Most promising places to work in student affairs

ABOUT THE STUDY

The Promising Places to Work in Student Affairs (PPWSA) study was first proposed by Ralph Newell at Diverse: Issues In Higher Education as partnership with ACPA-College Student Educators International in 2011. The ACPA Governing Board motioned for the then-Director of Research and Scholarship, Dr. Terrell Strayhorn, to explore the merit and extent of this project. After engaging with a volunteer advisory board the Governing Board approved the study.

Once approved, Dr. Strayhorn was commissioned by ACPA and Diverse: Issues In Higher Education to serve as the project’s principal investigator. In this role, Strayhorn developed the PPWSA Survey in consultation with experts on the project’s advisory board. The original survey was pilot-tested with a small sample of non-ACPA member institutions; feedback from the pilot-test helped to clarify survey items, correct logic sequencing, and determine the utility of our scoring algorithm.

The purpose of this commissioned study was to examine the extent to which diversity and inclusion permeates aspects of various divisions of student affairs (or equivalent) at participating ACPA-member institutions across the globe including administrative structures, commitments, work environments, and staffing practices.

Now part of the larger ‘Promising Places to Work’ project, the survey has been administered by Strayhorn and his teams at various centers and Do Good Work Educational Consulting, LLC. All survey rights belong to the author. All analyses presented in this edition were conducted by Terrell Strayhorn and Royel Johnson.