Careers in Student Affairs
Welcome to The University of Iowa’s Student Affairs! Discover the vital role you can play in the growth and development of students. With a variety of career tracks available, find your place in a vibrant collegiate environment that fosters collaboration and professional development. Consider whether graduate school or a full-time position is right for you, and connect with mentors in the field. Self-authorship is essential—gain a deeper understanding of your beliefs and values to better serve students.
Careers in Student Affairs
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Presentation Transcript
Careers in Student Affairs Jon Sexton – The University of Iowa
Why Student affairs? • You will have an important role in the growth and development of students. • Career track variety • Vibrant collegiate working environments • Collaboration • Professional Organizations & Development Source: Love, 2014
What path will you take? Graduate School or Full Time Position
Networking Activity Introduce yourself Tell your partner what got you interested in student affairs Are you thinking about grad school or a full time position? What career field(s) are you interested in in higher education?
Self-authorship • “Self-authorship [is] the capacity to author, or invent, one’s own beliefs, values, sense of self, and relationships with others” (Baxter-Magolda, 2006, p. 3) • “Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic selfhood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be.” (Palmer, 2000 p. 16) • “When I do not know myself, I cannot know who my students are. I will see them through a glass darkly, in the shadows of my unexamined life – and when I cannot see them clearly, I cannot teach them well.” (Palmer, 2000, p. 2)
Self-Authorship • “One sign that I am violating my own nature in the name of nobility is a condition called burnout. Though usually regarded as the result of trying to give too much, burnout in my experience results from trying to give what I do not possess.” (Palmer, 2000, p. 49)
Top Five Reasons not to Get into Student Affairs • You’re looking forward to punishing students who break the rules. • You’re single and you know there are a ton of prospects on college campuses. • You’re looking forward to partying with your student staff. • You’re excited to be in a field where everyone has the same opinions and beliefs. • You want to be rich.
References • Love, P. (2014). Considering a career in student affairs. Association of College Personnel Administrators. Retrieved from: http://www2.myacpa.org/profprep-career • Palmer, P. J. (2000). Let your life speak: Listening for the voice of vocation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. • Baxter-Magolda, M. B. (2006). Learning partnerships model: A framework for promoting self-authorship. In Wilson, M. E., & Wolf-Wendel, L. E. (Eds.). ASHE Reader on College Student Development Theory.
Contact Jon Sexton jonathan-sexton@uiowa.edu 319-335-1495