I want to be a Greek Advisor or Student Life Administrator!
 

If you know how someone should approach being a Student Life Director or Greek Life Advisor . . . Or just someone that wants to be a College Administrator post it here.

You should try to give the following:

1. Tips on which higher degree to pursue.

2. Internships that may be useful.

3. Salary comparisons.

4. How to get noticed by College Employers.

5. Personal Experiences.

6. Whatever else may be useful;)

You'll find a lot of great tips at www.studentaffairs.com !

This summer I worked with 3 different graduate students in Student Affairs--one in residential life, the other in student activities, the other in Greek affairs. I don't know which schools are the best for those fields, though. I do know that there are some schools in Indiana (makes sense, eh?) that have good programs in Greek Affairs.

I was on the search committee for a new Greek Life adviser (once upon a time...). The desired masters degree was Public Affairs and Administration. Any emphasis in leadership will also help. And as with any academic job, your grades (even undergrad) will be reviewed. Intern, consult, advise... get your hands on any experience you can!

Excellent!

You could also start at a small school. I know the director of Greek Life on my campus is just a guy that was hired into the Campus Life office a couple of years ago RIGHT after he graduated. He had been student body president, IFC president, etc.. I'm a little wary having a guy that is an alumnus of a fraternity on our campus as Greek Life advisor but he's doing an okay job I guess.

He had no previous experience, no qualifications.. Just wanted to do it and he got it.. So maybe you could start building a resume at a smaller school and then move on?

Job in student affairs/greek life
 

bump

Actually, most of the Greek life advisors (and grad student assistants) I've known have majored in residential affairs/student affairs (whatever that school calls it) rather than public affairs.

Warning, long post ahead!
 

Ok!!! Now here's a topic I know something about!! :)

Guess what I do for a living? I'm a student affairs professional! :)

I don't work in Greek Affairs; my specialty areas are Orientation and Advisement and also Student Life/Activites. I'm currently in grad school full-time, but my most recent post was working as an Academic Counsellor. In student affairs, I have worked in the following sub-areas: Academic Counselling, Residential Life, Student Transition and Retention (like the orientation department), Student Activities, Academic Computing Services, and a little bit of Equal Opportunities. If you want to know more about any of these areas, feel free to ask or PM me.

I *OFTEN* see posts on Greek Chat asking about this career field. TriSigmaTX (who also works as a university administrator) and I have answered these questions a bazillion times, BUT I am always happy to answer them again! :)

Often, the people on GC who want to work as Greek Advisors don't realize that Greek Affairs is a part of a profession called Student Development in Higher Education (SDHE for short). They just think it would be "fun". If you are one of these people, that's ok! Instead of trying to get a job as a Greek Affairs officer, I would suggest volunteering at a higher level within your own organization or umbrella group (example: volunteering as an NPC regional coordinator).

I have to make this distinction because I really want people to be educated about what a Greek Affairs professional is - s/he is a university administrator, not a highly-paid soroity or fraternity member who gets to continue working with the greek system. Does that make sense?

So what if you really DO want to do it? Well ok! I'll use James' outline to answer:


1. Tips on which higher degree to pursue.

Firstly, having a related undergraduate degree helps. I knew from early on that I wanted to work in higher education. With that said, because I tailored my experiences, I have been a very strong candidate in internships, jobs, grad school apps etc. My first degree was a BA in Human Development with an option in Educational Psychology and a minor in Human Resource Management. A very good friend of mine applied to one of the same grad school programs as I did. His first degree was in Comparative Literature. He did not do as well during the selection process. He has some great experience in residential life, but I think his first degree hurt him.

There is some confusion about which master's degree to get. If you want to be an accountant, you get an accounting degree, right? Well, it's not that clear in SDHE. Most of the job postings I see say something to the effect of "Master's degree in Student Affairs, Education, Counselling, Educational Psychology, or 'other social science field' strongly recommended." Yes, kids, you can get a degree in Student Affairs. Sometimes they're called "Master of Student Personnel Administration" or "Master of Counselling - SDHE" etc. You just have to make sure you're not getting a degree in like business management or family and divorce counselling or something like that. I went overseas to get my degree. I am currently studying for a "Master of Education - Counselling in Education".

Pearlgrrl's description of finding a candidiate with a degree in Public Affairs and Administration I suppose falls under "other social science field" though I would NOT recommend this unless you are really short on options. In my humble opinion, a master's degree in education, counselling, higher ed...etc is much better than a public policy degree as far as this career field goes.

2. Internships that may be useful.

Anything related to higher education!!! :) Many people start out as an RA in their residence hall. I would recommend trying out different areas. There are some 20+ sub-areas of SDHE and you’ll definitly want to try out a few to see which areas you like best. Volunteer to work as tour guide for the outreach office, or as a freshman leader for the orientation office. Other ideas include the student activities dept, leadership center, multi-cultural center, disabled student services, the EOP office etc.

3. Salary comparisons.

Yikes! This is not easy to do; escpecially since wages are different from state to state. My last job, I was an Associate Academic Counsellor at a Southern California university and I earned $25,000/year. But, I also didn’t have a master’s degree. Usually, entry-level master’s degree candidiates could expect about $30,000 in Southern California (at least *I* refuse to take less! :) ). Of course, wages go up the longer you work there...or if you get a higher post. A Directorship could be $45,000+. One of my old bosses was the Director of our department - he was earning about $60,000/yr. He got promoted to a senior vice president position at a neighboring university and his salary shot up to like $100,000. Keep in mind though, that he had been working in the profession for some 20 years!


4. How to get noticed by College Employers.

What I think works best is having a solid degree and a nice variety of experience on your resume. Having a paid job in SDHE is good, but internships and whatnot are a good start for entry-level or junior positions.

5. Personal Experiences.

Hrm....this post is too long already - I’ll spare you. :)

6. Whatever else may be useful

Participating in on-campus clubs and extra-curricular activites is a big plus. Now, while greek life is great, keep in mind that holding 10 positions with your fraternity/sorority does not consititute “good variety of experience.” You might also want to participate with other campus activities like, student government, academic groups, chess team... whatever.

I am a member of two professional organizations:

National Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)
http://www.naspa.org

American College Personnel Association (ACPA)

http://www.acpa.nche.edu/

Both are excellent for finding out more about SDHE. You can do searches for universities which offer master’s programs...so, do check it out.

Again, if you are keen on working in SDHE, or are just curious, PM me if you have questions!

......Kelly :)

My Campus, California State University Dominguez Hills is currenty hiring a Student Life Coordinator who, as part of their job description, will oversee Greeks and Clubs/Organizations. The university really prefers a master degree in "Counseling, Student Development/Student Personnel, Recreation or Higher Education". As Kelly stated you aren't only the Greek Advisor you are a Student Affairs professional which will entail advising, organizing events, hiring and firing, New Student Orientations etc.

Carolyn

Hey Carolyn!

My old boss, the one I used as an example in my long post, is Randy Zarn,
Assoc. Vice President of Student Life at CSUDH. :) He was great to work for at CSULB and we missed him when he left. Though, we were really excited for him getting that big, fancy job at your uni. :)

.....Kelly :)

I absolutely love Randy, he's part of the reason Phi Sigma Sigma was chosen to be the first NPC at CSUDH. Randi has the position open on campus for the Student Life Coordinator. I actually work quite a bit with Randy since I am an Admissions Evaluator at CSUDH and work all the New Student Orientations. Plus I work with Randy through my sorority Phi Sigma Sigma.
Did you know Boualoy at CSULB? She came from Long Beach State to be the Student Life Coordinator at CSUDH. She recently resigned from her position to concentrate on married life and also spend some time with her parents.
If you want to send me a PM that you want me to print and give to Randy I'd be more then happy to. I'm sure he'd love to hear from you.
Carolyn

*bump*

Why the counseling and higher ed. degrees? From what I heard they require an undergrad marketing or communication degree and recommend a graduate degree in marketing at my school. I see the kind of stuff they do and I think it aligns more w/ marketing and communication.

I can see how marketing/communication would help you in getting a job as an admissions coordinator/recruiter for a college (it's all about selling the university!), but I don't see how it would help in Greek Affairs.

The program where I got my Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology had a track in Student Personnel (or something very similar). The students in that program took the same classes as we did the first year, then branched off into different classes the second year. Their degree was less hours than ours, however. The counseling classes they took helped them to learn how to deal with people and problems, and developmental issues of that age group.

I wouldn't mind working in student affairs...it would put me close to my counseling background without having to get into the seriously mentally ill.

PsychTau

I have been looking into this as a graduate degree actually..

I got my undergrad in public and urban affairs.. the masters degree offered at VT is student affairs administration in the higer education student affairs program.

I would like to go into alum relations work actually (thats if I stayed working for VT) or someother area.. who knows.

Any idea of some of the best schools around to get a Masters in Higher Ed/Student Affairs/College Student Personnel...etc??

I have heard Bowling Green and Indiana U....any others?

one of our tlc's
 

(traveling leadership consultant) is applying to the university of georgia to get a masters in student affairs. i didn't ask her if it has a premier program in that field. she went to college up north, so i feel there must be a reason that she chose that school, but i don't know.

I've heard this too.

Let me see if I can remember some of the top programs. BGSU and IU definitely...plus Texas A&M, Iowa State, Michigan State, Maryland, Miami-Ohio, Ohio State, as well as Michigan. Those are just a few, and I know that some specialize in particular areas of student affairs.

I've also heard that University of South Carolina , University of Vermont and Indiana University in Pennsylvania have fairly good programs.

I'm applying to 4 schools for fall 2005...wish me luck.
:D <---Future VP of Student Affairs.

I'm pretty sure our most recent Director of Greek Life got her masters somewhere in FL. The job is open now, so if anyone is interested, Elon is taking applications.

Elon University

Just go down to office of HR on the left and click on employment opportunities :)

It seems to me that although a degree in a specific field would be helpful, that experience would be more highly weighted.

For example, I would LOVE to work on campus, doing either student life or greek life. I however, am pursuing a master's in marketing communication.

I AM however, going to be advising for my sorority and *hopefully* helping the greek office at my own graduate school (where my org is not).

Therefore, if eventually I decide to take the route of student life/greek affairs, I will have experience both as an org advisor and helping a greek council.

Plus, I'll probably end up in admissions first, but you can always lateral to another part of campus!

Experience counts, not that piece of paper. You can always sign up for training for events, every one, even with a degree in HEA, has to keep up-to-date.

Florida Tech also has an opening for Director of Greek Life (or whatever it's called), since ours left to go to another school.

Akron will also have an opening up shortly. Our Greek Advisor has resigned.

Georgia (UGA) and South Carolina both have good programs. My best friend is starting the one at UGA this fall.

I almost went into that field, but at the last minute chose to get my MBA in marketing instead. I frequently second guess myself, I love Marketing, but I also LOVE student affairs (esp. orientation!). My MBA career advisor said I should be able to get a job in this field with my experience in student life as an undergrad (I was very involved in all areas of student affiars). Does this sound right? I just don't know what to do with my life!!

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT

OFFICE OF STUDENT AFFAIRS

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF STUDENT ACTIVITIES


OPENING: July 9, 2004 CLOSING: Until Filled



SALARY: Commensurate with qualifications STATUS: Full-time

Grade X-4

JOB DESCRIPTION



The Assistant Director of Student Activities is a member of the Student Affairs professional staff team and works to develop opportunities for student growth and involvement. The position requires the development and implementation of programming that will contribute to the retention and recruitment of students on campus and calls for direct involvement in motivating students to become involved in University activities; coordinating the student leadership programs; co-advising student organizations, the Student Government Association, fraternities, sororities, and the programming board; and coordinating the Mentorship (HOSTS) program. The position works closely with other student affairs and academic departments, directly assists with the recreational sports and orientation programs, assists with the daily administrative operations of the department, and remains abreast of legal issues and programming impacting students. The Assistant Director of Student Activities reports to the Director of Student Unions & Activities.



JOB DUTIES



1. Develop, implement, assess, and maintain a comprehensive student leadership program including creating new student programs, a Women’s Leadership program, an Hispanic Leaders program, and an Advanced Leaders program. Develop a core group of students to proactively gain skills promoting leadership programs. Work collaboratively with campus departments. Coordinate regional student leadership conference efforts. Coordinate Leader Bits, written information on leadership skills.



2. Serve as the University’s Greek Advisor for all Greek letter organizations. Establish and advise IFC and Panhellenic organizations and attend all meetings. Work directly with local chapters and national offices in chapter development including membership recruitment, University image, academic scholarship, service, and philanthropy. Remain abreast of all legal issues. Develop a five-year expansion plan.



3. Serve as primary contact to all student organizations on campus. Coordinate the organization registration process; maintain accurate records and information on all student groups, and host regular information meetings for student organizations. Coordinate advisor training programs and officer training programs. Edit and distribute the organizational manual. Update all organizational policies and procedures.



4. Assist the department with all activities including major programs, student awards, union operations, supervising events, department publications, and department administration. Assist with student orientation operations and recreational sports. Assist with the development and supervision of the activities graduate internship and graduate assistantship programs. Assist with service learning programs and department research and assessment. Develop relationships and joint programs with other university departments. Participate in the Division of Student Affairs meetings and serve on University committees as assigned. Complete administrative tasks including reports, memos, and other correspondence. Complete other duties as assigned by the Director of Student Union & Activities.



5. Develop and coordinate the mentorship program including the recruitment of mentees and mentors and the training of mentors. Maintain contact with all mentors by providing regular newsletters or feedback to participants. Assess the program annually and compile appropriate reports for dissemination.



6. Assist the Dean of Students by co-advising the Student Government Association. Coordinate with the assistance of the SGA Officers, the annual SGA retreat/training. Assist SGA in the development of clear and achievable goal setting and advocacy.



7. Other duties as assigned by the Director of Student Union & Activities.



QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE, AND SKILLS: Requires M.S. in Higher Education, Student Personnel/Development, Counseling, Recreation or related area. At least one year experience in campus activities, student unions, or related area required. May include graduate experiences. Must have computer skills, strong verbal & written communication skills. Speak to large groups; conduct training/workshops/seminars. Weekend and evening hours required. Prefer knowledge of Student Development Theory.



The above duties may not be performed in every position with this title and the above functions may not include all related duties that might be performed. Requires physical activities supportive of the above job duties. Reasonable accommodations will be made as necessary.



Applications may be obtained from the Human Resources Office, College Hall, Room 210 and must be submitted on or before closing date to: Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Human Resources Office, MSC 107, Kingsville, Texas 78363 or visit our website at www.tamuk.edu/hr



If you are a male age 18 through 25, you must be properly registered with the Selective Service System to be eligible for hire.



Texas A&M University Kingsville is committed to excellence; the University invites applications from all qualified applicants.



EEO/AA/ADA

Return To Employment Opportunities

There's so many directions you can go in SPHE. I don't know which to pick. I think I do have it narrowed down to student life, res life, students with disabilities, and admissions.

Is anyone working in Residential Life? I read the discription for RLC and RLC assistant yesturday. Sounds interesting to me, but I want to hear how it is from someone who actually works in that field.

i work in student activities, not res life. have thought about res life, but don't think i can handle the hours! i tend to enjoy my sleep. for grad programs in texas, check out www.tacuspa.net and click on graduate programs. if anyone wants to talk about this profession just let me know!

The best one in the VA/NC/DC area that I've heard of is JMU. I'm applying there for next fall. Their CSPA program seems amazing from what I've heard.

gradaute programs in student affairs
 

I attended the student affairs in higher education program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Graduated in May 2004, and it's a fantastic program. They currently have two assistantships in the greek like office, and do internships for students as well. I did one of my two internships in the greek office and worked with recruitment and advised the jr. panhellenic council.

Here is the website with details of the program. They manage to have assistantships for nearly everyone in the program, and have a great job placement rating. IUP is a huge presence at the ACPA and NASPA conferences.

http://www.iup.edu/sahe

Deb

Well, I pretty much heard positive things about this profession, especially from those working in student life/activities.

What are some things you dislike? (anyone else can answer this too :) )

late nights (although i try to avoid at all costs for multiple reasons), low pay and few weekends free, especially during the fall. there's recruitment (i work with guys and girls, so there's lots of time spent), leadership conferences, homecoming, parent/family weekend, retreats and then it's usually late october! admin can be a pain or a blessing or somewhere in between.

for me, the good usually outweighs the bad. i don't let much get to me. i've learned to handle difficult higher-ups who try to pile more work on me. I learned to make friends with the people who can affect me (especialy the money people....be really nice to them and ask their advice on stuff). It can get tiring and be difficult at times. I'm lucky that my Greek system is rather small and they are a great bunch of students with very few problems.

if you get frustrated easily and can't work with MANY different types of people and learn to get through the red tape, this is not the job for you, whether it is Greek or not! It's busy for all student activities people everywhere and most offices are understaffed and underpaid. sad, but true!

Is it common that you will have to relocate to get the job you want, in this profession? Even if you life in a semi-big city, or larger?

Like many of you here I am also planning on a career in Student Affairs. My undergraduate degree is a Bachelor's of Science in Sports-Event Management with a concentration in History.

Upon graduation college, I traveled for my fraternity and I am presently volunteering for the year while working full time to save up some money.

I would love to talk to you all who are choosing this as a career or who are presently in their careers in this choosen field!

Hi all,

Please feel free to refer me to other threads if they exist on my question.

I am contemplating a career change from IT to Greek/student affairs/university administration etc. I may have mentioned like 3 completely different jobs etc. A little disclaimer, other than the fact the first place I probably need to start to achieve this is back in the classroom to get some Higher Education education, I know next to nothing about how to go about making this change.

As stated, I'm currently in the IT industry. I do technical support and want to get out of that because 1) I don't see the advancement opportunities despite the fact that I have a Bachelors in Computer Info. Systems and a Masters in IT. The reason is that politics are pretty prominate here as with any IT company. 2) I'm tired of job hopping within IT. I quit either because its boring or the politics get bad or they fire me for taking off too much or just typical lay offs etc. 3) I volunteer for ASA and absolutely love it and am very passionate about it. I find it extremely fulfilling and have spent and continue to spend approximately 30% of my life on it. I started my current position in 2006.

I'm open to other positions in IT but I fear that I may not find them fulfilling either. I want to be stable and love going into work every day. I don't dread it now but its not exciting. Any links, advice etc would be greatly appreciated!

I have other thoughts but I'm about 2 minutes from getting off work YAY!!!!

I don't have any inside information regarding this, just a thought I'd like to share...is there any way you could try to combine these 2 fields to find a career that would be more fulfilling for you? For example, my former boss's wife had a computer science degree, and she worked for UGA writing the programs they used to do bids matching. Basically (I believe, as far as I was told) she was a programmer for the Greek Life office. Maybe you could try to find something that would highlight your areas of expertise within an environment that involved more of your interests? Just a suggestion.

I would be open to that. However the most common issue I run into is that unless its what I'm doing currently no one will hire me because of lack of experience in whatever role I'm interviewing for. I understand that they don't want to train because of time and effort and that it would be easier to have someone with experience because all they would have to learn was company/school culture. But if no one will hire entry level how do I get the experience? Also, if I go into higher education with no high education education behind me. One of (if not the first) question they'll ask is why aren't you working in your field. I may still get that question but at least a degree in higher education may show that I really want this and while they wil probably still ask why I want to do something else, it may not be as big of a deal. I don't know. I'm open to staying in IT but working nights has to go, corporate politics .....UGH!! and higher pay would be good too. Also, I should mention that I've almost hit the top of the pay scale with what I do now and I would prefer to interact with students and faculty and university personnel over jail staff, inmate families and etc as I do now.

Honestly it sounds like you just need to get the heck away from the corporate drama and get into a smaller, family owned company. If you want to avoid politics, student affairs/uni admin is NOT the place to go.

Not only that, unless you hit the right opening at the right time, you're more than likely going to have to relocate.

Believe me, I have had this discussion with myself numerous times. I would love to help students and their families as well, but I want to stay in Pgh and the PCness and politics would cause me to break multiple heads (or at least office supplies).

If you're looking for higher pay, then higher education isn't the place for you. I just earned my masters in higher ed and worked in Greek Life for a year. Greek Life is the bottom of the totem pole for many student affairs positions. It's mostly people fresh from grad school who can devote 60-80 hour weeks while getting paid for 40 hours. Even my 20 hour assistantship ended up being over 40 hours a week at times. It was a really fun job, but very tiring and thankless. Plus, most student affairs professionals are constantly on call and have to deal with crazy issues at all hours of the day.

If you really want to work in Greek Life, you'll need to get your masters in higher ed or student affairs. I can't think of any school that will hire anyone in a Greek Life position without a masters in student affairs anymore. As for job hopping, turnover is very high in student affairs, especially in Greek Life. Like I said, people get worn out doing it and move on. Even people I know who are 110% set on working in Greek Life for years end up moving on after three years or so because they are so burnt out. You might be better off seeing if ASA has any job openings.

Good luck!