Centering the Student Affairs Workforce Cover

Centering the Student Affairs Workforce

Career and Workforce Development AVP or "Number Two" Faculty Mid-Level Senior Level VP for Student Affairs
March 4, 2026

Centering the Student Affairs Workforce highlights the urgent need for student affairs workforce reform and identifies actionable strategies for transformation. Drawing on survey data, leadership perspectives, and field research, this white paper provides a comprehensive framework for centering, strengthening, and sustaining the student affairs workforce. It examines the workplace shifts reshaping higher education following years of disruption, staffing vacancies, budget constraints, and changing expectations about work, and positions staff experience and engagement as strategic priorities for advancing student success and institutional effectiveness. The white paper outlines strategies across five critical areas—staff growth and development, workforce culture, well-being and workplace integration, recruitment and retention, and strategic alignment—and includes recommendations, strategic options, and practical implementation tips to help institutions translate these ideas into practice. 

Centering the Student Affairs Workforce Workgroup

Workgroup Chair

Darryl Lovett, EdD
Director of Staff Experience for Student Affairs
Florida State University

Workgroup Members

Earl Cabellon
Director of Staff Experience and Culture
University of Maryland
Dale Scully
Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Engagement, and Wellness
University of Minnesota Crookston
Danny Pape, MSE
Executive Director of the Center for Career Engagement
Washington University in St. Louis
Mary Blanchard Wallace, PhD
Assistant Vice President for Student Experience
The University of Alabama at Birmingham