Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 50, No. 1 - 60

The Oshkosh Placement Exchange Experience
There is a shared responsibility between the student affairs professionals
who serve as the supervisors of the graduate assistants and the HESA faculty
who challenge and support these students in the classroom.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RESEARCH
Our initial success in this collaboration between HESA faculty and student affairs professionals
to recruit graduate assistants warrants further attention and empirical research.
Research should examine the students who participated in the recruitment and
the faculty/staff who collaborated in this hiring process. A qualitative analysis would
allow a better understanding of each participant's experiences and how the experience
impacted them as a candidate seeking to begin their journey in the profession of
student affairs. Additionally, a longitudinal quantitative study should be conducted to
explore whether or not this collaboration impacted these graduate students' long-term
retention, sense of belonging, and professional identity. This analysis will also allow
us to determine if there are differences in the satisfaction, professional development,
and overall recruitment of students who participated in this collaboration versus those
who did not. We are very interested not only in the experiences of those involved in the
collaboration, but also in the potential impact that collaboration may have had on the
candidates' decision to attend the institution, as well as how it may have set up their
expectations for these types of collaborations during their time in the field.
However, as this is a newly implemented initiative, a sample size for this type
of analysis is simply too small. We hope disseminating this initiative through publication
and conference presentations will increase interest and participation in this
collaborative approach by hiring institutions at these recruitment conferences. Once
the number of participants increases, this collaborative approach can be studied empirically,
both quantitatively and qualitatively. This empirical research will provide insight
into the benefits of this collaborative approach and potential ways to strengthen
it moving forward.
CONCLUSION
Recognizing the key role a graduate assistantship and HESA program can play in
developing future student affairs professionals, those in the field need to help these
individuals find the right environment. We believe that would be an institution that
has graduate program faculty and assistantship supervisors working together to provide
the theoretical and experiential scaffolding needed to propel their students into
a successful career in higher education. The innovative partnership between HESA
faculty and student affairs professionals that we have presented led to the successful
recruitment of graduate students at the Oshkosh Placement Exchange. This collaboration
gave student participants an accurate picture of their professional and academic
experiences at the institution. In addition, by breaking down the silos between academic
affairs and student affairs, the faculty and staff involved could agree on the best
candidates for their respective positions.
Volume 50, No. 1 * 2023 57

Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 50, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 50, No. 1