I know I am currently taking a class about how to be a solid student affairs professional but I am having trouble staying on the professional’s side of the perspective rather than the student’s.  I keep looking at how the practices being discussed are going to affect.  I am sure it is in large part due to my position as a parent especially as my daughter’s continue to grow up and will soon be thinking seriously about “what they want to be when they grow up”! Crazy!

A quote on page 87 stood out to me: “A focus on student as the primary purpose of our work”.  That should be the slogan of every higher education institution across the country.  In my mind this is essentially what everything comes down to in education especially higher education.  As a parent it bothers me when people lose sight of this.  I feel for the professors who are too busy to help a student because they have research demands to meet or the admissions administrator who rushed through a future student’s application because she had a report to run for her boss before 4.  In this situation we have lost sight of our ultimate priority.  I want to distribute this book to everyone working at whatever institution my daughters chose.  I’m sure that would go over like a lead balloon but it would be nice if everyone in the education field had been formally exposed to what it means to be a good student affairs professional in any setting.

Just a little note about legal issues – my late wife was a lawyer and these are my second hand thoughts…if ever faced with a situation where a single doubt regarding the legality of an act or possible legal threats, always consult a lawyer or other legal professional.  For so many reasons this is a good practice, more often than not it will turn out to be a non-issue however the one time that something is actually illegal will make up for the thousand times that was not the case.