A Profession in Search of a Mission: Is There an Enduring Purpose for Student Affairs in U.S. Higher Education?

Abstract

Student affairs is a relatively new professional field in American higher education, although its primary functions are rooted in some of the earliest American colleges. Despite its growing presence and influence in American colleges (and increasingly in colleges and universities in other countries) the field of student affairs work has struggled throughout its history to clearly define its central mission and role in higher education. The authors of this article examine some of the reasons for the profession’s failure to achieve broad agreement on an enduring mission and purpose and some implications of this circumstance for student affairs’ future role and contributions to American higher education.