Number 7 (2007)

Dear Readers:

Welcome to the seventh issue of Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development. In this issue you will find four feature articles. Two of these present very noteworthy original research and a third article is a timely and useful meta-analysis of research literature concerning millennial generation students. The fourth piece, a reprint of a chapter from the landmark book, Student affairs reconsidered: A Christian view of the profession and its contexts, recalls the milestone in Christian higher educational scholarship that the publication of this work represented. In commemoration of the anniversary of this significant work, ACSD President, Barry Loy, offers a reflection on “how we are doing” ten years later. Finally, the book review section contains ten reviews of recently published books and an essay analysis on “Identity, vocation, and calling” by Dr. Roger Wessel.

We want to acknowledge two people for their assistance in making this issue possible. Special thanks go to Steve Christensen for his service as Layout and Design Editor and to Todd Ream who has done another superb job this year as the Book Review Editor. These two individuals have put many long hours into helping the Editorial Board to put this issue together and without their assistance this publication would not have been possible.

We are excited to be able to provide you with this collection of articles and reviews and want to thank all of those who submitted manuscripts for consideration. We also want to thank Norris Friesen and Ginny Carpenter for their work on the Editorial Board and LaTonya Taylor, our Chief Editorial Assistant. Without their very valuable assistance this publication would not have been possible.

We also wanted to update you on some exciting new developments for upcoming issues of Growth. As you have no doubt noticed, the 2007 edition is coming out later this year. In the past the journal has been distributed in conjunction with the ACSD annual conference. Last spring a consultant group was convened to develop strategies to advance scholarship within ACSD. Growth was the primary topic of discussion and this group recommended a variety of structural and programmatic improvements. The ACSD Executive Committee adopted these recommendations at its June meeting and are currently in the process of implementing them. As you will see, this issue of Growth already reflects some of these changes.

The two most immediate modifications are the distribution timetable and the organizational structure of the editorial staff. The journals will now be distributed during November of each academic year. The working group was concerned that a conference time distribution obscured the impact of the journal. The editors are hopeful that having Growth delivered in the fall will increase the readership and usage of the information contained in the journal. The editorial staff is expanding substantially. In addition to the general editor’s role the following persons will be serving as content area editors.

Foundations—Jason Morris, Abilene Christian University
Leadership and Professional Development—Tim Herrmann and Skip Trudeau, Taylor University
Student Culture—Don Opitz, Geneva College
Student Learning and Assessment—Eileen Hulme, Azusa Pacific University
Spiritual Formation—Steve Beers, John Brown University
Diversity and Globalization—Brad Lau, George Fox University

Each of these individuals will be responsible for soliciting and encouraging manuscripts associated with their respective areas. We are confident that this new structure will enhance the quality and content of original research within the association.

We especially want to encourage you, the reader, to consider submitting manuscripts for consideration for the next issue of Growth, which will be published in the fall of 2008. Publication guidelines are included in this issue on page 84. We are particularly interested in manuscripts presenting original or basic research and encourage anyone who has recently completed a graduate thesis or dissertation to submit an article.

We thank you for your support for Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development. We trust that you will enjoy and be challenged by what you find in these pages.

Sincerely,
Skip Trudeau, Co-Editor
Tim Herrmann, Co-Editor