The Future of Student Life Professionals (SLP)
The Student Life Professionals Network (SLP Network) is a community of practice offering support to student-facing staff through professional development and community events. To better understand the needs of its members, the SLP Network partnered with the Innovation Hub to run a series of activities and small-group discussions with student-facing staff.
Fall/Winter 2018-2019
How can we better support student life staff in their jobs and careers?
We interviewed and ran interactive activities with Student Life Professionals to determine how the university and professional networks can best support them, so they can support students. From these events, we identified collaboration, communication, and meaningful referral systems as key factors in staff success.
KEY FINDINGS
Personal networks provide a navigation guide for many, but the reliance on personal connection creates a start-up barrier for new and transitioning staff, and may not provide the necessary depth of knowledge some desire.
When it comes to professional development, goals and desires vary between education/advancement, improving the help provided to students, and personal goals. Staff take opportunities both for informal learning, by taking on tasks outside of their roles, and formal learning. Reviews of the latter are mixed, and depend largely on the immediate applicability of the material. Both rely on management support, and on the flexibility to attend and seize opportunities, which may be lacking for frontline or non-unionized staff.
Findings of this report were divided into three themes:
- Information Flows through Personal Networks
- Insularity and Lack of Time are Challenges for Collaboration and Change
- Achieving Goals Requires Identifying Values and Recognizing Relevant Learning Opportunities
Information Flows through Personal Networks: The University of Toronto (U of T) is vast and complex, with many decentralized offices and departments. This complexity makes it difficult for staff to find information, make efficient referrals, and communicate across departments. Personal connections bridge gaps in information flow, but the reliance on personal networks may be a challenge for new staff.
Insularity and Lack of Time are Challenges for Collaboration and Change: Staff care about improving the university and making its processes more effective and efficient. Many described taking on initiatives to increase collaboration or effect changes. However, departmental insularity and lack of time or support create friction for those leading such initiatives.
Achieving Goals Requires Identifying Values and Recognizing Relevant Learning Opportunities: Staff seek professional development opportunities to work towards a variety of goals, ranging from career advancement to personal job satisfaction. Professional development opportunities may be formal or informal, but both require management support, and lack of support may lead to conflict.