Higher education is in a state of perpetual response mode, while over the past several years, campus leaders have faced an unprecedented escalation in student needs, from mental health concerns to complex technological integration.
My coaching colleague, Dr. Kate McCaffrey, founder of Paradigm Twist Executive Coaching and Consulting, and I work as external executive coaches and organizational development consultants partnering with universities. Together, we witness the heavy toll constant crisis management takes on student services staff, who are often hard-pressed to focus on what matters most: their students.
Why is this, you may ask? What is taking up so much time and energy that many on-campus staff are simply lacking the capacity to serve the student population adequately without burning themselves out?
Organizational Debt and Insufficient Leadership Preparation
As I have often stated, higher education – perhaps more than any other sector – is suffering under a burden of massive organizational debt: outdated policies, siloed communication, and workflows, at times established decades ago, that fail to meet modern demands. In fact, it has been estimated that excessive bureaucracy costs the U.S. economy alone more than 3 trillion – that’s with a “t”! – dollars per year.
While tackling a mountain of bureaucracy that only adds to people’s workload in a space already rife with regulations is one solution, Kate and I explored an additional critical shift away from traditional professional development approaches and reactive firefighting toward supporting student services professionals by integrating coaching practices as an essential leadership competence.
In addressing both issues, universities can transform their workplace culture, enhance staff retention, and build sustainable pathways for student success.
Coaching-Driven Solutions for Student Affairs
Based on these observations, I would like to offer four innovative, coaching-driven solutions to dismantle institutional inertia and empower student affairs leadership.
1. Restructure Staff Meetings into Strategic Learning Laboratories
A major symptom of organizational debt is meetings that consist solely of informational updates, rather than providing them via email or a team chat.
Campus leaders should convert staff meetings into collaborative environments focused on strategic alignment and growth, where, instead of listening to status reports, teams can dedicate time to behavioral scenarios, case studies, and structured debriefs with the support of a skilled coaching-centered leader who can guide the team through a reflective debrief, asking what felt challenging, what could be done differently, and who else to engage.
This can turn routine meetings into active learning spaces that also build team capacity, especially when employees in non-managerial roles are empowered to propose and affect meaningful change.
2. Establish Peer Coaching and Cross-Silo Referral Architectures
Student services portfolios are complex, spanning housing, advising, financial aid, and physical safety. But all too often, these units operate in deep silos, forcing students to navigate a confusing maze of disconnected departments and being given the runaround on campus, thereby increasing not only frustration but also the workload for staff members.
Breaking these silos requires an intentional relationship architecture in which senior leaders can, for instance, establish peer-coaching networks across units. When onboarding new staff, institutions should also offer a structured, year-long welcome into the campus ecosystem. This should pair staff across functional areas, help employees build relationships, and support learning about who does what on campus.
When a crisis requires complex problem-solving, a well-connected professional will be better equipped to quickly involve key decision-makers and develop a seamless set of solutions that directly enhance student success.
3. Equip Mid-Level Managers with Coaching Competencies
Much time, energy, and capacity is also lost when senior university leaders are pulled into relatively minor, ground-level student and staff conflicts. This frequently occurs because many mid-level managers lack the skill set or confidence to resolve issues independently.
I believe we can address this gap by equipping mid-level supervisors with coaching competencies that build managers’ capacity to guide their teams toward self-discovery and autonomous problem-solving, rather than relying on top-down direction. By investing in executive coaching in higher education for these critical roles, institutions empower managers to handle challenges with clarity and shift senior leaders out of the operational weeds, allowing greater focus on strategic priorities.
4. Build Programmatic Succession Pipelines to Mitigate Turnover Costs
Finally, I cannot stress enough how incredibly expensive, both financially and in lost institutional knowledge, the revolving door in student services is when talented professionals have either had enough, are burned out, or believe they must leave their campus to advance.
One way to counter this issue is to build robust in-house talent pipelines, supported by professional coaches who can help clients design intentional succession plans and prepare entry- and mid-level managers to step confidently into senior roles when vacancies arise. Through targeted development, institutions can proactively cultivate future leaders, improve staff retention, and ensure they maintain strategic momentum during transitions.
Partner for Sustainable Institutional Transformation
Implementing these innovative solutions requires a deliberate, systemic approach to professional development for student affairs professionals and their leaders. If you want to move your campus from constant reaction to proactive, sustainable growth, I am here to help. Check out my professional coaching and advisory services to learn how we can co-create custom programs, design robust career pipelines, and build a resilient leadership culture on your campus today.
You can find this and all other Coaching in Higher Education podcast episodes on:
| 
| 
| 
|
Frequently Asked Questions: Building Capacity in Student Affairs
What is higher education organizational debt?
Organizational debt is the legacy of policies, communication silos and workflows established decades ago that no longer meet the needs of modern student affairs services, quietly siphoning away staff time and energy.
What is the Strategic Learning Labs?
They are staff meetings that have been transformed from status updates to collaborative sessions centered on behavioral scenarios, case studies and structured debriefs, led by a coaching-centric leader to build team capacity.
What are peer coaching and cross-silo referral architectures?
That means deliberately linking offices such as housing, advising, and financial aid through peer-coaching networks and a structured onboarding process, so staff can rapidly point students to the right resources instead of leaving students to figure out disconnected offices on their own.
Why should mid-level managers be equipped with coaching competencies?
In many cases, middle level managers are pulled into sorting out petty staff and student disputes, as they are not equipped or confident enough to sort out themselves. Building their coaching competencies helps them guide their teams toward self-discovery and problem-solving, freeing senior leaders to focus on strategic priorities.
What are programmatic succession pipelines and why are they important?
They are internal talent development pipelines that prepare entry- and mid-level employees to move up into senior roles when they become available, and help institutions offset the high financial and knowledge costs of staff turnover in student services.