Student Affairs Staff Resources

Excellence in Service and Programming: The Four C's is a conceptual model that ties the strategic vision developed by Student Affairs staff into realistic steps that provide a pathway to build excellence in all departments.

Staff participate in ongoing training and initiatives related to this shared view of excellence. Through these common experiences, staff at all levels are direct contributors to the success of of Student Affairs.

The Four C's model also provides a continued emphasis on excellence, teamwork and staff focused on strategic success. The result is Excellence in Service and Programming with the Four C's: Create, Communicate, Care and Collaborate.

The model:

• Develops a shared understanding across the division.
• Clearly defines what excellence in service and programming means; and
• Informs development of student learning outcomes, foster new programs, develop services, and assess progress.

The Student Affairs professional development framework encourages individuals to center autonomy in the development of their professional development plan while being informed by the NASPA and ACPA competencies, Victory Ray’s racialized organizational development theory, and the guiding principles of the Four C’s – Excellence Model.

Student Affairs staff can get started with tools and resources including a self-assessment.

Professional development plans approach the competencies at three levels:

Foundational - Identification

• Participants should be able to define the learned core competency.
• Awareness and basic understanding of core competency. Learning outcomes should involve identifying, defining, and basic application.

Intermediate - Application

• Participants should be able to explain and actively demonstrate the learned core competency. Able to use skills in a project, team, or workplace.
• Actively demonstrates knowledge and application of core competency.

Advanced - Facilitation

• Participants should have expert knowledge and should learn how to inform and educate others on the core competency.
• Self-awareness, critical understanding, and knowledge of core competency. Able to facilitate using best practices and current theories.

The Student Affairs Leadership Team (SALT) provides operational and strategic leadership to the departments in Student Affairs.  The team places an emphasis on operational alignment with a focus on continual skill development, superior student services, and enhancing student programs.

What we’re reading

• Braving the Wilderness; The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown
• Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities by Craig Steven Wilder
• Managing Up and Across by Harvard Business Review Guides

Student Affairs Council brings division leadership together monthly (assistant directors and above) for information sharing, training, and development.  The opportunity to promote productive interactions, engage in constructive discourse and generate new ideas enables our division to work cohesively and strategically toward fulfilling our goals and objectives.

Interested in sharing information with the Student Affairs Council?  Fill out our engagement form to request a presentation time slot.