College of Education & Human Services

College Student Personnel Program Celebrated 50th Anniversary

The year 2020 marked the 50th anniversary for the College Student Personnel program at Western Illinois University. Established in 1970, the CSP Program has graduated over 1,000 alumni. 

As we reflect on the past 50 years of hard work and dedication to student services, Dr. Tracy Davis has shared a few words about the history of the program and a vision for the future:

Like many student affairs programs across the nation, the WIU College Student Personnel program began in the early 1970s. The program gained its footing within the counselor education program as a “movement to focus on specific issues of student affairs work at the higher education level” influenced by values of helping others.  The higher education community was beginning to see that to effectively address student affairs issues at the college level, a budding practitioner needed a different training than that of a counselor at the K-12 level, and thus the program was born. 

First Rocky

Dr. Storey and his family were the proud parents of the first Rocky at WIU. Both Dr. Storey and Dr. Sproul, members of the counseling education faculty, played a large part in establishing the program.

The theory-to practice-value is the heart and soul of our program, regardless of cultural shifts in higher education, we will not move away from that.

-Dr. Tracy Davis

Many of the early program values still remain central throughout the program today. The founding program administrators and faculty made an early decision to build bridges with student affairs services personnel across campus which lead to the theory-to-practice approach. This value was, and continues to be, a cornerstone of the program. 

Over the years, the College Student Personnel program has been fortunate to have had several notable faculty members, both past and present, helping the program stand out as a top student affairs program. These include Dr. Nancy Evans, Dr. Dea Forney, and Dr. Tracy Davis. Evans (1999), Forney (2008), and Davis (2013) are each past recipients of the Senior Scholars Award from ACPA: College Student Educators International. Dr. Evans has also received The Contribution to Knowledge for ACPA award, a very distinguished honor.

We continue to give supervisors of entry and mid-level professionals what they are looking for in their new hires -- and in terms of competencies, and we continue to produce high-quality professionals.


-Dr. Tracy Davis

When asked what the program’s greatest achievement has been over the years, Dr. Davis responded, without hesitation, “Our alumni and the significant contributions they make at their institutions, and for their students.”

The CSP program continues to grow and adapt to meet the needs of the field and the those working in the field. One notable achievement was the introduction of the new CSP: Higher Education Leadership track. This track differs from the well-established CSP: Student Affairs option in that it works to serve current student affairs professionals, allowing them to earn their master’s degree through part-time enrollment in an online style program. Once the degree is earned, many of these current professionals will have the skills, knowledge, and experience to advance smoothly from entry to mid-level positions within the higher education sector.

Whether you are a graduate of the program, a current student, a field placement supervisor, or a past or present faculty member, you have been a part of this proud tradition. Over the past 50+ years, the program has shown immense growth and achievement, building a stellar reputation among professionals as a great place to learn about the world of student affairs.