Dr. Dennis Pruitt, vice president for student affairs, vice provost and dean of students, shared an overview of trends and issues at the Sept. 9, 2016 meeting of the Division of Student Affairs and Academic Support.

1. Dennis Pruitt
Vice President for Student Affairs
Division Meeting
September 9, 2016

2.  Welcome
 Introduction of New Employees
 Introduction of New Graduate Assistants

3. Carolina Aspirations
 Superior Student Experience
 Globally recognized, high-impact research
university
 Flexibility, access and affordability
 A vital part of South Carolina’s economic and
overall wellbeing

4. Mission: Collaborate with campus and external constituents to provide access,
facilitate students’ progress and persistence, advance learning, and shape responsible
citizens and future leaders.
Goals
 Manage the comprehensive and collaborative efforts of the university to meet student
enrollment goals, and provide essential programs and services to recruit and enroll new
freshmen and transfer students and facilitate their successful transition to the university.
 Improve student progress and persistence to degree completion by increasing student
engagement in campus life and by providing and supporting essential programs,
services, and educational activities that lead to student success and satisfaction.
 Collaborate with campus and external constituents to provide essential programs and
services that advance learning, at the university and in the higher education community.
 Provide essential programs and services that shape responsible citizens and develop
future leaders, in collaboration with university, community and external partners.

5. 5

6. Historical Role of Student Affairs
What happened to the Good Ole Days of
In Loco Parentis?

7. Historical Role of Student Affairs
 Disciplinarian
 Custodian
 Educator
 Integrator
 Combined: contingency (threats and
opportunities) manager
- Garland (1985)

8. Principles of Good Practice in
Student Affairs
 Engages students in active learning
 Helps students develop coherent values and ethical standards
 Sets and communicates high expectations for student learning
 Uses systematic inquiry to improve student and institutional
performance
 Uses resources effectively to achieve institutional mission
and goals
 Forges education partnerships that advance student learning
 Builds supportive and inclusive communities
- Chickering and Gamson (1991)

9. A Reader’s Digest Philosophy
for Student Affairs
Basic assumptions
 Ensure students have a meaningful college experience—
help students make meaning of the college experiences
they have
 Student involvement and engagement enhances learning,
but yes, it takes a village (or a community) to achieve
educational outcomes
 Personal circumstances and out-of-class environments
affect learning
 Students are ultimately responsible for their own lives
 Each student has worth and dignity—even the “misfits”
 Each student is unique

11. Roles of Student Affairs Professionals
 Student experts
 Enforcers of community rules and standards
 Contingency managers
 Institutional conscience
 Spokespersons for a
 student-centered approach
 Boundary spanners
 Crisis intervention specialists

12. http://postsecondary.gatesfoundation.org/student-stories/america-as-100-college-students/

13. Willams, Alex (2015)

15. A Perspective on Student Affairs
 The academic mission of the institution is pre-eminent
 Each student is unique
 Bigotry cannot be tolerated
 Student involvement enhances learning
 Personal circumstances affect learning
 Out-of-class environments affect learning
 A challenging and supportive community life helps students learn
 The freedom to doubt and question must be guaranteed
 Effective citizenship should be taught
 Students are responsible for their own lives
 Student affairs professionals should be experts on students and their
environments
 Students should have meaningful experiences that assist in learning and
practicing good life management skills and habits
“A Perspective On Student Affairs” (NASPA, 1987)

16. High Impact Practices
Important student behaviors include:
 Investing time and effort (engaged beyond
involvement)
 Interacting with faculty (or professional educator)
and peers about substantive matters
 Experiencing diversity
 Responding to more frequent feedback
 Reflecting and integrating learning
 Discovering relevance of learning through real-
world application

18. Trend Summary
Student Affairs Professionals Engage in:
 constituent/cultural management
 contingency management (threats and
opportunities)
 compliance management
 critics management
 community management
 constraint and accountability management
 commitment and pride management

19. EMBRACING CHANGE
(How are you creating “learning
value” for our students?)
Sweeney, Daniel (2000)

20. Deep Learning
How are you helping students be vitally engaged in the
college endeavor – intellectually, socially, and
emotionally?– Tagg
Thriving
How are you helping our students reap the
full benefits of higher education? – Keup

21. Why People Resist Change?
 Change robs individuals of their most valuable
assets – knowledge and power
 Change creates extra work we aren’t prepared
to do
 Change evokes uncertainty, which
organizations and individuals abhor
Kanter, Roseabeth (2012)

22. Why People Resist Change?
 Change is perceived as evidence we lack
management skill to create a stable and
predicable work place
 Change creates a loss of control
 Change creates surprises
Kanter, Roseabeth (2012)

23. Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student
Learning (AAHE 1992)
1. The assessment of student learning begins with educational values.
2. Assessment is most effective with it reflects an understanding of learning as multi-
dimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time.
3. Assessment works best when the programs it seeks to improve have clear, explicitly stated
purposes.
4. Assessment requires attention to outcomes but also and equally to the experiences that lead
to those outcomes.
5. Assessment works best when it is ongoing not episodic.
6. Assessment fosters wider improvement when representatives from across the educational
community are involved.
7. Assessment makes a difference when it begins with issues of use and illuminates questions
that people really care about.
8. Assessment is most likely to lead to improvement when it is part of a larger set of conditions
that promote change.
9. Through assessment, educators meet responsibilities to students and to the public.
American Association for Higher Education (AAHE). 1992.

24. Campus Trends
 Freedom of and freedom from religion
 Legalization of student affairs
 Student employability
 Outcome measurements: length of time to
graduation, student debt, default rates, gainful
employment/employability
 Dean of Students
 Guns on campus
 Gallup well-being

25. Worries
 Fundraising
 OLE (Safe; Non-discriminatory; Civil)
 Freedom of Expression
 Financial Literacy/debt
 Documenting learning
 Healthcare

26. Worries
 Social Compact: Alcohol and Drugs; Hazing;
CSA; Harassment/Discrimination
 SACS five year check-up
 Greek Life/Tucker-Hipps
 Living-Learning Communities
 Campus Carry
 Intergenerational Workplace

27. Worries
 Disability Law
 FLSA
 Veterans
 Transfers
 1st Generation
 LGBTQIA+
 Trans
 Social Media/Public Shaming

28. Worries
 Social Media
 Elections
 Campus Sexual Assault
 Fundraising
 Interfaith
 EMT/BIT/CI
 Mental Health
 Emotional Wellbeing
 Social Justice

29. The Best Companies Invest Aggressively in
Three Areas
 Invest 10x on their critical capabilities
 Invest massively in next-generation leaders
 Invest extensively in next-generation business
model and specific capabilities that will
differentiate it
Zook, Chris (2016)

30. Your Stewardship for Carolina
 OYT (On Your Time)
 BTCM (Beyond the Classroom Matters)
 GWLD (Graduation with Leadership
Distinction)
 EAB SSC (Educational Advisory Board: Student
Success Collaborative)
 Diversity and Inclusion (OLE: Optimum
Learning Environment driven by Title IV and
Title IX)
Friedman, Dan (University 101)

32. STRATEGIC
ABANDONMENT

34. Creating an OLE: Integrated
Learning in the Classroom (ITC)
and Beyond the Classroom (BTC)
 Personalized Learning Systems
 Integrated ITC with BTC
 Manage Self-Destructive Behaviors
 Comply with State and Federal Laws
 Utilize Best Business and Educational Practices

35. Astin’s Input -
Environment - Outcomes
Model
INPUT
ENVIRONMENT
OUTCOMES
• 6 year graduation rate
• Students’ learning achievements
• College completion
• College completion - value added
• Graduates’ employment status
• Employability
• Life long learner
• Competency and proficiency in chosen field
• Admission to professional /graduate school
WTC – Degree Programs, Courses
BTC Matters - Involvement
• Student Affairs & Academic Support
• Undergraduate Research
• International Programs
• Internships
• Service
• Leadership
Services
• Total undergraduate enrollment
• Quality advising
• Technology resources
• Average freshman SAT scores
• Motivation to attend and graduate
• Scholarship skills / habits
• Financial status
• Life goals
• Class Rank
• High school service, leadership
Pam Bowers, AVP for Assessment; Astin (1993)

36. Randy Bass, 2012
http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/disrupting-ourselves-problem-learning-higher-education

37. Using BTC Data for Improvement
 Are most students involved in something?
 Are some students involved too much?
 Are some student populations involved at higher or lower rates?
 What patterns of involvement are related to
persistence, timely graduation, employability?
 Are we doing the right things? (strategy)
 Are we doing them the right way? (structure)
 Are we doing them well? (delivery)
 Are we getting the benefits? (value)
Pam Bowers, AVP for Assessment

39. A learning organization is an
organization skilled at creating, acquiring,
and transferring knowledge, and at
modifying its behavior to reflect new
knowledge and insights.
-Garvin (1993)

41. Campus Cultures = Optimum
Learning Environment
 Safe
 Non-discriminatory
 Civil

42. The community of scholars at the
University of South Carolina is dedicated to
personal and academic excellence.
Choosing to join the community obligates each member
to a code of civilized behavior.
As a Carolinian...
I will practice
personal and academic integrity;
I will respect
the dignity of all persons;
I will respect
the rights and property of others;
I will discourage
bigotry, while striving to learn from
differences in people, ideas and opinions;
I will demonstrate
concern for others, their feelings, and their need for
conditions which support their work and development.
Allegiance to these ideals requires each Carolinian
to refrain from and discourage behaviors which threaten
the freedom and respect every individual deserves
The Carolinian Creed

43. The Social Compact for State
and Federal Compliance
(hazing, discrimination, alcohol and drugs,
campus sexual assault)

45. 10 Things REALLY Amazing Employees Do
 They get it
 Enthusiastically Learn All Aspects of Business
 Steward the Company
 Resolve Issues Before They Are Issues
 Tell It Like It Is: management by exception
Daum, Kevin (2013)

46. 10 Things REALLY Amazing Employees Do
 Demonstrate High Standards
 Grow Themselves – And Others
 Assess, Apply, Innovate, Refine
 Stimulate Happiness, Exude Positive Energy
 Make Their Bosses Better

47. “The future depends on what you
do today.” – Mahatma Gandhi
At the end of the day – what have
you done to advance our
student’s futures?

48. Thank you for all you do to make
Carolina a better place to be!
Shout - outs

49. GEMS
Top three offices with the most
nominations:
 Student Health Services
 Career Center
 Student Life
Top four nominators:
 Kim McMahon, Student Life
 Mary Hanna, Health Services
 Van Haygood, Health Services
 Erica Lake, Career Center
Initiative Collabor
ation
When you nominate a colleague you will be entered in the monthly drawings
for an opportunity to win a $25 gift card.
For further details, contact Alicia Bervine at 7-4989 or bervine@mailbox.sc.edu

50. Directors Training Program
Completed
 Alicia Bervine
 Michelle Bridge
 Matt Cleary
 Nancy Derrick
 Anna Edwards
 Maegan Gudridge
 Kirsten Kennedy
 Jennifer Keup
 Kim McMahon
 Mary Wagner
 Denise Wellman
 Theresa Sexton

51. Adams, Scott (2016)

52. References
Adams, Scott. “Dilbert”. Cartoon. Universal Uclick. 25 Aug. 2016: Web.
American Association for Higher Education (AAHE). 1992. Nine Principles of Good
Practice for Assessment Student Learning. Kansas City, MO.
Astin, A. (1993). Assessment for excellence: The philosophy and practice of assessment
and evaluation in higher education. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.
Astin A. (1999). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education.
Journal of College Student Development, 40(5), 518-529. (Reprinted from Astin, A.
(1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal
of College Student Personnel, 25, 297-308).
Chickering, A.W. and Gamson, Z.F. (1991) Applying the Seven Principles for Good
Practice in Undergraduate Education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning
Number 47, Fall 1991, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc.
Daum, Kevin. “10 Things Really Amazing Employees Do”. Inc. 5 August 2013: Web.
Garland, Peter H. Serving More than Students: A Critical Need for College Student
Personnel Services. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 7. Washington, D.C.:
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 1985.

53. References
Garvin, David. “Building a Learning Organization.” Harvard Business Review. July
1993: 78-92.
Kanter, Roseabeth. “Ten Reasons People Resist Change.” Harvard Business Review.
Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang.
September 26, 2012.
National Association of Student Personnel (NASPA) (1987). A Perspective on Student
Affairs: A Statement Issued on the 50th Anniversary of The Student Personnel Point
of View. Retrieved from
https://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/main/A_Perspective_on_Student_Affairs
_1987.pdf. July 11, 2016.
Sweeney, Daniel. “The Challenge of Perpetual Change.” Management Review. February
2000: 46.
Williams, Alex. “Move Over, Millennials, Here Comes Generation Z”. The New York
Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/fashion/move-over-
millennials-here-comes-generation-z.html?_r=1. September 18, 2015.
Zook, Chris. “Strategy: The Best Companies Invest Aggressively in These 3 Areas”.
Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/06/the-best-
companies-invest-aggressively-in-these-3-areas. June 30, 2016