A Study On American University Student Affairs Managements

The management of student affairs as an important part of managerial routines in higher education plays an implacable role in all universities in the world. Having worked in student affairs in the last 23 years, the author of this thesis has realized the sharp controversial contrast between the practical requirements, which comes from the students' holistic development process, and the reality, which actually lags far behind; having investigated and studied the successful merits and the student affairs work in American universities, the author has also realized the undeniable relation between academic merits and efficient student affairs work. Therefore, the author hopes that this thesis will serve as the fresh perspective to look into the possibilities of reforms and improvements in Chinese university student affairs managements.Tracing back the 300-year history of American university student affairs, we have seen the origin which came from the supporting mechanism to the needs of research and development, the growth and the improvement which resulted in the developmental stage of massive higher education catering to the skill training and acquisition, and the sophistication which has shown from all the practical work and the theoretical strengthening. We have realized the completion of student affairs managements has gone through the various phrases from paternal control as the starting point to the sophisticate student personnel, and to the students service reform and students development, with which the student affairs workers have now become a province of well-trained professionals whose accomplishments are appreciated for its professional diversity, high standardization, academic strengthen, theoretical comprehension, and unprecedented efficiency. Student development orientation is thought to be the theoretical foundation and cornerstone in the progression of professionalization of student affairs management, which have supported as well as established the rational position and indispensable functions in the student affairs in higher education. In addition, humane hypothesis, campus environment theory, structure-organization modules as well as rationalism, neo-humanism, pragmatism and existentialism are all used to foster the principles and practices in the different stages of American student affairs working guidance.Particular historical condition and practices are always the essential for the developments of theories. The developments of American student affairs managements would also give credits to the developments of the American higher education, to the developments of the political, economic, and cultural states of affairs in the country, and especially to the developments of the capitalist market economy, the multi-cultural traditions, the political believe of freedom, democracy and equality", the sophisticated judicial system, deep-rooted religious tradition and the worldwide developments of higher education. Of all these what account for the very most of the success of student affairs management in American universities are the coordination of the market economy and the market orientation of student affairs management, the concepts of students needs first, and the ever expansion scope of students services and the ever enhancing qualities of students services and managerial capacities. We believe that all the accomplishments so far so much in student affairs are one of the major accounts for the well-balanced progressions of the student enrollment expansions and the quality education outputs.It is a fact that the systematical concepts of student affairs managements and the developments of higher education in American universities are closely related. This progression has witnessed such a spiral advancement that goes from the affiliated function to consciousness of professionalization of its own discipline, from the experiments of "Return Movement" in student affairs to the cooperation with research academia, completing a developmental logic of "Position-Negation-Negation of Negation". The American student affairs managements are sophisticated and well-developed. They take students needs as the foremost priority and provide to the students the developmental environments in which students enjoy profound freedom as well as practice their sense of responsibilities. The multitude and diversified programs and services are covering all the areas of the educational assistances, the social activity operations and managements, the student apartment managements as well as health care issues, financial supports and job settlements.Modules and structures of organizing is basically the fundamental basis for the good managerial functions. The American university student affairs managerial systems are generally hierarchically well structured with a scientifically well formed mechanism which runs vertically top-down and bottom-up efficiently, while the actual running of the mechanism depends heavily on the exact needs of each university's own reality. The exterior managerial modules are of four types which include direct reporting, indirect reporting, duel reporting, and loose-structure while interior managerial modules are of another four types which include financial resource, service-related, staff associations and direct supervision. Besides, the university president leadership, the capacities, missions, and the historical tradition of the schools are also accountable for the good structures of American university student affairs managements.The scientization, institutionalization and standardization are the distinguish features of American university student affairs managements which are the results of powerful structures of legislation and jurisdiction of the nation state. The independence 1776 gave birth to the American educational regulations and standards of its distinctions which bears the democratic marks of revolutionary forerunners and which carries on the tradition of law and order. Issues concerning school operations, faculty employments, and student managements are all done through legal channels. As educational managements are forever under the supervisions of legal processes for its routine operations and developments, so are the student affairs managements. Students are entitled to enjoy rights and exercise their individual power accordingly while in all the student affairs legal procedures are the foremost principles. The basic types of American university student affairs are those of constitutional, legal, executive, and judicial convictions, of which the convictions of the federal Supreme Court are the most sound of all legal processions. The historical traditions, the political institutions, cultural customs and educational paradigms are all the elements for the comprehensive results in the strong legal consciousness, the sophisticated managerial regulations, the well-controlled legal order and appealing procedures, and the well-organized legal consultancy.The particular characteristics of the American university student affairs managements are seen as the development of a long history of management efforts: macro-dimensionally its professionalization, streamlined organization, vertical executive structure, diversity of the managerial modules, IT-Tech loaded managerial approaches, marketing-operative mechanism, legalization of security system, and the theorization of the managerial concepts are all can be boasted as its merits and features. In the present international scenario where great changes and reforms, globalization and international scale of market economy running, effusion of financial adventures, learning competition, and community operation are ever in the procession, these merits and features reflected in American universities can be valued as enlightenments and positive guidance to the similar students work in Chinese universities. In the context of Chinese universities, we need to re-establish the concept of humanity in the reform of university student affairs managements. We need to heighten the respect of student individuality, self-value, and their legal rights, and seek solutions for the controversies in the managerial-student relations, in the managerial evaluation and student development, and in the managerial personnel and managerial missions. We need to combine into one uniform of all the efforts engaged in educating, instructing, loving and assisting university students. We need to establish theoretical system in the area of student affairs managements, integrate human recourses, promote collective research approaches, and improve scientific research capacity so as to form a sophisticate and systemic criteria to regulate the behaviors and moral standards of the personnel working in the student affairs managements. We need to establish a streamlined organizational structure via personnel retrenching and diversifying and functional optimizing so as to construct the multi-centered student services catering each and all students needs and wants, and their study and research requirements. We also need to call on the good services and good attitudes to promote a student-development orientated managerial system so as to enrich and perfect the managerial contents. At the same time, we have to cultivate and construct professional province, introduce student affairs managements into working curriculums, foster professional associations and professional journals so as to help improve and perfect the profession of student affairs managements, establish legal security system to optimize the legal system regulating the managerial behaviors in universities, and clear the way for student right assistant channels so that the students would enjoy good educational environments in which to grow and develop. We have to establish all-staff assisting system with the joint efforts of parents and the society, and the adequatefunding so that to form a multi-dimensional education environment to realize the ultimate goal ofeducating holistically developed and morally sophisticated students, the quality successors of thesocialism.