Careers In Student Affairs
The following list provides the names of professional organizations and conferences, periodicals and publications for student affairs professionals or individuals considering a career in student affairs:
Professional Organizations and Conferences
- American College Personnel Association (ACPA): ACPA is an organization intended to support and foster college student learning through the generation and dissemination of knowledge, which informs policies, practices, and programs, for student affairs professionals and the higher education community. There is an annual convention offering placement opportunities and program options.
- National Association of College Personnel Administrators (NACPA): NACPA provides professional development, promotes exemplary practices, and is a leader in policy development. NASPA helps senior student affairs officers and administrators, student affairs professionals, faculty, and other educators enhance student learning and development. NASPA promotes quality and high expectations; advocates for students; encourages diversity; and excels in research and publication.
- Oshkosh Placement Exchange (OPE): OPE provides a means for national college and university Residence Life and Student Auxiliary employers to meet and interview candidates from across the country for various positions. Approximately 95% of these are entry and mid-level positions in the field of Residence Life. Graduate Assistantships are also offered by many employers. Occasionally positions are available in Student Activities, Programming or Greek Affairs. Positions in education, business, and the sciences are not offered through the Exchange.
Periodicals and Publications
- The Chronicle of Higher Education: The Chronicle is published weekly and read by more than 450,000 college and university administrators and faculty members. Each issue includes news from campuses in the United States and around the world, updates on the latest developments in scholarly research, articles about tenure, retirement, and other personal and professional concerns of people in academe, updates on how the latest developments in information technology are affecting higher education, reports on the latest government actions, both state and federal, that affect colleges and their students, and hundreds of job listings. The Chronicle provides a daily briefing on developments in higher education, sent by e-mail, with full reports available on the Chronicle Website.
- PaperClipCommunications: PaperClipCommunications specializes in serving the information needs of the field of student life. Their products include newsletters, manuals, seminars, conferences and other information resources. These products cover topics related to residence life, alcohol issues, orientation, diversity, student government and Greek affairs. PaperClip Communications is staffed by a network of educators, student life professionals, professional writers editors and other publishing professionals. PaperClip Communications was founded in 1994 by Andy McLaughlin.
Listservs
- StudentAffairs.com: StudentAffairs.com maintains an extensive list of listservs related to student affairs. There are listservs for community colleges, diversity issues, functional areas (such as judicial affairs, residence life or admissions), graduate study or services, student activism and more. A brief description of each of the listservs as well as directions on how to subscribe are included.