Leadership Exchange - Winter 2009

substantial commitment, particularly as a young professional. I hate to hear young staff members say ‘that’s not my job.’ There should be a line in job descriptions that states ‘your job is to do whatever it takes.’ Young professionals will be well-served to look for opportunities to expand their experience base so that they are well prepared to take the next steps in their careers.

LM: We need to push down genuine ownership of roles and responsibilities and offer professional development programs to augment the skills and experience that staff members do not have.

DB: I would discourage professionals to advance if they no longer have a passion for what they are doing. The work looks like a lot of fun until you are immersed in it.

MJ: We have to give staff ownership of decisions in their areas and encourage them—not get in their way. All of us hate to be micro-managed. We need to have real conversations about what staff members are doing and not be afraid to ask if their goal is to become a vice president or a dean one day. If so, they need to be realistic and build portfolios to help them accomplish this. _LE

Future Hot Topics

Where will SSAOs be concentrating future efforts? Our discussion participants cited the following key areas:

• International and global partnerships will be expanded through increasing numbers of study abroad programs and the growth of student affairs operations worldwide.

• Converging technology will have an even greater impact on the educational process. How, when, and where students want to communicate will demand quick responses and a change in communication processes. What will be the new Facebook and MySpace in the next 10 years?

• Mental health issues will continue to merit SSAO attention. How will student affairs staff deal with the increasing population of students who are medicated? How must student health services adjust?

The Must-have Skill:

Business Acumen
By Bill Flanagan

The discussion between highly respected leaders in our profession emphasizes a skill that is increasingly, and equally as important for SSAOs at small colleges and universities as it is for those at large, complex universities: business acumen. In these times of economic uncertainty, small college SSAOs will be responsible for, or intimately involved with, negotiating food service and union contracts; managing auxiliary services; developing or overseeing construction and bond agreements for housing, recreational, and athletic facilities; developing affordable health insurance plans for students; managing ever-tightening budgets; and facilitating the development of marketing plans to ensure steady revenue streams from tuition, fees, and services. Additionally, SSAOs at small colleges are rapidly becoming integral parts of institutional fundraising efforts for key student life projects and operations. In short, the need for SSAOs to be more focused on business-related activities and bottomline financial goals will continue to grow at small and large institutions.

The following suggestions help guide the small college response to this growing trend:

• Current small college and university SSAOs must take advantage of every professional development opportunity available to sharpen their business and management skills. Several excellent professional development programs, including the NASPA SSAO institutes, can provide the training and skills necessary to meet this challenge.

• SSAOs must add individuals who possess strong business skills to their management teams, especially if those skills are currently lacking in the department. Hiring key staff members with skills that complement your own rather than mimic them is a best practice from a management perspective.

• Graduate school preparation programs must offer aspiring SSAOs more business- and management-related courses at the master’s and doctoral levels. Candidates for positions in student affairs offices who are capable of citing student development theory, counseling students, and creating student-centered programming and are also comfortable with preparing budgets, reading balance sheets, and developing business and marketing plans will be in demand by large and small colleges and universities.

For those of us in this profession who have chosen the calling of careers at small colleges and universities, it is fun to think about what our lives and careers would be like if we had chosen different paths, like those described by our colleagues. In either case, both new and senior student affairs professionals should consider how they can strengthen or develop their business acumen. As Bob Dylan so aptly wrote, “The times, they are a changin’.”