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EARLY HISTORY ( - 1989)
James J. Rhatigan, NASPA Historian (1989)
Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Wichita State University

RECENT HISTORY (1995-2005)
Kathryn Nemeth Tuttle, NASPA Historian
with assistance from Gwendolyn Jordan Dungy and Kevin Kruger
May 6, 2008

Recent History, continued

National Leadership and Infrastructure Development

It is clear that NASPA's growth and development can be linked directly to its national leadership, supported by an excellent staff, and inspired by a long line of visionary NASPA presidents, involved and innovative boards of directors, and member institutions' and professionals' willingness to contribute in innumerable and substantive ways to make a difference within NASPA. 

The catalyst for a decade of development was the 1995 revision of the NASPA Mission Statement and a new strategic plan.  The NASPA Centers for Innovation, launched in 2000, are just one realization of the mission and strategic plan, formalized in ways to best serve members, institutions, and the association. 

One of the most dramatic changes in the last ten years is in the area of technology.  NASPA has advanced light years in the technology developed for members, including the NASPA website, online conference program submission and registration, both nationally and regionally, and electronic publications such as the weekly e-zine NetResults and NASPA Journal. The final hardcopy of the Member Handbook and Directory was printed in 2001, the same year online election of the NASPA President and Regional Vice Presidents was initiated.   

NASPA's infrastructure, including budget and financial health, also has seen significant stabilization in the last ten years.  The reserve account, with a goal of having one year's operational expenses on hand, has grown steadily to provide security for the association and its staff.  Another positive for NASPA's financial status has been the steady increase in corporate sponsors.

Expansion of Individual and Institutional Membership

Early in the decade, concerns about community college membership – both institutionally and individually – were evident.  NASPA leadership worked steadily to improve these numbers and, by 2006, community college participation had grown to 444 individual members and 163 institutional members.  The most significant recognition of the importance of community colleges to NASPA occurred in January 2005 when the Advisory Board for Community and Two-Year Colleges held its initial meeting.  In addition, NASPA named a new Director of Community College Education Programs and Services, and placed the National KC Chair for Community and Two-Year Colleges on the Advisory Board. 

In a similar manner, NASPA made a commitment to incorporate more membership from small colleges and, by 1997, the Small College and University Network started to make a difference for growth in this area.  This led to the creation of a Knowledge Community and later a Division.   

One area of membership growth deserves special mention:  in 1999 NAPSA saw a big jump in the number of Faculty Affiliates, from 18 to 101.  At the end of 2006 the number of Faculty Affiliates was 245.  Other areas of membership growth include:  women; professionals of color; and new and mid-level professionals.

Regional and Knowledge Communities

The importance of the growth and development of NASPA's Regions to the success and national higher education leadership of the association is another important hallmark. Regional groups emerged in the early 1960s with the election of vice presidents of seven regions mirroring the six national accreditation regions, except that the large Region IV was divided into East and West divisions In addition the international institutional members are assigned to regions. 

While there were early concerns by some in the organization that regional development might detract from the growth of national efforts, NASPA Regions add significant strengths in the areas of membership growth and diversification; program and Knowledge Community enhancement; and access to professional development.  Without Regions, many younger professionals, financially strapped institutions, and isolated colleges and universities would not have the same opportunity for professional growth and association participation. 

At the 2000 NASPA Annual Conference, NASPA Networks, initiated in 1989, were transformed into Knowledge Communities. The various networks provided NASPA members with the opportunity to diversify and expand their professional experiences and education based on their specific area of work or type of institution, or by affinity with particular groups. Knowledge Communities extend professional development by identifying emerging knowledge and critical professional practice issues, using technology to expand communication, and undertaking collaborative efforts. Consequently, the range and type of Knowledge Communities (KCs) has grown in the past decade, as have the means to communicate. KCs are expected to expand knowledge available to NASPA members through online discussions, providing articles for NASPA publications, or providing professional development opportunities at national or regional conference events.  

Publications

While there are many developments to praise in NASPA's last decade, the advancements in the area of publications and communications, both print and electronic, deserve special recognition. NASPA members need only reflect on how use of the NASPA website in the last decade has changed their connection to and knowledge of the association and professional development. Whether it is registering for conferences, voting for NASPA President, using NetResults to improve campus programs and strategies, or the easy access to articles in the NASPA Journal, the electronic revolution has played a major role in changing how NASPA and NASPA members function. An added service for NASPA members, whose demanding schedules may preclude keeping up with all the electronic resources, is the biannual Almanac, which lists articles published by NASPA in the previous semester. At the same time, NASPA print publications expanded and diversified in critical ways.

The NASPA Journal changed to an online format in Fall 2002 with volume 40, issue 1.  In addition, Journal issues back to Fall 1996 were archived. 

Leadership Exchange offers an important avenue of communication and professional development for Senior Student Affairs Officers and is provided as an institutional benefit for voting delegates. First published in 2003, its editorial board is also the Advisory Board of the Scott National Academy for Leadership and Executive Effectiveness. This high-quality quarterly paper journal focuses on leadership and management issues; previous issues are available electronically to all NASPA members.  

The NASPA Forum, originally a quarterly print newsletter, expanded in 1997-98 to allow for more submissions. In 1999, significant changes resulted in the Forum featuring more in-depth articles, a continued focus on legal issues, and more information on technology issues. In March 2003, the Forum went online, and is sent to members monthly. 

NetResults, an online magazine dedicated to current issues in student affairs, debuted in March 1998, highlighting NASPA's continuing technology leadership among higher education associations.  In 1999, the Academy for Leadership and Executive Effectiveness took over responsibility for its development and production. 

In 2004, NASPA book and monographs sales set a new record. NASPA pursued a new approach in January 2006 when it launched its first game—the Game of Oppression—designed to challenge college students to discuss differences in ability, background, class, race, sexual orientation, and other differences in order to interact on a deeper level and develop more meaningful relationships. 

NASPA Foundation

The NASPA Foundation was created in 1974-75 under the leadership of NASPA President John Blackburn to provide funds for ongoing research and programs.  It was originally called the NASPA Institute for Research and Development (NIRAD). The Foundation exists to "advance the profession through financial support of scholarship and innovation."

One of the most significant Foundation programs is."Pillars of the Profession," which recognizes distinguished student affairs leaders.  The Pillars of the Profession program honors members of "professional distinction" who have served in NASPA leadership roles and are recognized for "extraordinary service."Various other methods of fund raising have developed, with one of the most popular, the Silent Auction, starting at the annual conference in 2002, and now regularly adding $15,000-$20,000 annually to the Foundation funds.  The following year, the Foundation awarded two research grants to student affairs professionals and continues to support significant student affairs and higher education research. 

Collaborations

NASPA has joined with the American College Personal Association (ACPA) for its most significant collaborative efforts in the past decade.  For example, in 1997, the two organizations produced Principles of Good Practice, which established standards for the profession. In many cases, other organizations joined in these collaborations, such as the 24th annual Dean's Institute – or both academic and student affairs deans – which was a joint effort of NASPA, ACPA, and the Council of Independent Colleges.  In 2000, NASPA, ACPA, and NAWE met with the Andrew Mellon Foundation to discuss professional student affairs development programs for South Africa.   Other key collaborations with ACPA, include the Reasonable Expectations Project, Learning Reconsidered, the Blue Ribbon Committee, and Powerful Partnerships. 

The Reasonable Expectations Project was a response to the 1993 revision of the AAUP Joint Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities. NASPA, among other higher education groups, contributed to the revisions, and those involved sought a broader statement to "clarify the nature of the relationship between institutions and students to enhance student and institutional productivity."As a result, Reasonable Expectations: Renewing the Educational Compact between Institutions and Students was published in 1994, focusing on what students and institutions can expect from one another in five key areas:  teaching and learning; the curriculum; institutional integrity; quality of institutional life; and educational services. 

Because the need for an "educational compact" between students and institutions was even more evident a decade later in 2002, the NASPA Board of Directors commissioned a group to update the document.  Their work culminated in the publication by Jossey-Bass of Promoting Reasonable Expectations:  Aligning Student and Institutional Views of the College Experience in 2005. To take the application of this research a step further, NASPA published Taking Student Expectations Seriously;  A Guide for Campus Applications in 2006. 

Scholars affiliated with both NASPA and ACPA wrote the influential Learning Reconsidered:  A Campus Wide Focus on the Student Experience in 2004.  To date, it has outsold all other NASPA publications. The importance of this document is multi-layered:  it utilizes historical student affairs principles, such as the focus on the whole student, to argue for the integration of both academic and student affairs resources and challenges current higher education structures to re-envision a new paradigm for student learning.  It harkens back to the 1937 Student Personnel Point of View statement which obligated educational institutions "to consider the student as a whole."

Many institutions used Learning Reconsidered to assess and frame the ways collaboration between student affairs and academic affairs happens on their campuses and to guide student learning.   Because of the wide success of the initial monograph, and to further this assessment and implement its recommendations, Learning Reconsidered 2: A Practical Guide to Implementing a Campus-Wide Focus on the Student Experience was published in 2006.  An important addition to Learning Reconsidered 2 is the inclusion of new partner associations including Association of College and University Housing Offices--International ACUHO-I; Association of College Unions International (ACUI); National Academic Advising Association (NACADA); National Association for Campus Activities (NACA);  and National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA).

The NASPA Board of Directors and the ACPA Executive Council named a Blue Ribbon Committee in September 2002 to explore the possible consolidation of the two associations.  The committee was charged with determining whether one consolidated association could meet the professional development needs of the student affairs profession. In response to the committee's report, NASPA President Karen L. Pennington and ACPA President Myra F. Morgan and their respective executive boards issued a joint statement in 2003 that supported the conclusions of the Blue Ribbon Committee. They stressed that while the time was not right for consolidation, the "status quo" was not acceptable and the profession would benefit from "an increase in partnerships between the two Associations."

Powerful Partnerships:  A Shared Responsibility for Learning, a joint NASPA, ACPA, and AAHE report issued in 1998, outlines ten principles to strengthen learning in higher education institutions. Each principle includes examples of exemplary collaborative practices joining academic and student affairs professionals. The report concludes with a call to students, faculty, scholars of cognition, administrative leaders, student affairs professionals, alumni, governing boards, community supporters, accrediting and government agencies, professional organizations, and families to apply these principles to teaching and the development of curricula and learning environments, as well as enhancing collaboration between academic and student affairs.  

NAPSA has collaborated with a wide range of associations to respond to specific needs of the profession.  Several fruitful collaborations with NACUA have clarified legal issues, from law and technology in 2001, to a 2005 webcast responding to immediate issues for institutions regarding suicide because of judicial rulings around the MIT case.  Other legal collaborations involve the Strategic Partnership with the Council on Law in Higher Education (CLHE).  Enrollment management conferences with AACRAO, diversity institutes with NCBI, and a life skills program with the NCAA are just a few of the examples of collaborative efforts.

Conclusion

In a May 2006 Forum article, NASPA Executive Director Gwen Dungy recognized that forecasting NASPA's future is challenging because the association will constantly assess issues on our campuses and within the broad context of higher education to provide quality leadership for student affairs professionals. She did hope for a world where young people aspire to be in student affairs at an early age because the profession has become so visible. She reiterated the pride in NASPA's role as the "leading voice for student affairs administration, policy, and practice." In terms of NASPA's values, she stressed fellowship, saying, "Even though we talk about learning, and diversity, and integrity, I think the bottom line is fellowship. That's what keeps the members loyal." That is a value Scott Goodnight, Robert Rienow, Thomas Arkle Clark, and fellow student affairs professionals affirmed at their first meeting in 1919, and continued strong NASPA leadership ensures the fellowship of NASPA members will continue into the second decade of the 21st century and beyond.