“THEY JUST POPPED UP” - A COMPARATIVE CASE ANALYSIS OF STUDENT AFFAIRS GRADUATE PROGRAMS USAGE OF ACPA/NASPA COMPETENCIES

Oct 15, 2026

Few studies examine how ACPA/NASPA Competencies (2015) are used within student affairs graduate preparation programs. Two case studies of graduate preparation programs at public institutions in the South were conducted to understand that usage. Interviews with graduate program coordinators and focus groups with graduate students and graduate assistantship supervisors revealed improvement areas, including stronger connections with practitioners and clearer competency integration.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

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Abstract

Literature Review

ACPA and NASPA Competency Development

Perspectives on Professional Preparation

“THEY JUST POPPED UP”: A COMPARATIVE CASE ANALYSIS OF STUDENT AFFAIRS GRADUATE PROGRAMS USAGE OF ACPA/NASPA COMPETENCIES Dena Kniess University of West Georgia Amy French Bowling Green State University Abstract Few studies have been conducted on the use of theACPA/NASPA Competencies (2015) in graduate preparation programs. To understand the use of these competencies in graduate preparation programs in student affairs, two case studies of two graduate preparation programs at public institutions in the South were conducted. Interviews with graduate program coordinators and focus groups with graduate students and graduate assistantship supervisors identified areas of improvement, including increasing connection with practitioners. Please direct inquires about this manuscript to: Dena Kniess, [dkniess@westga.edu](dkniess@westga.edu); This study was funded by a NASPA Region III Research Grant. College Student Affairs Journal, Volume 41(1), pp. 1-13 ISSN 2381-2338 Copyright 2023 Southern Association for College Student Affairs All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. 2 College Student Affairs Journal Vol. 41, No. 1, 2023 graduate preparation programs used the ACPA/ NASPA Competency (2015) document as part of the formal curriculum. Literature Review The first graduate preparation program in student affairs started at Teachers College at Columbia University in 1913 (Coomes & Gerda, 2016) . In 1967, the Council of Student Personnel Associations in Higher Education (COSPA) created Guidelines for Graduate Programs in the Preparation of Student Personnel Workers in Higher Education (Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education, 2019) . Documents such as The Student Learning Imperative (American College Personnel Association, 1994) and Powerful Practice: A Shared Responsibility for Learning (American Association of Higher Education et al., 1998) were developed in the 1990’s. By the 2000’s, professional organizations began to work together to develop guiding documents for the student affairs profession, such as Learning Reconsidered (a collaboration between the American College Personnel Association [ACPA] and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators [NASPA]) in 2004. In 2006, this collaborative approach between ACPA and NASPA expanded to include the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International, Association of College Unions-International, National Academic Advising Association, National Association for Campus Activities, and National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association. This group joined together to craft Learning Reconsidered 2. While the core professional documents of student affairs have shifted over time, they all emphasize “holistic, transformative learning” (Baxter Magolda & Magolda, 2011, p. 4) and prioritize the “importance of applying interdisciplinary theories and empirically based research findings to improving the work of student affairs professionals” (Hirschy & Wilson, 2017, p.86) . ACPA Competency Development and NASPA joined together to identify key professional competencies that were “gleaned from areview of 19 core documents and recent research findings” (Hirschy & Wilson, 2017, p.4) . These competencies “lay out essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions expected of all student affairs educators, regardless of functional area or specialization within the field (p.7).” The 10 professional competency areas include 1) Personal and Ethical Foundations, 2) Values, Philosophy, and History, 3) Assessment, Evaluation, and Research, 4) Law, Policy, and Governance, 5) Organizational and Human Resources, 6) Leadership, 7) Social Justice and Inclusion, 8) Student Learning and Development, 9) Technology, and 10) Advising and Supporting. Each competency contains outcome statements and three levels of proficiency: foundational, intermediate, or advanced. Furthermore, the ACPA/NASPA Competencies (2015) encouraged programs to

FAQs

What is the primary focus of this comparative case analysis?

The study examines how student affairs graduate preparation programs use the ACPA/NASPA Competencies (2015) and what improvements can be identified.

How were data collected for the case studies?

Researchers conducted interviews with graduate program coordinators and held focus groups with graduate students and graduate assistantship supervisors.

What competency areas are described in the ACPA/NASPA competencies framework?

The document outlines 10 professional competency areas, including personal and ethical foundations, assessment and research, law and policy, leadership, social justice and inclusion, student learning and development, technology, and advising and supporting.

Oct 15, 2026

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