Is Student Affairs Relevant for the 21st Century? Tony W. Cawthon ...

The national call for accountability in the K-12 education system through the No Child
Left Behind legislation has been coupled with a call for greater accountability within higher
education over the last ten years. Public policymakers are working to ensure that institutions are
meeting the expectations of key stakeholders, including students, parents, and business leaders.
Private institutions, on the other hand, must convince high school students and their parents that
spending greater sums of money at their colleges and universities is worth the investment. As a
result, accreditation bodies are increasingly focused on having institutions demonstrate that they
are setting specific outcomes for their students and measuring their success in attaining them.
Student affairs administrators are becoming more and more part of the conversations
regarding assessment. On some campuses, faculty members are turning to student affairs
colleagues for assistance in developing and measuring learning outcomes. The culture of
accountability permeates higher education, and student affairs administrators have begun to
capitalize on this phenomenon and find ways to make their programs and services more closely
align with the educational mission of the institution. Student affairs administrators also support
the academic environment by assisting with the creation and implementation of campus security
initiatives.
The shootings that occurred on several campuses in the mid-late 2000s highlighted the
vulnerability of college campuses. After those events, the general public called into question the
ability of colleges and universities to protect their students, faculty, staff, and visitors from
violent acts. Thus, many institutions have created new emergency management plans to account
for potential active shooters and alert members of the campus community when emergencies
occur. Further, colleges and universities have developed behavioral intervention teams to more
actively track students of concern who may pose a threat to themselves or others. Student affairs
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