The Journal of Student Affairs in Africa (JSAA) has just published its launch double issue (vol. 1 no. 1&2) with the thematic focus "The professionalisation of student affairs in Africa". The journal's editor-in-chief is Prof Teboho Moja of NYU; other members of the editorial executive include Dr Martin Mandew, Prof Gerald Ouma and Distinguished Prof John Schuh.The opening articles to the launch issue are by American scholars: Carpenter and Haber-Curran, and Selznick. Both articles engage with definitions of student affairs as a profession – and find that student affairs does not fit the strictures of traditional professions (such as medicine) very well.
Nonetheless (and from different perspectives), both arrive at the intermediary conclusion that professionalisation in the African higher education context is both possible and desirable, and should not necessarily follow the American model. According to Carpenter and Haber-Curran, the traditional American service model has resulted in a conceptual separation of student affairs from the academic core mission of universities, which ought to be avoided in the African context. Rather, by asking a series of questions, they propose that “student affairs professionals should engage in what can be called the scholarship of practice” (p. 3 in this issue):
- What if student affairs professionals fully embraced a role as practitioner-scholars engaging in
practice in a thoughtful and intentional way that is both informed by research and informs
research (Komives, 1998)?
- What if the notion of scholarship expanded beyond just the scholarship of discovery to also
include the scholarship of integration, application, and teaching and learning as argued by
Boyer (1990)?
- And what if student affairs practice were approached interdependently with academic faculties
and departments rather than independently or dependently?
In elaborating their conception of what constitutes a scholarship of practice, Carpenter and Haber-Curran illustrate ways in which professional associations, professional preparation programmes (such as those mentioned above) and professional/scholarly publications like JSAA can infuse scholarly values in professional practice.
Other articles deal with assessment in student affairs; residence management in Kenyan universities; the relationship between student activism and democratisation in Ghana; and other topics. There are three outstanding book reviews in the issue as well as editorial commentary and calls for papers for future issues.
Enjoy! Thierry
