Where You Work Matters

Book excerpt: This volume challenges the widely held assumption that the professional practice of student affairs administration transcends the influence of organizational culture. Based on data and commentaries from more than 1,100 practitioners, this book describes how the experience of student affairs administrators varies by institutional type. The findings paint a multifaceted and integrated portrait of the profession. For instance, the standard bearers at liberal art colleges share as much in common with the generalists at comprehensive institutions as they do with the interpreters at religiously affiliated campuses. The specialists at research universities are juxtaposed against the producers at community colleges, however they have closer ties to the change agents at Hispanic-serving institutions. The work of the guardians at historically Black colleges and universities is linked to practice at both liberal arts and community colleges. Where You Work Matters offers current and future administrators a greater appreciation for the vibrancy and complexity of the student affairs profession.