Student affairs is the glue that holds a campus together, according to Heather Shea (’98, ’00), graduate of Colorado State University’s Student Affairs in Higher Education Program in the School of Education. Shea is the director of Women*s Student Services at Michigan State University and the outgoing president of American College Personnel Association–College Student Educators International. Her career in higher education has spanned four campuses and varied student populations, and she credits CSU’s SAHE program with preparing her for success. 

“When I think about the role of SAHE and student affairs as a field, it’s the glue that holds the campus together,” she said. “We are not just talking about what students are learning in a specific discipline or the way they live on campus. It’s everything that’s a part of their experience – their identity, what they learn outside of the classroom, making mistakes, and everything else that’s part of being a student.” 

Discovering student affairs 

Shea originally had ambitions of being an art director at an advertising agency, and double-majored in art and marketing during her undergraduate studies at CSU. A self-described extrovert, she discovered the role of being a resident assistant while looking for ways to get involved on campus.  

After being promoted from resident assistant to hall director, she discovered SAHE. “All of my peers as hall directors were SAHE students,” she said. “I had a pre-SAHE experience that led me to apply to the program.” 

Working as a hall director opened the doors to student affairs for Shea. “I started realizing this was a whole career field I never knew existed,” she said.  

Shea remembers a very specific moment when she decided to change paths from graphic design and pursue student affairs. “I was doing an unpaid internship, sitting in a cubicle designing a Yellow Pages ad. I was also hall director of Newsom at the time, and my co-hall director and I had a staff meeting that night, and I had 12 RAs relying on me. I ended up just walking out of my internship and quitting,” she said. 

Shea found her undergraduate degrees didn’t fit perfectly with who she was becoming. Her marketing major was in a competitive business program, contrasting with her community-oriented nature. And she found graphic design to be a more independent pursuit than she wanted.  “I ended up gravitating towards the thing that was most aligned with my identity and values,” she said.  

Something special about SAHE 

The alignment she found in the SAHE program set Shea on a rewarding path. More than two decades into her career, two things about the SAHE program still stick with Shea: the community within the program and the impact of learning from scholar-practitioner faculty and instructors.  

“One thing I really loved about the program was the closeness of the cohort and the connection that students formed with each other,” Shea said. “After being a hall director and watching other SAHE students, I was excited to have my own experience as a part of a cohort. Those relationships continue to sustain 24 years later.” 

Shea also loved how courses were taught by scholar-practitioners with real-time perspectives. “Our legal issues class was taught by Brain Snow, who was general counsel for CSU. Our student development theory class was taught by Dave McKelfresh, who was director of housing,” she said. “Talk about theory-to-practice, right? They were living it on a day-to-day basis and we were learning about it from them.” 

Shea’s career journey 

Shea has worked with all kinds of student populations, including commuter student affairs at University of Arizona, fraternity and sorority life, and now women and gender equity.  

“Until recently, I would have identified myself as a student affairs generalist,” Shea said of her career path. “However, as I was reflecting, I have spent a majority of my career now doing diversity, equity, and inclusion work, and specifically doing work in the women and gender equity space, from an intersectional and anti-racist lens.” 

Shea said the SAHE program prepared her for a generalist career, and she eventually found her own niche over time.  

“When I started at the University of Idaho [in 2008], I took a job as an interim director of the Women’s Center there, even though I didn’t have much experience in that space,” she said. “I pretty quickly discovered that was the perfect alignment for me, and that’s what I do now at Michigan State.” Shea earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration at Michigan State University in 2019. 

Impact of the SAHE program 

Shea says CSU’s SAHE program’s focus on preparing future student affairs practitioners stands out against other student affairs master’s programs. “When I think back to the coursework and my assistantship experience, there was a lot of intentionality around doing really good practice with students,” she said. “There was a strong focus on intentionality, learning outcomes, and the why behind everything. Then we got to apply that in our assistantships. 

“A lot of what I do now is reliant on getting a community of students together to get excited about something and put time and energy into it,” Shea said. “The basics of how to mobilize students to get engaged and care originated from my time at CSU.” 

Advice to future student affairs practitioners 

Shea’s advice to future and current student affairs practitioners is to find their “professional home and network.” For Shea, that’s ACPA–College Student Educators International, where she is the outgoing president, and her peers from SAHE. “Find the place that’s going to be the throughline of your career,” she said. “As I moved around the country, I knew I could keep going back to ACPA and find that family connection.”  

Shea also encourages current SAHE students and alumni to reach out to the extended SAHE network across the country. She co-hosts the Student Affairs Now podcast with three other CSU SAHE alumni. “We had such great experiences at CSU and love to talk to current students,” she said. 

“I love student affairs because we attend to the needs of the whole student,” Shea said when reflecting on her career. “It’s an interesting and dynamic continuous conversation. What would it look like if we remade the institution of higher education to better serve students? I think that is such a creative, innovative, and engaging space to work.” 

The School of Education is part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.