Research On The Student Affairs Management Of The Ivy League Universities

The concept of“student affairs”came into being and developed in the United States higher education in the early 20~thh century.With the professional development of university management personnel and the introduction of guiding documents,student affairs have achieved an independent position in higher education and have become an important part of university management.Student affairs cover many areas,such as extracurricular activities,student conducts,the dormitory life,orientation,etc.,which are gaining increasing consideration in the promotion of students'full development and college talents training.Meanwhile,as the hidden curriculum resources,these areas are seen as important contract with the normal class academic resources,with common commitment to students learning and whole-person development.Modern universities originated from medieval universities.The earliest modern universities,represented by the University of Bologna,were formed by students spontaneously,thus also known as the“univerty of students”.This student-centered and student-self-management tradition lasted for abiut 200 years(from the 11th century to the 13th century).The study of student affairs today can be seen as a continuation of this tradition.The eight Ivy League universities of the United States,with a long standing reputation,are used as research cases to form a comprehensive and coherent understanding.By sorting out historical events and major philosophical thoughts that have great impact on the development of American higher education,the research will focus on three specific items in student affairs management,namely:student activities,student conducts and orientation.Starting from of the theoretical and realistic soil which breeds the concept of“development as a whole person”,this paper clarifies the connotation of this concept,and shows how student affairs management reflects the guidance of this concept and achieves the goal of promoting students'all-around development.This paper mainly centers around three aspects:Firstly,sorting out of the historical changes of student affairs management.Student affairs,as an independent management field in American universities,have come into being for nearly a hundred years,but its formation is not achieved overnight.The origin of student affairs can be traced back to the colonial university period before the Independent War.Since the establishment of Harvard University,the first colonial University in the United States in 1636,student affairs have undergone several stages of development.There was no clear distinction between student affairs and academic affairs in the colonial period.“In loco parentis”has been the core concept of student affairs management until its formal establishment in the early 20th century.With the application of student development theory in the field of student affairs in the 20~thh century and the influence of pragmatism,the concept of"whole-person-development"has gradually become the core function of student affairs management,as well as the foundation that has been practiced in this field for nearly 100 years.Secondly,the interpretation of the concept of“development as a whole person”.This concept proposes that universities should focus on the unity of students'mental,personal and interpersonal development,including intelligence,emotion,body,morality,aesthetics,and social relations,etc.Student affairs management should be regarded as part of the general curriculum of the school,based on the individual needs of the students,and the maintenance of student rights is guaranteed to harmonize personal development and learning.Emphasis should be put on the uniqueness,subjectivity,initiative of individual students,the active engagement of students,as well as the interaction between the academic and the surrounding environment.What's more,the importance of school-wide collaboration for student development is of fundamental importance.Learning and development is the foundation of forming joint partnerships between academic affairs staff and student affairs staff.Thirdly,the analysis of the three specific items:student activities,student conducts and orientation,which represent the traditional fields of student affairs management.Focusing on two main types of American student activities,namely"Greek-letter social organizations"and"student organizations",this paper points out that the management of student activities reflects the following characteristics:it attaches importance to the rights and interests of minority student groups,meets the needs of diverse student groups,strengthens the management of activity inclusiveness and transparency,pays attention to the experience of college students,and emphasizes the unity of activities,learning and development.Centering around the important issues in the current student behavior management,such as academic misconduct,sexual misconduct and hazing,this paper concludes that the characteristics and trends of American college student conduct management are mainly manifested as:through mediation of all sorts of contradictions and interests,to achieve the educational purpose of promoting the whole-person development of students through disciplinary management.Through the analysis of the major Orientation Program modes,organization structures,staffing models and decision implementation methods in the Ivy League universities,this paper states that the college freshmen orientation guidance mainly focuses on students'personal,social,and academic adaptation and transformation,with a commitment to create an integrative and closely linked learning experience for the freshmen.The conclusion and enlightenment of this paper are as follows:the management of student affairs in American universities reflects the guidance of the concept of"whole-person development"from three aspects:Firstly,student need standard:based upon student autonomy,advocating student service;Secondly,student rights standard:respecting student rights and interests,attaching importance to student participation;Thirdly,student development standard:focusing on student learning,paying attention to"whole-person education".During hundreds of years of development,student affairs management of American universities have accumulated valuable experience,together with the ongoing beneficial exploration,which are of great enlightenment to the comprehensive promotion of construction and innovation of student affairs in China.For example:strengthening the theoretical study of student affairs with the combination of internationalization and localization;constructing the concept of student affairs management that combines“learning”and“life”;establishing student affairs management mechanism with equal emphasis on“participation”and“cooperation”.