In higher education, uncertainty is not an occasional disruption but a constant companion. Leadership transitions, shifting campus cultures, political pressures, and resource challenges all shape the environment in which we serve students. Preparing ourselves to face the reality of uncertainty requires us to examine the belief in our mission and values, while cultivating adaptability as a professional skill. Strong networks of colleagues on our campuses, in headquarters, and through AFA, provide stability and perspective when circumstances shift quickly.
When change arrives, we sometimes have to discern between technical problems with clear solutions and adaptive challenges that call for experimentation, collaboration, and learning. These components of adaptive leadership, combined with listening and clear communication, can offer a framework for responding to change with courage and humility. Students and colleagues often look to us for steadiness, even when we don’t have all the answers. Transparency about what is known, what remains uncertain, and how decisions will be made builds trust and can help calm the waters in many ways. Approaching challenges with an adaptive mindset, experimenting, learning, and adjusting helps us focus energy where we can make the most significant impact, even when many factors remain outside our control.
Preparing for uncertainty also requires a broader understanding of the profession itself. As you’ll read below, AFA’s investment in gathering data about graduate preparation, career pathways, and persistence offers insight into how our field is changing and what opportunities lie ahead. In moments of change, that kind of clarity becomes an invaluable guide for how we adapt and move forward together.
Joshua Welch, AFA President
AFA has an incredible amount of data at our disposal when we consider who is entering our work. When AFA has looked at our trends over time, there are some items that show some clarity around how professionals are being pipelined into this work. When we overlay that with the broader literature around graduate enrollment, themes start to crystalize.
Are we seeing similar amounts of master’s-level graduate students entering the fraternity/sorority profession as we previously did? Simply put, no. AFA’s historical data shows that the amount of master’s-level graduate students in AFA has decreased considerably over the past 10 years. Today, the amount of master’s-level graduate students in AFA reflects about 25% of the total graduate member population 10 years ago.
Does this mean that there are less students benefiting from GA-ships? Yes. Students entering the fraternity/sorority profession are substantially less likely to benefit from the training ground provided by graduate assistantships. Additionally, as graduate assistant positions are becoming increasingly more difficult to resource, many departments are making organizational changes to either eliminate or consolidate positions.
Does that compare proportionally to larger graduate enrollment? Yes, to some extent. According to the Council for Graduate Schools Graduate Enrollment and Degrees Report (2024), first-time Master’s-degree enrollees in Education have remained relatively consistent over the past ten years, with slight declines in recent years. This compares to some of the sharp enrollment increases in some disciplines driven by COVID; meaning that when viewed in comparison to other disciplines, they are not experiencing comparative growth.
What does that mean for professional preparation? Graduate preparation in student affairs continues to be a firm foundation for success in our profession. The training ground that is the ‘graduate assistantship’ serves as the starting point for our most successful professionals. AND we are also seeing increasing opportunities for bachelor’s-level professionals to utilize certification (visit the Higher Education Consortium for Student Affairs Certification) and stackable credentials in ways that provide focused professional development towards building the skills of the next generation of fraternity/sorority professionals.
For those who make the choice to enter this field, are they sticking around longer? Yes, they are. While our industry (like many others) saw departures that manifested during the COVID era, AFA is currently seeing its most concentrated group of professionals in the 3-6 year timeframe, with our second highest concentration of professionals in the 7-10 year timeframe. This means that our mid-level talent in the profession is massive. This also means that we have some unique challenges in (1) ensuring that early career professionals continue to build their skills into mid-level roles, and (2) that those in mid-level roles continue to build their skills towards leadership-level roles.
Our investments in stronger data have been essential in helping us to understand the landscape of our work. We see moments of positivity in the amount of individuals choosing to persist in this work, and are intimately aware of the opportunities in front of us that broaden entry points into this work.
Jason T. Bergeron, Ph.D., AFA Executive Director
