Student Affairs Philosophy Statement

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Student Affairs Philosophy Statement
Nathan Flyzik
Department of Educational Leadership, Miami University
EDL 676 A: Foundations of Student Affairs
Dr. Jayne Brownell
November 16th, 2020

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One of the most common questions Student Affairs practitioners are asked is; “So, when
did you know you wanted to enter Student Affairs?”. I enjoy this question because it often allows
practitioners to reflect on their past philosophies and how they are changing through their
development as leaders. For me, I made the decision to enter Student Affairs as a young
Orientation Student Coordinator in my sophomore year at Keene State College with little
realization that the profession existed. I would soon discover the great work that takes place at
colleges and universities and the philosophy that guides it. In the following pages, I will share
my own philosophies about Student Affairs work and how they connect to professional standards
set in the field. I aim to highlight how solid and fluid my beliefs are about my work, ultimately
realizing that as I develop I will always be shifting in my ideology.
Beginning with my beliefs as a young professional at my undergraduate institution, I
focused on centering students in all facets of my work. As a student coordinator, I was happy to
offer my student leader perspective while also urging professionals around me to consider
students as well. I still hold true to this belief and find it in one of our profession’s founding
documents; “consider the student as a whole- his intellectual capacity and achievement, his
emotional make up, his physical condition, his social relationships…” (American College
Personnel Association, 1937). As professionals we need to consider students holistically,
centering all facets of their identity in order to better assist in their success. If we ignore key
parts of a student when interacting with them, not only does the student feel harmed by this but
we also directly violate one of the oldest tenets of our field. I aim to keep this notion of
centeredness and holistic view at the core of my philosophy, while recognizing that it must go
farther than defined in 1937. Much has changed since the founding days of Student Affairs, and I
would add new holistic designations such as race, ethnicity, gender, sex, and socio-economic
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status to consider. As a profession, our core is crucial to our existence, but equally important is
the malleability we bring to the ideas that we center our work on.
As I ended my undergraduate career and shifted to look at graduate school, a new key
element of my philosophy began to develop; leadership. Leadership is a topic that I have enjoyed
reading about and applying in many positions in Student Affairs. At my core, I believe that we
should be constantly adjusting our leadership style by staying up to date with new ideas and
applying new concepts within our teams. ACPA & NASPA (2015) define this as the ability to
“seek out and develop new and emerging constructs of ‘leader’ and ‘leadership’”. Moving
forward, I identify that a key part of my work in Student Affairs will focus on defining
leadership to students and colleagues at the institutions I work at. Many professionals overlook
leadership as a skill that one should arrive having already developed or as one that is inherent in
some and not others. This is detrimental, as in every office, department, and division, a clear
leadership culture should be established and developed periodically in order to sustain success.
To hold true to this part of my philosophy, I aim to read and absorb different leadership
perspectives in Higher Education and other fields. I have already started developing a leadership
library with classic books on leadership, and new concepts just releasing this year. Overall,
throughout my career I aim to define and adjust my leadership style and definition to support the
different environments I work in.
In reflecting on my current experience in grad school, I have added an element of my
philosophy that focuses on being a scholar-practitioner. I have always been interested in
research, but after the first semester of classes I now realize the importance of staying up to date
with current research in the field. I identify this part of my philosophy as an area of vigilance,
where in Sriram & Oster (2012) it is shown that “Scholars and practitioners continuously
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espouse the importance of research” but struggle to engage in research regularly. This part of my
philosophy challenges me to continue to read research and apply it to my daily practice beyond
my masters degree program. I believe that when we subscribe to research, we keep up with
innovative ideas that would assist us in our positions and stay creative in how we approach the
issues in our field. Reading research would also require a commitment to assessment, which
would better our institution by using results to better programming, distributing resources, and
solving issues on campus (ACPA & NASPA, 2015). Overall, it is clear that remaining up to date
with the scholarship of the Student Affairs field has positive effects on both our innovation and
evaluation skills as professionals. I would develop this part of my philosophy by reading
newsletters such as the Chronicle of Higher Education, subscribing to journals that my institution
has access to, and eventually pursuing my Doctorate after obtaining field experience.
All in all, my philosophy is a mix of values that the field has defined throughout its
history and some perspectives that I have developed over my short time in Student Affairs. Key
ideas to my philosophy are to see the student in a holistic lens, develop and define leadership at
every stage of my career, and continue my scholarship beyond the conclusion of my graduate
program. I also recognize that while I feel solid in this philosophy statement, there is no doubt it
will be open to change as I continue to develop as a professional. To stay stagnate is to decline,
as I develop and change these ideas will shift with me. As I grow as a professional, I will refer
back to this philosophy and adapt it as both I and the field change moving forward.
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References
American College Personnel Association. (1937). Student personnel point of view. American
Council on Education Studies, 1, 1-10.
ACPA & NASPA. (2015). Professional competency areas for Student Affairs educators.
.https://miamioh.instructure.com/courses/128013/modules/items/2332200
Sriram, R., & Oster, M. (2012). Reclaiming the" scholar" in scholar-practitioner. Journal of
Student Affairs Research and Practice, 49(4), 377-396.

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Student Affairs Philosophy Statement

Department of Educational Leadership, Miami University

EDL 676 A: Foundations of Student Affairs

Dr. Jayne Brownell

November 16th, 2020

realizing that as I develop I will always be shifting in my ideology.

Beginning with my beliefs as a young professional at my undergraduate institution, I

Personnel Association, 1937). As professionals we need to consider students holistically,

different environments I work in.

In reflecting on my current experience in grad school, I have added an element of my

philosophy that focuses on being a scholar-practitioner. I have always been interested in

evaluation skills as professionals. I would develop this part of my philosophy by reading

will be open to change as I continue to develop as a professional. To stay stagnate is to decline,

American College Personnel Association. (1937). Student personnel point of view. American

Council on Education Studies, 1, 1-10.

Sriram, R., & Oster, M. (2012). Reclaiming the" scholar" in scholar-practitioner. Journal of

Student Affairs Research and Practice, 49(4), 377-396.

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