Student Affairs Administration master’s program celebrates 75 years of success in 2024
By Lauren Knapp
For 75 years, the Michigan State University College of Education has offered a master’s program in Student Affairs Administration (SAA). More than 1,290 Spartans have graduated from the program and found jobs across student affairs units, PK-12 and postsecondary classrooms, as well as policy, government, philanthropy and community-oriented spaces across the U.S. and around the world.
At the heart of its long-standing success are the Spartans who went through the program, and who use(d) their experiences to not only shape their careers, but the educational journeys of countless students with whom they interact(ed).
“The SAA M.A. program is extraordinary because of the commitment of our faculty and students,” said Patricia Marin, who has served as program director since 2020. Marin is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Administration. “For 75 years, we have participated in the journey of student affairs educators who then go off to change the world for the better. We are honored to be a part of their education and look forward to 75 more years serving higher education.”
To better understand how SAA has shaped education, we interviewed three program alums who continue to use lessons learned in the program in their careers today.
MATTHEW MAKOMENAW
- Assistant Dean, Yale College
- Director, Native American Cultural Center
- Lecturer, Education Studies
- Grand Traverse Bay Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
- MSU degrees: B.S. ‘98 (Psychology), M.A. ‘02 (Student Affairs Administration), Ph.D. ‘10 (Higher, Adult and Lifelong Education)
One of Matthew Makomenaw’s first feelings while an undergraduate student at MSU was panic.
That is actually a good thing — but we’ll get to that.
Assignments were being handed out during one of his first classes. Though he excelled and found joy in mathematics, as he saw the worksheets, he was filled with the sensation of: I don’t want to do this for the rest of my life. So, he left the class, and changed his major.
What did he want to do? He had a vague sense about supporting students. But also there was a lot of fun in college, and a competitive drive to excel, which is at least part of the reason why he agreed to move out to Colorado post-graduation and worked (and skied and snowboarded) at a ski resort in Crested Butte.
It was an amazing time, he recalled. He felt connected to the majesty of the land. However, it wasn’t quite a career.
Makomenaw, who was raised in nearby Haslett, started to really think about the rest of his life, two things came to mind.
- This lifelong Spartan had had a great experience at MSU.
- He remembered a class — EAD 315 in the College of Education — that explored college access, career support and assisting students.
“I remember the educators talking about how you can find careers staying at and working at college. College is fun; you’re telling me I can stay here? Sign me up!” Makomenaw said, laughing in retrospect.
“College is a new environment with new people. It also teaches you who you are and how to think, which has really shaped my journey,” he said. (That’s not to say family didn’t have something to do with it: His mother graduated from MSU and his grandmother worked at the university.) “My undergraduate experience taught me about critical thinking. The MSU Student Affairs Administration program defined my career.”
Here, he found support, collaboration and community.
For the first time, Makomenaw took a class led by a Native American instructor in anthropology. He joined an assistantship rooted in Native higher education. He found joy in working with his Native community.
Let’s go back to that panic from his first class at MSU. Yes, it ultimately led him down a winding path to finding student affairs, but it also reaffirmed to him that students should feel supported throughout their experience.
After graduating, Makomenaw held roles at Central Michigan University, the University of Utah, Montana State University and the American College Fund. In most roles, he celebrated his roots, working in capacities such as director of Native American Programs or as an assistant professor of Native American Studies.
He joined Yale University in 2019. Since then, his list of titles, and therefore student affairs-related duties, have grown to about a mile long.
Makomenaw wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I wanted a job where I could create opportunities, a role where I could help people think about going – and then actually go to – college,” he said. “There are so many students who are capable, but might not have the belief they can actually do it, especially Native students. I build programs to change their perspective.”
A few examples: Makomenaw created and directed Cultural Connections, a pre-orientation program for incoming students. He developed and directed Yale Reserved, a program for quiet, shy and reserved kids. He oversaw a peer liaison program for first-year American Indian/Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian students. And he teaches classes, advises students, serves on admission committees, co-develops policies, participates in indigenous-related activities like IndigeProm and Indigenous Comedy, and somehow still finds time to connect to MSU. In 2024, Makomenaw was the Spring Raines Colloquium Speaker, a biannual speaker series to foster intellectual, professional and personal growth for communities at MSU and beyond.
“I entered this field for the students,” Makomenaw said. “I love linking programs. I have been able to build programs and see them flourish. I don’t want to just look at the calendar and say ‘in this month, we should do that.’ I like being able to work with students to figure out what they need now to flourish and thrive.”
STEVEN JOHNSON JR.
- Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Engagement, University of Illinois, Springfield
- MSU degree: M.A. ‘15 (Student Affairs Administration)
When reflecting on his SAA experience, one of the first words that comes to mind for Steven Johnson Jr. is “community.”
Another is “connections,” or “caring,” or “collegial” or “comprehensive.”
Beyond words, it is the people and the cohort environment that remain with him the most.
“I was part of learning communities during my undergraduate experience, but [SAA] was the first time I experienced something like this. We cared about each other as people learning together, but we were also invested in our lives outside of learning,” Johnson recalled.
Johnson said the SAA faculty (including his advisor, Patricia Marin) encouraged this learning environment, noting faculty continually advocated for and demonstrated a holistic learning experience.
The program also helped Johnson see himself as a scholar-practitioner, a viewpoint which would encourage him to earn a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Kansas (KU) in 2022.
All these elements contributed to lasting connections. In fact, Johnson remains friends with several cohort mates to this day.
It was his practicum — a hands-on learning experience required of all SAA students — that shifted his career. Johnson originally had a “clear thought” of what he wanted to do: focus on new student orientation. However, his practicum at MSU’s James Madison College broadened his perspectives to learn about, and thrive in, recruitment, advising and inclusion, among other areas.
After earning his degree, Johnson started his career at KU where he served as a complex director in student housing. He then was named the inaugural director of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) student programming, and then the first-ever assistant dean for DEI. One year later, he added to that role and also became the dual interim director for the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life and the Student Involvement and Leadership Center. He focused on building systems, procedures and policies within the units to operate sustainably, even after he transitioned to new roles.
In May 2024, Johnson became the assistant vice chancellor for student engagement at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS).
This varied career path connects to Johnson’s own learning experience.
While earning a B.S. in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Johnson participated in learning communities. He became a resident advisor and facilitated mentorship opportunities — and an idea grew.
The more he delved into the student leadership experience, the more he loved it (and the more he heard about the MSU SAA program, which, he felt, could fuel his increasing motivation to start a new career path).
He took the leap and joined the College of Education program. As he immersed himself in community-driven work, his engineering background made a surprising recurrence.
“I’ve been fortunate to build,” Johnson said of his career. “I have built communities, initiatives, programs, offices and more that didn’t exist before. I make changes to create system efficiencies. My systems-based thinking has served me well.”
He’s also referring to his community-based efforts. Johnson has held leadership positions at local and national organizations, including as equity director for the Coalition for Sexuality and Gender Identities and as the chair of the Pan African Network, both part of ACPA – College Student Educators International.
Perhaps the taglines or mottos of the three institutions where Johnson had formative experiences best sum up his learning experience and career.
At KU, their student affairs work is driven by: “We make learning possible.”
Everything Johnson has done in his career, and everything he has goals to do, is about “helping students show up to their full potential and helping to meet their needs,” Johnson said. “The work I do equips students to help them see themselves fully actualized in the classroom.”
At UIS, one motto is “leadership lived.”
In his new role, Johnson is keen to serve students by learning about them and then developing resources, connecting departmental strategies and institutional priorities, and advocating for progress, all with the mission of a positive student experience.
And then there is MSU, which formally kickstarted his journey into supporting students, and whose ethos and mission still drive Johnson today. At the college, we say our students “come prepared to learn, and leave prepared to lead,” which is true. But there is also the connection to the broader university, because where there is a drive to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others, there is usually a Spartan.
Spartans Will.
ELIZABETH SANCHEZ
- Doctoral student (Higher Education and Organizational Change), University of California Los Angeles
- MSU degree: M.A. ‘22 (Student Affairs Administration)
Imagine you are 17 years old as a first-generation college student pursuing a bachelor’s in public health and psychology. The question of “what do you want to do with your degree?” is itching at the back of your mind. But present right in front of you is opportunity – not necessarily for yourself, but for others who are just like you. Imagine that, as you are learning to be a college student for the first time, you find your life’s mission: You want to support learners who are also “growing up and finding their own identity,” those who want “robust support systems” as they enter college.
Imagine that, at about 18 or 19, you develop your first-ever grant proposal and are one of 12 selected nationwide to earn a grant from the Strauss Foundation. Imagine that program blossoms into a statewide initiative for Californian families with first-generation students, and that that work kickstarts your career.
This isn’t just a story.
This is the lived experience of Elizabeth Sanchez.
“I wanted to help first-generation students and their families learn how to navigate college and find support systems,” said Sanchez. With a $15,000 grant from the Strauss Foundation, she strategized and built Connect for Parents.
While still a student at the University of California, Merced, Sanchez hired nine interns, developed regional events across the state, ran social media accounts and more.
“We were a funnel for resources,” she said.
When Sanchez earned her bachelor’s degree in 2020, she began looking for master’s programs that could further her passion for supporting others. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but the California-born Sanchez was confident she didn’t want to live out of state.
MSU’s program in Student Affairs Administration was definitely interesting, however. But Sanchez had questions about how to fund a trip to even visit campus, let alone move there. (She applied anyway and got admitted, just to keep her options open.)
Then came the power of belief.
Her mentors — including Rich Shintaku (a 1981 graduate of MSU’s program, before it was called Student Affairs Administration) — paid out of their pocket to support Sanchez’s travel to Michigan.
Sanchez came and “fell in love” with the program and campus. Of course, there was still the big question of moving from California to Michigan.
Just give it a try, a mentor had once told her.
A cross-country move was a lot to comprehend then, and it still sort of baffles the mind now, Sanchez conceded.
But then she thinks about her program experiences and how they have propelled her career, and there’s no looking back.
“I would 1000% do the program again,” Sanchez said. “MSU and SAA changed my life in ways I still cannot even wrap my head around!”
She says the same to others considering the student affairs profession and the MSU program. Some, like Sanchez, have balked at moving to a different state. It is a lot; there isn’t a way around that. But she suggests they “just give it a try,” as her mentor said. Her mentor is Alejandro “Alex” Delgadillo, a now-retired leader of educational equity and access. He is a 1989 graduate of the program (when it was called the College and University Administration).
Post-MSU graduation, Sanchez moved back to California and supported parent and family engagement at California State Polytechnic University Pomona and Chapman University.
In Fall 2024, Sanchez started another educational journey as she entered the doctoral program for Higher Education and Organizational Change at the University of California Los Angeles. In part an acknowledgment to the role her family played in her success, she plans on researching the role maternal caregivers and domestic or romantic partners play in the student support system process.
Where her career goes after graduation is to be determined, but Sanchez knows she has the tools for success.
“I encourage people to pursue the MSU Student Affairs Administration program because it set me up to be the leader, educator and lifelong learner that higher education needs,” she said. “I can be the best version of myself because everyone who has poured into me — including the remarkable community I experienced at MSU. I encourage others to take their passion and use it to help others, too, and be part of the change.”
Help us improve the New Educator! Fill out this survey (via Qualtrics) to provide your feedback on our print/digital publication. The survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete. All feedback is anonymous.