Retention of New

Student Affairs
Professionals
Madison Cunningham, Ashley Curtis, Kieran Murphy,
Hanna Seferos, Gina Song, & Garrison Thomas
Introduction
New professionals (first-time, full-time) student affairs staff with five or fewer
years or experience represent a substantial population in the field, estimated at
15-20% of the student affairs workforce (Renn & Hodges, 2007).

About 50% of student affairs professionals leave the field before their fifth year
(Renn & Hodges, 2007, p. 370).

Three biggest challenges facing new student affairs professionals:

1. Supervision
2. Work/Life Balance
3. Compensation
Learning Outcomes
Participants will have the opportunity to:

● Recognize the importance of mentorship in the field

● Define synergistic supervision and identify strategies for implementing
this approach with their supervisees
● Learn the difference between transactional and transformational
leadership
● Understand how to help their supervisees identify their professional
motivations and how to apply them to their work in the field
● Recall approaches for establishing boundaries and policies around
work/life balance with their supervisees
● Identify alternative compensation methods for their employees
Transactional v. Transformational
Leadership

● Burns (1978) identifies transactional leadership as the “most typical approach employed by
leaders because it capitalizes on self-interest and involves the exchange of items of perceived
value as a means to motivate followers” (Dugan, 2018, p.190)
● Transformational leadership “leverage(s) both leaders’ and followers’ mutual morality, motivation,
and aspirations to accomplish goals, demonstrating a more profound effect on followers by
raising their levels of consciousness to transcend self-interests. (Dugan, 2018, p.190-191)
Synergistic Supervision

● “Synergistic supervision is a holistic approach that emphasizes emphasizes two-way

communication and a mutual investment in organizational goals, in which supervisees are
actively involved in the process (Tull, 2006; Winston & Creamer, 1997) as cited in (Amey & Reesor,
2015, p.74)
● “With synergistic framework as the foundation for the supervisory relationship, performance
expectations can be mutually shaped to match organizational goals and staff professional
development plans.” (Amey & Reesor, 2015, p.74)
● Burns(1978) believes a “relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation converts followers into
leaders and may convert leaders into moral agents… the type of leadership that can produce
social change” (p.4)
Finding Supervisee Motivations

● Successful supervision of others requires us to be aware of our own values and beliefs regarding
supervision (McNair)
● Reflection - “New professionals may benefit from supervisors who facilitate continued critical
consciousness development. This may include, but is not limited to, candid conversations about
institutional history and culture to which the new professional might not be privy, engagement in
participatory inquiry with the students with whom they and the supervisee work, examinations of
localized inquiry with formal theory, and support for new professionals’ plans for social justice
practices. In addition, supervisors should support and encourage critical reflection as part of
professional learning Boss, G. J., Linder, C., Marin, J. A., Dean, S. R., & Fitzer, J. R. (2018)
Work/Life Balance

● Balance looks differently for every individual person and job position
○ Balance is an individualized concept, its not simply time management (Amey & Reesor,
2015, p. 204)
● Young professionals frequently forgo work life balance in pursuit of
appearing competent
○ The experiences of study participants suggest that recent graduates should focus on
finding balance and being proactive to enhance their experience as new professionals.
Although several participants mentioned the need for balance, for most, it took a back seat
to concerns about fitting in and appearing competent (Renn & Hodges, 2007, p. 386)
● New professionals often focus on supporting their students without seeking
the support they need to live a balanced , happy life. (Amey & Reesor, 2015,
p. 205)
Compensation
“Early-career professionals expressed signs of being exploited themselves but appeared to lack
agency in changing their working conditions out of fear of losing their positions... Their collective
inaction may also have been attributable to the generally caring nature of student affairs
combined with perceived pressure to give without compensation” (Lee & Helm, 2013, p. 302)

Opportunities for professional development:

● Joining membership organizations

● Attending conferences
● Continuing education
● Transportation

Flexible scheduling and comp time

Round Table Discussion
Group 2 (I-P)
Group 1 (A-H)
What does strong supervision look like
As new professionals, what are some
to you and how will you know when
alternative compensation methods that
you’ve achieved it?
would interest you?

Group 3 (Q-Z)

So how do we achieve a work/life

balance while also striving to establish a
student centered professional
reputation?
Strategies for Retention
References
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