Unique Features of the Program

• Small size. The program limits enrollment, which assures students ample individual attention and the opportunity to have meaningful personal interaction with the program’s faculty throughout their time in the program.
• Faculty. There are five full-time faculty members who devote their time to instruction in student affairs administration. All are experienced as student affairs administrators. There are also a number of senior level student affairs administrators who serve as adjunct faculty members in the program.
• Financial Support. Full-time students have the opportunity to hold assistantships in the Student Affairs Division or Department of Counseling and Human Development Services, which provides additional opportunities for practical experience.  (Assistantships, in addition to stipends, carry with them a waiver of non-Georgia-resident charges and most of the matriculation–tuition–fees.  Currently, a one-third time assistantship for a non-Georgia resident is worth about $19,000 per year.)
• Community Support. Students and faculty in the program work to form a true learning community, which provides support to students as they meet the program’s requirements and the many extracurricular learning opportunities through joint projects with faculty and fellow students.
• Advanced Specialized Study. The Program is designed specifically for persons who are committed to careers in student affairs.  Courses offered in the doctoral curriculum are restricted to doctoral students.
• Flexibility. Students can enroll full-time or part-time.  Doctoral courses in this program are taught in late afternoon or evening and typically meet once per week.
• Commitment to Student Development Goals. The program is based in a belief that higher education should focus on assisting students’ intellectual, psychosocial, and ethical growth.  Graduates acquire expertise in enhancing students’ educational experiences.
• Research Experience. Students are involved as partners with CSAA-D faculty in research teams throughout their programs.  Most recent research teams have involved measurement of students’ psychosocial development, interventions to improve professional and support staff supervision, and studies of student affairs professionals’ “career anchors.”  Students are expected to be active members of one or more research teams during their enrollment in the program.
• Develop Teaching Expertise. Students have many opportunities to develop skills as teachers under supervision.  Students may elect to take a teaching internship which would involve co-teaching a master’s level student affairs administration course with a full-time faculty member or co-teaching a paraprofessional training class for undergraduates.  Through the ECHD 8990 Seminar, students also have the opportunity to work on projects directly related to instruction in the master’s program.  These include, for example, developing and updating simulations, creating instructional units, or acting as consultants to student project teams.