I read Eric Stoller’s post about Connecting Technology Buckets in Student Affairs. It reminded me of some random thoughts I had a couple of months ago about what a “student affairs platform” would look like. I use an iOS mind mapping mobile app called iThoughts to document my ideas, and below is a pdf with my random/not-so-complete thoughts on what would be included in such a comprehensive/integrated platform. I would love to read your thoughts on this topic.
Student Affairs Platform
December 18th, 2014 on 12:24 pm
Joe,
Your (and I believe also Eric’s) approach to such an app is interesting, but perhaps a bit overwhelming to conceive, since it really explores the entirety of an institution. I spent over a year working on developing a student affairs app (focused initially on success among first-generation college students) as part of a research team project here at Boston College, and I took an initial step in that same direction. Eventually, simplifying such a platform helps when you think about achievable, small victory-type goals for students. Of course, having worked in student affairs at a large university in past (recent) years, I know that this is certainly a situation where you need to work hard to avoid a “too many cooks” situation. If EVERY single area of a university has a hand in planning such an app, I believe it would become a) unwelcoming to students and subsequently b) actively avoided by students.
On my personal journey of working on my project, I eventually concluded that several layers of design between what the end goal of the creator and the aspects that make an app worth using for a student are essential. Our project essentially stalled (for now, at least) after a prototype and nearly a year of student use/feedback/data, due to the end of a grant. Perhaps partnerships between the private tech sector and higher ed could really break through on such a project.
December 18th, 2014 on 1:01 pm
Hi Adam,
I’m in 100% agreement with you:) The diagram definitely shows how complex it is and as I noted in my comment to Eric’s blog post, I don’t think it’s possible to have one integrated student affairs management system for the reasons I outlined in my comments. The diagram is that theoretical uber-application:)
Thanks for the note! Much appreciated,
Joe