Staff Development For EVERYONE in Student Affairs

Staff Development training is something that people working in Residence Life are very familiar with, but we often forget about the student workers who are changing lightbulbs and serving spaghetti in the student union. Many of these students, given the right tools, would make fantastic Student Affairs administrators, or could simply benefit from training outside of their normal job description. Working in both student union activities and campus housing, I’ve noticed a significant difference in the training and development programs between these areas. While many student union staff are trained specifically for their job function, resident assistants and housing staff are trained in life skills and are given several opportunities for experiences beyond the scope of their employment. This is an understandable difference because staff development is somewhat ingrained into the culture of Residence Life.

I think it’s important for Student Affairs professionals working in other areas of Student Affairs to recognize the impact and importance of staff development for their student employees. By investing time and resources into your staff members, you not only benefit from having well-rounded students working for you, but you create a sense of pride for your organization.

Developing staff doesn’t necessarily mean having regular programs or sending staff to events. One thing my supervisor worked with student managers on was creating a list of learning outcomes for lower level staff so we make sure we’re providing them with transferrable skills that aren’t specific to their job. It can also be as simple as recognizing an individual staff member’s affinity in a certain area and giving them opportunities to gain experience in that area. That being said, general staff development programming can also be very successful.

An example of this from my campus is a new staff development program called Panther Professional Development. How it works is that all UWM Union Staff need to attend one general training about the Union to be eligible for a pay raise. Beyond that, if they go to any two additional programs, they are eligible for a monetary incentive based on the number of hours they work. The programs range from LGBT Safe Space training to social media competence to campus safety and they are a fantastic way to train students on skills of their choosing that they may not otherwise gain in their position. As a student staff member, it tells me that the school I work for values me as an employee and is invested in my success.

Big or small, some sort of staff development action is an important part every student employee’s experience. By continually providing a learning environment for our staff we can succeed in creating better future leaders and achieving the missions and goals set for Student Affairs professionals.