About This Journal
The Journal of Higher Education and Student Affairs (previously named the Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs) was first published in 1985, under the editorship of Tom G. Walter, then a doctoral candidate in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of Georgia. Prior to that time, there was a graduate student publication called Viewpoint, which benefited from financial support from the Georgia College Personnel Association.
However, the official “birth” of the Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs as the GCPA journal was Volume One which was published in 1985. Several graduate students edited the Journal over the succeeding years. Dr. Roger B. Winston, Jr., Professor in Counseling & Human Development Services at UGA became Editor in 1997. The first online version of the Georgia Journal was published in 2002 (Volume 18), under the editorship of Dr. Diane L. Cooper, a faculty member in the same department. Beginning in 2018, Dr. Steven Tolman, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at Georgia Southern University, assumed the role as editor. At that time, the journal was moved from the GCPA website to being housed by Georgia Southern Commons. This affords the journal the ability to be preserved using CLOCKSS and for articles to receive Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) through Crossref to ensure they can always be found.
As the journal's scope, influence, and authorship mirrored a nationwide readership, the editors rebranded the journal in 2025 to better reflect its national presence.
The Journal of Higher Education and Student Affairs is indexed in EBSCO, ERIC, and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The journal is registered with Sherpa Romeo and assigned ISSN 2330-7269 by the U.S. ISSN Center at the Library of Congress. This empowers individuals worldwide to discover and benefit from the open-access research published in the Journal of Higher Education and Student Affairs.
Previous Editors:
- Dr. Lauren Lunk
- Dr. Brenda Marina
- Dr. Kijua McMurtry
- Dr. Tom G. Walter
- Dr. Teresa Raetz
- Dr. Diane L. Cooper
- Dr. Roger B. Winston
For more about the Journal of Higher Education and Student Affairs, see the Aims & Scope page. For journal policies and submission guidelines, see the Submitting an Article page. Please contact the Editors with any questions or concerns pertaining to the journal.
Journal's Affiliation with GCPA
The Journal of Higher Education and Student Affairs (JHESA) maintains a formal affiliation with the Georgia College Personnel Association (GCPA), highlighting a shared commitment to advancing the field of higher education and student affairs. This partnership reflects an alignment between the journal's mission to promote scholarly work and the professional goals of GCPA.
The Georgia College Personnel Association (GCPA) serves as the state division of ACPA — College Student Educators International, a leading organization dedicated to the professional development of those working in student affairs and higher education. GCPA is committed to strengthening the higher education community within the state of Georgia by advocating for policies and practices that support student success and by encouraging the holistic development of students.
The collaboration between JHESA and GCPA fosters the growth of scholar-practitioners, both within Georgia and across the broader higher education landscape in the United States. This partnership creates opportunities for sharing knowledge and best practices, promoting the scholarly accomplishments of HE/SA professionals, and encouraging the application of theory-to-practice.
JHESA proudly supports the work of GCPA and values the ongoing scholarly collaboration between the organization and the journal.