New Directions for Student Services

Contents

PART ONE

Contextualizing student affairs and services in global higher education by Ian Jamieson, Evandro Coggo Cristofoletti, Ibrahim Oanda, Taina Saarinen

This article outlines major developments in higher education policies in terms of massification, diversification, stratification, marketization, and globalization.Although these developments are global, their local instantiations create a diverse backdrop for student affairs and services. By giving examples from different contexts, we illustrate the various effects that the enlargement of higher education systems, their diversification, pressures to marketize, and increased global mobility have on the provision of student services and access to them. Through these windows, we demonstrate how student services have developed in different contexts and what implications this has on student access to those services. We conclude the article by presenting future topics for student services research and policy.

Professionalization in student affairs and services across the globe by Brett Perozzi, Robert Shea

This article explores the concept of Student Affairs and Services (SAS) as a global profession, how it is positioned and positions itself in the context of what it means to be a profession and reflects on the ways in which SAS has and can professionalize.The literature related to professionalization is presented along with a discussion of the outcomes of the review, which provides direction for SAS as a global profession.

Global implications of student affairs competencies and standards by Andrew West, Gavin Henning

In this article, we provide an overview of the current and emerging professional competencies for student affairs professionals around the world, highlighting those from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Botswana. We compare and contrast competencies from these countries and conclude with implications for the student affairs profession globally.

PART TWO

Perspectives from across the globe by Lisa Bardill Moscaritolo

Organized to correspond to the seven regions of the International Association of Student Affairs and Services (IASAS), this section of the monograph illustrates the capacity building of over 50 associations that significantly influence the local, regional, and global practice, theory, frameworks, and scholarship of Student Affairs and Services (SAS). The aims of IASAS and its impact on internationalization and professionalization are introduced along with a summary of the associations’ reports. Authors for each regional perspective were chosen for their expertise in shaping Student Affairs and Services practices locally and internationally.

Perspectives from the Africa region by Sibusiso Chalufu, Matete Madiba, Saloschini Pillay, Matome Mashiapata

This article describes the student affairs associations of South Africa and how they pooled their strategy into a Southern African federation, strengthening their impact on student support and development, policy development, and professional development in Southern Africa. The pan-African developments to strengthen higher education, driven by the Association for African Universities, reveal the ambitious plans to strengthen student support in African higher education.

Perspectives from the Asia region by Evelyn Songco, Ma. Paquita Bonnet, Leandro Loyola, Teresa W. K. Loong, Joseph C. H. So

The authors in this article share how the Asia Pacific Student Services Association was the impetus in the birth of student affairs and services and talent and development in the region. In Hong Kong, the Philippines, and most recently, inMacao, associations are creating communities of practices to assist in the work of the ever-changing university environments and the necessity of life-long learning and progress.

Perspectives from Europe region by Ben Lewis, Sven H. Engel, John Bloomfield, Paul Moriarty, Gian Luca Giovannucci, Mariagrazia Melfi

This article highlights the establishment of development efforts of four different associations to meet the needs of higher education, ministries, and the European Union. Each association has its niche on how students are supported based on the history of higher education, culture, and work with or on behalf of students.

Perspectives from the Middle East Region by Courtney Stryker, Theodore Kruse, Brett Perozzi, Eman S. ElKaleh

Higher Education offerings have expanded over the last two decades in the Middle East and North Africa region. As a result, the authors share the beginnings of a regional association tied back to the United States that has created culturally relevant professional development programs and opportunities that enhance how the staff is supporting students.

Perspectives from the Oceania Region by Christie White, Andrea Strachan, Amy Heise

This study examines the 50-year history of the Australian New Zealand StudentServices Association, the key association in the region. Specific initiatives on how the association has evolved and pivoted over time to meet the needs of its members, the students the members support, and their institutions.

Perspectives from the North America and the Caribbean Region by Tricia Seifert, Robert Shea, Jacqueline Huggins, David Newman

Student affairs and services has a long history in higher education and associations followed suit to assist in the efforts of professionalization. This region differs in that in the US and Canada there are many specialized associations for certain functions in Student Affairs and Services but this report examines the works of four of the most established associations in three countries.

Perspectives from the South America Region by Ana María Pelegrí Kristic, William Young Hansen, Alicia Canton Guzman, María Consuelo Burgos Cantor

Writers of this article share their seminal work of creating the Latin American Region(LAC) as part of the United States NASPA-Student Affairs Administration in theHigher Education Association’s Global Division. Webinars, exchanges, conferences, some research initiatives, and a new student affairs administration minor as part of a higher education master’s degree are beginning to shape the work of student affairs in South America.

PART THREE

A critical analysis from the Global South on student affairs as a profession by Angelique Wildschut, Thierry M. Luescher

This article discusses the nature of the student affairs professionalization project, by analyzing the discourses evident and legitimized through the Journal of StudentAffairs in Africa (JSAA). The analysis is driven by three research questions: What is the extent of the journal’s engagement with the term’s profession, professionalism, professional, and professionalization? How are these terms used in the journal and how do these uses relate to the social justice imperative in Student Affairs and Services (SAS)? Overall, we find a stronger social justice discourse in comparison to the discourse on SAS as a profession. Furthermore, the professionalization discourse draws strongly on notions of professional traits and high-level knowledge and skills. Finally, this article considers opportunities for a scholarship on the development of SAS as a profession and further theoretical development of the Sociology of Professions (SoP) from the Global South.

Looking back and looking forward by Birgit Schreiber, Dennis C. Roberts, Betty Leask

This article examines the question of the purpose and benefit of professionalization of student affairs. We discuss how student affairs is positioned and positions itself in the “third space,” in the intersection of administration, management, and the teaching and learning of students. In addition, the student affairs domain often straddles boundaries and multi-disciplinary contexts, which results in complexity, ambiguity, and hybridity. We conclude by discussing key influences that need to be considered in the process of advancing debates and mitigating risks of professionalization of student affairs in higher education.