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  • Do we need a technology in student affairs book?

    By Eric Stoller January 13, 2011 8:45 pm EST

    "The literature and research on the use of technology in student affairs is still very limited." This is the lead sentence in the description from one of the few student affairs technology texts that I know about. This particular issue of a New Directions in Student Services journal published in 2006 has been the go-to technology "book" for a lot of student affairs practitioners. While several books have been published that can be adopted/adapted for student affairs professionals, a definitive text on "#satech" seems remarkably absent.

    When I was in graduate school, I read books on student development theory, multicultural competency, leadership development, assessment/evaluation, legal issues in higher education, and the history of higher education. Technology in student affairs was largely absent from my program. In fact, I even created a technology workshop series "back in the day" to try to fill this knowledge gap.

    I've been mulling over the idea of what a technology in student affairs book would look like in 2011. One of the central tenets of the 2006 journal was that technology innovations occur so rapidly that covering specific technologies would cause the material to age far faster than other student affairs texts. Hence, it becomes necessary to talk about the "big picture" so that things don't become out-of-date too rapidly for a publisher.

    Building upon the framework of the original journal's contents, I would suggest that the following topical areas be included in a technology in student affairs book:

    • History of Student Affairs and Technology: We have to know where we've been in order to know where we are and where we want to be.
    • Senior Student Affairs Officers and Technology: What do SSAO's need to know about technology in order to effectively lead their units.
    • Management of Technology in Student Affairs: Do we engage in IT purchases? Negotiate contracts with IT vendors? Student Affairs practitioners are often deeply involved in these processes and yet we rarely talk about this area in our professional circles.
    • Student Affairs and Communications / Marketing: An emerging area in certain student affairs divisions...this section would include social media, digital publishing, and marketing best practices.
    • Web Accessibility and Student Affairs: A critical piece of the student affairs technology pie. There are far too many inaccessible web sites / services. We can do better.
    • Online Student Services and Distance Learners: How do we serve our students when it comes to web-based services? What are the best practices?
    • Legal / Policy Issues and Student Affairs Technology: This would include relevant case law and policy guidelines. We need to know a framework that outlines the best practices in this area for our field.
    • Collaboration - Ed Tech and Student Affairs: Educational technologist do amazing things within the context of academic affairs and teaching. We need to engage in more collaborative efforts with the educational technology crowd.
    • Student Affairs Technology and Assessment: Assessment is instrumental in measuring the successes of our programs. Outcome, goals, strategies, funding, etc. are all linked to assessment.

    I realize that we may have missed our window of opportunity for a new technology in student affairs book. It's 2011 and publishing is markedly different than ever before. A student affairs technology book would of course have to be published in both paper and ebook formats. A companion blog would most-likely be associated with the book.

    I think that in 2011, it is no longer acceptable for student affairs practitioners to simply shrug their shoulders and say that technology is not part of our professional competencies. If technology is a thread, then it is far too small and fine. Technology plays such a critical role in everything that we do as student affairs professionals. We need a book. A core competency text that can be used in graduate programs, administrative meetings, and team retreats.

    What do you think? Do we need a technology in student affairs book? What else would you include?

    Do you tweet? Let's connect. Follow me on Twitter.

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Comments on Do we need a technology in student affairs book?

  • We Do Need a SA Tech Book
  • Posted by Ed Cabellon , Director, Campus Center at Bridgewater State University on January 14, 2011 at 6:45am EST
  • I completely agree with this Eric and want to place a call to action to anyone interested in co-authoring it. Will either NASPA and/or ACPA answer the charge as well? It is time for action and I'm willing to help facilitate whatever is needed to move this forward!
  • Posted by Annette Martel at United Tribes Technical College on January 14, 2011 at 6:45am EST
  • Great ideas. I would also include a section on student development theory related to technology and how it has changed how students live and learn and develop. I like the idea of a companion blog to keep the conversation going. And thanks for everything you taught in that grad school tech seminar. The web accessibility stuff really stuck with me and I always get annoyed when I run across a website that uses frames...
  • Absolutely
  • Posted by Brenda Bethman , Director, Women's Center at UMKC on January 14, 2011 at 7:45am EST
  • You are absolutely right, Eric (I have in fact had a similar conversation with a colleague). Where you really hit the nail on the head, though, is here: "I think that in 2011, it is no longer acceptable for student affairs practitioners to simply shrug their shoulders and say that technology is not part of our professional competencies." I have been saying this for a couple of years now -- that student affairs professionals who refuse to engage with technology are not completely fulfilling their duties. We talk a lot about "meeting students where they are" which these days means technology.
  • Timely & Relevant
  • Posted by LMW , Career Services at Fayetteville State University on January 14, 2011 at 8:45am EST
  • Great foresight Eric, I agree technology is an untapped area for many student affairs professionals who do not see use as away to enhance (vs. complicate) the work that we do.

    Brenda, in Career Services, we are constantly emphasizing technology (mainly from an appropriate use stand point) as a competency employers seek from new professionals yet in this field of work I am not sure that we embrace/embody this opportunity to 1) remain relevant and 2)use technology as a tool for efficiency.

    I also agree with Annette, specifically drawing connections for SA professionals and SSAO on technology and student development/learning may be beneficial and a great place to start. Would love to see some research on this. Ed, perhaps we will see more at the NASPA/ACPA conferences!
  • Can I help!
  • Posted by Josh Fry , Associate Registrar / Moodle & IT Systems Admin at Colorado Technical University on January 14, 2011 at 9:15am EST
  • I think this would be a great idea. I think it is something that is left out of the curriculum in Student Affair degrees. I earned my Masters in Leadership in Education: Student Affairs in Higher Education and there was never a technology peice. All of my research was done on online education and would love to be a part of this type of addition to the field. My email is jfry@coloradotech.edu if you would like to speak further. Great thought!!
  • We Would Consider Publishing This
  • Posted by Stephen Solomon , Director of Community at Eleven Learning on January 14, 2011 at 10:30am EST
  • We're a hybrid open-source publisher based in Cambridge, MA, and we'd certainly be willing to discuss publishing such a book if the project gets off the ground.
  • About Time!
  • Posted by Brian C. Steinberg , Faculty on January 14, 2011 at 12:30pm EST
  • It is about time Student Affairs too technology seriously.
  • lets write this book
  • Posted by Lulu Kaliher , Asst. Director at Temple University on January 15, 2011 at 7:15am EST
  • Completely agree Eric/ Lets get this book written.
  • SA Technology Book
  • Posted by Delores McNair , Asst Professor, Higher Education Leadership at University of the Pacific on January 15, 2011 at 9:45pm EST
  • Eric: great idea and really thoughtful comments from everyone ... as someone who might teach such a course, I'd love to try teaching it without a printed textbook. Could we really take advantage of technology & create a book that has hyperlinks, videos, etc.? I think that would be really cool -- though it could be hard to keep all the links updated. The blog is great. When I've taught a course "Computers in Educational Administration" I use the book Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts -- this summer when I teach it again, I've been planning to also ask students to read the author's blog. You've got a great idea for a book -- let's move from the initial 2006 New Directions issue to some kind of innovative text.
  • yes we do
  • Posted by Michael Staton , CEO at Inigral, Inc on January 16, 2011 at 11:00pm EST
  • Though print media is a little passe, it's still the best way to have a thorough discourse. Perhaps you could have a "living version" somewhere online?

    Perhaps we could host it on Higher Ed Live?

    Michael Staton
  • SA and IT - Let's Chat.
  • Posted by Joe Ginese , Director of Student Activities and Orientation at Nichols College on January 17, 2011 at 2:15pm EST
  • Eric is on point with this, as he usually is with his ideas and thoughts.

    One point I'd focus on is the IT purchases and student affairs professionals needing to gain some form of knowledge and training when it comes to an IT competency.

    Don't forget however, this chapter of the book could also be targeting towards IT professionals who may not have any understanding of the needs and desires of new students coming to our institutions.

    Not only should SA professionals be educated about the basics of the IT field but the IT professionals (working on a campus) should gain a small understanding of the student affairs field.

    @JoeGinese

  • Maybe More Than One
  • Posted by Sean Cook , Career Coach at HigherEdCareerCoach.Com on January 17, 2011 at 2:15pm EST
  • Eric,

    Understanding the impact of technology is hugely important to today's professionals and I think that effective understanding of how tech impacts your position is only part of the equation. Understanding how it affects your promotability is key as well.

    Just as new professionals work to develop their counseling skills, proficiency in navigating policies and procedures, and build some their strengths, they should work to understand technology from both the micro and macro perspectives.

    As a Gen X'er, I was far ahead of many above me in the org chart when it came to day-to-day use of existing technology, but some of those same people were able to help me see how tech could play a bigger part in the department and in the Division of Student Affairs. Then Gen Y came along, and I did my best to keep pace.

    Where some of the disconnect comes, I think, is from this dissonance that results when technical proficiency collides with organizational proficiency on the macro-level. I say this as someone who has (like you, I suspect) always been an "early adopter" of technology and generally a risk-taker. I liked to try new things, but it was hard to get buy in at times when my supervisors and I weren't talking the same language.

    This isn't just a book, it's a whole sub-field. An "overview" sort of book should probably address basic skills for all professionals, and some standards for keeping yourself "up-to-date" as a professional; the need for departments to adopt some standards for moving away from legacy systems and work-station based software to cloud-based and software as a service models, while protecting the privacy and integrity of data; where technology fits into any marketing and/or communications, (including emergency communications) and the importance of keeping pace with changes in technology.

    I'm sure there are many other sub-topics, and I am looking forward to reading more of the commentary here. Thanks for your continuing efforts to champion the cause of emerging technology, and keep the discussion going.

    Sean


  • Absolutely!
  • Posted by Kevin Cleary , Coordinator, Center for Student Involvement and Leadership at The University of Arizona on January 17, 2011 at 2:15pm EST
  • I would love to help out with this project! My Master's capstone was focused around utilizing technology to increase student engagement. It's definitely time that this book gets written!
  • Joining the Choir
  • Posted by Kristen Abell , Associate Director, Residential Life at UMKC on January 18, 2011 at 9:15am EST
  • Eric - obviously I agree with you on this topic, as we tweeted about it the other day. I also agree with Sean above that there is room for more than one book on technology in student affairs. As I said in my tweets, I think we have a number of people (especially some in higher-up positions) who are not taking the current information out there and applying it to student affairs. I think it's going to take more than one book to show them how we can make these applications happen.
    Additionally, I think this could be a great collaborative book project for a lot of us in the field - we're all using different technologies in different ways, and there are a number of people who I'm sure would love to contribute.
    Finally, it has to be in print - not just an ebook. If student affairs professionals aren't yet tech savvy, providing a book in ebook/blog format only isn't going to help them.
  • Please Consider Open Access
  • Posted by Dr. Kimberly Hardy , Executive Director of Student Success and Learning Engagement at Florida State College at Jacksonville on January 18, 2011 at 12:30pm EST
  • I concur with my colleagues in the need for such a resource. I currently am teaching a doctoral level course regarding technology and instructional strategies and struggled to find a text that was appropriate. I ended up pulling the majority of the resources together myself to utilize for the bulk of the course material.

    I would be very interested in assisting with this project, particularly as I have worked with the online population in student success for a number of years. However, two issues I believe need to be addressed with a project such as this. First, technology changes so rapidly that it is imperative such a resource be kept updated yearly. Second, given the increasing cost of textbooks and the move to open access, I would consider an open access textbook model for this. Florida is hosting a webinar on building a sustainable open access text model, a FIPSE grant project, on January 27th (http://www.openaccesstextbooks.org/), for those who are interested.

    Feel free to contact me at khardy@fscj.edu if you are in need of researching/writing/editing, as I have done all of the above and I am happy to assist in any way I can, as I believe this is worthwhile endeavor!
  • Fantastic!
  • Posted by Russell Aaron , Coordinator of Technology Projects and Support at University of Nevada, Reno on January 18, 2011 at 1:15pm EST
  • What a wonderful idea! I would agree that shying away from publishing a book because it may become outdated too quickly is not practical. A published book could serve as a great starting point before shifting to electronic formats/blogs for sharing all of the wonderful knowledge that professionals in our field have accumulated over the years.

    When attending the Regional NASPA conference, I was disappointed to find that many student affairs workers did not really fill positions similar to my own. I serve as the internal IT support to the Associated Students (student government), and serve as the liaison between our central IT department. I didn't meet a single person who served in a similar role.

    Looking forward to following updates on this!
  • IT Structure and Funding?
  • Posted by Tim Bounds , Director, Student Affairs ITS at Duke University on January 19, 2011 at 8:00am EST
  • Thanks for the post Eric. I've been in a Student Affairs IT department for a while now. I quickly learned that there are great differences in how technology is used from one campus to the next. We have 7 people on our IT team within student affairs, while some schools struggle to get any technology support. One topic to discuss should be the pros/cons of having an IT group within Student Affairs or utilizing centralized services for support.

    Having IT professionals reporting through Student Affairs makes a lot of things easier, including having IT people who can learn about strange topics like student development theory and other subjects that are second nature for most student affairs professionals.

    But it can also be expensive to have your own IT staff. Decisions need to be made on how to fund not only the staff, but the infrastructure that you will require in order to implement all these great ideas.

    The book sounds like a great idea. Let me know if I can help in any way.
  • SA Tech within Campus IT
  • Posted by Leslie Dare , Director, Student Affairs Technology Services at NC State University on January 25, 2011 at 4:00am EST
  • Eric, a great call for action. We've seen more and more on this topic in existing (2006 New Directions book) and upcoming (2011 New Realities book on specialists roles) publications. However, we are ready for a publication dedicated to this topic.

    I think it's important to show context of the student affairs organization within the the larger campus organization...both the general student affairs org, and the student affairs IT org. That really plays into the success of such a unit.

    I've been working on a blog post of my own that is a retrospective of the topic of technology in the "Big Green" student services book going back to the 1st edition in 1980. It's very telling of the evolution of this topic in our field.

    Here are important questions: What is the right venue? Print and/or online? Established or alternative? Scholarly and/or practitioner?

    We would need both editors and contributors; both conventional authorities on the topic and in-the-trenches student affairs personnel; both researchers and every day staff. (OK, maybe it can't be everything, for everyone. But all these options should be considered).

    Here's hoping we can make this a reality.
  • Great Resource!
  • Posted by Wendy Heshka on January 28, 2011 at 12:00pm EST
  • Your suggestion is a fantastic one. I am currently researching the use of new media in alumni relations and I think your idea is great as resources related to tech/student affairs are not streamlined and can be tricky to locate. I'd like to stay connected if you decide to pursue this. You can reach me at wheshka@shaw.ca

    Good luck!
    Wendy

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