The Status of Student Affairs Divisions Within the CCCU

Abstract

U.S. higher education is under pressure to manage limited financial resources and increased expectations (Quintana & Hatch, 2017). As a sector within the 1,587 private, nonprofit institutions, the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities’ (CCCU) 144 member and affiliate institutions mirror the challenges faced by the broader higher education community (“About the CCCU,” 2017). Although various articles highlight different aspects of these distinctive institutions (Hulme et al., 2016; Rine & Guthrie, 2016; Sriram & McLevain, 2016; Trudeau & Herrmann, 2014), little has been reported about the structure and staffing within CCCU student affairs divisions. To capture descriptive data about student affairs divisions that would provide benchmarks for CCCU institutions, a survey was conducted November 2016–February 2017 to understand the composition and current challenges of Christian college student affairs departments. This article will also overlay the new normal (Romano, Hanish, Phillips, & Waggoner, 2010) within higher education student affairs divisions to provide a broad context for this study. Summary data tables highlight the study outcomes with relevant literature woven throughout to help interpret the findings. The final section provides implications for CCCU student affairs practitioners and suggestions for future research.