RATIONALE
While this course is designed to help you understand student affairs and its underpinnings (e.g., history, purpose, values), it is imperative for you to develop your own personal philosophy of what it means to work in the field. Your philosophy may change over the course of your education and career, but it is useful to articulate now as a starting point to guide your practice.
ASSIGNMENT
You will craft a 3-5 page double-spaced essay on your personal philosophy of student affairs work. You may make some references to outside sources if you like, but this is largely a reflective piece. You can also use visual elements (e.g., images, figures) to help readers understand your philosophy.
As you develop your philosophy, the questions below might be helpful for you to consider. However, you should not answer them in order. Rather you can use them to craft a coherent statement that reflects your approach to working in student affairs:
What personal beliefs, values, identities, ethics, or goals are centered in your work? Why? How do these elements show up in your practice?
Why did you enter the field of student affairs? What purposes drive you?
What do you value in your work and in the field of student affairs?
What do you believe about students and their learning and development? Why? How do you put that into practice?
What is the purpose of higher education? What is the purpose of student affairs? How do you contribute to either/both of those missions?
What are your professional goals (short, middle, and/or long-term)? Why these goals?
What personal strengths or attributes do you see yourself contributing? What skills do you want to develop and why?
How have your beliefs, values, goals changed over time? How have these changed affected your practices?
As you write your statement be sure to articulate not only what you believe about student affairs practice but how you enact your philosophy.
For your own learning, you may want to revisit this paper throughout your professional career, to see if your philosophies have shifted as you gain new knowledge and further experience. It may also be helpful to continually refine your philosophy as you and your understanding of your practice shift, change, and/or evolve.
EVALUATIVE CRITERIA
Your statement will be graded based upon the depth of your reflection, your use of evidence or examples to illustrate your philosophy, and the overall quality and clarity of your writing. Use of APA Style 7th ed. is required and part of the evaluative materials.
