the role of student affairs and services in higher education

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION
The International Association of Student Affairs and Services (IASAS) currently is
an informal confederation of higher education student affairs/services
professionals from around the world. A number of its members have been
actively engaged for some time in defining the need for and organization of an
international community of student affairs and services professionals. Several
national and regional organizations have recognized the need for better
communication and the sharing of professional development experiences such as
best practices, internships, exchanges, conferences, colloquia, and symposia.
Others are assisting developing countries to prepare student services workers
and create organizational structures as they build their higher education system.
Regular national gatherings of student affairs and services professionals occur in
Australia/New Zealand, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, South
Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with regional meetings
in Europe. Others have included an international component in their meetings
and they have been well attended by individuals from other countries. The
National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) of the United
States, for example, has held six annual International Symposia, the latest in
Seattle, Washington (USA) on March 17-18, 2001.
The closing speaker for the 2000 Symposium was Dr. Mary-Louise Kearney, Head
of the Unit for the World Conference on Higher Education Follow-up, Division of
Higher Education, UNESCO. It was during her presentation at the NASPA
International Symposium that Dr. Kearney challenged the attendees to work
collaboratively with UNESCO, and the various student NGOs that are affiliated
with UNESCO, to develop a student affairs and services manual. Dr. Kearney
believed that such a publication could be of assistance to those countries and
universities around the world that would like to create a high quality and robust
set of higher education student services and programs. These initiatives would
be designed to meet both basic and more advanced student needs, including the
enhancement of the student learning environment and process and increased
student retention and graduation rates. It should be noted that some countries
organize and operate all or some of these services and programs outside the
universities (e.g., France and Germany).
The 1998 World Declaration on Higher Education (WDHE) calls for a major global
effort to improve the delivery of higher education in every country in the world.
This call was formulated for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the
important role that higher education plays in the improvement of the social,
cultural, political, economic, and environmental aspects of the global society.
This progress may well occur in different fashions and on different time lines
depending on the region or country; however, if any area of the world wants to
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