Student Learning and Development is “the concepts and principles of student development and learning theory” which includes, “the ability to apply theory to improve and inform student affairs and teaching practice” (ACPA & NASPA, 2015, p. 32). The rubric for competency in this area is split into three subcategories: Understanding Theory, Design and Application, and Assessment and Integration. From the 12 competencies defined by ACPA & NASPA, I would say SLD is my greatest weakness. While I excel at the “practice” part of “theory to practice” the “theory” part does not come naturally to me. Thankfully, Student Learning and Development is a core course for the HESAA program at Buffalo State.

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This is a course that I took my first semester, and one that will continue to inform my studies throughout the remainder of the program and my career. The coursework in SLD is absolutely critical to the foundations of Higher Education Administration and to working in Student Affairs. I have a very good sense of how my own intuition and empathy have created an excellent career for myself, but with the addition of theory, I feel that I will be an even stronger practitioner. The coursework focused on theories in student development from the classics like Chickering’s Seven Vectors (citation?), and Tinto’s Student Integration Model (citation?), and modern day theories such as Duckworth’s Grit Theory (citation?), or Strayhorn’s Sense of Belonging (citation?). It was fascinating to take what I learned throughout this course and try to actively seek it out in the practices that I was witnessing, and also to see these theories in action through my own practice.

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On a weekly basis, this course helped to educate us all on the theories that guide the practices in higher ed, and the conversations in class were often deeply rooted in our own experiences as developing students. As I relate this back to the rubric for competency in this area, I am at the truest sense of a foundational level. Prior to this course, I had no experience in SLD as a competency. With this introductory coursework, I feel that I am able to articulate on models and theories, and also articulate my own journey as a student through specific lenses. In my final paper for the course, I connected my experience with three theories that resonated most with my experience - Terrell Strayhorn’s Sense of Belonging Theory (VanDerLinden, PowerPoint, 2018, August), followed by Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development (Patton, Renn, Guido, & Quaye, 2016), and Marcia Baxter Magolda’s Theory of Self-Authorship (Patton, Renn, Guido, & Quaye, 2016). Having this basic understanding of multiple theories is the crux of the foundational level for SLD.

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For the subsequent two subcategories of Design and Application, and Assessment and Integration, I am also at a foundational Level. For Design and Application, I am focusing my internship and Graduate Assistantships on how best to design learning outcomes, teaching, and training activities around SLD. As this does not come naturally to me, being a graduate student allows me the opportunity to learn from others on how best to incorporate SLD into programing. My supervised practice is just starting to get to a place where we will be able to focus on this more intentionally as I go into my second year of graduate school, and I have set this as a goal with my supervisor. As for Assessment and Integration, I feel like while I am most definitely foundational here as well, I am a little more confident in my abilities in Assessment as a general practice, than I am with Design. My background in higher ed has afforded me many opportunities to work with assessment, and therefore, the main goal here as I aim to become more competent in SLD is to really bring my knowledge of assessment in so that it partners with my newfound knowledge of theory.