Journal of Student Affairs in Africa | Volume 5(1) 2017, 77–79  |  2307-6267  |  DOI: 10.24085/jsaa.v5i1.2484   77

www.jsaa.ac.za

On campus

Global Summit on Student Affairs and Services
Lisa Bardill Moscaritolo* & Karen Davis**

* Dr Lisa Bardill Moscaritolo serves as Associate Vice President and Dean for Students at Pace University,
New York, USA. She is also a founding member and general secretary of IASAS.

** Karen Davis is Associate Director, Student Academic Services (Retention, Achievement and Equity) at 
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

In the most recent issue of the Journal of Student Affairs in Africa (JSAA), readers were 
introduced to the 3rd Global Summit on Student Affairs and Services that was hosted 
by Stellenbosch University (SU) in Cape Town, South Africa, this past October 2016. 
This summary will provide a more detailed outline of the organisation of the summit, its 
processes, and the final written product for the 2016 summit, which was initiated by the 
International Association for Student Affairs and Services (IASAS) and Student Affairs 
Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA). 

The first Global Summit in 2012 was held in Washington, D.C., which is the home 
office of NASPA and in 2014 the summit was held in Rome, Italy and was hosted by 
the European University College Association (EuCA). Perozzi, Giovanucci and Shea 
(2016), note that the summit “is not a ‘conference’ in the traditional sense; rather, the 
methodology allows for emergent issues and a discussion of concepts that are most relevant 
to participants” (p.  24). Following the same ideals, forty participants, from 19 different 
countries, who support students on college and university campuses around the world, 
were invited to South Africa for a rich dialogue around critical issues facing student 
affairs and services. Some of the issues that surfaced in 2012 and 2014 were used as a basis 
for further reflection in the 3rd summit. These themes included professionalisation and 
internationalisation of the field, employability and soft skills, engaging in student activism, 
and access and inclusion.

While planning each summit and choosing a framework or theme for the summit, 
a deliverable was discussed early on. In 2012, the output was an Executive Summary of 
the proceedings including the themes and recommendations suggested, as well as a video. 
In 2014, a summary was written on the event and outcomes. The planning committee 
identified deliverables for the summit and the 2016 IASAS/NASPA/SU planning 
committee feels that the process and outcome was fully realised with the 3rd summit.

http://www.jsaa.ac.za


78   Journal of Student Affairs in Africa | Volume 5(1) 2017, 77–79  |  2307-6267  |  DOI: 10.24085/jsaa.v5i1.2484

The Wallenberg Research Centre at STIAS in Stellenbosch was the perfect venue 
for the two-day dialogue on the UNESCO Operational Strategy on Youth (Medium Strategy 
2014–2021), concentrating on access to tertiary education in Africa and gender. This 
document was sent to participants ahead of time. 

While at the summit, participants first worked in groups based on their region in the 
world, to consider the impact of the UNESCO Medium Term Strategy on Youth on their 
specific work. Professor Adam Habib, Chair of Universities South Africa (USAf) helped to 
set the stage by contextualising higher education in South Africa and provided comparisons 
to other parts of the world during a most inspiring opening address. Mr Yousaf Gabru, 
Chair of the South African Commission for UNESCO, provided further perspectives 
on the Medium Term Strategy document and the connections to student affairs and 
services work.

Participants used the overarching UNESCO document as high-level goals for our work 
in student affairs and brought these goals into their local environments, while commenting 
on the global goals from an indigenous perspective. Participants also worked in cross-border 
teams to continue analysing the UNESCO publication and specifically make affirmations 
and suggested contributions that can be shared with UNESCO in relation to the work of 
student affairs and services. This collaborative work allowed for a shared understanding of 
the UNESCO objectives and provided a platform for embracing the most salient concepts.

The Summit allowed for large group discussion with all participants on four topics that 
had surfaced in past summits. As noted above, the 2012 topics were professionalisation and 
internationalisation of the field, employability and soft skills, engaging in student activism, 
and access and inclusion. The UNESCO Medium Term Strategy was cross-referenced 
with these topics to further understand student affairs and services work globally, help 
practitioners develop shared goals and outcomes, and work toward attaining these outcomes.

The end result of the summit was a global response on the impact that student affairs 
and services have on students and how our work contributes to the objectives in the 
UNESCO strategy. The Medium Term Strategy articulates the shared goals of the member 
states and a vision for the attainment of peace and equitable and sustainable development 
with two global priorities focused on Africa and gender equality. Education has a key role 
in achieving human rights for all. 

The UNESCO strategy describes nine strategic objectives and five of these are 
particularly aligned to the global aims of student affairs and services in higher education. 
These are:

1. Developing education systems to foster high-quality and inclusive lifelong
learning for all;

2. Empowering learners to be creative and responsible global citizens;
3. Advancing Education for All (EFA) and shaping the future international education

agenda;
4. Supporting inclusive social development, fostering intercultural dialogue for the

rapprochement of cultures and promoting ethical principles; and
5. Fostering creativity and the diversity of cultural expression.



Lisa Bardill Moscaritolo & Karen Davis: Global Summit on Student Affairs and Services    79

In response to these objectives, several themes emerged in the global discussions at the 
summit as delegates shared their local knowledge and expertise. There was a strong 
commitment to high-quality lifelong learning grounded in holistic and inclusive 
approaches. Delegates reflected on the challenge of achieving human rights through 
education for all and our responsibility to contribute to addressing peace, sustainability and 
gender equality. The value of multiple voices was noted, along with the need to empower 
students to act as partners and change agents in their educational experience. A reframing 
of co-curricular design was seen as a way to value indigenous knowledge and unique ways 
of sharing knowledge. While recognising different worldviews, through collaboration there 
can be greater alignment of educational systems and institutions as we shape the future 
international education agenda.

Achim Meyer auf der Heyde, President of IASAS and General Secretary for the 
Deutsches Studentenwerk, is working with UNESCO to promote the recommendations 
of the Global Summit 2016. Our UNESCO response as well as the finalised documents 
on previous summits can be read at http://iasas.global/global-summit-student-affairs-and-
services/.

The gains of the Global Summit in 2016 can be understood in our response to 
UNESCO but can also be described through the following thoughts.

The Summit “constitutes a precious opportunity to share experiences, highlight 
problems and identify possible common solutions. As some participants at the Global 
Summit of Stellenbosch explain in an interview, “it’s an opportunity to compare one’s 
experience with the world” (Ceccarini, 2016, p.  4). Barbra Pansari from Botswana 
University adds that for her “the value of the Summit is our networking and sharing 
experiences and lessons with colleagues from all continents of the world”. 

“Discussing student affairs initiatives with colleagues from around the world helps 
to enhance overall student learning and success,” noted Achim Meyer auf der Heyde, 
President of IASAS (personal communication, 28 October 2016).

References
Ceccarini, I. (Decembre, 2016). Student affairs and services – Open to the world. Universitas: Studi e 

Documentazione di Vita Universitaria, (142), RUI Foundazione.

Perozzi, B., Giovannucci, G.L. & Shea, R. (2016) The global dialogue. In: K.J. Osfield, B. Perozzi, 
L.  Bardill Moscaritolo & R. Shea (Eds.). Supporting students globally: Trends and perspectives for 
student affairs and services (pp. 21–41). Washington, D.C.: NASPA.

http://iasas.global/global-summit-student-affairs-and-services/
http://iasas.global/global-summit-student-affairs-and-services/