75th Anniversary - Student Personnel Point of View

The American Council on Education formed a study group in 1937 that was to draft a pamphlet entitled "The Student Personnel Point of View." The ACE was and is an academic association but it convened the writing group in 1937 to offer a "point of view" about the importance and focus of this work for the many "deans" who were emerging throughout U.S.A. colleges and universities at the time.

Because "The Student Personnel Point of View" (SPPV) is something I've studied and because I was privileged to personally know one of its authors, Dr. Esther Lloyd-Jones, the American College Personnel Association asked me to write an article to commemorate its 75th Anniversary. This article is available in the January/February, 2012, Journal of College Student Development and is entitled, "The Student Personnel Point of View as a Catalyst for dialogue: 75 years and beyond." The approach I chose to take was to focus on the early days immediately following the release of the 1937 SPPV, with particular attention given to the writings of student affairs' earliest and most prolific scholars - Dr. Esther Lloyd-Jones and Dr. E.G. Williamson.

Copies of the JCSD article can be obtained from the American College Personnel Association by joining the organization or by subscribing to the Journal of College Student Development, which is the leading research journal in the student affairs field. For purposes of this post, I have pasted a summary of the points that I included in the article reflecting the core beliefs of "The Student Personnel Point of View" as well as the similarities, differences, and tensions reflected in Lloyd-Jones and Williamson's writings.

Core Beliefs of The Student Personnel Point of View (1937, 1949):
• All students should be viewed holistically
• All students have dignity and worth and should be encouraged to develop to the full limits of their potentiality
• Learning should be recognized as the result of a variety of rich experiences that take place both in and outside the classroom

Additions in the 1949 Revision:
• Fuller realization of democracy
• International understanding and cooperation
• Education for the application of creative imagination and trained intelligence to the solution of social problems

Lloyd-Jones and Williamson Agreements:
• Advance student personnel/affairs by engaging with the faculty
• Utilize evidence to enhance practice

Lloyd-Jones (left) and Williamson (right) Differences:
Strategy - Lloyd Jones = Catalyst and Williamson = Administration and coordination
Expertise - Lloyd Jones = Infused generalists and Williamson = Specialists
Purpose - Lloyd Jones = Enhancing learning and Williamson = Providing services
Target - Lloyd Jones = Community and Williamson = Individual

As the idea of student affairs spreads in many other places around the world, it is important to look at the original 1937 SPPV in order to determine how the original beliefs espoused by the writing group should be contemporized and/or contextualized for the many places where student affairs is spreading as an emphasis around the world. The above summary points from the 1937 and 1949 SPPV statements offer a way for those in the international arena to look carefully at why their work is important, how it relates to the institutional context where they work, and how one can most effectively advocate for the idea of enhancing student learning through the philosophical framework and research/theory that emerged from these important documents.