A Practitioner’s Guide to Supporting Graduate and Professional Students

This guide helps faculty and student affairs practitioners better serve graduate and professional school students as they navigate what can be an isolating, taxing, and unfamiliar context.

Providing actionable strategies, as well as a common language for practitioners to advocate for themselves and for their students, this book is a quick start manual that defines current issues around graduate and professional student development. Drawing together current resources and research around post-baccalaureate student outcomes, this book explores the diverse student needs of graduate and professional students and provides a clear understanding of their social, personal, and psychological development and how to support their success.

Case studies showcase specific examples of practice including a holistic development model for graduate training; integrating academic, personal, professional, and career development needs; promising practices for engagement; a diversity, equity, and inclusion approach to access and outcomes; how graduate schools can be important partners to student affairs professionals; and examples of assessment in action.

This book provides tools, resources, communication strategies, and actionable theory-to-practice connections for practitioners, professionals, and faculty at all levels who work to support post-baccalaureate student thriving.

Appendix available for download online at www.routledge.com/9780367639884 on the tab that is entitled "Support Material."

Valerie A. Shepard has worked as a student affairs practitioner for over a decade and has held leadership positions in the NASPA Administrators in Graduate and Professional Student Services (AGAPSS) Knowledge Community. She is a Senior Writer at UCLA Recreation, USA.

April L. Perry has more than 15 years of experience across student affairs and academic units in higher education. She is currently Associate Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs at Western Carolina University, USA. She received the 2024 NASPA Faculty Council Outstanding Publication Award for A Practitioner's Guide to Supporting Graduate and Professional Student.