Student Support Models

Models of student support come in two forms: traditional and innovative. Traditional models come in three categories: classroom-centered, administrative-centered, and learning-centered services. Innovative models include student-centered and academic-centered services. The models represent ways of organizing student support services on campus, depending on the mission of the institution and the goals of the student service division.  

Chapter 16 in Framing Student Affairs Practice in Student Services a Handbook for the Profession

Traditional Models

Out of Classroom-Centered

1. Extracurricular: Student affairs professionals focus on student development in the out-of-classroom environment. Student engagement activities are predominantly initiated by student affairs professionals. Faculty members emphasize intellectual development and are less involved in non-cognitive student development.

2. Co-curricular: Approach depicts student affairs professionals as educators. Professional determine learning goals and set their sights on the development of students outside of the academic mission. This model sets the stage for a lively campus life. 

Administrative-Centered

1. Functional Silos: This model believes students are best served through discrete programs, services, and environments. These educators have extensive professional expertise from their specific area and provide a high level of professional expertise to students. Staff, supervision, professional development, and goals are autonomous by department.

2. Student Services: The student services model believes students are best served by accessing services through a customer-oriented, corporate approach. Students, often seen as clients, rarely develop close, personal relationships with staff members but interact on a transactional level.

Learning-Centered

1. Competitive-Adversarial: Academic and student affairs missions are separate and, at times, at odds. There are high levels of expertise from both sides with a strong commitment to student learning. 

2. Seamless Learning: Faculty and student affairs staff members develop integrated, complementary experiences for students. Programs and services are collaborative efforts between academic and student affairs. The student experience is best conceived of as an ongoing developmental process, from the time a student enrolls to graduation. Everyone on campus contributes to the student learning effort.

Chapter 16 in Framing Student Affairs Practice in Student Services a Handbook for the Profession p. 375-378. 

Innovative Models

Student-Centered

1. Ethic of Care: Embodies the underlying belief that with proper support and caring, all students can succeed in college. Services and programs are developed to maximize student success and engagement. Departments and units are organized so services are interrelated and safety nets established. This model is most effective when student and academic affairs assume shared responsibility for student engagement and success.

2. Student-Drive: The student-driven model is characterized by trust, empowerment, and leadership. This model assumes students can manage their functions, programming, and activities with gentle and minimal guidance from student affairs professionals. Assumes college environment provides rich opportunities to teach student leadership and engender engagement.

3. Student Agency: Students are completely responsible for student life. Students are viewed as equal partners to administrators. faculty, and other staff. In this model, faculty and administrators are policy, climate, and administrative structure creators which empower students and facilitate learning (p. 380). Student support staff take a hands-off approach, while students are urged to take full responsibility for their educations. 

Academic-Centered

1. Academic-Student Affairs Collaboration: Academic and student affairs combine to create a mutual territory which combines efforts on engagement and success. Creativity is encouraged and resources are shared. 

2. Academic-Driven: Institutions are organized around the academic core and privilege the academic experience over traditional student life activities. Staff and faculty share responsibility for student success and engagement as they understand ways faculty members and students can develop a rich intellectual community. The role of student support services is to provide structure support while supporting and sustaining roles in achieving goals related to the academic mission. Student support staff teach and contribute directly to the educational mission. Student support goals are deeply aligned with the academic mission. 

Chapter 16 in Framing Student Affairs Practice in Student Services a Handbook for the Profession p. 378-381.

References

Schuh, H. J., Jones, R . S., & Torres Vasti. (2016). "Chapter 16 - Framing Student Affairs Practice" in Student Services a Handbook for the Profession. Sixth Edition. Jossey-Bass. 375-381(https://app.luminpdf.com/viewer/63d423996f7eccd7a75f1c8a)