Student affairs
Student affairs, student support, or student services is the department or division of services and support for student success at institutions of higher education to enhance student growth and development.[1] People who work in this field are known as student affairs educators, student affairs practitioners, or student affairs professionals. These student affairs practitioners work to provide services and support for students and drive student learning outside of the classroom at institutions of higher education.[1]
The size and organization of a student affairs division or department may vary based on the size, type, and location of an institution. The title of the senior student affairs and services officer also varies widely; traditionally in the United States, this position has been known as the "dean of students", as distinguished from the academic dean or the deans of individual schools within a university. In some institutions today, student affairs departments are led by a vice president or vice chancellor who then reports directly to the president/chancellor of the institution. In other cases the head of student affairs may report to the provost or academic dean.
Although institutions of higher education have had to deal with student affairs in some way for as long as they have existed, student affairs as a distinct professional field emerged first in the Anglo-American context in the late 19th century.[2] There it developed from the originally distinct positions of "dean of women" and "dean of men". The field developed much later in continental Europe, where development first began in the 1950s[3] but was greatly spurred when the Bologna Process in the 1990s created a surge in international students with greater needs for student support.[4] Similarly in many other countries where student affairs is still a largely inchoate profession, such as Uruguay, professional activity in the field has emerged in relation to the needs of international students.[5]
In 1988, Asia Pacific Student Services Association (APSSA) was created after representatives of the Asia Pacific Student Affairs Conference recognized there was a need for more communication and partnerships between student affairs professionals and the institutions they worked for.[6] The work that APSSA does focuses creating a space for international collaboration through conferences with internal attendees and training and staff networking programs through the Institute of Student Affairs (ISA). ISA is the standing committee for APSSA's Executive Committee, and manages the planning and marketing for training and networking programs.[7] In 2021, the Institute has five recorded Program Coordinators from different countries and regions: Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, and China. From 2018 to 2022, the position of Director of ISA was appointed to Dr. Maria Paquita D. Bonnet from De La Salle University in the Philippines .
APSSA holds a staff conference every two years where individuals from different countries will come together and encourage ideas for student affairs workers and offices to collaborate with one another. This conference allows for networking between organizations and staff and upholds APSSA's goal of global collaboration. This society also holds a student conference, which allows for student leaders from participating countries to meet and nurture their leadership strengths together, while also allowing students to have a platform to share their thoughts and ideas for activities and careers.[8]
