UNF Student Affairs Publishes Best Practices Manuscript

Media Contact: Joanna Norris, Associate Director 

Department of Public Relations 

(904) 620-2102 

The University of North Florida’s Division of Student Affairs recently published a best practices manuscript titled, “Student Affairs for All Seasons and All Reasons: Leadership by Example.” 

The book is now available for $39.50 from the manuscript’s publisher, Administrator’s Bookshelf, at http://adminbookshelf.com/bookshelf/. It will also be available in the UNF Bookstore, located in the Student Union, Building 58 West, on campus. All proceeds and royalties from book sales will go into a Student Affairs scholarship fund for UNF students.   

“This comprehensive reference contains 24 essays written by the UNF Division of Student Affairs and serves as the first-ever best practices guide for colleges and universities,” said Neal Raisman, publisher and a former university president. “Universities and colleges can utilize this collection of model programs to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of their Student Affairs programs.” 

During the complex process of University reaccreditation, Dr. Mauricio Gonzalez, UNF vice president for Student and International Affairs, realized that a standard for best practices had essentially been developed as the Division embraced and adopted rigorous Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) benchmarks.  

CAS Standards Executive Director Phyllis Mable endorses the book as an exemplary model. “By looking closely at how one excellent model university provides student services to its student body, we can see how student services work can be replicated throughout all colleges and universities,” she said.  

Over the past two and a half years, UNF Student Affairs professionals, many of whom also serve as University adjunct faculty, have been writing about programs that exemplify the impact a robust and intentional student affairs division can have on the student’s college experience. 

“In this book, the UNF Student Affairs team offers the reader an insight into what makes each of these units critical, as well as an appreciation for how they collectively contribute to moving the institutional mission forward,” said UNF President John Delaney. “Throughout the book, the individual authors provide a wealth of area-specific best practices for the reader.” 

            The Administrator’s Bookshelf is designed to provide new and seasoned academic administrators in all levels of college operations with practical, convenient and quickly applicable information and direction on how to perform, deal with, or achieve success in the tasks and chores of being an administrator. 

The Division of Student Affairs is the resource for co-curricular and extracurricular programs, activities and services at UNF. Its mission is to provide students with the best, most rewarding learning opportunities outside the classroom. Student Affairs oversees more than 20 specialized departments, units, and facilities whose task is to optimize the University experience. 

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