Mission-Driven Collaboration Between Academic and Student Affairs in Community Colleges

The purpose of this study was to understand the nature of collaboration between academic affairs and student affairs units in the community college context from a basic interpretivist qualitative perspective. The aim was to examine the experiences, influences, and perceptions of mid-level and chief student affairs and academic affairs officers regarding collaboration between these two divisions in community college settings. I found collaboration was fostered on participants’ campuses where the ease of collaboration came, at least in part, from the participants’ clear understanding of how their particular roles play into the mission of their division as well as the mission of the institution.