| The purpose of this study was to identify what factors support or inhibit faculty and student affairs professionals in their efforts to work collaboratively to improve student learning and increase institutional effectiveness. Many of the studies on faculty and student affairs collaboration indicated that the subcultures of these two groups impacted the collaboration process. This study offers an intercultural communication analysis of successful collaborations which revealed factors that supported or inhibited collaboration. In this case study, faculty and student affairs collaboration at one college was the contemporary phenomenon to be explored within its real life context. The goal was both a rich description of the evolution of the collaborative process between faculty and student affairs staff and insight into the factors that support or inhibit collaborative capacity. Focusing on the experiences of faculty, student affairs professionals and administrative leadership involved in three collaborative projects at the college, the study provides a rich description of each group's experiences and perspectives. The study revealed cultural dissonance between the academic and administrative cultures. Student Affairs emerged as a distinct subculture of the administrative occupational culture. Differences in the social structures and power distance orientations of these two occupational cultures had a significant impact on the collaborative process. Six factors were identified as factors that supported collaboration between faculty and student affairs staff including the role of senior administrative leadership, the power of personal relationships, promoting the principles of learning organizations, dialogue, intentionality and viewing collaboration as a process. Most importantly, the study introduces the theoretical foundations of intercultural communication as a means for understanding and advancing collaboration within the academic environment. |
