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Higher education and student affairs professionals have a very important, active role in the lives of their students. The issues college students face are complex and higher education professionals must be properly trained to be able to address them (Franklin-Craft, 2010). Projections that by 2030 most college students in the United States will be non-White increase the responsibility of those working in higher education to truly understand the developmental issues of a diverse student body (Karkouti, 2015; Rankin & Reason, 2005; Torres, Howard-Hamilton, & Cooper, 2003).

This chapter highlights findings of a study that examined the multicultural competence of graduate students in a higher education program. Employing a snowball sampling method, completed surveys were received from 28 master and doctoral students out of 45 surveys distributed (response rate = 62%). Responses on the Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs – Preliminary 2 Scale (MCSA-P2) were also examined by race, gender, and other pertinent variables. The findings from this research indicate the need for infusing diversity into the curriculum and requiring diversity courses to increase the cultural competence of graduate students in higher education programs. The findings also support the need and call for additional research and analyses to be conducted on multicultural competence of higher education/student affairs professionals. Implications for graduate programs in higher education and reflexivity of the researcher conclude the chapter.

Student affairs educators have an important role in advancing the National Leadership Education Research Agenda (NLERA). This article reviews the ‘cross fertilization’ of student affairs and leadership education by examining strengths, opportunities, and challenges in relation to the NLERA priorities. Student affairs educators’ commitment to the integration of theory and practice, to the intentional and developmental design and assessment of learning environments, and to applying critical and constructivist perspectives to the ethical and emancipatory foundations of leadership education are all explored. Recommendations for future research are identified, including a call for research that includes complex modeling and multivariate analyses, and research that examines the contributions of cognitive, affective, and efficacy-related dimensions of leadership.

Research has shown the value in both Student Affairs and Academic Affairs approaches to student leadership education and development, yet many curricular and co-curricular programs continue to operate independently. Institutions that offer both curricular and co-curricular leadership programs are uniquely positioned to leverage the expertise from each university division for the shared goal of providing students with active, experiential learning opportunities in leadership. In this application paper, partnerships that crossed institutional boundaries between Student Affairs, Enrollment Management, and an Academic Affairs organizational leadership undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree program are discussed. By bridging these institutional divisions, shared expertise was leveraged, student learning outcomes were enriched, and program exposure was increased through experiential learning and relational leadership.

This study aims to examine North American master's programs in higher education administration, leadership and student affairs; the extent to which these programs incorporate diversity coursework; and their reasons for doing so. Graduate programs must prepare practitioners who are able to work effectively with multiple groups of students, ameliorate persistence and graduation gaps, and create more socially just campuses.

Using an open-ended questionnaire and document analysis, the authors analyzed the extent to which and why these master's programs incorporate courses and course material on diversity.

Exactly half of higher education leadership (50%) and a small majority of student affairs (52%) programs require some type of diversity course, while only 42% of higher education administration programs do so. Reported reasons for including such coursework include students' demand for such courses, the centrality of diversity to university missions and standards in the field.

Research on faculty perceptions regarding the need for diversity courses with a focus on interest convergence may be productive.

Program directors should ensure that coursework on diversity is required, and that faculty teaching these courses are comfortable discussing these topics to prepare students to work with diverse groups in multiple contexts.

This study uses multiple methods (document analysis, open-ended questionnaire of program directors) to analyze programs and program design intentions. The authors use the critical race theory framework's tenet of interest convergence to understand program rationales.

Although leadership education typically is not explicitly incorporated into student affairs preparatory programs, student affairs practitioners are expected to facilitate the leadership development of their students. Thus, through two simultaneous Delphi panels, Group A: Student Affairs Practitioners (n=17) and Group B: Student Affairs Preparatory Program Faculty (n=20), this study explored the places or experiences where student affairs practitioners should learn and practice the professional competencies needed to be a student affairs leadership educator. Both expert panels agreed the graduate assistantship was the most important place to learn and practice how to be a leadership educator. Yet these findings demonstrate a gap between research and practice within student affairs preparatory programs. Four recommendations are provided to strengthen the professional preparation of student affairs practitioners as leadership educators.

Recent research has shown that student affairs practitioners are characterized as leadership educators by experts in their field, but leadership education traditionally is not part of a student affairs preparatory program, nor is leadership education a commonly discussed professional competency. Using two simultaneous Delphi panels, Group A: Student Affairs Practitioners/Managers (n=17) and Group B: Student Affairs Preparatory Program Faculty/Directors (n=20), this study sought to ascertain the competencies required of entry-level student affairs leadership educators. Between the two panels, 128 unique competencies were identified. Four recommendations are provided to strengthen the professional development of student affairs leadership educators.

Research examining multicultural competence among higher education professionals responsible for leadership education demonstrated significant correlations with racial identity and multicultural education and experiences. The Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs-Preliminary 2 (MCSA-P2) scale was used to measure multicultural competence. Variances in multicultural competence scores were significant in relation to racial identity and select multicultural education and experience measures, above and beyond controlled for demographic variables.

Research examining the multicultural competence of leadership educators across a variety of institutions demonstrated variance based on leadership program structure, program elements, and the ways in which diversity was addressed in the program. The Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs–Preliminary 2 (MCSA-P2) scale was used to measure multicultural competence among student affairs professionals responsible for leadership education and an analysis of results suggests that multicultural competence may be reflected in practice, more specifically the design and structure, of leadership programs.

Critical and justice-oriented approaches to leadership are incomplete without attention to racism and racialization. This study employed basic qualitative inquiry to examine racialized legitimation within student affairs leadership education through lenses of whiteness as property and legitimacy. Findings detail how leadership educators sought to gain and/or maintain legitimacy and the ways racialization is embedded in these processes through professional experiences, leadership knowledge, and identity. Implications for research and practice are discussed.