1. Establish departmental excellence across the board. In today’s competitive world, institutions of higher education must provide quantitative evidence of excellence. Evidence of excellence will be required to sustain ongoing programs. Within the next three years, all Student Affairs departments will undergo a comprehensive, rigorous program review.
2. Increase professional competencies efficiency for 21st century Student Affairs leadership. Higher education is challenged to identify and employ administrative efficiency and adapt to functioning within a leaner business model. It is imperative that all staff have the skill sets to meet the demands of the future. A comprehensive professional development curriculum will be designed for Student Affairs staff and student employees.
3. Implement a virtual portfolio of Student Affairs programs and services. Higher education is faced with a number of financial and workload challenges. In an effort to minimize tuition increases and, at the same time, serve a broader array of student needs, institutions are in search of innovative ways to increase efficiencies. Exploratory measures include strategies that will employ synchronous and asynchronous technologies to provide student services at any time and from any location.
4. Integrate scholarship and innovation into Student Affairs programs, services and business operations. The boundary between the academy and the administration is narrowing. Administrative units will be required to conduct rigorous research, resulting in data-informed decisions. In the future, a joint appointment model, in which faculty from various disciplines will research pertinent higher education topics and suggest collaborative programming to connect the classroom with traditional Student Affairs experiences, will become standard practice.