Higher Education Student Resources

We are committed to helping you complete your program. Below you will find some resources specifically related to assisting you along the way to getting your degree in the Higher Education program.

Getting Oriented

The higher education program handbook contains general program overviews, competencies, courses of study, program requirements, and other resources. 

Higher Education Program Handbook 2024-25  (PDF)

The Higher Education Program uses the Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Educators, which were developed by NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and ACPA College Student Educator International, the two largest professional organizations in higher education and student affairs. The 10 professional competency areas kay out essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions expected of all student affairs educators, regardless of functional area or specialization. Throughout your degree program, you will use both in-class and out-of-class experiences to develop the following competencies: 

  1. Personal and Ethical Foundations (PEF) - Involves the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to develop and maintain integrity in one’s life and work; this includes thoughtful development, critique, and adherence to a holistic and comprehensive standard of ethics and commitment to one’s own wellness and growth. Personal and ethical foundations are aligned because integrity has an internal locus informed by a combination of external ethical guidelines, an internal voice of care, and our own lived experiences. Our personal and ethical foundations grow through a process of curiosity, reflection, and self-authorship.
  2. Values, Philosophy, and History (VPH) - Involves knowledge, skills, and dispositions that connect the history, philosophy, and values of the student affairs profession to one’s current professional practice. This competency area embodies the foundations of the profession from which current and future research, scholarship, and practice will change and grow. The commitment to demonstrating this competency area ensures that our present and future practices are informed by an understanding of the profession’s history, philosophy, and values.
  3. Assessment, Evaluation, and Research (AER) - Focuses on the ability to design, conduct, critique, and use various AER methodologies and the results obtained from them, to utilize AER processes and their results to inform practice, and to shape the political and ethical climate surrounding AER processes and uses in higher education.
  4. Law, Policy, and Governance (LPG) - Includes the knowledge, skills, and dispositions relating to policy development processes used in various contexts, the application of legal constructs, compliance/policy issues, and the understanding of governance structures and their impact on one’s professional practice.
  5. Organizational and Human Resources (OHR) -  Includes knowledge, skills, and dispositions used in the management of institutional human capital, financial, and physical resources. This competency area recognizes that student affairs professionals bring personal strengths and grow as managers through challenging themselves to build new skills in the selection, supervision, motivation, and formal evaluation of staff; resolution of conflict; management of the politics of organizational discourse; and the effective application of strategies and techniques associated with financial resources, facilities management, fundraising, technology, crisis management, risk management and sustainable resources.
  6. Leadership (LEAD) - Addresses the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required of a leader, with or without positional authority. Leadership involves both the individual role of a leader and the leadership process of individuals working together to envision, plan, and affect change in organizations and respond to broad-based constituencies and issues. This can include working with students, student affairs colleagues, faculty, and community members.
  7. Social Justice and Inclusion (SJI) - While there are many conceptions of social justice and inclusion in various contexts, for the purposes of this competency area, it is defined here as both a process and a goal which includes the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to create learning environments that foster equitable participation of all groups while seeking to address and acknowledge issues of oppression, privilege, and power. This competency involves student affairs educators who have a sense of their own agency and social responsibility that includes others, their community, and the larger global context. Student affairs educators may incorporate social justice and inclusion competencies into their practice through seeking to meet the needs of all groups, equitably distributing resources, raising social consciousness, and repairing past and current harms on campus communities. 
  8. Student Learning and Development (SLD) - Addresses the concepts and principles of student development and learning theory. This includes the ability to apply theory to improve and inform student affairs and teaching practice.
  9. Technology (TECH) - Focuses on the use of digital tools, resources, and technologies for the advancement of student learning, development, and success as well as the improved performance of student affairs professionals. Included within this area are knowledge, skills, and dispositions that lead to the generation of digital literacy and digital citizenship within communities of students, student affairs professionals, faculty members, and colleges and universities as a whole.
  10. Advising and Supporting (A/S) - Addresses the knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to providing advising and support to individuals and groups through direction, feedback, critique, referral, and guidance. Through developing advising and supporting strategies that take into account self-knowledge and the needs of others, we play critical roles in advancing the holistic wellness of ourselves, our students, and our colleagues.

Check with your adviser while planning your coursework. Once you achieve each milestone in your program, be sure to complete the necessary forms for each stage.

For the most up to date details for planning a program of study, see the Higher Education Handbook.

SPIRE: Use SPIRE to find and register for courses.
Canvas: Learning management system for Master's and Doctoral students.

As scholars and practitioners, it is important for us to stay abreast of current events in higher education. You can also use articles from these resources to contextualize and situate your writing topics within current events. Just remember, news articles do not count as scholarly resources!

Writing

  • APA Style Guide: Quick online reference for APA formatting, but ALWAYS refer to the latest edition of the APA Publication Manual for best reference!

Researching

There are often opportunities to get involved with faculty-led research projects. Keep an eye out for research opportunity announcements. Feel free to reach out to faculty directly if you would like to collaborate on a project, or if you have your own project, you want to get off the ground.

Presenting

Professional Networks and Conferences

  • AERA: American Educational Research Association
    National Conference: Mid-April
  • ASHE: Association for the Study of Higher Education
    National Conference: Mid-November
  • NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education
    Region I Conference: Mid-November
  • ACPA: College Student Educators International  
    • National Conference: Early March
  • NERA: Northeastern Educational Research Association
    Regional Conference: Mid-October    

College of Education Travel Grants:  Funding to support graduate students presenting at academic conferences. Three waves of applications - November 1 for fall travel, February 1 for winter travel, and April 1 for spring travel.

Publishing

Achieving Milestones

Be sure to check the Degree Milestones and Forms page to see a checklist and instructions for the forms you will use to report your progress and complete your degree

As you get close to the end of your program, start laying the groundwork for the next stage of your life. These resources can help.

Professional Networks and Job Boards

Large professional organizations - such as NASPA and ASHE - often have smaller sub-groups of folks united by common interests, functional areas, or identities.