r/studentaffairs

Hello! I work at one of the “New Ivies” universities as an Assistant Dean of Students. I really like my job but can’t help feeling like my salary is not a competitive salary at $64,000.

Do you all agree with me? If so, what can I do to make a more competitive salary? Any help and advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

This may have been posted somewhere on here before, but I think Ive hit a breaking point after a meeting I had today. Are any other institutions leadership really pushing you to use AI? I’m having a really hard time with it at my university (I work in career services) to the point where our work is being centered around it now and I feel like we are missing the plot and purpose of what we are there to do. It’s so normalized and if someone else says “it’s the future, we have to accept it” that’s not what I’m looking for right now.

I’m feeling hopeless and just wondering what other student affairs professionals have to say, solutions to navigating this with complex feelings or how your university is going about using it. Sorry for the soapbox. 🥺

Well I did it. I graduated. I went to school full time, did three semester long practicums, 20 hours a week GA position, heck I had my first baby and still finished on time.

Everything I did, the moments I missed with my new born, the stress of finding halfway decent child care, the essays I wrote, interviews I conducted, none of it feels worth it.

I’ve applied to 22 jobs, leading to one phone interview that left me with so many red flags. I’ve followed up at 8 places which no response. I’ve heard back from two places saying they closed the position without hiring anyone.

Was any of it worth it?

Hi! I just graduated from my college over the weekend and applied there for an Academic Advisor position during the week. To my surprise, I got a call back fairly quickly! I have an interview scheduled for next week.

This is all so new to me, I have never worked a demanding job like this, let alone a full time job. I have done tutoring before and worked with students throughout my undergrad years, but not at this level. I would say I’m a fast learner and pretty organized, and I know what the advising system looks like at my school and how to navigate around it.

Any advice or tips for this position? I am so nervous to be interviewed (luckily it’s a Zoom meeting, so that eases my nerves a bit, but still anxious)!

Hi!
I graduated this May with my Masters in Higher Education. I have applied to many jobs but am having no luck. I have had several 1st and 2nd round interviews, but end up being unsuccessful. I’m starting to considering transitioning outside of just higher education at this point as I only have a limited time before my current role is done. (Wanting to work in South East area). Would love advice for those in similar situations.
Current am I graduate assistant and have 2 years experience with facility operations.

Just wanted to tell you, congratulations!!! I'm graduating this week and we are almost done! I know it's a weird time to be in higher education. The job market sucks, AI is a can of worms, and some people are leaving the field. But we still accomplished a big goal, finishing a master's degree. Even if everything's not perfect, that's something worth celebrating! 🥲

I’ve been working as an academic advisor for over 2 years and I was taught that we only meet with current students and if there’s an formal students or perspective students, we send them to transfer advising since we do not analyze transcripts.

Today, I had a student email me all their transcripts and wanted me to tell me what classes will they have left if they returned to the university. The transcript included out of state and some military universities (like institutions for active military members). I told them that we only meet with current students and provided the information on who to contact.

Apparently I was wrong and I was supposed to advise them? I do not understand how I could possibly look at an out of state transcript and analyze it and email advise them (something we aren’t allowed to do).

I told my supervisor that I didn’t feel comfortable having to analyze a transcript and provide advising when the student hasn’t taken classes here for more than 10 years now. She said okay and that the student can contact the department I said.

If the student hasn’t take any other college classes and wanted a general idea, then I might’ve been inclined to provide advising, but I don’t believe I get paid enough to analyze transcripts.

Now I feel like I’m in the wrong and this will negatively impact me.

Edit: Thanks everybody! Seems like it isn't worth it. They don't offer any other online degrees and it is not in the cards for me to take in-person classes right now. One day I hope to move over to where my husband is and when that happens I will look into the other programs. Appreciate the feedback!

Hi all, I've read a couple of posts on this but I wanted to see if anyone had gone through an experience similar to mine. I am interested in getting my masters in higher education administration. I have been working in higher education for the last three years and really love it. I was looking at getting a graduate degree in higher ed because I view my career in higher education as long term, and I want to work in a leadership department head role.

I saw the advice about getting an MPA or an MBA and using that to work in higher ed, but the university my spouse works for has their MA in higher education completely online and the other degrees are fully in-person which I could not make work as I am in office 5 days a week and him and I work at universities in complete opposite directions from our home.

Since tuition would be waived, I'd be looking at around 16k in fees for the two year program. We can afford that without any challenge.

In my situation, do you think it would be worth it to pursue the degree? I feel like the long term benefit makes sense, but I have seen many others say a graduate degree that is higher education specific is not worth it.

I am writing to seek input from people who identify as women and are neurodivergent (with particular interest around ADHD and Autism) and work in student affairs.

I am speaking at a conference about the intersection of womanhood and neurodivergence in higher education, and would like to gather short stories with real examples to share about lived experiences. This can include anything related to working as a neurodivergent woman in higher education.

As a student affairs professional myself, I identify as AuDHD (ADHD and Autism) and will be sharing my experiences, as well, but want to amplify others' voices within this sphere. You do not need to be officially diagnosed to share your experiences; self-identification is perfectly valid!

I want to show that we are not a monolith and my experiences with neurodiversity and womanhood in higher ed may have connections to others’ but we’re all different and unique. This is solely an opportunity to amplify voices and lived experiences!

All blurbs will be anonymous in the presentation and I will omit all identifying information. Thanks for considering!

Editing to add questions for consideration:

Some questions I’m exploring and would be curious to learn more about:

• Do you have any specific sensory needs (or “icks”) that impact you at work?

• Have you experienced challenges with “unwritten rules” of working in higher education?
• If you’ve had to mask your traits to be taken seriously or to advance, what has the cost of that been to your mental health?
• Have you ever had to ask for accommodations? If so, what was your experience navigating this process and what was the outcome?
• What strengths or advantages does your neurodiversity bring to your work?
• What type of work do you prefer to do? Are there tasks you hate and avoid?
• What does a successful work day look like to you? How might that differ from traditional/neurotypical views of success?
- Have you experienced misogyny in higher education? If so, what were those experiences like?
- Do you disclose your neurodiversity at work? Why or why not?

I'm considering putting together a retreat for professional Res Life staff members. I have a staff of all new RDs who just finished their first year in the position. They did a fantastic job and I want to continue the momentum they've generated. We meet often and are aligned in values and work ethic. I consider myself very lucky to have them as they have breathed new life in the department.

What I'm looking for:

• If you have supervised RDs or other professional staff members and have taken your staff on a retreat, what have you done that was worthwhile? How did you make it memorable? Was there anything that helped further develop work relationships?

• If you have attended a retreat as a participant, what have you seen that was valuable to you? What felt like a good use of your time? Was there anything that stood out to you as memorable? Did anything help strengthen work relationships?

I normally wouldn't ask a question like this, but I want the retreat to be impactful and I will appreciate any feedback given.

I had a friend that I ended up falling out with, not in the workplace, of course. It became this big drama that I was trying to avoid. I remained professional and was told by others and my supervisor that I was doing a good job at handling it. We had a mediation meeting, and I thought that things were good after that. After the meeting, she continued her behaviors. This consisted of rumors, pettiness, and lies.

To return as a resident advisor at my university we have to do a returner presentation. I did my presentation and I talked about my mission as RA, resident feedback, which was good, my programs, my bulletin boards, and flyers, in my evaluation that I got from my supervisor. My evaluation was good. The only bad thing (i didn’t even get the lowest score on) was she said I need to interact with all staff regarding of personal feelings and she felt like I could’ve been my own RA (before me and that RA fell out) but she said that I’ve improved a lot.

It seemed like one comment I made in my presentation, made some people in the department upset. I simply stated that I wish I would’ve gotten more help, as these behaviors and drama lasted all semester. This triggered a higher up and she moved me from the “alternate” (you may come back if someone cancels or doesn’t make grade requirements)list to the “not rehired” list. but my coworker / ex friend It’s on the alternate list. (?!?!?!) Apparently, they felt like my whole presentation was about the drama, and I didn’t take accountability. They said it was “disrespectful”…..Mind you I talked about way more than that in my presentation. They also said it wasn’t a friendship issue. I am very confused on that as I have had no communication with this person as they are no longer my friend (and they know this). This this is a staff & professionalism issue at this point.

I am currently seeing a therapist on Campus. My therapist told me that what they did was unjust and unfair. I also told the psychiatrist on Campus what happened as well and she said the same thing. One of them even suggested that I go to the dean of students office to report the department for what they did. I don’t even wanna say too much, but I have seen so many injustices in this department as I gave them 3 years of my undergrad experience. They blatantly show favoritism and make decisions based off of their emotional state. They have rehired RAs that have constantly been involved in incidents.

Not only did they not rehire me for the next school year but now they didn’t hire me for the summer, not a RA job, but a job within the department that i’ve done before. My record is clean and I had no prior incidents to this.

Recently, I was venting saying that i’m tired of being treated this way by the department and I feel like my stress/depression/anxiety scores are high. I said that I feel like I don’t even want to finish the school year out. All my supervisor said was “ If you’re going to quit you better start packing now” Like who says that?!!! If I said something like that to a resident I would get in big trouble. I told my therapist and a coworker what she said and they were both shocked. Therapist said that was unprofessional.

At this point, I feel completely black balled by this department. I feel like something needs to be done but i’m unsure of what to do.

hello!

I graduate in December with my communications B.S, and want to go into higher education. I have two years experience as am RA, one and an half years as an office coordinator, and three years as an intern for my schools housing department. I’ve done things like search committee, room changes, lock changes, charging students, conduct etc.

My first question is when do I apply for jobs as a December graduate? I don’t have the option of moving home so I need a job lined up ASAP.

Second, what areas should I look into based off my experience and lack of masters? I plan to get my masters while working.

any advice old be great!

Hi all!

A few days ago, I posted in this sub for advice on how to get a higher ed job, as I have no prior higher ed experience. A 4 year university in my area reached out to me for an interview for an Academic Affairs Coordinator position! Any tips or advice is very much appreciated, thank you!

For more context, this is a bit of a pivot from my degree (I have a Master of Arts in Biology), but I have 3 years prior experience as an operations assistant for an educational company that served K-12 students.

Hi everyone, I am looking to get a full-time at a community college. I have never paid for health insurance because I have had medi-cal due to being low-income. My question is, how much do you all pay for health insurance in California? I have an autoimmune disease and was wondering how much that would cost considering everything is expensive in this state.