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[Nate]

Sorry for the long post... if you read it, you're amazing.  if you reply with great advice, you're divine and owed a drink.  

Most of the eight or so apps I've sent in for entry-level student affairs positions have not elicited replies, except for the requisite "what race are you?" questionnaires.  

I do not have a masters in student personnel/counseling/etc and have a BA in a humanities subject from a well-respected SLAC, having graduated '05 (yes, I'm only 23).  I fear my lack of a master's is completely disqualifying me.  

My undergrad years drown in involvement in student activities--involvement in gender/sexual orientation issues, greek life (extensive), campus leadership, facilities management, dealing w/ housing and security & safety issues, financial mgt, assisting in responses to student emergencies (mental health counseling referrals and suicide response), alumni relations, etc.  My post-grad working experience shows rapid promotion in a corporate environment and that I am trusted with coordinating my efforts w/ outside PR and legal firms.  I have solid references from senior members of the admin at my undergrad institution.  After reading student admin wannabe's post, I am already starting on edits for skills-based resume.  

QUESTIONS!:
Any of you out there start off in student affairs admin (for undergrad) without a masters?  How'd ya do it!?

What are the average timeframes for hearing back from an institution?  Is it true that some/most reviewers are likely to look at apps during the summer, when their student affairs/campus life offices are not preoccupied w/ working w/ students?  

Student Affairs really is my passion.  And I loved working with younger students to see them develop as leaders, mature in their inter-personal skills, and accomplish goals of an organization from such experiences.  Which leads to my next question: I was so involved as an undergrad, that my grades were, ummm... on average low B probably high C, and one F stuck in there (i got no defense).  That's why I'm also trying to get some applicable real-world experience before my app to grad school.  

You will have my sincerest gratitude for any sage advice you may give or questions to suggest that I consider.  Best to all and many thanks in advance, Nate.  (not my real name)

[anon 2]

I would get a masters.

[Sean]

Hello Nate,
As a relatively young (25) administrator in a SLAC I understand where you are coming from.  In the world of Student Affairs most schools will require, or at least prefer, a Masters degree. The only exceptions I am aware of are 1) very small schools which have trouble recruiting employees and 2) large state schools which ask that you begin a Masters as a condition of your employment.  I currently know recent grads who have landed both types of positions so it is possible, good luck!!

[Donna]

You could probably enter student affairs as a residence hall director at some schools. This might allow you to pursue your masters part time where you are working. Or why not apply to student affairs masters programs and assistantships. This would allow you to work on your degree and gain some experience.

[alma mater]

Another tactic would be, if you're open to it, to try and get a job at your alma mater. Often SLACs will hire recent grads for these types of entry-level positions - recent experience with the school often makes up for lack of other experience. You can gain some great experience in student affairs and decide whether you really like it and whether getting a masters is what you want to do. There are drawbacks,  mainly still feeling much like a student - especially if you still have many friends who are seniors. This goes away quickly after the students who are two years behind you graduate, but can be a negative (or a positive, depending).

[student advisor]

having graduated with an MS in College Student Personnel last May I can offer a few words of wisdom.  i agree with the other posters in that you can apply to positions in Admissions or Housing/Res. Life with only a bachelors degree because they tend to be positions with the highest turnover.  Positions in Advising, Career Services, Judicial Affairs, etc. tend to require a masters degree with some experience (which can be obtained during grad school doing an assistantship, practicums, other on-campus employment/involvement opportunities.  

When I was in grad school I had an assistantship dealing with volunteering/service learning, taught a freshman seminar twice (once for credit), interned in an admissions office, served on the university judicial board, and worked on the Orientation management staff for one year.  Grad school not only gives you the credentials but also allows you to gain invaluable work experience at the same time.  

If you are considering positions outside of Admissions and HRL and really want a chance to make Student Affairs a career, then I would suggest grad school at some point.  This is probably why (though not necessarily) you are not getting responses to your applications.

Just my two-cents.

Good Luck.

[Comm Coll Admin]

Admissions is a great place to start and get an "in" into the world of professional higher ed.  Because many new admissions reps are "road runners," turnover tends to be high, making the jobs a bit easier to get.  Keep an eye out for the small schools where staff members often wear many hats -- admissions folks also often run orientations, do advising, advise organizations, etc. at smaller institutions.  It is exhausting work, but excellent experience that can open up doors to you.  In fact, at a 4 year research inst. at which I recently worked, admissions was the best way to get in to any other student related job on campus!

[%sig%]

[Nate]

I've seriously thought about looking at jobs at my alma mater.  however, given the range and depth of my involvement as an undergrad, and that it was a very small school, i am confident it might be awkward to be part of advising students with whom i used to socialize.  perhaps in a couple years, though.  

i appreciate everyone's advice

** The most significant obstacle I've found is that entry-level jobs are not as well-advertised.  I've found a few here on chronicle.com/jobs and some more on higheredjobs.com.  ACPA & NASPA do not have nearly as many listings.  ANy advice on this front (other than a list of all colleges i'd consider and going to each one's postings on their sites)??

thanks to all.

[student advisor]

You can also try  --  http://www.higheredjobs.com/    and another good one is http://jobs.studentaffairs.com/.  I use those two sites, along with the Chronicle's postings.

Hope this helps.

[Mayreh]

I would narrow your options down to a list of schools and then consult their job sites individually.  A lot of administrative jobs, especially at the entry level, are not widely circulated and you could miss some really good opportunities by only looking at the big job sites.

I also second the suggestion to look at Admissions.  They burn through their junior level folks like crazy, but you can use the experience and connections to move into another area of the university.  Where I work, the Associate Director of Student Affairs for our Study Abroad program came right out of the Admissions office (and I don't believe she has a Masters, though she may have subsequently enrolled in a program).

You might also want to look at secretarial jobs in the office of the area you would ultimately like to go into (Advising Office, Office of Judical Affairs, Office of Student Life, etc.).  While the bulk of your work may consist of repetitive clerical tasks, you might have the opportunity to do low-level advising, or work directly with students.  You also may qualify for tuition remission, making that masters degree much more affordable.  Many of the clerical staff in my office work here to fund their masters degrees - and because they are generally overqualified for their positions, we throw a lot of work their way that is technically above their job descriptions (though they still do a lot of boring paperwork).

Good luck!

[Mimi]

I agree with all the great advice in the above postings. To add to that:

As a person who has moved up the student affairs administrative ladder (I am currently a Student Recruitment Officer for a large research institution) over the last 5 years in the student affairs area with only a B.A. degree and no related undergrad experience (Political Science/Spanish Literature), I started my higher ed job search seeking entry-level administrative positions in student affairs units (IE. intake advisors, coordinator positions, assist student affairs coordinators, office managers, etc.). Many of these positions are typically clerical/administrative and classified as such, but they will allow you to gain the needed advising credentials/experience to move up the ladder. I have progressively gained responsibility and have been promoted several times. I should also mention that I just completed my first year in a part-time Educational Leadership (Student Affairs) program, because my future positions (Associate/Assistant Admissions Directors) require the M.A. and sometimes, that is the only thing besides experience that will keep you from getting the job.

My advice to you is to seek an administrative position (as mentioned in other posts), and absorb as much knowledge and experience as possible. Seek mentors! Volunteer to take on new responsibilities. Lastly, join campus committees! They are a great opportunity to meet other people in the field, get the inside scoop on future openings, and network network, network. If you do seek to get an M.A. soon, seek an institution that offers tuition remission for staff, or bite the bullet and do it soon, because once you start working, it’s really hard to go into a full-time program and poor student status. Good luck! :)

[Higher Ed Grad]

Bottom line is this (I am only 23 also), and I just finished my master's in higher education. You are NOT going to get hired unless you have the degree. Student Affairs is a profession that wants to be taken seriously and the only way to gain that credibility is to have an advanced degree. So I would honestly recommend researching some grad programs (gradschools.com) and just getting the degree. If you put your effort into that instead of trying to find a position with only a bachelor's, you will make out better in the long run. FYI... almost 95% of Higher Ed grad programs will pay for your full tuition while you work as a grad assistant. I applied to 9 programs, and was offered full funding by 7. So if you think money is holding you back from getting your master's, think again!! I would highly recommend that you just buckle down and apply to some grad programs, because in the end you are being beat out by people with EXPERIENCE as professionals, not just as undergraduate leaders.

[Mayreh]

I agree that at some point, if you want to advance beyond entry level work, you will need to get at least a Masters Degree, and possibly a PhD, depending on the school and the position.  Universities are in the business of producing scholarship and they want Academic/Student Affairs employees, particularly at the director level and above, to understand how this enterprise works and to have gone through it themselves.

Depending on what area of University adminsitration you want to go into (and what school you would like to work at)  however, a degree in Higher Ed may not be the best choice for you.  At my school, only the Student Life folks have a higher ed degree, everone else - including the director of student affairs - has an advanced degree from a humanities/social science discipline.  My advising office (which is more Academic Affairs than Student Affairs) won't even interview applicants with a degree in higher ed.  We just don't see the degree as having the same value (or being as useful for the job function) as a Masters or PhD in a humanities/social science/science discipline.  These degrees also seem to have more flexibility within the university, allowing you to move into specific departments (as a departmental undergrad adviser/director) as well.  

Other schools though feel the exact opposite and specifically seek out advisers with degree in higher ed with concentrations in advising/counseling.  My advice would be to take a look at the job boards for the schools you would like to work at and see what kind of educational background they are looking for (both at the entry level and at the director level) and, if possible, look at the bios of the people currently in these positions to see what kind of training they have.

[%sig%]

[anon]

The "road-runner" entry-lvel jobs in admissions have very high turnover, so lots of people use them to get their foot in the door. The trick is to use the position as a jumping point for your desired next job, which means volunteering in your desired area over-and-above your day job in admissions. Unfortunately, this is not so easy since (at least in the Fall semester) you are on the road a lot and are (1) exhausted and (2) away from campus, thus precluding continuous stretches where you'd be useful in your vounteer activities.

[%sig%]

[seen it all--BA, MA, MEd, etc]

I've been in higher ed for a while now and have seen just about every combination of education and experience, and some BAs have landed rather nice jobs; so it can be done, but what road YOU should take depends on your own unique situation.  We can't know things like your level of professionalism or your ability to effectively manage programs or build relationships across an organization, or how well you interview.  You yourself might not have a particularly clear picture of these things.  A master's certainly helps (it's true, some schools seem to require it), but so does having connections/network, and being in the right place at the right time.  Regardless of whatever works for everyone else, it's whatever gets you the job that will matter to you.  I'd definitely recommend trying to get into the business as much as you can (informationals, administrative work, temp work, whatever) so you can meet people and get a picture for what these jobs are like and what education might help you get where you want to go--whether this coincides with further education or not.