Student Affairs Administration
Mission, vision, & values
SAA Vision
We partner with our students, faculty, colleagues, alums and friends to co-create, develop and sustain inventive, community-oriented, and equity-minded student affairs practitioner preparation programs.
SAA Mission
Our mission is to advance the field of student affairs by preparing diverse scholar-practitioners for leadership in the multifaceted and complex context of higher education.
SAA Values
Teaching & Learning: We value the preparation of our students as student affairs practitioners. Our primary focus is on student learning and on instructional modes that foster a theory-to-practice approach. We value faculty, assistantship and internship providers, and practicum supervisors as educators of our students.
Community & Partnership: We value the close-knit community and partnership with our students, faculty, staff, partners, alums and friends. Our educators provide supportive and responsive guidance, and we pride ourselves in strong relationships with colleagues across our campuses, communities, this nation, and abroad.
Social Justice, Inclusion, & Equity: In our curricular and experiential approaches we value an unshakeable focus on diversity, social justice, inclusion and equity. We adhere to professional student affairs values of personal awareness, transformative education, and advocacy. We also value the identities each of our students, staff, faculty, partners, alumni and friends bring to our community.
Scholarship & Service: We value the variety of forms scholarship and service take. Our faculty engage in empirical research, diverse types of publication, editorial board membership, national and regional presentations, and consulting. All faculty serve their institution and professional organizations in a variety of leadership positions.
Professional Competencies
The Student Affairs Administration (SAA) graduate program at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse has embraced the ACPA/NASPA Professional Competencies and has aligned the curriculum of the graduate program to ensure basic understanding in the competencies as part of the learning experience of our graduate students.