Running head: PERSONALL PHILOSOPHY PAPER

Mark E Campbell II
Personal Philosophy Paper
Western Michigan University

Introduction

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To begin with, in this paper I will examine my personal philosophy of student affairs and
how that philosophy has evolved. My philosophy of student affairs has evolved due to my work
in my Graduate Assistantship in the Office of Student Involvement at Kalamazoo College, field
experience with Student Success Services at Western Michigan University, and research work
with Dr. Gayle Thompson Barriers to Persistence of Underrepresented Students in Athletic
Training Education, a qualitative research project in which we examine the matriculation of
students of color in the undergraduate athletic training program at Western Michigan University.
All three of these experiences have molded my personal philosophy of student affairs.
Additionally in this paper, I will demonstrate how my philosophy has changed by answering the
following questions: What guides you as you think about yourself in your chosen profession?
What beliefs guide your actions? Do you have a general philosophy of education or a philosophy
of leadership? What is your vision of an ideal work environment and learning community? How
does your education, training and competency development up to now support your goals and
philosophy?
Guiding Philosophies
As stated in the Student Personnel Point of View of 1937 about the philosophy of their document
This philosophy imposes upon educational institutions the obligation to consider
the student as a whole ~ his intellectual capacity and achieve- ment, his emotional
make up, his physical condition, his social relation- ships, his vocational aptitudes
and skills, his moral and religious values, his economic resources, and his
aesthetic appreciations. It puts emphasis, in brief, upon the development of the
student as a person rather than upon his intellectual training alone ( p 39 1937)

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In my opinion, student affairs should focus on the whole spectrum of learning and not just the
intellectual part of a student. This essential premise was the foundation to my own definition of
student affairs.
Values
Values can simply be defined as: what do you believe in? In the Student Services: A
handbook for the profession textbook, Schuh, Jones, Harper, and associates (2011) have found
that the researcher Young (1993) found these values from the list of values that student affairs
professionals believe in are the following: altruism, equality, freedom, human dignity, justice,
and truth (2011). I would agree that these values are superb values and Youngs values
influenced my definition of student affairs especially serving students. In my opinion, by serving
students we serve them with human dignity, equality, justice, truth, and acknowledging the
freedom they have as legal adults in all of the three realms that I outlined: social life, spiritual
life, and academic life.
Furthermore, I divide the three realms into sub categories social life includes: race, class, gender,
sexual orientation and physical ability. Spiritual life: spirituality, religion, and non-religion.
Academic life: courses, friendships with professors, internships, co-curricular activities and
personal learning styles. Although my definition is concise it is comprehensive in spanning
across facets that encompass a college students life. The three realms overlap into each other and
one realm cannot stand without the other. All three realms have change as the foundation of each
realm. As Pascarela and Terrenzi stated in their research How College Affects Students (1991)
Students not only made statistically significant gains in factual knowledge and in a range of
general cognitive and intellectual skills but also changed significantly on a broad spectrum of

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value, attitudinal, psychosocial, and moral dimensions. The realms: social life, spiritual life, and
academic life integrate all areas where there can be growth because college is a time of massive
cognitive and personal growth. For my definition, I want student affairs professionals to guide
students go through this time of massive personal growth.
Ideal Environment & Learning Community
My ideal work environment is a place where I can be able to work independently without
a supervisor that is a micro-manager. For example, during my field experience with Student
Success Services, I felt that as an employee I was regulated to certain tasks. There were not many
opportunities for me to show off my talents. I was simply given a task and asked to complete the
task. During the process of completing the tasks, my supervisor would frequently check-in to see
how I was progressing with the task. At first, this was very peculiar to me because I never had a
supervisor check-in with my progress for a task. I was accustomed to completing tasks with my
own strengths and if I needed assistance I would ask for assistance from my supervisor or I
would solve the tasks by myself. Due to this reason, I know that the ideal work environment for
me is a place where I can work independently without check-ins from my supervisor. For
example, during my time working on my capstone research project I work independently on
interviewing the participants. My supervisor trusts my judgment and my experience with
interviewing the participants.
Another characteristic of an ideal work environment is a small office where my
coworkers value humor. Student Affairs professionals work long hours and that work is not
always appreciated yet having moments where you can laugh and smile for a moment make the
hard work worth it. Lastly, the concluding characteristic for an ideal work environment would
be working a small private liberal arts institution. These institutions provide opportunities for

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their professional to be more like generalists and see the value of their work in action at their
institutions (Hirt 2006). Strange and Banning (2001)
Conclusion
In conclusion, as a student affairs professional I will assist students with a holistic
approach to learning and helping them grow. The many experiences that I have had thus far have
influenced me in taking the holistic approach in my career in student affairs. I look forward to
new experiences in student affairs because they will only embolden and strengthen my current
philosophy of student affairs.

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References
Hirt, J. (2006). Where you work matters: Student Affairs Administration at Different Types of
Institutions. Maryland: University Press of America
NASPA (1939). Student Personnel Point of View 1937.
Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (1991). How College Affects Students (p. 572). San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers. Retrieved November 30, 2013
Strange, C. C., & Banning, J. H. (2001). Educating by Design: Creating Campus Learning
Environments That Work. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Schuh, J. H., Jones, S. R., & Harper, S. R. (2011). Student Services: A Handbook for the
Profession (5th ed., pp. 82-83). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers.