Article from the Chronicle of Higher Education

November 17, 2010
Getting a Start in Student Affairs

Brian Taylor for The ChronicleEnlarge Image



Brian Taylor for The Chronicle
By George S. McClellan
A year or two ago, I would have called the job market in student affairs robust. Positions in the field were readily available to interested and qualified candidates. But the same economic pressures that have hit the faculty market have dampened opportunities in student services as well.

Until the recession began, academe saw both steady growth in the number of positions in the field and significant attrition among newcomers. Now, however, newcomers who entered our field and learned it wasn't for them are hanging on to their jobs "until something better comes along" because they see few options elsewhere. Despite growing enrollments and increasing demands for student services, the number of positions in student affairs seems fairly flat, and movement within the profession, relatively stagnant.

In short, the job market is tight, and likely to stay that way for the next few years.
In the past, if you came to student affairs through the traditional route of a graduate degree in the field, you didn't have to worry much about the cost of graduate school; entry-level jobs were readily available in student affairs, particularly in the areas of residential life or student activities. You just had to make sure you spread out your practicum experiences so that you could try out a variety of specialties and find your niche.

But with those entry-level positions no longer readily available, if you are still interested in a position in student affairs, here is what I would suggest.

At many institutions, a master's degree—preferably in higher education, student affairs, or a related field—continues to be the minimum required credential for entry-level positions. But the potential is all too real for graduating from a master's program with a degree, debt, and no immediate job prospects.

Nonetheless, if pursuing that traditional pathway makes the most sense to you, be prepared to be flexible in your job search. You might be interested in positions in leadership, service learning, or honors education, but your search may need to be extended to include student activities and academic support. You may have to be similarly flexible about location, given state and regional variations in economic condition. You may find that a part-time position—or more than one—becomes the path of entry into student affairs.

While you're in a graduate program, consider whether it would be wiser to seek diverse experiences in a variety of offices than to specialize in a particular area. The pool of candidates for entry-level positions is likelier than ever to include people with previous professional experience, and it may help your chances to have a varied background rather than a narrow one.

Graduate school is not the only launching pad into student affairs. Alternative pathways are accessible to those coming straight from a bachelor's degree or wishing to enter student affairs from another career track. While many institutions require candidates to have a master's, others (including many community colleges, small colleges, and rural colleges) do not. Taking a job at one of them will give you valuable experience—and you may find that you like it there. It may also be the kind of position that provides support for you to pursue graduate study.
Postbaccalaureate certificate programs are a small but growing phenomenon in student affairs. Formal education in the areas of budget and finance, theory, and law are important in the performance of student-affairs functions.

Certificate programs can provide that training short of a master's. If you scan job announcements online, you won't see many that specifically require applicants to have certain certificates. However, just as more-focused practical experiences or work as a volunteer might help distinguish one candidate from another, having completed a certificate program may make you more attractive to potential employers.

Whatever your pathway into student affairs, it is more important than ever to be familiar with the financial circumstances of the colleges and universities to which you are applying. Knowing which states or private institutions are experiencing budget problems can be important in avoiding exposure to furloughs or staff reductions while you are a relatively vulnerable new professional. And knowing which states or private institutions have stable, or even robust, budgets can be important in knowing where to find openings.

If your search for an entry-level position goes on at length without success, you may need to find work elsewhere to pay the bills. For those taking on temporary employment outside the field, there are a few things you need to do. First, stay in touch with the profession by maintaining your network of professional contacts. They can help you learn about new job openings.

Second, maintain membership in at least one student-affairs professional association. As a consequence of the recession, a number of associations in our field now offer discounted membership rates to unemployed student-affairs professionals or to those just out of graduate school but not yet working.

Third, keep up on with what's happening in academe and in our field through publications like this one, journals, and other publications. Staying mentally engaged in the field will be helpful when it comes time to interview.

Finally, consider volunteering with a local college's student-affairs division. Any added experience you can demonstrate to employers, even if it's volunteer work, can improve your prospects on the job market.

George S. McClellan is vice chancellor for student affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne. He will write regularly for "The Chronicle" about career issues in student affairs. If you have suggestions for topics you would like to see covered in this area, send your ideas to careers@chronicle.com

Bouncing Back from Setbacks-Good Article

How to Bounce Back From Setbacks

BY: REKHA BALU March 31, 2001 From Issue 45 | March 2001; Fast Company

The road to success is rarely a straight line.

Mike Espy is no stranger to success -- even when it has meant overcoming long odds. As a teenager in rural Mississippi, he was one of two student-body presidents of the first racially integrated class in his high school. He served for six years in Congress -- the state's first black member since Reconstruction. Under Bill Clinton, he was named U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, becoming both a Washington celebrity and a committed government reformer.

And then disaster struck. In 1994, reports surfaced that Espy, now 47, had flown on corporate jets owned by companies that his department regulated and had accepted gifts, such as tickets to sports events, from those companies. Next came word that Espy's then girlfriend had accepted a scholarship from Tyson Foods, another company that the Agriculture Department regulated. These disclosures did more than raise eyebrows. They prompted the White House -- and an independent counsel -- to question Espy's ability to do his job.

Espy resigned from the Clinton cabinet humbled and depressed. He figured that the independent counsel's investigation would last six months -- tops. "I wanted to move on with my life," he says. In the end, the investigation lasted four years, produced a 39-count indictment, and generated the sort of public scrutiny and private humiliation that only a Washington scandal can create. And it forced Mike Espy to confront a question that would determine the trajectory of the rest of his professional life: How do I bounce back from this devastating setback?

The road to long-term success is seldom a straight line, for companies or for individual leaders. New products get launched with great fanfare -- and then disappear from sight. Companies make big bets on a strategy -- only to discover that the playing field has shifted once again. All-too-human executives use poor judgment or permit just one ethical lapse -- and find their reputations tarnished forever. There is no success without the occasional failure. Yet the mythology we've created about business rarely allows us to recognize that obvious fact. Successful leaders, we've come to believe, never make a bad call. They never reach a dumb decision. They never, under pressure, choose to do something that they later regret.

"In America, failure is considered a disruption in progress," says Scott A. Sandage, a history professor at Carnegie Mellon University who teaches a course on success and failure. "Even as the understanding of economic challenges increases, there's an intensification of shame around failure."

Andrew Shatté, 38, vice president of research and product development at Adaptiv Learning Systems -- a firm that teaches executives how to be more resilient -- agrees: "It's easy to become flustered by setbacks, because most of us believe that our companies and careers should keep advancing. Successful people learn how to gain control of situations that are out of their control, retool themselves, and rebound quickly from disaster."

Here are in-depth profiles of people and companies that have managed to bounce back from setbacks. Warning: The experiences are not pretty, the emotions are deep, and the victories are sometimes less than decisive. But these stories are candid and authentic, the lessons powerful and useful. So read on, be grateful that you've probably never faced setbacks quite this severe -- and consider yourself better prepared to face whatever difficult circumstances you might encounter in the future.

Mike Espy: The (Long) Road Back

One of Mike Espy's trademarks is that he writes a note to himself every day to set out his goals. Once he resigned from his U.S. Cabinet post, his goals were no longer set for him. He suddenly had to determine his own future, and his list making became more extensive. He was shocked by the vitriol in Washington and by his own poor judgment. "I considered myself legally and ethically innocent," he declares as he sits in his Jackson, Mississippi law office. "I didn't give favors to any companies. I focused on policy, not on politics. And I thought the administration would support me. But I took too much for granted. My judgment was faulty in many ways."

Facing the folks back home was nerve-racking. Espy still winces a little as he recalls a homecoming game at his daughter's high school. At the time, she was a sophomore and a member of the homecoming court. He dreaded having to escort her across the school's football field so that she could join her court. "I wanted to take myself off the radar screen," says Espy. But while lying low was a strategy for short-term survival, it wasn't a strategy for change. "I had no job or income prospects," he says. "I couldn't be a lobbyist. I couldn't be an attorney. I was disgraced. It was the worst year of my life." The daily notes to himself became a list of obligations: how to pay the mortgage, how to provide child support.Meanwhile, as weeks turned into months, Espy realized that the road back would be much longer than he'd ever imagined. "I didn't have control of the process surrounding me, so I had to take control of my life," he says. He found a mentor in Tony Coelho, the onetime congressional leader who'd had his share of setbacks. Coelho met with Espy in the winter of 1995 for what would be a memorable lunch. Coelho drew a pie chart and divided it into six slices. "You start with a vision of what you will look like when you're at your ultimate state, and you fill in the pieces with what it will take to get you there," Espy recalls Coelho saying. One half of Espy's pie represented different aspects of himself that he had to rehabilitate. First slice: finances. Coelho suggested scheduling enough speaking engagements to bring in a good income. Second slice: mental outlook. To take Espy's mind off his troubles, Coelho suggested that he teach at a local college. Third slice: reputation. Getting involved in a well-known charity would improve Espy's image and his esteem. He joined Feed the Children as a consultant (he became a board member in 1999) and worked with the antihunger organization's international offices to use donations more efficiently.

Espy tried to resurface in the public eye, but he discovered that he couldn't. He scouted for legal jobs in Washington, DC but received no offers. He returned to Jackson and took a job at a 20-person law firm. There was no pomp, no army of staff. "I kept my door shut a lot, my head down, and my focus on myself," he recalls. "But I had to generate income for the firm. They wouldn't let me wallow in self-pity." Then, in 1997, he was officially indicted.

Espy's reaction was to get tougher -- and to be tougher on himself, rather than blaming others. When he learned that Independent Counsel Donald Smaltz did 100 push-ups a day, he worked toward doing 200 a day. He also perfected his tae kwon do technique (he has a black belt). After learning that the independent counsel had given everyone on his staff a watch with Espy's name engraved on it as a holiday gift, Espy decided to take the high road, instead of firing back. He struggled with his attitude so he wouldn't sound bitter. And in his public statements, he was careful not to blame his predicament on race or politics alone.

Espy also decided to take the long road to vindication, rather than the easy road to a quick settlement. He refused three plea offers. "I could have gotten out early on a misdemeanor charge and run up only $100,000 in legal bills," he says with his arms folded, eyes cast down. "But how do you put a price on your good name?" In 1998, after testimony from a parade of witnesses -- including fellow cabinet officers, former friends, and an artist who gave Espy a painting for his office -- Espy was exonerated. Nine counts were dismissed, and a jury acquitted Espy of the remaining 30 counts. A Washington Post article detailing the road to his acquittal is framed on a wall at his law firm. Tucked inside the frame is one of the watches with Espy's name on it that Smaltz gave to his staff.

But the acquittal didn't allow Espy simply to return to the career path he'd been on before the scandal. Bouncing back from a setback often means taking a different road. Although Mississippi residents said in a poll that they'd welcome him as lieutenant governor, Espy is more than a little gun-shy about returning to public life. He's now with Mississippi's largest law firm, working hard to perfect his litigation techniques. He may never return to a career in politics, but he has escaped from the scandal that threatened to destroy him. "It's not about the test," he says. "It's about how you pass the test."

Good Reminder

Alex reminded me today: It isn't a race to the finish and if it is a race, it's a marathon, not a spring. And if it's a marathon we each run the race for our own reason, not necessarily to be first!

I needed to hear that!

Augustana's Boston

Love this!

In the light of the sun, is there anyone? Oh it has begun...
Oh dear you look so lost, eyes are red and tears are shed,
This world you must've crossed... you said...

You don't know me, you don't even care, oh yeah,
She said
You don't know me, and you don't wear my chains... oh yeah,

Essential yet appealed, carry all your thoughts across
An open field,
When flowers gaze at you... they're not the only ones who cry
When they see you
You said...

You don't know me, you don't even care, oh yeah,
She said
You don't know me, and you don't wear my chains... oh yeah,

She said I think I'll go to Boston...
I think I'll start a new life,
I think I'll start it over, where no one knows my name,
I'll get out of California, I'm tired of the weather,
I think I'll get a lover and fly him out to Spain...
I think I'll go to Boston,
I think that I'm just tired
I think I need a new town, to leave this all behind...
I think I need a sunrise, I'm tired of the sunset,
I hear it's nice in the Summer, some snow would be nice... oh yeah,

Boston... where no one knows my name... yeah
Where no one knows my name...
Where no one knows my name...
Yeah Boston...
Where no one knows my name.

Labor Day Weekend

Getting some rest this weekend! I was SO TIRED this week, I was dragging for sure.

I am beginning to do my reading to prepare for the comprehensive final in October. I have one comprehensive exam in October and one in April ('11). These comps are standing in the way of working on my dissertation. It is frustrating! I want to get to the dissertation and right now I feel like I'm spinning my wheels.

I'm ready to choose my 3rd committee person, ready to do my pre-proposal and ready to get into the literature to write my literature review. If I didn't have the comps as a barrier, I would be elbow deep in articles right now!

There aren't enough peanut butter M&Ms to get me through the stress!

It's Move-In Time!

The weekend is barreling down upon me! Saturday at 8:00 a.m. we throw open the doors and welcome the residential students to their new homes.

It's such an exciting time!!! What a gift to be a part of this time of this students' lives. This week has been Residential Leader training--what an AMAZING group of wonderful leaders. Wow the RL "Class" of 2010-2011 absolutely rocks!

Distracted Weekend!

This month is whirling by so quickly. In some ways I want time to slow down and let me capture it but in other ways I want to hurry up and get August over with. There are so many things going on at work during this time of year that I feel like I'm jumping from minute to minute. With work related to my doctorate I need to slow down time!

Weekend after weekend slips by and I'm not getting my stuff done like I want/need to get done. I feel that part of me is apprehensive to begin, to jump in with both feet. It is almost like I'm worried I'll be too overwhelmed with all the information that I'll drown and not be able to find my way out.

It scares me to think about waiting until April 11 to really roll up my sleeves and get things done. I feel like I'll be spinning my wheels until then. I feel that I can't really get serious about my dissertation and proposal until after I get comps out of the way. Part of me has even thought about dropping the PhD and going for an EdD so I can get started. The "Activator" in me is ready to get busy. But is that the right thing to do?

So, should I "stay the course" of the PhD which means likely having to wait on the comps in October (2010) and April (2011) and then doing my proposal/dissertation OR should I check on dropping the PhD and going the EdD route which may mean going straight to the dissertation?

Thoughts?