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

5) We need to train students more interdisciplinary. To be successful practitioners, our
set of competencies must be expanded beyond the traditional competencies. The
ACPA/NASPA competences are a great beginning, but we must go further. We need
to ensure our staff are competent in disciplines they have not traditionally be exposed.
Most would agree that with the publication of the Student Personnel Point of View 1937, the
foundation for student affairs work was established. As we celebrate the 75 th anniversary of the
Student Personnel Point of View 1937, we must ask ourselves is this document relevant and
foundational to our work. We believe that the core philosophy remains relevant, and we would
recommend that professionals re-familiarize themselves with this document. While we cannot
predict the future, professionals will benefit from reminding themselves that “the task of colleges
and universities is to vitalize the purpose of higher education and other educational purposes as
to assist the students in developing to the limits of their potentialities and in making
contributions to the betterment of society” (Student Personnel Point of View,
http://www.myacpa.org/pub/documents/1937pdf, p. 39). Furthermore, as stated clearly in the
SPPV, “educational institutions have the obligation to consider the student as a whole—his
intellectual capacity and achievement, his emotional make up, his physical condition, his social
relationships, his vocational aptitude and skills, his moral and religious values, his economic
resources and his aesthetic appreciations.” (Student Personnel Point of View,
http://www.myacpa.org/pub/documents/1937.pdf, p. 39). This remains at the core of effective
student affairs practice.
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