In the day-to-day work of higher education administration, student affairs professionals know that different institutional types - whether a small liberal arts college, a doctoral intensive institution, or a large private university - require different practical approaches. Despite this, most student affairs literature emphasizes a "one size fits all" approach to practice. In this book, leading scholars Kathleen Manning, Jillian Kinzie and John Schuh advocate a new approach by presenting eleven models of student affairs practice. These models are based on a qualitative, multi-institutional case study research project involving twenty institutions of higher education varying by type, size and mission. By accessibly presenting different types of institutions that have all experienced higher than predicted levels of student engagement and graduation rates the authors set out to discover the policies, practices and programs that can contribute to student success.
Kathleen Manning is a Professor in the Higher Education and Student Affairs graduate program at the University of Vermont.
Jillian Kinzie is Associate Director of the Center for Postsecondary Research and National Survey of Student Engagement Institute.
John H. Schuh is Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.