In recent decades, the degree of professionalization has significantly increased in those student services personnel who support student success in Canadian higher education. In terms of both standards for staff performance and expansion of the knowledge base and understanding required to support its work on campus, the student services field has emerged as a primary contributor to the quality and outcome of the Canadian post-secondary experience. While some of this has occurred over time, arguably in response to provincial/territorial and consumer mandates for accountability and efficiency, much of this improvement can also be attributed to the natural evolution of a profession of student services educators intent on achieving its mission of supporting student learning and development as full partners in the academy.
Student services began as a modest focus in the Canadian post-secondary system, identified mostly with a loosely connected group of counsellors and administrators committed to helping students on campus in any way deemed appropriate. The goal from the beginning was student success – or the completion by students of the goals they set out to achieve in our institutions. Student services on Canadian campuses today are provided by a more highly sophisticated group of professionals who bring expertise from any number of specialties. Some, for example, are versed in creating a positive learning experience for incoming students, in the form of effective orientation and first-year experience programs. Some specialize in engaging students through leadership and service opportunities in student unions, organizations, and societies. Still others understand the complexities of career decisions, the nature of community life in residence, and the varying needs of an increasingly diverse student population. Thus, like their predecessors, they all serve to promote various dimensions of student success.
The student services field in Canada has benefited greatly in recent years from these gains and in response has generated a strong professional community and the beginnings of graduate-level professional preparation. The Canadian Association of College and University Student Services (CACUSS) now stands as the premier professional organization for some 1,000 members who gather at annual and regional conferences to develop new understandings of the Canadian post-secondary experience and to promote best practices in serving students. The first curriculum for formal preparation of student services administrators and practitioners has been established at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in the form of accessible (Internet-based or in-class) training at the master’s level. Doctoral programs, too – for example, at the University of Calgary – are turning their attention to questions of student services leadership. In addition, rising interests have created new agendas for research and practice in the field that promise to further transform the institutions they serve.
All of this suggests that time and opportunity are ripe for identifying and distilling the developments and contributions of student services to the Canadian post-secondary enterprise. This book is a contemporary response to the need for a comprehensive understanding of student services and the various roles its professionals serve in effecting student success.
There is a growing consciousness throughout Canadian higher education that student services is a critical partner in fulfilling the promises and enhancing the outcomes of the post-secondary opportunity. This volume articulates the purposes, histories, practices, and issues that underlie the functions of student services in Canadian colleges and universities. Our intent is to inform the profession, the academy, consumers, and public policy-makers of the breadth and depth of our work, and to suggest the range of issues and barriers that challenge higher education as it continues to respond to Canada’s needs for the development of its citizens’ talents.
This book divides the topic of student services into three sections. Part One focuses on the historical, philosophical, and theoretical foundations that frame the organization of post-secondary services in support of student success; Part Two reviews the various campus-based functions and forms of student services that support student success; and Part Three considers the integration of student services within different institutional types, missions, and delivery systems. The book concludes in Part Four with some observations on what might constitute principles of best practices in the field and directions for development of student services in the future.
The authors of this volume incorporate a wide range of experiences in Canadian higher education, especially in student services. Among them are four former presidents of CACUSS, those who have completed their doctorate and hold faculty or other professional appointments at Canadian colleges and universities, and those who serve in senior student services leadership positions in a variety of Canadian post-secondary institutions. Collectively, these authors have contributed extensively to numerous professional development opportunities, as practitioner-scholars and scholarly practitioners, with many holding positions of executive leadership in a range of student services organizations. The perspectives they bring to this topic come from not only their years of hands-on experience but also their appreciation for the emerging literature that is beginning to inform their practice. Each offers a synopsis of his or her respective student services area, with an invitation to join in the conversation about the issues and concerns contained therein.
So we begin and end our introduction with the two questions that have framed this volume from the outset: What is the status of student services in Canadian higher education? and How might these services contribute to the success of students enrolled in the Canadian post-secondary system? We hope that this initiative is a useful start in developing an emerging identity among Canadian student services professionals who are poised to make a real difference in the lives of Canadian post-secondary students. As the experiences recounted here infuse the Canadian student services field with a useful critique of its status and suggest new possibilities for its future, we welcome the dialogue and input this work will engender.