Emerging Professional Bodies in Student Affairs Administration in South African Tertiary Institutions: A Necessity in Nigerian Higher Educational Systems

Abstract

Several articles have explored the usefulness of professional bodies in all fields of human endeavours globally but scholarly works on student affairs professionalism in developing societies are limited to a few countries. In Nigerian tertiary institutions, such efforts have been hitherto neglected in the literature. It is on this note that this article employs data from secondary source to examine the emerging professional bodies in student affairs administration in South African tertiary institutions with the hope of advocating the same for higher education systems in Nigeria. The paper reviews literature on the existing professional bodies in student affairs in higher education systems in both developed nations and in South Africa with the purpose of identifying gaps in knowledge for scholarly attention. It discusses the attributes of professionalism which can be applied to student affairs administration in Nigerian tertiary institutions and also emphasizes on the need to commence or establish professional bodies in student affairs in Nigerian tertiary institutions.