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Courses Offered by Program
Student Affairs in Higher Education (SAE) courses
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SAE 721 Introduction to Student Affairs
An introductory course designed for the student pursuing a career in Student Affairs. This course explores the origin, history, philosophy, theory, and practice related to the Student Affairs profession.
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SAE 723 Student Development Theory
Prerequisite: admission to the Student Affairs in Higher Education program.Introduces the student to student development theories. A basic understanding allows the student to note application of these theories to practice. This will result in Student Affairs professional who can design approaches that work most effectively with students.
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SAE 726 Higher Education in the United States
Prerequisite: admission to the Student Affairs in Higher Education program.The historical development of American higher education will be presented. Political, social, economic, and intellectual issues will be examined from its inception to the present day for contemporary application. A focus will be on the matrix of trend, topics, and eras. An emphasis is placed on higher education in the post World War II era creating a solid background of higher education in the last 50 years.
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SAE 727 Inclusive Campus Environment
This introductory course will examine the issues, concepts, and problems that contribute to the discourse on creating and sustaining inclusive campus environments at institutions of higher education (IHEs), especially at traditional majority white institutions (TWIs). Definitely, there is not a universal pathway toward creating and sustaining inclusive campus environments. The institution's mission, culture, and traditions play a major role in shaping the context of inclusive campus environments.
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SAE 728 Individual and Group Support Skills
Prerequisite: admission to the Student Affairs in Higher Education Program.The individual purpose of this course is to help emerging Student Affairs professionals strengthen and expand their capacity to help individual undergraduates and small groups of undergraduates remove barriers which impact student success as measured in degree attainment within institutions of higher education (IHEs). Emerging professionals with sound personal foundations and boundary spanning skills are able to partner with individuals and small groups of students who may be different. The differences may include many dimensions of diversity, including factors such as race ethnicity, gender, differential ability, and sexual orientation. Student Affairs professionals will demonstrate competence in using helping skills (listening, paraphrasing, group facilitation, and problem solving) to work with individuals and small groups in the university environment. Thus, the class will provide students through lecture and experimental learning the opportunities to acquire and practice helping skills in a safe environment. The anticipated outcome of the class is that students will acquire an advanced capability in helping students and small groups remove barriers to their academic success/degree attainment. Thus, the class seeks to align the curricular and application practices with ACPA/NASPA Personal Foundation, Helping, and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Competencies.
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SAE 729 Foundations of Research
Prerequisite: admission to the Student Affairs in Higher Education program.Students will acquire and use research methods skills. These skills will be put to use in preparing a research proposal, reviewing empirically-based journal articles, formulating hypotheses, designing observational studies, and analyzing and interpreting data.
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SAE 732 Leadership and Administration in Higher Education
Prerequisite: admission to Student Affairs in Higher Education program.Students will be provided with the opportunity to develop a firm working concept of leadership theories and principles. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to identify and discuss the role of leadership in student affairs, and be able to apply those leadership principles to activities in their job.
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SAE 735 Governance and Finance in Higher Education
Prerequisite: admission to the Student Affairs in Higher Education program.Exposure of the student to theoretical and applied concepts of governance and finance structures in higher education. Emphasis will be on organizational structures, financial operations, terminology, successful administrative/management practices, and models prevalent in higher educational settings.
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SAE 738 Legal and Ethical Issues in Student Affairs
Prerequisite: admission to the Student Affairs in Higher Education program.Introduction to the basic and current legal and ethical concepts that face American colleges and universities today. Topics to be discussed include the basis from which higher education law is formed; current case, state, and regulatory laws; personnel issues; and risk management and liability issues for higher education.
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SAE 747 Supervised Practice
Prerequisite: admission to the Student Affairs in Higher Education program.Students will earn academic credit for completion of two practica working in Student Affairs departments. Knowledge accumulated in coursework will be applied to the work setting. Experiences are cooperatively planned and guided by university personnel. May be repeated to a maximum of six hours.
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SAE 748 Special Projects: Reflective Moments in Higher Education and Student Affairs
Prerequisite: admission to the Student Affairs in Higher Education program or the Perspectives about the American Higher Education System graduate certificate.The primary objective of this course is to provide students who are full-time employees at either MSU or area institutions an alternative to the traditional 6-hour supervised practice requirement that most cohort students complete through SAE 747, Supervised Practice. Similar to SAE 747, Supervised Practice, students will complete two sections of the course (6 hours) distributed over two semesters. Under the direction of the instructor, students will complete an extensive seminar/degree paper that enhances the student's graduate program portfolio requirement. May be repeated to a maximum of six hours.
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SAE 749 Student Outcomes
Prerequisite: admission to the Student Affairs in Higher Education program.Fostering undergraduates' success inside and outside of the classroom is a byproduct of academic and student affairs collaboration. The aim of the course is to help new professionals understand the outcomes of student success.
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SAE 755 Topical Seminar
Prerequisite: permission of SAE Program Director.This seminar seeks to provide students a curricular structure to assimilate emerging professional development practices in higher education and student affairs. Course will not count toward SAE degree requirements.
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SAE 766 Research Methods and Data Analysis
Prerequisite: admission to the Student Affairs in Higher Education program.This course provides a review of the most commonly utilized research designs and methods and approaches to data analysis and reporting in Student Affairs. Students will learn how to utilize research studies in the academic and professional literature and how to prepare research proposals and conduct research within a college or university setting. Students completing the course should have an understanding of the factors which influence research quality, including reliability, validity and the use and misuse of statistics.
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SAE 767 Assessment and Evaluation
Prerequisite: admission to the Student Affairs in Higher Education program.This course provides a "hands-on" approach to assessment and evaluation of individual and program outcomes in Student Affairs, focusing on how to measure change in student knowledge, skills and behaviors and the effectiveness of programs in producing outcomes. The course will also address the relationship of assessment and evaluation to: strategic, division and program planning; benchmarking and program review; and the preparation of grant proposals.
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SAE 771 Capstone Seminar
Prerequisite: admission to Student Affairs in Higher Education program.This professional seminar is designed to promote the integration of the core curriculum and practitioner experiences of the master's program in student affairs administration, and to prepare students for the transition to a professional Student Affairs position following completion of the degree.