I've been thinking a lot lately about things I'm growing tired of in the field of student affairs. Maybe it's just the end-of-the semester fatigue/frustration that many student affairs folks feel at this time of the year (and probably even more so for doctoral students), but I'm becoming increasingly frustrated and mildly irritated by certain things in student affairs. I understand that it's difficult to break old habits and change language, so my suggestion is we place a one-year moratorium on the following two things for the good of our profession and the sake of my sanity.
1. Diversity Metaphors - Diversity work is hard enough without the complication of tired, stupid metaphors (e.g., crayons in a box, rainbow, symphony, orchestra, stir fry, mosaic). Yes, I understand that you may like said metaphors, but it muddles the meaning of diversity, downplays important concepts, and it isn't working. Plus, it irritates many students. Let's refocus our work on exploring and teaching the nuances sans metaphorical organizing mechanisms.
2. The term, or any variation of the word "para-professional" - Graduate assistant is not synonymous with paraprofessional. I don't even know what a paraprofessional is to be honest, but it sounds like something you could sign up for from late night tv to obtain a certificate online for. Just because grad students are 20 hours doesn't mean we need some sort of qualifier in front of our title. We never say "Student Affairs Paraprofessionals," so why do we say it in the singular? I think it's destructive and degrading to graduate students who do just as good (if not better) work than full-time professionals. (Incidentally, this doesn't happen in my office... it's very supportive, so this one isn't autobiographical in any way.)
Hopefully these are helpful. I doubt they get any traction in the field, but I hope that they get some chuckles. Do you have any others?
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