VALUES, PHILOSOPHY, AND HISTORY (VPH)
Foundational Competency Assessment
As described by ACPA/NASPA (2016), Values, Philosophy, and History (VPH) focuses on “knowledge, skills, and dispositions that connect the values, philosophy, and history of the student affairs profession to one’s current professional practice.” This competency incorporates highlighting the foundational elements of student affairs, such as history, research, scholarship, and more, as well as highlights professionals’ commitment to highlighting these elements within their work, contributing to the growth of the field (ACPA & NASPA, 2016). Knowledge and skills within areas such as understanding historical foundations, understanding theoretical philosophies, knowing contributions made within the field, campus involvement and civic engagement, participating in professional service, and more contribute to the competency development of VPH (ACPA & NASPA, 2016). According to ACPA/NASPA (2015, 2016), development and experiential outcomes within VPH include:
“Identifies historical context of the profession from various perspectives (i.e., role of student affairs within the academy, inclusion and exclusion of diverse peoples, institutional types)” (ACPA & NASPA, 2016, pg. 35).
“Articulates the principles of professional practice” (ACPA & NASPA, 2016, pg. 36).
“Explains the purpose and use of professional publications that incorporate the philosophy and values of the profession” (ACPA & NASPA, 2016, pg. 36).
Activities and artifacts to fulfill my foundational development within VPH include:
CSP 6010: Foundations and Functions of Student Affairs (Fall 2019) Course Completion
The Foundations and Functions of Student Affairs course is to introduce the field of college student affairs and its role in higher education in the United States, developing a broad foundation of knowledge to which students may add subsequent study, practitioner skills, and research strategies. This course objective helped me developed my VPH competency, as it required learning about the origin and history of higher education and student affairs, as well as key events that contributed to its development.
BGSU's HESA Student Development Association's Careers in Student Affairs Month (Fall 2020) Implicit Bias in Student Affairs Presentation
As the Vice President of Equity and Inclusion for BGSU’s Department of Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) Student Development Association (SDA), as a part of Careers in Student Affairs Month, I co-facilitated an implicit bias workshop for HESA members with SDA Vice President of Student Development, Wyatt Bischoff. I believe this allowed me to develop my VPH competency as it required for me to consider student affairs practices, roles, and values and connect them to implicit bias content, to customize and apply the workshop to student affairs professionals.
Co-facilitated with my assistantship supervisor, I presented for the ACPA Commission of Student Conduct & Legal Issues. In this presentation the benefits of having a student advisory groups in Title IX are covered. From this, I developed my VPH competency as this presentation allowed me to discuss the implementation of ideas and practice to help enhance the profession. By advocating for centering student voices in student affairs practices, it encourages peers to analyze what is valued as a profession, and how to contribute or shift those values. The ways in which student affairs professionals have served and considered students in different processes have changed overtime, and I believe this presentation highlights that in way.
The purpose of the Commission for Student Conduct and Legal Issues (CSCLI) is to support the professional development of student conduct professionals in higher education in a progressive and visionary way. The Commission offers resources and opportunities, including collaboration, in conduct and legal issue education in an effort to support the development of socially just conflict resolution strategies that effectively resolve individual and group differences.
