The Student Affairs white paper states that success includes “Working in explicit partnerships with academic affairs,” yet nowhere does it address the objectives for achieving this success. How exactly will the various units in student affairs work with academic affairs? I would suggest that one very critical way is to create positive working relationships with academic advisors on campus, since many of the suggestions in this white paper are already being implemented by advising units within the colleges. Without this communication, there is a real danger of the creation of more programs and services for our students that overlap between student affairs and advising. In this time of restructuring, we should be examining those areas where we can eliminate duplication, not create more of it.
One example of how student affairs is leaning towards duplicating the efforts of the advising community is in the idea of “The 50.” When the Noel-Levitz team was brought to campus several years ago to help us look at ways to improve retention, the colleges were encouraged (if not required) to create retention programs and services for our students. These retention programs include Freshman Success Classes (which are now taught by several colleges and departments), peer mentor/mentee programs, living/learning communities in the residence halls, resources to assist students on academic probation, and other programs that work to create a community within colleges and departments. The advising community expects all of our students to develop positive relationships with their academic advisors; to encourage this, we have created mandatory advising requirements and developed contracts for students on probation, and we utilize advising holds to ensure that students are meeting with their advisor on a regular basis (at least once each semester) and are getting the help – both academic and personal – they need to succeed at the UA. The colleges are already committed to the idea that students need to be connected to at least one professional on campus who can positively help them during their college career.
Additionally, there already exist multiple ways in which students can become part of a small, close-knit community. These communities include academic departments, cultural centers, residence halls, Greek houses, student clubs and organizations, and a variety of other groups. I don’t see how the idea of yet another group – one that may even be artificially created – will help to increase retention on campus. If anything, it might take away from the community that is arguably the most important one to the academic success of any student at the UA – that is, a student’s college, major, or department.
Similarly, student affairs discusses the creation of a Next Steps Center. Again, this is a function that already exists in advising offices, and that should be in the hands of the academic side of the institution, not student affairs. Many of the advising offices on campus already have comprehensive programs and services that assist our students in creating “clearer paths” for themselves. To ensure our students’ success at the UA, we utilize advising plans, contracts, on-line tools, success classes, departmental and college student organizations, advising appointments – the list goes on and on. If anything, the effectiveness of the advisors to provide help for students is often hampered by the processes put in place by admissions, orientation, and the registrar’s office that make it more difficult for students to navigate their way through the institution.
Finally, the idea of a “student transitions area” is another area of overlap with academic advising. Advisors already provide specialized services to transfer students; we provide success classes that are more directly tied to a student’s major than those offered by student affairs; we work with students on probation; we provide outreach to special student populations (including athletes and students in SALT, DRC, and Honors); and we reach out to parents and families. I would wager that many professional advisors on campus have had more contact with students’ parents and families than most student affairs professionals have.
Finally, I am quite disheartened to read that student affairs will begin charging for services for students. This will create a class society within our student population. Those who can afford to pay for programs and services will get more academic help, while those with fewer resources – who probably need help the most -- will apparently be left to struggle as best they can. The advising community strives to provide quality services to all students on campus, not just those with the means to pay for them.
While student affairs certainly plays a critical role in student success on campus – after all, we must provide students with food, housing, health care, safety, opportunities for involvement – at this time of belt-tightening we also need to consider which of the problems we now face are the most critical. Currently, the biggest obstacle to our students’ success is the lack of available classes. While student affairs strives to bring in more and more students, our ability to put them into classrooms is becoming more and more difficult. We simply cannot continue to recruit, admit and retain students if we cannot provide them with seats in foundations classes such as English 101 and 102, not to mention in upper-division, major required classes. Rather than developing more programs that are not directly related to our students’ ability to succeed academically, we should be putting more of our resources towards improving our academic offerings to our students. Retention will not occur if our students cannot get the courses they need for graduation.
I applaud student affairs for recognizing the overlap in many of their own programs and services and for creating more streamlined services within student affairs units. However, I would strongly encourage student affairs to engage in serious dialogue with the academic advising community before moving forward on any initiatives that seek to improve recruitment, retention, and the academic success of our students. Academic advisors have been involved in these initiatives for years, and our close relationships with all students on campus put us in a unique position to positively effect students’ satisfaction with their college experience.
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The Student Affairs white
The Student Affairs white paper states that success includes “Working in explicit partnerships with academic affairs,” yet nowhere does it address the objectives for achieving this success. How exactly will the various units in student affairs work with academic affairs? I would suggest that one very critical way is to create positive working relationships with academic advisors on campus, since many of the suggestions in this white paper are already being implemented by advising units within the colleges. Without this communication, there is a real danger of the creation of more programs and services for our students that overlap between student affairs and advising. In this time of restructuring, we should be examining those areas where we can eliminate duplication, not create more of it.
One example of how student affairs is leaning towards duplicating the efforts of the advising community is in the idea of “The 50.” When the Noel-Levitz team was brought to campus several years ago to help us look at ways to improve retention, the colleges were encouraged (if not required) to create retention programs and services for our students. These retention programs include Freshman Success Classes (which are now taught by several colleges and departments), peer mentor/mentee programs, living/learning communities in the residence halls, resources to assist students on academic probation, and other programs that work to create a community within colleges and departments. The advising community expects all of our students to develop positive relationships with their academic advisors; to encourage this, we have created mandatory advising requirements and developed contracts for students on probation, and we utilize advising holds to ensure that students are meeting with their advisor on a regular basis (at least once each semester) and are getting the help – both academic and personal – they need to succeed at the UA. The colleges are already committed to the idea that students need to be connected to at least one professional on campus who can positively help them during their college career.
Additionally, there already exist multiple ways in which students can become part of a small, close-knit community. These communities include academic departments, cultural centers, residence halls, Greek houses, student clubs and organizations, and a variety of other groups. I don’t see how the idea of yet another group – one that may even be artificially created – will help to increase retention on campus. If anything, it might take away from the community that is arguably the most important one to the academic success of any student at the UA – that is, a student’s college, major, or department.
Similarly, student affairs discusses the creation of a Next Steps Center. Again, this is a function that already exists in advising offices, and that should be in the hands of the academic side of the institution, not student affairs. Many of the advising offices on campus already have comprehensive programs and services that assist our students in creating “clearer paths” for themselves. To ensure our students’ success at the UA, we utilize advising plans, contracts, on-line tools, success classes, departmental and college student organizations, advising appointments – the list goes on and on. If anything, the effectiveness of the advisors to provide help for students is often hampered by the processes put in place by admissions, orientation, and the registrar’s office that make it more difficult for students to navigate their way through the institution.
Finally, the idea of a “student transitions area” is another area of overlap with academic advising. Advisors already provide specialized services to transfer students; we provide success classes that are more directly tied to a student’s major than those offered by student affairs; we work with students on probation; we provide outreach to special student populations (including athletes and students in SALT, DRC, and Honors); and we reach out to parents and families. I would wager that many professional advisors on campus have had more contact with students’ parents and families than most student affairs professionals have.
Finally, I am quite disheartened to read that student affairs will begin charging for services for students. This will create a class society within our student population. Those who can afford to pay for programs and services will get more academic help, while those with fewer resources – who probably need help the most -- will apparently be left to struggle as best they can. The advising community strives to provide quality services to all students on campus, not just those with the means to pay for them.
While student affairs certainly plays a critical role in student success on campus – after all, we must provide students with food, housing, health care, safety, opportunities for involvement – at this time of belt-tightening we also need to consider which of the problems we now face are the most critical. Currently, the biggest obstacle to our students’ success is the lack of available classes. While student affairs strives to bring in more and more students, our ability to put them into classrooms is becoming more and more difficult. We simply cannot continue to recruit, admit and retain students if we cannot provide them with seats in foundations classes such as English 101 and 102, not to mention in upper-division, major required classes. Rather than developing more programs that are not directly related to our students’ ability to succeed academically, we should be putting more of our resources towards improving our academic offerings to our students. Retention will not occur if our students cannot get the courses they need for graduation.
I applaud student affairs for recognizing the overlap in many of their own programs and services and for creating more streamlined services within student affairs units. However, I would strongly encourage student affairs to engage in serious dialogue with the academic advising community before moving forward on any initiatives that seek to improve recruitment, retention, and the academic success of our students. Academic advisors have been involved in these initiatives for years, and our close relationships with all students on campus put us in a unique position to positively effect students’ satisfaction with their college experience.
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