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Abstract
This study examines chief student affairs officers' (CSAOs) perceptions of professional competencies and support for a voluntary continuing professional education credits (CPECs) system. The purpose was to gauge CSAOs support of the concept of professional competencies and to determine, from the perspective of CSAOs, if the profesion of student affairs needs to put forth the effort and resources into such a project. The researcher developed five (5) research questions and answered the research questions utilizing a quantitative research method. Resources are currently being used by many organizations such as ACPA, NASPA, and ACUI to investigate the functionality of professional competencies adn a voluntary continuing professional education credits (CPECs) system. This study presents information that will be useful to these organizations as they proceed in that inquiry into these topics. Findings from this study will become part of the body of knowledge pertaining to professional competencies and a voluntary CPECs system in the profession of student affairs. Answering the five (5) research questions began by the development of teh "Examination of Chief Student Affairs Officers' (CSAOs) Perceptions of Professional Competencies" questionnaire. This questionnaire contained four sections that asked the participants their perceptions on the following categories: a) chief student affairs officers (CSAOs) professional development practices, b) perceptions toward professional competencies, c) perceptions toward continuing professional development credits (CPECs) system, and d) a demographic section. Collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA. Results show that chief student affairs officers (CSAOs) from onde of the major student affairs professional organizations support a more structured system for professional development, which includes professional competencies. Also, noted in this research was that CSAOs felt that having a history of practitioners professional development activities would be a benefit during the hiring process. This research also addresses implications and areas for future research to faculty and administrator in the student affairs profession.