Higher Education as a field of study

Graduate Programs and their foci 

Student Affairs - Supporting students outside of the classroom
Administration - General leadership within higher education - law, strategic planning, budgeting, fund raising, collaborating with boards of trustees, community leaders, faculty, etc.
Community Colleges - Focusing primarily on the organization and administration of community colleges
Policy - How federal and state government shape institutions and students, funding, financial aid,
Research and Assessment - using data to forecast enrollments, identify at risk factors related to the institution and students

Content of the Field: Core Knowledge Domains

History and evolution over time of institutions and systems
Structure and functions of organizations and interplay with external environment
Organizational theory
Curriculum & learning
Students and student development

Primary associations that address the contemporary issues in higher education

ASHE - Association for Study of Higher Education
AERA - American Educational Research Association

Review of 2016 annual Association for Study of Higher Education (ASHE) conference

The conference program structured around seven sections: welcome, meetings, receptions, pre-conferences, general conference, awards luncheon, and ASHE DASH. The 2016 conference featured a general conference that included 309 research papers, 50 scholarly papers, 25 interactive symposia, 10 topical paper sessions, 92 roundtables, and 32 posters. Additionally, there were four pre-conferences, nine presidential sessions, three graduate student sessions, four conversations with editors and funders, and three keynote sessions (2016 ASHE Conference Program).

The theme of the 2016 ASHE conference was Higher Education and the Public Good. Scott Thomas, (2016 ASHE president) and Heather Rowan-Kenyon (2016 ASHE conference chair) stated that this theme was chosen to realign higher education with the public benefits, purposes, and obligations of the field. Moreover, a key objective of the conference presentations and discussions was to identify how these benefits might be manifest in the context of the 21st century college and university. Their hope for the conference was that higher education professionals might come together in dialogue about the challenges facing higher education and identify potential solutions (2016 ASHE Conference Program). 

The preconference workshops were comprised of sessions that focused on higher education policy and career development and advancement in teaching. Also, there were roundtables where participants discussed current issues in higher education and student affairs, specifically the development of community college student affairs professionals. Graduate programs were included in these preconference as professionals were set to discuss how to internationalize higher education graduate programs. Other foci include diversity and inclusion, higher education as a profession, business challenges of higher education, research and assessment, and higher education policy (2016 ASHE Conference Program).

The general conference was comprised of sessions that reflected on the theme of the 2016 program. The role of the community colleges, equity and inclusion, performance-based funding models, higher education policy, faculty improvement, issues racial and sexual identity, critical moments in higher education, and student development (2016 ASHE Conference Program). There was a significant focus on understanding the experiences of students of color both collectively as well as the male/female perspectives. Additionally, there were a few sessions where presenters sought to discuss the challenges facing black women in higher education, specifically as faculty. I did not see an emphasis on students with disabilities. I think there must be some acknowledgement and discussion of the dichotomy of services for these students across campuses in order to improve their opportunities for student success.

Based upon the literature, future conference programs should include a discussion of the core competencies of student affairs professionals and higher education administrators. Faculty development is critical to meeting the challenges of today’s higher education environment. However, development of higher education professionals and administrators is equally as important. To provide the wrap-around services to and to fully appreciate the circumstances of all students, higher education professionals and administrators must be trained to develop and interact in environments of critical inquiry.

Reference:

2016 Association for the Study of Higher Education conference program. Retrieved from http://www.ashe.ws/files/ASHE2016FINAL.pdf.