ACPA and NASPA Competencies for Student Affairs Professionals
Professionals in Student Affairs must engage in life long development in key competency areas (ACPA & NASPA, 2015). The ACPA and NASPA (2015) have collectively highlighted the following areas of competencies:
Personal and Ethical Foundations (PEF)
Values, Philosophy, and History (VPH)
Assessment, Evaluation, and Research (AER)
Law, Policy, and Governance (LPG)
Organizational and Human Resource (OHR)
Leadership (LEAD)
Social Justice and Inclusion (SJI)
Student Learning and Development (SLD)
Technology (TECH)
Advising and Supporting (A/S)
Throughout my MS Educational Leadership Studies program with a focus on Higher Education, I found that the required coursework was structured around developing students’ ACPA and NASPA professional competencies. As I complete my requirements for this program at Oklahoma State University, I have had the opportunity to learn and increase my proficiency in these areas. My portfolio serves to showcase some of skills in these competencies through considering the foundational history of current Student Affairs challenges, applying theory to practice, and understanding multicultural competencies beyond developing awareness, knowledge, and skills to engaging in multicultural action, and creating just systems within higher education. I have indicated the competency area that each article highlights below.
I have reflected on my personal and ethical foundations (PEF) and developed this competency in my Personal and Professional Philosophy statement. The Foundations of Higher Education course helped me understand the ways by which the evolution of higher education in America is interwoven with the social, political, and economic changes faced by the nation. It was my first introduction to inequitable access to higher education for various groups over time in the United States, and the role of the federal government in shaping the higher education landscape. On the Basis of Sex: The Origins of the Title IX Reforms in the 21st Century included in my portfolio demonstrates my ability to reflect on the historical, social, and philosophical foundations of higher education, and to trace the influence of these foundations on current issues faced by institutions of higher education (VPH).
While thinking through these historical foundations, I was also exploring various student development theories. Learning about intersectionality and various identities that students occupy, along with their moral and epistemological development helped me understand the lens through which individual students perceive and navigate campus. It is crucial for student affairs professionals to explore their own identities and positionality and the ways in which they show up for their students. In My Journey to Self-Authorship through College, I use theory to understand and reflect on my development and learning (SLD).
During this time, in Leadership Theory, I learned about the Citizen Professional (Boyte, 2008), and read about President Obama’s early community organizing work. I developed my awareness, knowledge, and skills in multicultural competence by learning to deconstruct leadership theories applied to President Obama’s leadership in Moving Towards a Justice-Oriented Leadership Model: Drawing from Barack Obama as a Transformational Leader. Using critical perspectives and developing a socially just model of transformational leadership. I present my commitment to leadership (LEAD) in Towards a Justice-oriented Transformational Leadership: An Educational Leadership Platform.
In Organizational Theory, I learned to apply frameworks from multiple vantage points to understand the context and realities faced by the institutional leaders at various levels (OHR). As an exercise in developing this skill, I worked with Dr. Jovette Dew, Assistant Vice President of Diversity Academic Support, from the Division of Institutional Diversity to determine challenges they face in addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus. The result of this analysis and application of an appreciative inquiry framework can be seen in The Division of Institutional Diversity as an Organization within Oklahoma State University.
Learning about Assessment in student affairs taught me the ways in which we must incorporate culturally sensitive measures in how to conceptualize, design, analyze, and report assessment in student affairs. I have been able to develop and demonstrate my assessment competency (AER) through my project Assessing the Campus Climate Survey Surrounding Sexual Violence at Oklahoma State University.
The readings from Diversity and Equity Issues in Education, an elective offered by Social Foundations, educated me on privilege and oppression based on social, historical and cultural constructions of difference (SJI). Through the analytic papers and the exercise of applying Foucauldian ideas and terminology from Discipline and Punish (1995) and Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970/2000) to Ben Crump’s Open Season (2019), I was able to engage with some of the most challenging readings on diversity issues that helped me develop my multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. I also learned about multicultural action through allyship and education and increased my knowledge on ableism. An Analysis of Open Season through Foucauldian Discourse and Freirean Pedagogical Concepts is one of the papers I present in my portfolio of which I am proudest.
The impact of college on students introduced me to the importance of student engagement, persistence, and retention. This was my first experience in applying theory to practice as I considered the ways institutions can increase student engagement and retention by creating programs and services that are inclusive to all students, specifically our underrepresented populations. Connecting ideas from across courses and reflecting on my experiences set me on a path that focused on increasing access to higher education for underrepresented populations. Such a path also involves identifying ways in which institutions can provide better supports for these students and break down power structures that serve as barriers for non-traditional students from various backgrounds.
Research to Practice provided me the opportunity to develop a strategic proposal to support institutions in responding to the needs of diverse students with increased mobility on campus. By writing a proposal that tied into the strategic mission of the institution, I was able to act on my multicultural competence to advocate for diverse students who make up our transfer student population in ways that align with the core mission of the university. For the Critical Issues course, I explored the barriers faced by between institutions. Readings from Alinsky (1969/2010) and Avila (2017) helped me grapple with authority and power in relationships. This has been instrumental for me to not only consider my own leadership but also the ways power and authority can affect multicultural issues and my capacity for multicultural action. Through my internship experiences in the Office of Transfer and Student Veteran Success and learning about institutional changemaking, I increased the tools I could use to continue working across the institution to create change that is focused on social justice and inclusion. My creative component titled Transfer Receptive Culture: Grassroots Leadership Lessons to Create Change in Higher Education Institutions is a culmination of my learning and development through these courses.
References
ACPA, & NASPA. (2015). Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Educators.
Alinsky, S. (2010). Community traditions and organizations. In Reveille for Radicals. Vintage Books. (Original work published 1969)
Avila, M. (2017). Transformative civic engagement through community organizing. Stylus Publishing, LLC.
Boyte, H. C. (2008). Citizen Professionals. In The Citizen Solution: How You Can Make a Difference (pp. 143–157).
Crump, B. (2019). Open season: Legalized genocide of colored people. Harper Collins Publishers.
Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison, 2nd ed. (A. Sheridan, Trans.). Vintage Books.
Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum. (Original work published 1970)
