As things change they stay the same

In class we discussed just how brilliant the authors of SPPV 1937 really were. Mainly because most of the things that we are thinking about today in student affairs were already on their mind almost eighty years ago. SPPV 1937 and 1949 heavily discussed the idea of the “whole student”. The idea of having services for the intellectual side and personal side was fairly new territory. So they focused on the development of the actual person and their mind, trying to make the student feel at home and bringing in those comforts that the student was used to. They also realized then that the coordination of services on campus was vital for a campus to function properly and be effective for the student. Realizing that all parts of the university are important helped them come up with the idea of “co-curricular” programs. Before this, and sometimes still today, we considered ourselves “extra-curricular”, meaning that we were just an added extra bonus and not completely crucial for student success. The world war that had just ended before SPPV 1949 also gave the universities greater reason to look at social problems and focus on international understanding since it was no doubt affecting many students on their campuses. As a class, we touched on many of these issues on our board on Pinterest. I will discuss a few more of the similarities in our perspective versus SPPV 1937 and 1949 and I will also touch on a few areas that our past student affairs professionals were not yet concerned with.

Many of the ideas that those authors came up with still ring true today and have had an impact on our Pinterest board, like the need to know how it feels to be a student and know what they worry about. You cannot make programs for students without knowing what they want from their university. As future student affairs professionals we also still recognize the importance of why one size does not fit all. Even back in 1937 when you had mostly all white, men coming into the university, one size did not fit all. There is greater access to college so we have students coming from varying types of backgrounds, SES, races, ethnicities, and mental health concerns. All of these issues were represented on our Pinterest through various books, infographs, and pictures that we felt were important and signified what we think about as future student affairs professionals.

Although many of the ideas first put forth in previous papers still hold relevance, a lot has changed in our society since these two papers were written. There were many things we put on our Pinterest that I do not think the authors of either SPPV concerned themselves with. Although touched on in our book We’re Losing Our Minds, one topic that I feel was very represented on our board was the cost of tuition. Skyrocketing costs and lower job outcomes have caused many students to really look at where their tuition is going and why. 

Another area that I saw many times was the use of technology and social media in universities. Our generation has more technology than any other before it and how we use this technology is of great debate. No matter how you feel about it, it’s everywhere. Knowing how to gain access to it and successfully use it will be critical for future students to succeed. Using this technology to develop skills that are necessary to “land a job” is also important to us as graduate students and this is shown on our board as well.

Last but certainly not least, multicultural awareness and the importance of diversity were well represented on our Pinterest board. I would say because of our program and the importance it sets on learning how to navigate and succeed in our multicultural world, this would be an obvious focal point of our pins. There were a couple books and graphs about how to be more culturally aware and support a student body that is diverse.

Our board represented many of the concerns we face as future student affairs professionals. Although changing the way things have been done for the last 100 years seems insurmountable, it can be done- little by little. Keeping our minds open to new ways of doing things and changing to fit the needs of students will be our keys to success.

-Kate Gonzales