Collaboration between academic and student affairs fosters meaningful student engagement, supports academic achievement, and facilitates a robust campus community. Although these partnerships can be challenging to develop, small institutions occupy a unique position in higher education, as these collaborations are highly valued as fundamental to the campus culture and an essential factor in the practical life of the institution. By focusing specifically on the role of the faculty in collaboration with student affairs professionals at small institutions, this presentation demonstrates the unique and tremendous power of small institutions in fostering meaningful, robust, and sustainable partnerships between academic and student affairs. Because of their histories, traditions, and structure, small institutions possess a strong and distinct foundation for collaborative work with corresponding benefits and challenges. Given that, Salem College is used as a case study in this presentation, focusing on the honor code and the evolution of the Engaging Ethics Program. Finally, this presentation provides practical recommendations for faculty and student affairs professionals at small institutions about ways to draw upon their distinct culture and to understand why these partnerships are important for our students and their development, for our institutions that are faced with mounting economic, social, and political pressures, and for the public good more broadly.
Charlotte Maheu Vail, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Leadership and Leadership Program Director at Salem College. For over 20 years, Dr. Vail has worked under Academic Affairs and always in partnership with Student Affairs at Tulane University, the University of New Orleans, and currently, at Salem College. Using an interdisciplinary lens and firmly grounded in the liberal arts, her teaching and research interests include gender, leadership, campus cultures, epistemology, the history of American higher education, and health equity. At Salem, she teaches courses on leadership and gender in relation to health where she challenges students to examine relevant questions and problems through a range of disciplinary lenses. Before coming to Salem College, Dr. Vail served as Associate Dean and Honors Program Director at Tulane University. In that role, she taught epistemology and research methods courses, oversaw a robust fellowships advising program, facilitated undergraduate research programs, and coordinated with Residence Life on the Honors living-learning experience. Previous to that appointment, Dr. Vail was the founding director of the Newcomb Scholars Program for academically ambitious undergraduate women leaders at Tulane. She also worked with faculty and administration at Tulane to design and develop the Newcomb Institute, the erstwhile women’s coordinate college, after Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Vail earned her PhD in Higher Education Administration from the University of New Orleans.