Advancing the Profession: Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs

Almost a year ago NASPA and ACPA completed work of the Joint Task Force on Professional Competencies and Standards. The competency areas include: Personal and Ethical Foundations (PPF); Values, Philosophy, and History (VPH); Assessment, Evaluation, and Research (AER); Law, Policy and Governance (LPG); Organizational and Human Resource (OHR); Leadership (LEAD); Social Justice and Inclusion (SJI); Student Learning and Development (SLD); Technology (TECH); and Advising and Sporting (A/S). As stated in the task force document released last year, “Student affairs educators must be able think critically in order to be successful, but the nature of their critical thinking skills are in effect the same as those required of faculty and other educators. In contrast, whereas both faculty and counselors (among others) engage in a range of advising and supporting activities, the nature of student affairs advising and supporting is distinct and that distinctiveness helps to define the nature of the student affairs profession.”

The competencies were created to establish a “common set” of professional standards for student affairs educators. Now that we have updated them and spread them throughout our profession, is it time that we use them to influence other areas of higher education? Having spent time in the role of “Student Affairs Partnering with Academic Affairs” KC coordinator for my region, I know that our counterparts across campus welcome a collaborative approach to dealing with some of the more difficult issues facing us all today.  By having an open dialogue around the competencies with our counterparts in the academic affairs divisions on campus, it can only help to define the role student affairs professionals play in assisting with increased demand for access to higher education, greater demographic diversity, technological innovations leading to new educational pedagogies and delivery systems, and a growing number of global interactions, exchanges, and educational experiences for students.

Effective student affairs practice requires proficiency in many areas such as critical thinking, creativity, and oral and written communication, the professional competency areas are intended to define students affairs work and lay out directions for the future development of student affairs educators both individually and as a profession. We can use them to enhance the student affairs position on campus by educating administrators and faculty on how the professional competencies can augment what they do and how they interact with students on campus.

While we cannot achieve full mastery of all 10 competencies alone, we can be proficient enough to add value to the institution. Student affairs professionals who have achieved some level of competence in an area can enhance other professionals on campus who haven’t been able to reach higher levels of mastery. That being said, as student affairs professionals look to apply the competencies and work with others on campus, we must be mindful of the unique missions, contexts, and needs of various colleagues across campus and the role they are trying to fill. Thus, the work of applying the competencies in practice with others will most likely consist more of best practices than any type of standardized approach. However if student affairs professionals continue to massage the competencies into daily routines and work diligently toward higher levels of mastery, they will continue to establish a very important position on campus as a key component to student success. Sharing the professional competencies with faculty will enhance their own professional development and add value and creditability to the student affairs profession and position on campus.

Take advantage of getting to know the professional competencies and standards better. Look to enhance your level of mastery of each of the 10 competencies. Know that you may never reach full mastery in all 10 but that with applying them into practice you can only better position yourself and the profession on campus.