Exceptional Senior Student Affairs Administrators' Leadership

Student affairs work has changed dramatically, and today's senior student affairs leaders have portfolios that encompass a wide range of roles and responsibilities. They are business people, architects, contract readers, negotiators, landlords, landscapers, and proposal writers. They are attuned to the evolving nature and demands of students in large and complex environments that know no boundaries.

Exceptional Senior Student Affairs Administrators' Leadership: Strategies and Competencies for Success is written primarily for aspiring, new, and seasoned senior student affairs administrators who seek to become highly effective in their roles as campus and community leaders. The contributing authors—higher education leaders who range from presidents to senior student affairs officers to leadership experts—share their perspectives and strategies for leveraging seven threads of enduring competencies for exceptionally effective leadership:

• Responsibility and accountability
• Learning from personal and professional experiences
• The power of knowledge
• Listening and communicating
• Functioning in a large, networked universe
• Collaborations, partnerships, and relationships
• Innovation and creativity

This book also challenges the long-held assumption that the only route to a college or university presidential appointment is through academic affairs. As an increasing number of senior student affairs administrators aspire to the presidency, they must demonstrate that they are collegewide and community leaders. By harnessing the seven enduring competencies detailed in this book, senior student affairs administrators can better prepare themselves for top leadership positions.

The new world of student affairs work requires senior student affairs administrators who are exceptionallyeffective leaders. This book will help student affairs leaders of all levels achieve transformational and strategic problem solving, organizational reform, progressive policies and actions, and personal satisfaction in their work.

A free Executive Summary of the book is available for download.

Hardcover | 2011 | 344 pages

ISBN 978-0-931654-50-3