If you’re chatting with a new professional in student affairs, ask them if they’ve thought about pursuing a master’s degree. Chances are high the answer will be “yes”.
As the field of student affairs in Canada becomes more professionalized, more job postings are appearing with the words “master’s degree preferred”, more grad programs are becoming available, and more student affairs practitioners are pursuing their master’s than ever before- and are doing so here in Canada, instead of crossing the border.
And yet, information about these programs and experiences is still not readily available. Sure, you can find some information about individual programs- application instructions, tuition costs, lists of required courses- but the questions I have go far beyond that.
Over the past six years, I’ve spent countless hours researching master’s programs, both student affairs and non-student affairs related. Twice, I have applied and been accepted to a program- once, to do a Master of Public Health, and once to do an MA in Professional Communication. Twice, for a variety of reasons, I have opted not to attend.
Despite all of my research, I’ve still been left with three overarching questions about grad school. How do people decide what and where they want to study, what is the experience actually like, and how do people DO IT?
That’s where Grad School Uncovered comes in.
My goal with this project is to answer some of those questions, for both myself and for others. I want to share the stories of student affairs professionals who are pursuing, or have pursued, their master’s degree. I want to shine some light on what seems like a hidden topic.
More and more in student affairs these days, we talk about telling our story. Without sharing the experiences of our graduate students, we’ll always be missing a part of that story.
So. Let’s get uncovering.
This project was originally conceptualized to
fulfill the requirements of a UofT Continuing Education course, Foundations of Multimedia Storytelling. It’s continuing because it’s fun and, I believe, valuable. Stay tuned for more stories!
Story Archive
Liana Acri: Rejection is No One’s Friend
Program: MEd – Student Development and Student Services in Higher Education, OISE
Role: Student Life Coordinator, University of Guelph-Humber
Brandon Smith: The Best Kind of Difficult
Program: MEd – Higher Education (Leadership Cohort), OISE
Role: Manager, Residence Life & Education, Ryerson University
