Browsing by Subject "Student affairs"
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Item Baxter Magolda's theory of self-authorship development as a decision making model for new student affairs professionals(Texas Tech University, 2005-08) Fouts, Shawn M.; Murray, John P.; Duemer, Lee S.; Simpson, Douglas J.Accepting one's first professional position in student affairs brings with it many questions, concerns, and emotions. Those questions, concerns, and emotions revolve around issues of personal competence, personal achievement, new relationships with new co-workers, and personal job satisfaction according to Barr (1985). Each new professional will undoubtedly encounter a wide array of problems, concerns, and victories during their transition into a full-time student affairs position, ebbing and flowing between joy and frustration, with a fair amount of time spent in feelings of anxiety (Barr, 1985). During this time professionals start to wonder if they are administrators or educators, service delivery personnel or program sponsors, academic support providers or co-curricular developers. Encountering new experiences helps to shape who we are and will become as student affairs professionals. Kirby (1984, p. 28) says that this time becomes a "time for developing a high tolerance for ambiguity" and the attitude of the new professional needs to be "one of adaptability and flexibility" (Moore, 1984, p. 69). Baxter Magolda (2001) identifies this time as a time of self-authorship development. Barr (1985) suggests that this process of development involves obtaining and using needed information to perform one's job, establish expectations for performance, putting what was learned in the classroom into practice, finding one's place in the new culture, establishing positive relationships with students and co-workers, and continuing to grow as a professional. Self-authorship makes us better professionals and more effective in our dealings with others as we begin to understand our own personal traits and characteristics. This dissertation will examine the concept of self-authorship development (Baxter Magolda, 2001) in the life of a new student affairs professional transitioning from full-time student in a doctoral program to full-time professional. Self-authorship more fully defined is a theory of psychosocial development that involves four distinct phases that an individual transitions through: (a) following external formulas, (b) the crossroads, (c) becoming the author of one's own life, and (d) internal foundations (Baxter Magolda, 2001). This study will also explore the possibility of Baxter Magolda's theory of self-authorship development being used as a decision making model.Item Career Paths of Student Affairs Administrators at California Community Colleges(2010-12) Raby, Melissa L.; Rodriguez, Roy C.; Paton, Valerie O.; Jones, Stephanie J.This study evaluated the career paths of student affairs administrators (deans and vice presidents) in the California community college system. Top administrators are retiring at alarming rates and there are not enough potential leaders in the pipeline to fill these vacancies. Charting the career paths of individuals who have obtained top-level positions provides perspectives to help aspiring professionals plan their futures. In addition, institutions will need to rethink the current recruiting processes in order to identify potential candidates for these leadership roles. Data was gathered via a survey instrument sent to deans and vice presidents in student affairs at the 110 California community colleges. A total of 126 (34% return rate) responded to the survey. There were 41 vice presidents and 85 deans that responded (58.7% women and 41.3% men). Separate career paths were calculated for VPs and deans utilizing Twombly (1988) criterion of 10% of each sample holding a first previous position and 5% of the total sample for each earlier position. Results of this study indicate there are clear career paths to the student affairs administrator position at a California community college. However, the pathway to these positions is not different for men and women. Both the VP and the dean’s current position yielded four distinct career paths. The most common career path for VP was (1) counselor to (2) student services director or associate dean to (3) student services dean or associate vice president to (4) vice president. The most common career path for dean was (1) student services director or associate dean to (2) student services director or associate dean to (3) dean. Major findings indicate several trends for the personal characteristics of student affairs administrators. First, men still tend to be married more than women. However, in other areas, there seems to be more of equality between genders. Women are earning doctorate degrees and they are attaining top-level positions at an equal rate of men. For both genders, administrators are an older population, they spend fewer years in each position and more plan on retiring than earlier studies showed. This study also stressed the importance of getting involved with internal and external professional development as well as finding a mentor. This body of research is important for both institutions to understand how they can fill future administrative openings when there is an apparent lack of potential candidates in the current pipeline, and for potential candidates to know what characteristics are most common for those who have attained administrative positions in the California community college system.Item Moments of realization : the experiences, development, motivations and actions of student social justice allies(2010-12) Owney, Catherine Sanders; Reddick, Richard, 1972-; Reagins-Lilly, Soncia; Rudrappa, Sharmila; Somers, Patricia A.; Vincent, Gregory J.Social justice allies make important contributions to fighting oppression in campus environments and in their communities after college. However, knowledge of how one becomes a social justice ally is limited. This qualitative, phenomenological study was designed in an effort to better understand the social justice ally development process and advances the pioneering work of Broido (1997, 2000). Examination of student’s understanding of her/his formative and college experiences helped determine how each alone and in combination with other factors or experiences, contributed to her/his ally development process. The role of student affairs professionals and programs in this process was also examined. This study was conducted at The University of Texas at Austin, which was selected because of the historical context, institutional environment and diversity-related initiatives implemented over the past 10 years. Review of the literature on ally development reveals that a majority of the existing research focuses on allies who take action against heterosexism or sexism. Through this research project I addressed this gap by including student allies who focus on other areas of privilege/oppression including classism and citizenship status. This study also expands the analysis of social justice allies by including examination of the influence of gender on the development, motivations and actions of allies.Item Our Forgotten Students: The Mental Health of Residence Hall Paraprofessionals(2013-05) Harrison, Sara; Jackson, Dimitra L.; Morton, Philip CraigResidence Hall Paraprofessionals, commonly known as Resident Assistants or Community Advisors, serve as the front lines when it comes to the level of interaction that colleges and universities have with students who have mental health issues. When examining the experiences that residence hall paraprofessionals have with their own mental health, the literature is lacking. This qualitative study describes the experiences that Residence Hall Paraprofessionals have as student staff members dealing with their own mental health issues through the use of five main themes that emerged from the research. The participants describe their role in dealing with the mental health of others, the balancing act they must maintain, the increased level of empathy obtained, an increase in self-awareness specifically in regard to their own mental health, and the role that supervisory and departmental support plays in their success.