Like college? Do it for life!

Welcome to the Student Affairs Administration (SAA) in Higher Education master's degree program at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse! Although the name has changed over the years, the SAA program was established in the mid-1960's and has a rich student affairs history. In addition to our traditional On-campus program, we are excited to offer our Online program which started in May, 2007. We received the "official word" that our Online program was also granted NCA accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission in October, 2007. In fact, we may be one of two or three accredited Online student affairs programs in the country!

During the past few months, we've had a lot of good things happening within our SAA Community and I want to share some of those with you to provide you with a "snapshot" of the SAA Program:

  • In May, Mai Choua Xiong received word that she had been awarded a Fulbright Award to Hong Kong for 2009-10. This is an amazing award and opportunity for Mai Choua, who just graduated from our program in May. We are for proud and excited for her!
  • Dorrie Unertl received the UW-La Crosse Graduate Student Achievement Award at the May Commencement ceremonies. This award recognizes the academic, professional, and the character that Dorrie represents not only as a graduate student but future student affairs professional. A big congrats to Dorrie for receiving this award!
  • The May Commencement Ceremony was historical for the SAA program because it included our first online graduates.  We want to extend a congrats to them and all of our May graduates. We were very excited to celebrate this occasion at the reception that included family, friends, and many members of the SAA community (over 200 people attended).
  • In January, the first-ever "SAA Study Tour to the UK" took place with a visit to universities in Scotland and England. The group also took in a bit of culture and had a great time.  The next Study Tour will take place in January of 2010.  Possible destinations include South Africa, Australia, or another destination in Europe.

Our graduates get positions in Admissions, Advising, Career Services, Deans of Students and Judicial Affairs Offices, Financial Aid, International Education, Multicultural Services, Registrars, Residence Life, Student Unions, University Centers and other student affairs offices in higher education institutions across the country. The practical experience that our students receive while in the program has been a important aspect of our high job placement rate for our graduates for many years.

One of the most frequent questions I am asked is whether to apply to the SAA Online or On-Campus program. My response is that if you have little or no experience in a higher education setting, then you should strongly consider the On-Campus program because the combination of internships and graduate assistantships will provide you with great professional experience in addition to making you more marketable in your job search. Our Online curriculum is geared towards individuals currently working in a higher education setting as demonstrated by our class discussions, activities, and assignments. Our current students have indicated that a strength of the Online program is the sharing of information and experiences from other campuses and the engaging presence of our faculty. Please make sure to read the FAQ's on this website to learn even more about both programs.

If you believe you would enjoy working in a higher education atmosphere in a student affairs role, we encourage you to take a good look at our SAA program. Please email or call me if you have any questions. If you'd like to come for a campus visit, I'd encourage you to do so during the academic year so you can meet with some of our students  If the "Like college? Do it for life" fits you, consider joining us On-campus or Online -- you won't be disappointed!

Sincerely,

Jodie

Jodie Rindt, Ph.D. -- SAA Program Director
Email: rindt.jodi@uwlax.edu or call 608-785-6450

Note: Applications will be accepted beginning November 15th through February 1st (Online) or February 15th (On-Campus).