The Missing Competency: An Integrated Model for Program Development for Student Affairs

“Authors Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski, Rich Whitney, and Deborah Taub have done a great service to student affairs and to student learning and development with this fine book, The Missing Competency: A Program Development Model for Student Affairs. The profession owes them great appreciation for returning the foundational competency of programming to our collective attention and providing a contemporary model to implement programs of quality.”
―From the foreword by Susan R. Komives

Program development is central to the work of student affairs professionals, yet the field has not prioritized the development of competency in this area. This theory-to-practice, sequential guide to program development fills that gap in the literature. The authors describe the elements of program planning and delivery from the inception of the idea through the use of assessment to revise and improve the program for the future.

Whether a new professional or a seasoned leader, this volume offers the reader a deeper understanding of program development. Starting with a foundational understanding of this process, the book proceeds to a step-by-step process, taking a program from an idea to a proposal with goals, objectives, budget, and timeline with tasks, and beyond planning to implementation. The book concludes with stressing the importance of assessment as the program continues to develop over time. Each chapter applies program development concepts through program examples. Finally, the authors leave readers with tools and templates to support the process.

Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director for the Higher Education Program in the Dept. of Educational Leadership and Policy (ELP) at the University of Utah. Her career has focused on programs and services that promote undergraduate access, retention, and goal completion in the role of practitioner, administrator, and educator. These areas include academic advising, first year experience courses & services, orientation, peer mentoring, enrollment management services offered through a One Stop Shop model, and retention technology tools. Through these areas, her experience in developing, planning, and implementing programs has evolved over a 25 year career.

In her current position, Dr. Aiken-Wisniewski teaches courses focused on student affairs and higher education, advises graduate students, serves as co-editor for the NACADA Journal, and is a Fellow for the Excellence in Academic Advising Initiative. Her research focus is informed by her blended identities as an educator, administrator, advising practitioner, and scholar. She infuses her lived experiences with research opportunities to gain meaning and perspective. To further promote understanding of the scholar-practitioner experience, she has facilitated and participated in research teams, which investigate the meaning of various components of the undergraduate experience and inform program development. Her research has focused on women's career choices, women’s experiences in higher education, and academic advising as a profession.

Deborah J. Taub is Professor and Chair of the Student Affairs Administration Department at Binghamton University. She has been a full-time faculty member in graduate professional preparation in student affairs for over 20 years; she previously taught at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and at Purdue University. She is the co-editor of two volumes in Jossey-Bass’s New Directions for Student Services series: Preventing College Student Suicide (2013) and Assisting Bereaved College Students (2008). She has published over 25 articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. Her research interests include psychosocial and identity development in today’s college students, under-represented and under-served populations in higher education, and graduate preparation in student affairs.

Dr. Taub is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice. She has been recognized frequently for her scholarship and teaching, including ACUHO-I’s Research and Publication Award, NASPA’s Robert H. Shaffer Award for Excellence as a Graduate Faculty Member, ACPA’s Diamond Honoree, and ACPA’s Annuit Coeptis Senior Professional Award.

Rich Whitney is an Associate Professor and Program Director, in the Doctoral Program in Organizational Leadership at the University of La Verne in Southern California. His teaching interests include leader’s consciousness of self, brain based learning and program development contributions to andragogy. Previously, he was a professor in the counseling-college student development program at DePaul University in Chicago. Other higher education experience includes the University of Nevada, in his hometown of Reno, in student affairs and Assistant Director for Management and Leadership Programs for Extended Studies.

Dr. Whitney has been training, facilitating, and speaking to groups on leadership throughout his professional career. As a proponent of experiential learning theory Rich likes to create a shared experience to provide a context for the subject matter.

Susan R. Komives