The Secret World Of Student Affairs

Coming into post-secondary work as a medical professional, it took me awhile to figure out that there was such a thing as a Student Affairs professional, and a bit longer to identify as one. I already had a fully formed professional identity that was inculcated and reinforced by eight years of school and training, and six years of practice (although it was an identity I would gladly shrug off, given the baggage that people put onto the title of “doctor”).

Despite working among Student Affairs professionals for several years, my first inkling there was a Secret World of Student Affairs was at a retreat with Ryerson’s Provost, recently brand new to the job. (Even though I sat with the Provost during lunch, I had no idea what a Provost was—senior administration were just people who came in as patients to the Medical Centre.)  I sat through a day and a half of discussion about visions, education, students, and student services. I was reaching into the recesses of my medical training for something that I could relate and contribute to the discussion, when I uttered the magic words “student development”. After that, my colleagues swarmed me, gave me knowing looks, and welcomed me into the fold. All the while I was left wondering—what just happened?

So I spent the next few years watching my colleagues, asking myself questions. What are Student Affairs professionals? What did they do? How were they different? How do you become a Student Affairs professional? Questions, I realized later, that are asked by many, if not everyone, in Student Affairs.  (Over the years, I watched these very same questions be asked by the CACUSS Board and its divisions, at CACUSS conference sessions, interview panels, staff meetings, and socials.)

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