The 20th Century American University Student Affairs Research

Student affairs refer to all affairs except the academic learning. In the 20th century, with the increase of the university students and expansion of the university scale, the subject of the students enhanced and the student affairs with the comprehensive characteristics boomed.The theories of student affairs include the psychological development theory, the cognitive-structure theory and the typology theory in the different perspectives of the student development. The psychological development theory has paid close attention to the growth and development of the student. The cognitive-structure theory has discovered the intellectual development and the moral development of the student. The typology theory indicates the congenital difference of the student. The campus environment theory includes the human-environment interaction theory, the physics model theory and organizational structure theory. The campus environment theory provides the understanding to the interaction between the students and the campus and the function of the environment in the development of the students. The well-designed campus environment has enhanced the student learning and promoted the student values and the psychological development. The various theory schools of the student affairs have resulted in the diversity of the management.The great development of the universities in the U.S.A has pushed forward the professionalism of the American student affairs. From the beginning of the 20th century to the 1940's, the student affairs in the U.S.A came into the embryonic form. The Dean of the students affairs appeared in the universities and the professional associations founded one after another. The student affairs guidelines put forward many fundamental ideas of the student affairs in 1937 and 1949 and instructed the practice of the student affairs. The 1950's and the 1970's had witnessed the great development of the student affairs in the U.S.A, the abandonment of the "in loco parentis" and the expansion of the student affairs functions. From the 1980's to the end of the 20th century, the student affairs and the academic affairs gradually mixed together with the focus on the "student learning".The practices of the student affairs include the student administration, the counseling and the student service. The student administration consists of admission and enrollment management, financial aid and discipline in the assistance of the academic affairs. The counseling comprises enrollment guidance, academic advising, psychological consultation and vocational orientation for the problem-solving of the students throughout the university life. The student service embraces the management of the residence halls, health services and extracurricular activities in the purpose of the good living environment of the students.The university student affairs in the U.S.A have benefited from the respect of the student personality and the student-centered orientation in the terms of student diverse and sound development. The Federal Government of the U.S.A has increased the input and involvement on the higher education, issuing the bills and laws for the student affairs professionals in the coordination of the students, the parents and the universities. The student affairs systemization has played the important role in the professionalism of the student affairs. The founding of the student affairs professional associations has promoted the formulation of the standards and given the impact on the organizational construction of the student affairs.