From my observations, those people who work in what is known as "student affairs" are basing their work on a few guiding realities. These realities or guiding principles underlie the fundamental mission of higher education and open a window into the complexity of student affairs' work in the late 1990s.

First and foremost, institutions are becoming more student centered.

Shifts within higher education are in an effort to find a way to better serve students. There is a re-energized focus on students as central in the mission of higher education. To become more student centered, educators are realizing that they must move from a focus on different types of learners to a focus on individual learners.

In becoming more student centered, student affairs will be more closely related to classroom instruction. There will be increased emphasis on non-traditional college students who don't spend as much time on campus because of family and work responsibilities. Not only will there be a need to adjust teaching, the students' interactions with the campus will call for new programs and structures to involve students in a campus community defined more broadly than ever before. Campus interactions will be more important than ever amid a culture of isolation resulting, in part, from an increase in teaching and communicating by means of electronic technology.

In addition to encouraging campus interaction, student affairs cab share with faculty information on how students spend their time outside the classroom, how they work together, and what their changing values and orientations are. Student affairs staff can join faculty in creating more civil and interacting learning communities in the classroom and across disciplines. By sharing how students respond to particular classroom materials, faculty can provide information to student affairs that will help them better plan for programs to complement the curriculum. The challenges of higher education today will require the efforts of both academic and student affairs.