Acceptable Competency – History, Philosophy, and Practice
Activity One
My participation in the CSP 6010: Foundations and Functions of College Student Personnel course has contributed to my competency within History, Philosophy, and Practice. In particular, I read foundational articles and books which provided information on the historical and philosophical influences regarding the growth of higher education and our profession (Coomes, 2013). One of our assignments was to perform a site visit to a different institution type and present on our findings. My site visit group visited Central State University, which is a historically Black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. During our visit we were able to analyze how Black students experience higher education as well as acknowledge and appreciate how student affairs professionals at an HBCU served this unique college campus. This projected helped me “articulate the history of the inclusion and exclusion of people with a variety of identities in higher education” and “explain how today’s practice is informed by historical context” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 14).
Activity Two
In preparation for my participation in the 2014 European Study Tour, I attended a course that provided resources and information about the European approach to higher education and student affairs. By actually attending the European Study Tour, I was able to apply the knowledge acquired from the course. By visiting different European countries and universities, I can now compare and contrast the institutions’ policies and values as well as “articulate the similarities and differences of varying international student affairs philosophies” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 15). An example of when I articulated my findings was at the 2015 Annual NASPA Conference in a presentation called “Cross-Cultural Lessons for Developing Global Citizens”.
