The role of student affairs staff has been traditionally concerned with interpreting and identifying the needs of students and providing programs and support services to meet those needs. However, there is increasing evidence that student affairs officers are taking on role behaviors of other subsystems within the university, particularly those of development officers. It appears that the role of student affairs is expanding and institutional advancement, specifically fundraising, is an area in which more and more student affairs officers have become involved.
The purpose of this study was to examine the expansion of the role of student affairs into institutional advancement and to describe how this has occurred. The study focused on role behaviors and expectations for student affairs officers. The study used a survey of presidents, chief development officers and chief student personnel officers at small, private colleges, and follow up interviews with chief student affairs officers and chief development officers at some of the institutions in the sample. Explanation of current involvement and implications for further involvement of student affairs officers in fundraising was discussed. The following questions guided the research: (1) To what extent are chief student affairs officers involved with fundraising activities at their institutions? (2) What kinds of activities are student affairs officers involved in? (3) How has their participation in fundraising activities evolved? Who initiated their involvement? (4) What role do development officers and presidents feel student affairs officers can play in fund raising? (5) Do the participants feel that fundraising activities make the student affairs division more valuable to the institution? (6) How do student affairs officers feel about their participation in fundraising? What impact has it had on their traditional role? (7) What impact will this expansion of role have on student affairs in the future?