Chief Student Affairs And Academic Affairs Officers Perceptions Of Counseling Centers Value In Fulfilling Institutional Mission PDF Download

The purpose of this sequential mixed-methods study was to explore senior student affairs officers’ reports of joint intra-institutional efforts within the past three years to achieve the common goal of supporting the academic and personal success of college students with mental illness. The 20 factors identified by Mattessich, Murray-Close, and Monsey (2001a) as influencing the success of joint efforts designed to address such long-term, complex goals provided the lens through which senior student affairs officers’ reports of these related efforts were explored. They grouped the success factors into six interconnected categories: (a) the Environment in which the effort takes place, (b) Member Characteristics, (c) the Processes and Structures used by the group, (d) the nature of the Communication, (e) the Purpose of the joint effort, and (f) Resources such as funding and staffing. Together, these categories served as the lens through which senior student affairs officers’ reports were examined. The participants for this study included 117 senior student affairs officers who were recruited through Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA), an organization dedicated to the advancement of student affairs professionals. Two methods were used to collect data. First, an adapted version of the Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory (WCFI; Mattessich, Murray-Close, & Monsey, 2001b) was administered online. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 volunteers who completed the survey. The data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative procedures. This generated 50 unique findings related to senior student affairs officers’ reports of joint intra-institutional efforts to support students with mental illness. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations for practice, policy, and future research are presented. Overall, findings from the survey and interviews revealed that senior student affairs officers perceived Process and Structure and Resources were present, but needed to be strengthened (borderline) in their respective joint intra-institutional efforts. In contrast, participants perceived Environment, Membership Characteristics, Purpose, and Communication as present (strengths) in their respective joint intra-institutional efforts to achieve the common goal of supporting the academic and personal success of college students with mental illness.