning practices within Student Affairs organizations at four-year higher education institutions within the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) accrediting region. This descriptive study was designed to determine to what extent divisions of Student Affairs are engaging in strategic planning and employing effective practices. Using a survey research design, this quantitative, non-experimental study was conducted to identify and understand the strategic planning practices of divisions of Student Affairs as perceived by Chief Student Affairs Officers (CSAOs). Using a principal components analysis (PCA), this study identified the constructs that describe how Student Affairs leaders perceive practices associated with strategic planning in their divisions. Also, using t tests and factorial ANOVAs, the results were analyzed for significant differences based on institution classification (public, private) and institutional size (small, large). Regarding CSAO perceptions of the strategic planning practices used within their divisions, five component scales with acceptable reliability coefficients were produced from the PCA: Strategic Planning Process, Addressing Change, Strategic Planning Awareness and Understanding, Implementing Strategic Plans, and External Requirements. These scales represented the underlying constructs with regard to CSAOs' perceptions of strategic planning practices. Descriptive statistics were produced for these scales. The factorial ANOVA results indicated one main effect of institution classification for the External Requirements scale and one interaction effect of institution classification and institutional size for the Implementing Strategic Plans scale, both with relatively small effect sizes. Overall, the scales were found to be consistent across types of institutions and did not differ significantly based on institution classification or institutional size. Based on these findings, implications for practice and suggestions for future research were presented.

In addressing the unique issues related to the delivery of student services in the community college setting, this book fills a longstanding need to provide practitioners with a contextual framework for their work. Starting by providing the historical context to the development of student affairs in community colleges, this handbook describes the organization of key functions and current practice, and looks at the specific constraints, opportunities, changes and future challenges that practitioners face.Community colleges are grappling with: the realities of shrinking resources; an increasingly diverse and disparate student body, with many attending part-time; demands for greater accountability; a generational change in leadership; and pressures to expand their missions as well as adopt educational technology – all of which have an impact on the role of student affairs.Among the topics covered are: Partnering with Academic Affairs; Financing Student Affairs; Legal and Policy Issues; Strategic Planning and Assessment; Accreditation and Accountability; Technology for Communication and Engagement; Academic Support Services; Student Life and Student Engagement Programs and Services; Enrollment Management; and Services for Special Populations.This handbook is intended for student affairs administrators and professionals at all stages of their careers, as well as for students in graduate preparation programs.

While both committed to providing effective programs and services that help students succeed in college and beyond, and aware of the increasing demands from internal and external stakeholders that every dollar spent benefits students and contributes to the mission of higher education, student affairs professionals have little guidance about how to create and sustain the culture of assessment to achieve these goals. This book provides the practical directions for embedding assessment in the fabric of practice.The authors in this volume – all experienced senior level leaders who have established programs that exemplify a culture of evidence-based practice – identify and explicate ten tenets of practice for leading and implementing a culture of change committed to student learning and sound assessment methods. Grounded in assessment literature, the tenets are:1. Understand the Why of Assessment2. Commit to Student Learning as a Primary Focus3. Lay the Foundation for a Sustainable Assessment Culture4. Develop Strategies to Engage Staff in a Commitment to Assessment5. Provide Recognition and Accountability Structures6. Reaffirm the Importance of Assessment to Anchor Cultural Change 7. Develop Sound Assessment Plans8. Connect Assessment Plans to Divisional and Institutional Strategic Plans9. Determine the Appropriate Methods for Assessing Programs and Services10. Market Data to Leverage Buy-in, and Promote Utility to the Campus Community The basic premise of this book is that the Senior Student Affairs Officer must be the primary leader and spokesperson for this effort, both in setting the tone and keeping all members of the team accountable for implementation and the commitment of their units. The book opens with an overview of history and purpose and language of assessment, relates it to the educational mission of student affairs, and outlines the four elements necessary to start a culture of assessment: commitment, connection, consistency, and communication. In addressing the role of the Senior Student Affairs Officer, subsequent chapters address the process of gaining “buy-in” and the importance understanding the unique culture of the institution; provide guidance on creating an environment of trust, accountability, and transparency; and describe how to lay the foundations to sustainability through consistency and strong interpersonal and collaborative relationships among the staff.The book concludes by summarizing the essential assessment practices and tools that senior leaders need to be aware of – providing examples of assessment cycle templates that can be applied across departments – and outlining how to establish a strategic plan aligned with institutional mission that is linear, predictable and consistent, and aligned with institutional mission; as well as communicating results both externally and internally for the purposes of improvement.

Student affairs organizations are at a crossroads. They face expanding enrollments; a concomitant increase need for often more complex services; changing demographics; a growing cohort of non-traditional and first-generation students; shifting and more demanding responsibilities; and increased expectations from the greater campus community, parents, and external constituents. These challenges are intensified by the accelerating speed of advancements in technology, globalization, innovation, and student consumerism; and by the long-term reality of shrinking resources, and limitations on the ability to increase tuition and fees. This book shares alternative ideas about organizational design, and about ways to restructure roles and responsibilities to enable student affairs organizations to respond to these challenges and demands more effectively at a time of reduced resources. It also addresses the many emerging roles that student affairs organizations are increasingly being expected to address – such as IT, fund raising and development, external communications, human resources management and professional development, as well as research and assessment – and describes approaches developed by a variety of institutions. The contributors also pay attention to the solutions appropriate for smaller institutions, and for community colleges. They explore the various dimensions of change and offer frameworks to help student affairs leaders and practitioners to more effectively understand and manage the changes they are confronting; and describe ideas and solutions adopted by others within the profession.