Professional Courses- HEA 9220- Law in Higher Education and SAA 7620- Student

Affairs Administration.
Ive always loved learning about law, governance, and policy since I was a young
child as my grandfather was a lawyer for the state of Ohio. I was excited to take this class
as soon as I saw it on my class list back in 2014. Navigating the different issues that
students, staff, faculty, and administration face is something Ive enjoyed learning about.
Learning about 1st amendment rights and how students are able to express themselves is
fascinating to me as if a student does one thing incorrectly, they can be in violation of
university policy, as well as state and federal law. This class also gave me the knowledge
on how to protect myself against lawsuits for various reasons, whether its coming from
students or from the institution (although I hope I never have to experience this first
hand.) FERPA receives much attention due to its goal of maintaining students privacy of
their educational records. It is very easy to break minor FERPA rules because of the
language written into the law so learning about FERPA is critical to student affair
professionals. This class advanced my knowledge with the Law, Policy, & Governance
and Personal Foundations competencies.
The Student Affairs Administration class has probably been the most practical
class we have had as it encompasses aspects of every class such as diversity, finances,
social justice, and further explanation of different student affairs departments. Each class
is centered on a relevant topic or issue going on in higher education or right here at
Wright State University. I enjoy that after two years of being in the same cohort, my
classmates and I are able to have deep and civil discourse to further advance our
perspectives of relevant and pertinent issues in higher education. My presentation in this

class was a debate over whether to increase student fees by $200 for the year in build a
recreation facility. This presentation was centered around Astins and Tintos theory on
involvement and retention. The student development aspect looked at the holistic
development of the student, not just the academic side of gaining knowledge. There was
also an ethical component to this presentation, as we had to ask ourselves if raising
student fees to help fund this project was ethical as the cost of tuition is already high
enough as it is. This class enhanced my competencies in the Ethical Professional
Practices; History, Philosophy, & Values; and Student Learning & Development.