American College Personnel Association (ACPA) & National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Professional Competencies

Student affairs professionals conduct the necessary operations to develop student’s personal growth in addition to their academic success. The foundational framework for this work is provided to guide student affairs operations to be conducted effectively by well-trained professionals equipped with the critical thinking skills necessary for success. To help facilitate such effective skill development American College Personnel Association (ACPA) and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) developed the Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Educators (ACPA & NASPA, 2015). These professional competencies include Personal and Ethical Foundations (PEF), Values, Philosophy, and History (VPH), Assessment, Evaluation, and Research (AER), Law, Policy, and Governance (LPG), Organizational and Human Resource (OHR), Leadership (LEAD), Social Justice and Inclusion (SJI), Student Learning and Development (SLD), Technology (TECH) and Advising and Supporting (A/S). The competencies have been intentionally outlined in a revised document which includes practices that are up to date with the intention of meeting areas of focus for student affairs professionals (ACPA & NASPA, 2015).

The Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Educators (ACPA & NASPA, 2015), is described to set a guided approach to both assisting with the professional development of student affairs professionals and framing the needs and vital skillsets that the student affairs realm needs to thrive (ACPA & NASPA, 2015). Each competency has focuses applicable to many areas of student affairs, leading to intersectionality to exist between them. The areas of intersection highlight more advanced critical thinking within the competencies, essentially there are outcomes within each of the competencies that could work together to serve the same purpose. The level of intersection will serve as an indicator as to which of the three comprehension levels a professional has within a competency: Foundational, Intermediate, or Advanced (ACPA & NASPA, 2015). ACPA and NASPA are the two largest student affairs professional associations and in 2009 they set out to establish standards in which professionals in the field would adhere to as well as use the framework to serve as a catalyst for advocacy for student affairs to institutions (ACPA & NASPA, 2015). In the year 2010, this document of ten competencies was adopted by both organizations under the agreement that the document would be revised periodically as student affairs is a constantly changing organization. Upholding the contingency of periodic document revision, a team was formed to serve as a task force to review (2014) and revise the competencies (ACPA & NASPA, 2015. The revised document was then presented to the ACPA and NASPA boards to be approved for finalized, official adoption in 2015 (ACPA & NASPA, 2015).

The competencies are outlined to address the fact that each student affairs professional will be at a different level of comprehension in these essential functional areas, but with this document to be used as a reference, professionals can begin to cultivate and grow their professional development. Just as student affairs professionals seek to equip students with the tools needed for success, the ACPA and NASPA have developed this document to give professionals a tool to use and assist their professional career journey in student affairs.
As an aspiring student affairs professional, this document serves an important role in my development while navigating the frequently changing terrain of student affairs. I center my work around multicultural understanding, comprehensive collaboration, and cultivating areas of effective success. When thinking about my passions in the student affairs field, I would say the competencies are all important to my development as a professional, but I see an urgency in focusing on the competencies of Social Justice and Inclusion and Student Learning and Development. To participate in the on-going self-reflection that is required of the ten competencies, this course provides a comprehensive approach by allowing us to submit weekly reflections of each competency. I foresee a monthly reflection following this course to track the progress I have made in my journey and then reflections become more in depth as I get closer to graduating to fully assess the development and comprehension level I have before becoming a full-time professional in the field. The ACPA and NASPA competencies are a way to inform the work that I do, and the document will be utilized throughout my entire career as a student affairs professional to ensure that my learning and development is on-going resulting in a more holistic approach to my work

American College Personnel Association & National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. (2015). ACPA/NASPA professional competency areas for student affairs educators. Washington, DC: Authors. Retrieved from: https://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/main/ACPA_NASPA_Professional_Competencies_FINAL.pdf