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[studentaffairsed]

How can a forum for Student Affairs Educators be added to the groupings on the main page?

The education outside of class is just as important as that inside the class. Many of the discussions seem very faculty focused.  I gather that there are topics and trends that would be good for student affairs folks to comment upon.

Is a new forum possible?

[studentaffairsgal]

Ed,

I hope the mods listen to you--I've been trying to get a student affairs forum on here for a while ... to no avail.

Also, there are plenty of faculty who play a part in the student affairs side of life (advising student organizations, working closely with student affairs professionals). After all, we're dealing with the same students the faculty are!

SAG

[studentaffairsed]

So mods there is interest here.

There could be an "Outside of the Classroom"; "Co-Curricular Learning"; etc.

Periodically I will come across some threads that lean toward student affairs. But predominantly the faculty members here have the control of the boards and the discussion directions.

[voxprincipalis]

So mods there is interest here.

There could be an "Outside of the Classroom"; "Co-Curricular Learning"; etc.

Periodically I will come across some threads that lean toward student affairs. But predominantly the faculty members here have the control of the boards and the discussion directions.

I'm sure as soon as the "assessment loop" is closed and the mods have "interfaced" in some "breakout sessions" with "small group activities" to do a "SWOT analysis" and study "best practices", an appropriate "strategic plan" will be implemented that takes an "innovative" and "multicultural" approach and recognizes that there are "a variety of learning styles in the room".

All posts in this forum must be represented four ways: as written language for "visual learners" (English and Spanish are required; other languages are optional), as audio files for "auditory learners", translated into American Sign Language for the hearing impaired, and represented as pictures for the illiterate. "Integration of technology" via the posting of Powerpoint clips and the sharing of other "enrichment materials" are wildly encouraged.

All CHE forumites who hold faculty positions will, of course, be required to read this forum at least twice a year as a condition of tenure and promotion. Remember, people, you clearly stink as teachers. Hate to break it to you, but there it is. Now get into small groups, play an icebreaker name-game, and then flagellate yourselves while cowering before an effigy of Parker Palmer.


(In all seriousness, the better approach to take here is probably not "if you build it, they will come", but rather "if they come [to discuss these issues], then the mods will build [a forum]." Beyond the odd thread or two, there don't seem to be many current CHE members who are really in the field and who want to use this as a forum for discussion. The Chronicle fora are very interesting, but they are not the only game in town, and your audience may already be congregating on some other online site). Even if a forum is created, my personal opinion [which means nothing, of course] is that you're not likely to attract much of the kind of attention you want, and *very* likely to attract more of the kind of attention you don't, like me above. You've already seen the reaction that such threads engender here, and I highly doubt that that would change...)

VP

[studentaffairsgal]

So mods there is interest here.

There could be an "Outside of the Classroom"; "Co-Curricular Learning"; etc.

Periodically I will come across some threads that lean toward student affairs. But predominantly the faculty members here have the control of the boards and the discussion directions.

(In all seriousness, the better approach to take here is probably not "if you build it, they will come", but rather "if they come [to discuss these issues], then the mods will build [a forum]." Beyond the odd thread or two, there don't seem to be many current CHE members who are really in the field and who want to use this as a forum for discussion. The Chronicle fora are very interesting, but they are not the only game in town, and your audience may already be congregating on some other online site). Even if a forum is created, my personal opinion [which means nothing, of course] is that you're not likely to attract much of the kind of attention you want, and *very* likely to attract more of the kind of attention you don't, like me above. You've already seen the reaction that such threads engender here, and I highly doubt that that would change...)

VP

VP, while I can understand your stance against the "if you build it, they will come" theory, I'm wondering if the reason there aren't many of us posting is because they are weary of getting the unwanted attention if they post in "the wrong fora." Some (or most) of the topics student affairs folk would want to discuss don't really fit in to "In the Classroom," "Balancing Work and Life," "The Administrative Track," or any of the other fora, and that alone might prevent others from posting.

Unfortunately, NASPA, ACPA and studentaffairs.com don't have discussion boards (which is a shame; we shouldn't have to scour the internet for our own community--hey! right there is a great starting topic: "is the internet creating community on college campuses or destroying it? Discuss.")

Perhaps the mods might be interested in creating a Special Topics board, just to test the waters?

SAG

[daniel_von_flanagan]

VP, while I can understand your stance against the "if you build it, they will come" theory, I'm wondering if the reason there aren't many of us posting is because they are weary of getting the unwanted attention if they post in "the wrong fora."

"Unwanted attention" suggests that you don't want participation from the non-SA people on this forum.  Are there enough such people to justify a whole section?  For example, more than two? 

Above you write "So mods there is interest here," but to me this seems like a rather odd interpretation of the word "so". I think VP has the right of it (in the parenthetical part of the post). - DvF