3 Ways Research, Writing, and Professional Preparedness Impact Academic Support

I often critique student development theory and our approaches to higher education due to the blatant exclusion on which our field was developed. Student affairs, and higher education more broadly, was created within specific contexts and have a history of focusing nearly exclusively on white, cis, heterosexual, upper-class men. This means many of the customs and traditions we employ today directly descend from a past that did not take all students we educate into account. This poses a threat to those of us in academic support, and everyone with a stake in our work, because for some of our students the norms and practices associated with higher education may feel at odds with their personal or cultural beliefs and social identities. Moreover, students who are forced to conform to expectations that they may never attain, due to situations beyond their control, could find themselves unfairly challenged and disadvantaged by the standards we associate with academic success.

Given this, I seek to challenge each and every one of you reading this to contribute to the creation and sustain of long term change. To do something other than acknowledging higher education’s faults within your own circles. Sure, our own locus of control allows us to bare influence within a small sphere, but perhaps we can think bigger and bolder… Perhaps, we can act in a way that shifts our best practices and standards to be more inclusive and allow for multiple perspectives… To remember that while we should often put students first, we must also put the development of ourselves and our colleagues at our collective forefront to reduce harm students may experience in higher education.

Organizations like ACPA offer opportunities to be a part of this change from one’s home, institution, and other related positionalities. There are platforms to share stories, engage in research, support and challenge one another’s development, opportunities to host webinars, and more… All of this, and more, is offered right here through ACPA CASHE as we endeavor to not only embody change and growth, but also seek to provide conduits for such progression in education.

Given the prominence of web and social media platforms in our daily lives, research, writing, and professional development through online mediums could force us to wrestle with how we normalize and execute institutional policies and practices. For those of you who are entry level professionals, we know this may seem daunting, but there is no better time than now to push forward… To realize that while there are a seemingly never ending group of tasks that many of us must complete, contributing to improving our field is also of critical significance. So what can one do, with all of this information? Begin by following our three ways to impact academic support initiatives in the U.S. and beyond--

1. Share difficult situations you’ve dealt with, and why you would do them the same or differently with colleagues. This creates space for us to discuss making mistake, or to think more broadly about how every day we become a better version of our self--a version that allows us to aid students more fully.  

2. Discuss a program or initiative that is working on your campus. There are more articles in the public sphere critiquing dropout rates or calling attention to educational attainment disparities than there are praising completion programs. Though both necessitate public discussion, it is up to us to think about how we can be accountable to students who make it to our campus as much as we do to those who don’t. Having the key to reducing retention is useful if we fail to unlock multiple doors with it. Let’s create space to share and construct knowledge together.

3. Present your contributions to literature in accessible and meaningful ways. As a consumer of knowledge, I am often weary of researchers and writers who fail to translate theory to practice, or to make space for their findings in the circles that could benefit from them most. If a researcher writes about the trials and tribulations of first generation college students and their parents, for example, one must be able to discuss these things on an appropriate level for each family, rather than making assumptions regarding their awareness or lack thereof. When I was a college student, I would often ask people to rephrase things that were filled with the very jargon I employ--this makes me hyper aware of the role I play in my own personal and professional capacities.

These three ideas are a start to the many ways you can engage with us and our audience. To learn more about ACPA CASHE and find ways to get involved, visit our membership engagement page or *Click Here*.