Announcing the Launch of the Student Affairs Community College Association
MALVERN, Pa., Jan. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Community College in this country is now poised to become a right, with two years of free access. Across the country, the mission of community colleges is shifting, with some offering bachelor degrees, providing residence halls, and deeply expanding non-degree granting, dual enrollment and workforce development programs. Amidst this rapidly changing landscape, Student Affairs practice at community colleges has its own set of unique challenges and needs. Now, community college student affairs administrators have a professional association to call home.
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Why should community college student affairs have its own association?
SACCA recognizes the unique aspects of student affairs practice for community college professionals and the need to foster research, collaboration and professional development outside the shadow of four-year campus student affairs practice.
With community colleges poised to become a right for all, community colleges and the student affairs professionals who keep them functioning are about to experience an unprecedented boom and a whole new set of challenges from a new generation of students who've never accessed college before. We need to understand these students and anticipate their needs and the services and resources that will empower their success.
Welcome to your new professional home and community!
Mission
To provide a professional membership association to support professional development, networking and leadership opportunities for community and technical college student affairs professionals.
Vision
SACCA is the home for community and technical college student affairs professional, serving as the leading advocate and voice for the unique perspective of student affairs professionals serving in community college settings.
Why is SACCA needed?
Community college student affairs professionals are tasked with addressing a range of issues and challenges unique to the community-serving campus environment. Though these professionals share common challenges, no resource exists to bring these dedicated educators into community with one another. That is why SACCA is needed.
Associations throughout higher education address student affairs issues, but are often inclusive of community colleges only as an afterthought. Major national conferences are out of the budgetary reach of many community college student affairs professionals. Until now, no national association has been dedicated to the gathering of community college student affairs professionals in multi-disciplinary regional conference settings to guide, shape and lead the field. SACCA recognizes that community colleges differ regionally, collaborate regionally and share students regionally. That is why the affordable regional conference model that SACCA utilizes will serve its members better than mammoth national events requiring costly travel.
Who are SACCA's members?
Community College Student Affairs Professionals serve in roles such as:
- Advising
- Campus Safety
- Career Services
- Disability Services
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Enrollment Management
- Leadership Initiatives
- Student Activities
- Student Conduct
- Student Involvement
- Behavioral Intervention
- Deans of Students, associate deans, assistant deans, directors and coordinators
- Vice Presidents of Student Affairs
- Wellness
How was SACCA started?
Read more about The SACCA Story.
Community colleges have become 50% of the client base of The NCHERM Group, across all of its services and associations. Our community college colleagues kept asking us for one thing: an association of their own. Such a professional home did not exist already on a national level, and some associations made only token efforts to be inclusive of community college professionals.
SACCA provides an opportunity to give back, to support community colleges. Providing a home for community college student affairs administrators is consonant with The NCHERM Group's model for segmented associations (including ATIXA, NaBITA and SCOPE), allowing sector-specific focus on the particular needs and practice areas of a subset of higher education. Partners Scott Lewis and Saundra Schuster volunteered to serve as the association's first President and first Executive Director, to get the association started and off in a solid direction until its governance could be turned over to its members.
The Student Affairs Community College Association is here. It's yours. The NCHERM Group has gotten it off the ground, but the rest is up to you. Within the framework that SACCA will provide, we know its members will use it to do great things.
General Inquiries
Michelle Issadore
Email
116 E. King Street
Malvern, PA 19355
610-644-1718
www.sacca.org
SOURCE Student Affairs Community College Association (SACCA)
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