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NASFAA Summer Training Series — The Class of 2021 and Beyond: The Student Services Perspective

By Owen Daugherty, NASFAA Staff Reporter

In the second installment of NASFAA’s 2020 Summer Training Series, Kevin Kruger, president of NASPA - Student Affairs in Higher Education, joined NASFAA President Justin Draeger to detail the myriad challenges students face on campus and how schools can best support them.

Serving as NASPA’s president since 2012, Kruger has seen shifts in student behaviors and needs over the years, but said the changes brought by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will require another dramatic transition among higher education institutions, driving home the point by playing the iconic “pivot” scene from “Friends.”

To properly provide the necessary resources to students as they return to campus in the fall — albeit looking much different than ever before — Kruger said institutions must acknowledge the pressing issues students now face, namely the increase of students experiencing mental health issues, the affordability issues associated with the cost of college, and the racial issues currently going on in society that students are more engaged with now than ever.

Additionally, Kruger said higher education institutions must adapt to the challenges brought on by the pandemic and implement resources aided at helping students as they learn through a hybrid model, but cautioned that the pandemic could exacerbate issues already plaguing institutions.

“The COVID-19 crisis is going to amplify existing problems we have in higher education,” he said.

He also said the pandemic could shift public perception regarding the value of a higher education degree, noting that in recent years the rising cost of a college education has been the subject of criticism. “This may help higher education in the calculus on the value of a college degree,” Kruger said.

For those who missed the webinar and wish to view it on-demand or register for future sessions in NASFAA’s Summer Training Series, you can still do so online.

 

Publication Date: 6/18/2020


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