The role of Dean of Students is pivotal: in students’ lives; for their institutions as a conduit to senior administration about issues of concern to students; as a figure who can coordinate disparate campus constituencies -- from academic affairs and athletics to campus safety and relationships with parents and alums; and as a crisis manager.What preparation, skills, dispositions, and knowledge do DOSs need to be effective in their role; and, indeed, what areas and range of activities generally fall under their responsibility?Through chapters by experienced DOSs – from early career to veterans and in between – this book provides vivid first-hand accounts of what’s involved in managing the multiple roles of the deanship, its immense personal rewards, the positive impact that practitioners can make in the lives of students, and on campus policy and environment, without glossing over the demands on time and the concomitant stresses. The contributors describe the paths they followed to take on the role, and what they do to keep current.Each chapter offers a wealth of anecdotes that provide an insider’s feel for the daily life of the DOS, and how incumbents have found ways to integrate family and personal needs with the discharging of their often demanding responsibilities. The contributing authors offer valuable advice on setting priorities and dealing with issues as varied as setting budgets, creating an effective team, delegation, and addressing student conduct issues. They offer guidance on developing allies across campus, keeping up to date with trends and legislation, and building a network of mentors and advisors through professional associations and connection with their peers at institutions around the country. The book concludes with some perspectives about the meaning and purpose of the dean of students role in our current era and as we look to the future of higher education.The dean of students is a challenging role because it is often the one administrator thrust onto the frontlines to meet students not only at their best, but also at their worst. This person is an advocate and educator, disciplinarian and friend, confidant and counselor, and advisor and parent all rolled into one. Keep Calm and Call the Dean of Students offers a unique window into this challenging and rewarding position that will appeal to sitting deans; to those seeking this role; and to senior leaders in higher education seeking to appoint a DOS and/or organize a dean of students portfolio of responsibilities.

Mentoring demonstrably increases the retention of undergraduate and graduate students and is moreover invaluable in shaping and nurturing academic careers. With the increasing diversification of the student body and of faculty ranks, there’s a clear need for culturally responsive mentoring across these dimensions.Recognizing the low priority that academia has generally given to extending the practice of mentoring – let alone providing mentoring for Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and first generation students – this book offers a proven and holistic model of mentoring practice, developed in the field of psychology, that not only helps mentees navigate their studies and the academy but provides them with an understanding of the systemic and racist barriers they will encounter, validates their cultural roots and contributions, and attends to their personal development.Further recognizing the demands that mentoring places on already busy faculty, the model addresses ways of distributing the work, inviting White and BIPOC faculty to participate, developing mentees’ capacities to mentor those that follow them, building a network of mentoring across generations, and adopting group mentoring. Intentionally planned and implemented, the model becomes self-perpetuating, building an intergenerational cadre of mentors who can meet the growing and continuing needs of the BIPOC community.Opening with a review of the salient research on effective mentoring, and chapters that offer minority students’ views on what has worked for them, as well as reflections by faculty mentors, the core of the book describes the Freedom Train model developed by the godfather of Black psychology, Dr. Joseph White, setting out the principles and processes that inform the Multiracial / Multiethnic / Multicultural (M3) Mentoring Model that evolved from it, and offers an example of group mentoring.While addressed principally to faculty interested in undertaking mentoring, and supporting minoritized students and faculty, the book also addresses Deans and Chairs and how they can create Freedom Train communities and networks by changing the cultural climate of their institutions, providing support, and modifying faculty evaluations and rewards that will in turn contribute to student retention as well as creative and productive scholarship and research.This is a timely and inspiring book for anyone in the academy concerned with the success of BIPOC students and invigorating their department’s or school’s scholarship.

A veteran college dean gives parents of college students all the practical guidance they'll need to navigate the labyrinth of bureaucracies and policies in order to support their student's academic career and extracurricular life. Most books for college parents dwell on the emotional and psychological challenges when their son or daughter "cuts loose" into the quasi-dependent, quasi-adult limbo of college. Here at last is an expert nuts-and-bolts guide showing parents how to work collaboratively with their children to navigate the college bureaucracy—a labyrinth that at times seems perversely designed to frustrate parents at every turn, even on such basic matters as tuition and fees, grades, and disciplinary, legal, and medical problems. Drawing on her 20 years of experience as a student affairs dean at a top-ranked national university, Helen Akinc teaches college parents everything they need to know about policies and practices today in college administration, instruction, and student services. The practical advice gathered in this handbook will empower college parents to extract enough information from the system to support, guide, and monitor the academic career and general well-being of their college student—both on campus and off, in both routine and special situations.

A must-have for every young woman headed off to college, this comprehensive guide to personal safety covers everything from daily life to more serious threats on campus. Safety expert and speaker Kathleen Baty offers young women essential advice for protecting themselves in the dorm, at parties, on Facebook, during spring break, and while studying abroad. She also advises on sexual harassment, domestic violence, and self-defense. Written in a friendly, accessible tone, and packed with checklists, personal anecdotes from students, safety secrets, and invaluable resources, College Safety 101 is the handbook every college student needs on her nightstand, and a priceless gift for high school grads.

How to Write a BA Thesis is the only book that directly addresses the needs of undergraduate students writing a major paper. This book offers step-by-step advice on how to move from early ideas to finished paper. It covers choosing a topic, selecting an advisor, writing a proposal, conducting research, developing an argument, writing and editing the thesis, and making through a defense. Lipson also acknowledges the challenges that arise when tackling such a project, and he offers advice for breaking through writer’s block and juggling school-life demands. This is a must-read for anyone writing a BA thesis, or for anyone who advises these students.

Since the publication of the first edition of Student Conduct Practice in 2008 the landscape of student conduct has matured and shifted dramatically. As the composition of the overall population and of the student body on campuses across the nation has changed, institutions of higher learning have a greater awareness of the importance of preparing students to function competently in a diverse society. They are seeing student behaviors, such as challenging mores, rules and policies, that reflect the growing polarization and complexity we see in our larger society, and such trends as a marked increase in student mental health challenges as well as changing social dynamics, all of which require a new awareness and a rethinking of policies and responses by conduct professionals, including embracing the a social justice as a lens by which we perform our work.This updated and considerably expanded edition maintains the objectives of the first--to constitute a compendium of current best practices in the administration of student conduct, to summarize the latest thinking on key issues facing practitioners today, and to provide an overview of the role and status of conduct administrators within their institutions.This text invites student conduct administrators to examine current programs and policies to ensure that the spaces that they create during interactions with students are spaces in which all students feel welcome and heard. As we strive to prepare students not only to be productive members of today’s workforce, and more importantly to be good people and upright citizens, this text accentuates the delicate balance between responding to regulatory mandates and meeting the educational aims of student conduct. The aim is to offer those with an interest in student conduct and those professionals who are new or seasoned student conduct administrators with both a compendium of chapters on best practices and the background to grapple with the thought-provoking situations they will encounter. In close collaboration with the leadership of the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA) the editors identified the most pressing conduct issues on our campuses and practitioners and faculty who offer related expertise and a necessary diversity of voices.This is also available as a set with Reframing Campus Conflict, Second Edition.