Student Development: Mainstream or Penumbra?

Abstract

Developmental studies programs are a reality in many colleges and universities, and where they do not now exist, the likelihood of their presence in the near future is high. Student developmental programs are a key ingredient within institutional resources to improve chances of success for students in developmental studies. Student development is not a student personnel program. It is a set of educational practices, grounded in developmental education theory, designed to marshal all available resources within an institution into a process which will produce a predictable result--self-sufficiency in students. Both developmental studies and student development programs should move from the penumbra of college curricula to the mainstream. Pivotal issues which bear upon the probability of success in developmental studies include creating a condition of critical mass, the significance of residential settings, and the centrality of self-sufficiency in developmental education. Student development/developmental studies programs which can be adapted to specific campus environments and characteristics of the developmental studies program and its students include: (1) the Self-Assessment Laboratory, (2) the Life Planning Center, (3) the Curriculum Planning Laboratory, (4) the Human Development Curriculum, (5) an Interdivisional Counseling Network, and (6) the Environment Assessment Laboratory. (Author/MB)