Have you wondered what a curricular approach could look like for your division of student affairs? Many may be familiar with curricular approaches to residence life or “residential curriculum.” Although this approach originated in residence life, the only reason was that those of us thinking about it were working in residence life at the time. A curricular approach is just as applicable in other functional areas, bringing intentionality, clarity, alignment, and integration to our work. When applied across functional areas at the divisional level, it has the greatest potential to create impact for students, staff, and the institution.
A Divisional Curricular Approach?
A divisional approach often looks like a single set of learning aims across the division with different educational plans organizing each functional area’s engagement for student learning. The analogy on the academic side of student learning is creating a major with many different courses in the major. This divisional approach is becoming more and more common. At this point, most of the curricular approach launches I am facilitating are divisional approaches. This doesn’t have to be strictly about the functions of a division of student affairs organizational chart. I’ve seen this include student affairs departments plus some from academic support, across multiple divisions focused on the student experience and success beyond the classroom, and even an aligned approach across institutions.
Pathways to a Divisional Approach
There are two common pathways to a divisional curricular approach.
Departmental to Divisional
This often occurs after the success of a curricular approach in residence life and wanting to expand the impact and clarity to the broader student experience. When making this shift, it can be challenging to let go of the learning aims for residence life that have served them so well to create divisional learning aims with broad support, buy-in, and applicability. However, once the new learning aims emerge, they almost always have eager support from residence life staff, and recalibrating their educational plans alignment with campus partners is clear, powerful, and collaborative.
Starting Divisional
This approach is for campuses that never had a residential curriculum and want to begin by bringing this to align across the division from the beginning. This can bring enthusiasm and worry from different folks unsure how this might change the work they are so familiar with and committed to. However, developing learning aims together helps them see the ways that this approach can help them move beyond silos, center students, foster student success, and create that magical real estate where things become easier for the staff and more powerful for students. With these possibilities in sight, commitment and excitement builds for developing educational plans within units and then aligning them across units.
Key Considerations
- Decision. A curricular approach is a paradigm shift. It requires a decision and not something to dabble in. If your division is not yet ready to make this decision, you might consider a workshop to help folks learn more and consider what this might look like so that your team and your leadership can assess whether this is a decision you are ready to make.
- Leadership. A divisional curricular approach needs leadership at multiple levels. I’ve described these levels as symbolic, strategic, and functional leadership.
- Evolution. Launching a curricular approach, which I often help campuses do, is the first step. A curricular approach is constantly evolving and developing.
- Staying unstuck. Here are some ways to stay unstuck and avoid some of the most common pitfalls of launching a curricular approach.
Curricular Approaches Across Functional Areas: May Series
If you are curious about what this might look like in various functional areas, I’m offering a series in May where we explore this in 12 different functional areas. This would be great to join if you are considering a divisional approach in the future. Each session will include framing from me and two featured guests working in the functional area, sharing practices, ideas, and possibilities. Details and registration are here.
