From the Editors

Welcome to the second edition of the College Student Affairs Journal to be published by the Southern Association for College Student Affairs on Project MUSE. This is an exciting time for the journal as well as the organization and we believe the current offering reflects the enthusiasm we have for both. We believe in what we are doing and hope this is evident in everything we do to produce an exceptional resource for the profession.

First of all, we’d like to welcome the newest members of our editorial team: Michelle Boettcher from Clemson University, Dena Kniess from Eastern Illinois University, and Mary Alice Varga from the University of West Georgia. Michelle, Dean and Mary Alice are our newest Associate Editors; they join Chis Linder and Darris Means from the University of Georgia and Monica Galloway Burke from Western Kentucky University. As most of you know, producing a high quality academic journal truly takes a village; we are very appreciative of this group of dedicated, hard-working professionals who routinely go above and beyond to keep us moving forward. The journal is a direct result of their expertise, experience and passion for excellence.

We are also very appreciative to the Executive Council for their unwavering support and guidance as we have worked to transition CSAJ to our new home with Project MUSE. It has taken countless emails, conference calls, and several meetings across multiple conferences to get to this point. The faith that the EC continues to have in what we are doing has been appreciated more than we can ever express. We would not be where we are today without the tireless support and patience of Tony, Ellen, Matt, Beau – and especially Joe, who graciously pays the invoices that make the journal possible.

Our first issue on Project MUSE, based on the feedback from many members of SACSA, was a resounding success. We are grateful for your input, especially the constructive criticism we have received, as this helps us to continually improve. We are currently exploring ways to shorten the review process so that we can notify authors of the status of their submissions in a more timely manner. Toward this end, we recently started using Scholastica, a manuscript management system that has already led to significant improvements in our ability manage submissions more effectively and efficiently. We are also looking at ways to recruit more reviewers so that we can accomplish this while maintaining the highest standards of quality and rigor.

Finally, we believe we have an interesting and thought-provoking edition of the College Student Affairs Journal with the Spring 2016 offering. This volume features a wide-ranging selection of articles that should be of interest to many readers. First, Tracie D. Burt, Carly A. Yadon, Adena D. Young-Jones, Michael T. Carr, and Kristina H. Johnston provide some insight into a perennial concern on college campuses with Satisfaction Does Not Equal Success: College Alcohol Use and Basic Psychological Needs. Laurel Traynowicz, C. Keith Harrison, Scott Bukstein, Ginny McPherson-Botts, and Suzanne Malia Lawrence then take a look at the evolving relationship between sports and academics in Perceptions of Career Transition by First-Generation Male Student-Athletes in American Higher Education: Validation Theory and Student Engagement Frameworks as a Guiding Post. Carole Zugazaga, Danilea Werner, Janice E. Clifford, Greg S. Weaver, and Angela Ware discuss the increasing importance of providing a safe and secure learning environment in higher education with Increasing Personal Safety on Campus: Implementation of a New Personal Security System on a University Campus. Next, W. Gregory Thatcher explains an innovative approach to programming in FREAKS (Finding Responsible and Entertaining Activities on KampuS) – A New Program for Student Life and Success. Ah Ra Cho and Rishi Sriram provide an interesting perspective on the continuing importance of working together for student success in Student Affairs Collaborating with Academic Affairs: Perceptions of Individual Competency and Institutional Culture. Elizabeth Niehaus and Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas look at the importance of international experience in Understanding STEM Majors’ Intent to Study Abroad. Kara M. Lombardi and Peter C. Mather round out this edition by dissecting an issue that should...