Learners are changing day by day, and the old way of doing things won’t cut it anymore. Higher ed institutions need transformative strategies to reshape and adapt to modern learners’ demands. In this interview, Patrick Day discusses the evolution of student affairs in response to changing demographics, the challenges these professionals face and the balance between personalized student engagement and scalable initiatives.
The EvoLLLution (Evo): How has student affairs had to adapt in recent years, not only due to changing demographic needs but also to meet the need for higher ed to evolve so rapidly?
Patrick Day (PD): We’ve seen adjustments in demographics in many ways. We’ve seen some learning loss inside and outside the classroom due to the long-term impact of the pandemic. There have been changes in those coming to college, and we’ve had to adjust.
Student affairs has to be more creative and flexible in the way it delivers programs and services. A single modality won’t work across increasingly diverse populations, especially if they’re experientially different. Students coming in today didn’t have the same experience as those we served five years ago. They may not feel as well connected or have socialized in the same ways as prior students. We have to step up to meet their needs.
Having one big event at the beginning of the year won’t cut it anymore. How do we connect some of our targeted services in terms of cultural centers, disability services and a whole range things we do to some of those populations before big events?
To meet students’ varying needs and make them feel valued, we have to create more deliberate engagement strategies.
Evo: What are some current challenges institutions are experiencing in just initially retaining students?
PD: This varies across institutions, so to be broad, finances are always a challenge. Oftentimes there’s a gap between resources and costs. We’re also seeing students and families now question the value of higher education and whether the investment is worth it. When we talk about retaining students, there is a value calculation that many of our students do before making that investment. Some students may be unwilling to get a student loan or work extensively to cover the cost of college.
Another area that’s a challenge, especially for students, is the sense of belonging. They want a sense of community, support and the ability to be themselves. If they don’t feel that, they might choose to go elsewhere.
Additionally, as higher education leaders, we can struggle with balancing expectations with what we’re able to provide. What’s the expectation for the residence hall? What’s the expectation for recreational spaces we provide relative to what we’re actually able to provide? It’s important to clarify what different groups of students expect from us and how we can provide the right services.
The other piece is making sure we’re able to help our students succeed. If students feel unprepared or they struggle in their courses, they may transfer or take a break. If we aren’t ready for the students we said we’re going to serve, that mismatch can lead to students leaving. It’s critical that we prepare and support our students right from the start in order to keep them.
Evo: What are some best practices to overcome the obstacles you mentioned?
PD: We need to know our students and their level of preparedness. We have a significant responsibility to meet them where they are and provide support accordingly. This support can include identifying challenges, like difficulties in a particular set of courses, and creating prematriculation experiences or summer programs to better prepare students. As the California State University moved away from remediation, we’ve created intensive experiences to help those students, mapping out what works well and where we need to meet what needs.
We also need to think about how we engage students. How do we make a large institution small? Large-scale events like convocation or the big game are still important, but we should also look at more personalized experiences. When I was at one institution, we had 2,000–3,000 students participating in our online gaming. How do we leverage the kinds of experiences we maybe hadn’t thought of?
In the end, we must accept that there are many ways to engage students. It’s an art and science to find the right balance. It’s critical to have connecting points that are healthy and positive. We can partner with our student groups, offices or faculty to develop these connections that make a real difference in our students’ lives.
Evo: How can student affair leaders balance a need for personalized student engagement with the idea of making scalable initiatives that will enhance retention across different student groups?
PD: We have to expand student engagement beyond the in-person methods. It’s not enough for us to have deep connections with the students who are predisposed to come to your office. Those connections are wonderful, but we need to think of ways of reaching students who will never physically visit our office. It can be a challenge because so many student affairs people come to the profession genuinely and deeply caring about having that deep connection with students. But we have to realize that our students’ needs and experiences are evolving.
We need to think about scaling our support and services for students through software and virtual interventions, for example. At a previous institution, we found that what was originally an in-person event gained much more attendance once it went online. We had an opportunity to present information and invite attendees to hear other speakers in a way that we would’ve never been able to do before. That was scalable. Some students may not feel comfortable going to the counselling center in person, but we can scale our services by offering them in both synchronous and asynchronous form to meet students where they are.
We can create meaningful connections and learning experiences through multiple modalities, not just face-to-face interactions.
Evo: In what ways can student affairs strategically align with institutional leadership?
PD: In my time as a higher ed leader, I’ve seen things like wellness and wellbeing become paramount issues for higher education. Things like career planning and career services weren’t part of an institutional conversation once upon a time. All of a sudden, these are institutional conversations. We’ve learned that we have to be intentional about the work we do in the cocurricular learning and experience space.
There are opportunities to identify what we’re focused on in student affairs, which requires an intentionality around building a connection to our faculty. We want all students to have a comprehensive experience and ensure the goals we have to achieve in terms of retention, persistence and graduation are all connected to what happens inside and what happens outside the classroom.
Evo: What role does student affairs play in fostering campus culture, and how does that contribute to student success?
PD: We have to be one of the primary arbiters of building connection, community and meaning for students. It’s critical during the recruitment process—when we first engage with students—that institutions clearly communicate their values and ensure students feel recognized and included. We need to show them that there’s a place for them here and that there are many ways to belong at the institution.
We must be deliberate about creating that engagement from the very beginning, when they come to campus. We need to have a set of programming interventions that continue to reinforce that there are support services in place for them throughout their journey.
Evo: Is there anything you’d like to add?
PD: Student affairs has certainly moved toward the center of higher ed over the years. We have the ability now more than ever before to help students be successful—to learn and grow. We’re talking about mental health, wellbeing and other things we have talked about for years in our department, but we now need to elevate our discourse.
Having conversations, not only with one another but also with the community, is key. We have to talk about leadership and partnering with our colleagues. Here is the future of higher ed, and here’s how we contribute to it. We want to connect with our students and ensure they have robust experience, so here’s what’s required for us to get there.
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