Pedagogical Approach to Developing the Hiring Practices of Higher Education Administrators

• Published in: Georgia journal of college student affairs Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 63 - 84
• Main Authors: Tolman, Steven, Calhoun, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Digital Commons@Georgia Southern 01-01-2019; Georgia Southern University
• Subjects: Administrator Education; College Administration; Experiential Learning; graduate preparation; Graduate Study; higher education administration; hiring; Instructional Innovation; management; Personnel Selection; Skill Development; staffing; student affairs; Student Personnel Workers; Supervision; Teaching Methods; Theory Practice Relationship; Undergraduate Study
• ISSN: 2330-7269; 2330-7269
• DOI: 10.20429/gcpa.2019.350105

Most student affairs professionals will serve in a managerial and/or supervisory role at some point in their careers, yet we found only 11% of higher education graduate preparatory programs have required coursework focusing on this competency area. This situation is disconcerting, as there seems to be an assumption within the student affairs field that new professionals have the formal training and experiences needed to immediately be placed into these managerial and/or supervisory roles. In an effort to address this discrepancy, and in particular staffing practices, one higher education graduate preparatory program developed a course on staffing practices using an innovative pedagogical approach rooted in the theoretical framework of experiential learning. This approach enabled future student affairs professionals to apply theory-to-practice and develop the supervision skills they will need in their imminent careers. Recommendations are provided for faculty members, senior administrators, and a general calling for empirical research.