Professional development is a highly recommended activity for professionals that can lead to moving offices, departments, and whole divisions forward (Laws, 2014). Reading is one of the easiest, and most accessible, methods to professionally develop yourself and your team – and there are so many great texts to choose from. Here are just a few that I have enjoyed and found applicable to my work over the past few years.
The Strategic Guide to Shaping Your Student Affairs Career by Dr. Sonja Ardoin
This text was one that I read in my first few years in the field, during that sweet period of being a new professional. The focus of this book is helping student affairs practitioners at entry or mid-levels to strategically shape their career paths. Engaging with the various chapters helped me realize that my professional development was my responsibility, not my supervisor’s. Ardoin fantastically guides her readers to strategically plan their own professional development and a career growth strategy as they engage in the work of student development. I also hear there may be a new edition in the works!
AVP: Leading from the Unique Role of Associate/Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs by Dr. Amy Hecht & Dr. Jason Pina
This is another text I read as a new professional and recently dove back into for a refresher (and to use for a doctoral research assignment). There is quite a bit of gold in this text, and it is well worth the read, even if you are a new or seasoned professional. This text helped me to frame many of my professional habits, such as having end-of-the-day rituals, asking my supervisor “How can I be helpful to you?”, and understanding the intricacies of politics. I am deeply grateful to the many contributors to this text for their wisdom that helped to shape me as a new professional, and in how that shaping has continued a decade later today. Contextualizing the material is relatively easy, so even if you are not about to jump into an AVP role, you can still use the many practical suggestions this book entails as a resident director trying to better assist your director, or a director trying to assist your supervisor.
The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations by James Kouzes and Barry Posner
This is the penultimate book on leadership. In its 7th edition, this text has proven time and time again to be one of the most well-researched books on leadership available. It is also more than a book; it is a framework for how good leaders succeed, and it is radically easy to apply to your leadership no matter what level or position you find yourself in. If you have never picked this text up, this is one every student development professional should read and apply to their work. Kouzes and Posner even offer a similar resource specifically tailored for student leaders that you might be interested in sharing with students at your institution – check out The Student Leadership Challenge: Five Practices for Becoming an Exemplary Leader for more!
Accessing Resources
A challenge to the process of getting access to these resources, for me, has often been a lack of professional development funds. However, there are a few tricks to use to find these titles and many others.
- Check out your campus library. Chances are that your library may have these titles or will be willing to purchase a copy to have for the stacks. You benefit, and others benefit! You may also be able to utilize the interlibrary loan system to acquire them.
- Consult your supervisor or VP and see if they would be willing to purchase an office copy so you and others on the staff can access.
- Check out the apps Libby or Hoopla. Often, free access to eBooks or audio is available for the low cost of a local public library membership (which should be FREE!).
These three titles are just the tip of the iceberg of great resources that have been produced to help you, and many others, be excellent at the work the Lord has called you to. Happy reading!
References
- Ardoin, S. (2014). The strategic guide to shaping your student affairs career. Stylus Publishing, LLC.
- Hecht, A. & Pina, J. (2016). AVP; Leading from the unique role of associate/assistant vice president for student affairs. NASPA.
- Kouzes, J.M. & Posner, B.Z. (2023). The leadership challenge: How to make extraordinary things happen in organizations (7th ed.). Wiley.
- Kouzes, J.M. & Posner, B.Z. (2024). The student leadership challenge: Five practices for becoming an exemplary leader (4th ed.). Wiley.
- Laws, J. R. (2014). Strategies for success and pitfalls to avoid. In Carry, A. (Ed.), Executive Transitions in Student Affairs: A Guide to Getting Started as the Vice President (103-120). NASPA.
