Another faculty member, George Snyder, noted the wide range of roles he felt
student affairs was expected to fulfill:
I don’t know. I – that’s a good question – I don’t know that that’s [the role of
student affairs] ever been laid out explicitly. I think it’s just a given that you have
a student affairs division. I mean, if I think about it I’m sure I can come up with
some answers. It really does go several directions at once. I guess you could pile
it all under this notion of developing the whole person. But you know an office
that oversees housing and discipline and recreation and student retention, I mean
that’s an office that’s going in a lot of different directions at once.
Most faculty members interviewed felt there was little to no interaction between
themselves and the student affairs staff except on a “when needed” basis. There was a
general sense that student affairs staff were:
Available
Inviting
Caring/Concerned about students