How many times have you heard student affairs professionals answer the question, “Why do you want to work as a staff member on a college campus?” From my experience, the answer almost always includes, “to be an advocate for students”. Student advocacy is fundamental to the work of student affairs professionals. The two student affairs professional organizations state that advocacy is a core value and goal. The American College Personnel Association (ACPA) website states, “The mission of ACPA is founded upon and implements the following core values…outreach and advocacy on issues of concern to students”. Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA) states on their website, “To provide leadership in higher education through policy development and advocacy for students…” Whether from the mouths of new student affairs professionals or on the websites of leading associations for the profession, the notion that advocacy is a key quality of a successful student affairs professional is prominent.
However, as I survey my student affairs professional peers, I find that most student affairs professionals have difficulty being self-advocates. Specifically, I find that student affairs professionals do not advocate for their professional self. I believe that this notion stems from a few different places. First, student affairs professionals view their positions and roles at the bottom of the organizational chart. One study described student affairs professionals feeling, “fear and powerlessness in situations where they felt compelled to challenge systems” (Harrison, 2010, p. 99). College settings can be traditional and structured. New student affairs professionals may feel as they do not have the power to challenge the structured system. Second, student affairs professionals may be overly cautious of negative consequences. The student affairs field is small and reputations travel fast. One wrong move could hurt a student affairs professional’s future employment opportunities. Finally, I believe that student affairs professionals are inherently selfless. Individuals who enter the student affairs profession are entering a service industry with minimal financial reward and infrequent acknowledgement.
How can we push student affairs professionals to be better self-advocates? I believe there are ample opportunities to assist. First, mentoring may provide an avenue to learn the higher education landscape from an expert. New student affairs professionals can learn from the successes and failures of more experienced staff members. Second, higher education administration masters programs can aim to incorporate this topic in their curriculum and workshops. Higher education administration programs can look to other professional programs, such as business and law, for ideas on programming to achieve this learning goal. Finally, there needs to be a focus on assessment. Many higher administration positions are held by faculty members. Most faculty respond well to research and data. Student affairs professionals can use this to their advantage by becoming experts on assessment of personal and professional activities. In conclusion, student affairs professionals must improve their ‘political game’ by advocating for their role and worth on college campuses.
-Jesse Miller Murphy
References:
Harrison, L.M. (2010). Consequences and strategies student affairs professionals engage in their advocacy roles. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 47(2), 197–214. doi:10.2202/1949-6605.6003
This blog brings up an excellent point. As student affairs professionals, especially as new professionals, there is a tendency to tiptoe around the office politics that affect us all. Rather than contribute ideas and deliver suggestions in a diplomatic way, many new professionals avoid situations that call for accountability. While this may be normal for the very beginning of employment, it is a habit that should be changed. Many of my peers at the Master's level have aspirations of obtaining high leadership roles which may be stunted by this sheepishness. I think another positive suggestion can be to acclimate to the new office setting by seeking guidance or mentoship in a more experienced professional to explain the dynamic of the environment and provide tips on how to proceed and advance. My hope is that these mentors will be available more frequently in the future as I transition out to the working world.
ReplyDelete-Juana Escobar
I definitely agree with this blog. There is a lot of advocacy for students (which should be the main focus), however, professional development of the staff is equally important. This makes me think of the our current cohort and how we will adjust and transition into new offices, new culture, and environment. Like Juana and Jesse mentioned, mentorship and establishing a relationship with their supervisors is vital to helping new employees be comfortable to voice their opinions and concerns when appropriate. I also think that supervisors should make it a priority to let their new employees know that they are available to talk and accessible to their staff. I think that advocacy for new employees is a two way street.There needs to be a level of communication and understanding from both the supervisor and new staff to achieve this goal.
ReplyDeleteI am glad this blog is addressing an important subject. I agree that student affairs professionals do not use their leadership knowledge to advocate for themselves. It is imperative to change the culture and the behavior of student affairs professional and allow them the opportunity to express their concerns and have the proper freedom to advocate for themselves when it becomes necessary. Getting feed-back and obtaining information from a more experience professional can become beneficial for a new employee to become a better leader. This could help him/her to succeed. The freedom of expressing themselves and expressing their opinion should be part of their curriculum so they can have the proper communication with their supervisor and with other staff.
ReplyDeleteCreating programs that will assess the issues of concern that will help them maintain communication with their supervisor is imperative.
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DeleteIt is worthy to bring up this issue. I feel that as new professionals in higher education, we tend to seek our comfort zone. We try to follow what people did before, and try not to break the "rules". Challenging is not one of the consideration. However, how to truly advocate ourselves and practice the core value of being professional in higher education is the priority.
ReplyDeleteHitting it on the nose!! A lot of professionals just keep their heads down, and work the system. Rather than working to change the system, they focus on helping students navigate the existing structures.
ReplyDeleteI really think this post, and it made me think. As new professionals who are more closely attached to the student experience than more senior staffers, we of course have a wealth of ideas of how to do things "better." But what does that mean? And do we, as new professionals, understand the history behind why things are done a certain way? And do we understand how change will impact our students? Constant change creates chaos, which can undermine the students' experience. We see a bit of this in our current PASA program, as the new cohort has a new curriculum and cannot look to upperclassmen to guide them as much as we looked to upperclassmen when we were starting the program.
ReplyDeleteI think if we truly want to advocate for change, we must understand the environment of our offices and find ways to advocate for change that include others. This is something I myself need to improve upon, finding the causes that motivate my coworkers and use those motivations to bring them onboard with changes that I want to make. Bolman and Deal (from our management class with Dr. Cole) provide some useful tips, but there are a number of other practical guides for navigating the office landscape. We cannot walk in, announce that we have a brilliant idea, and expect everyone to fall in line. Change is slow and pragmatic.
I absolutely agree with Jesse's suggestion of finding a mentor. The mentors in my life have proven to be invaluable in navigating student affairs, and I am grateful for their investment in me both professionally and personally. As we continue into the field, we must make sure we are finding mentees of our own and investing in them while continuing to connect with our mentors. Only when we have a sustaining cycle of mentorship and support will we truly change the field.
I loved this blog post Jess, thank you for sharing your thoughts regarding student affairs advocacy. I agree completely! I also believe "ambition" is seen as a dirty word sometimes in student affairs work. Perhaps it is naive, but I believe student affairs professionals can advocate for themselves and their career while remaining student centered.
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Amanda Dickinson Beirne
As part of the student affairs community, I believe that student affairs professionals are supposed to have a certain set of managerial skills from the very beginning of their involvement. Even if they are new student affairs professional and have nobody below them in the organization’s hierarchical structure, they should be willing to possess leadership and management knowledge in case they are going to demonstrate any kind of advocacy and reach success in what they are doing. Besides, it is crucial for them to be self confident and determined when it comes to implementing any changes they consider to be necessary (surely some research should be done beforehand). I do support implying mentoring and master programs in the process of student affairs professionals’ perfection, but they should be open from their side to gaining more knowledge and acquiring necessary skills.
ReplyDelete-Raquel Anderson