Nature of Student Affairs Work at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, The

Journal of College Student Development, Nov/Dec 2006 by Hirt, Joan B, Strayhorn, Terrell L, Amelink, Catherine T, Bennett, Belinda R

Adding to the stress inherent in their jobs is the amount of time it takes to introduce change into the work environment. Sixty-four percent of respondents described the campus as slow to change. For example:

[My work] is slow to change. We're like a really big family and we tend to be a little traditional. So things that other universities are doing, we're slow to make those changes. One of the biggest things in residence life is co-ed visitation . . . you go to most schools and their freshmen are [living with each other]. But, we have a big thick book of guidelines of when they can come, when they leave, how they enter in, and who they visit.

Other respondents said, "It takes forever to get anything done," and further explained how their work is slow to change:

I move pretty fast and things change slow[ly]. People are comfortable with the status quo, what it's always been. [Some coworkers say,] "I've worked here for 8 years and this is the way it's ALWAYS been, so I don't know why it needs to be any different."

I think [the work environment is] very much based in traditionalism, and because it's based on traditionalism, it becomes very hard to begin talking about new initiatives [or change].

In general, then, the work at HBCUs is rather paradoxical. Respondents report that their work is fast paced on a daily basis, yet change occurs only very slowly. Indeed, one respondent noted little or no change in the 24 years he had worked at his institution.

How Work Gets Done

The way in which work gets done refers to the processes and/or procedures for conducting work at HBCUs. Specifically, we explored the degree to which work was accomplished by teams of staff members versus individuals. We also asked about the breadth of responsibilities assigned to administrators at HBCUs and whether they always assumed the extra duties others asked them to adopt.

A large majority (93%) of the respondents multitask on a daily basis. For example:

I'm on so many committee assignments. A number of us serve ... I mean you're doing your work and you have this assignment in addition to that assignment. And some people serve on Council, so there's a lot of multitasking going on.

I would have to say "multitask focus" because I supervise directors in three different areas. ... So multitask focus, bouncing around back and forth to all those different areas, making sure that my department is up to snuff, but at the same time make sure that everyone ELSE is on track for meeting their timelines, deadlines, goals, so forth and so on.

I would say "multitask focus" and that's because there are so many different areas. There are so many different things that we work with in residential life. I mean you've got the assignments part, so that's more administrative. And you've got the side where you're dealing with judicial issues and meeting with students. And you're also working with parents. And you've got the programmatic side. And then you [have] all types of other little tasks-staff selection is going on and at the same time we've got to get prepared for summer school. So there's so many different things that you've got to kind of juggle all these different tasks all at one time.