Inequities of Professional Development Funds Among Residence Life Professionals
Location
Morgan
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
Professional development is a cornerstone of staff growth, yet access to funding remains inequitable across institutions. This quantitative study analyzed professional development funding for residence life professionals at 656 colleges and universities. To do so, archival data from the 2023 Horowitz Live-in/on Report and the 2021 Carnegie Classifications were utilized to compare differences between variables. This session will explore the methodology of this study and the findings that found disparities in professional development funding for college administrators. These inequities have an impact on the growth, morale, and retention of college administrators. The findings revealed an average of $900 in annual professional development funds, though funding varied greatly by region, institutional type, salary, and enrollment size. For example, public institutions offered higher funding than private ones, while larger campuses offered greater funding than their smaller counterpart. These disparities highlight a “resource-rich get richer” dynamic that exacerbates inequities in professional development funding and raises concerns about burnout, attrition, and professional stagnation. Using human capital theory as the theoretical framework, this session highlights how investing in professional development funding can strengthen practitioner retention and enhance the work these professionals do with college students.
Keywords
Professional Development, Student Affairs, Residence Life, Equity and Access, Human Capital Theory
Professional Bio
Steven Tolman, Ed.D., is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at Georgia Southern University. His previous roles included serving as a Higher Education Administration graduate program director and 12 years as a student affairs administrator in Residence Life, Student Conduct, and Student Life. He holds a Doctorate from Rutgers University, a Master’s from Texas Tech University, and a Bachelor’s from Central Michigan University. The two streams of his scholarly agenda include 1) the profession of student affairs and 2) the professional preparation of educational leaders.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Tolman, Steven; Calhoun, Daniel W.; and Long, C'Lee, "Inequities of Professional Development Funds Among Residence Life Professionals" (2026). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 72.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2026/2026/72
Inequities of Professional Development Funds Among Residence Life Professionals
Morgan
Professional development is a cornerstone of staff growth, yet access to funding remains inequitable across institutions. This quantitative study analyzed professional development funding for residence life professionals at 656 colleges and universities. To do so, archival data from the 2023 Horowitz Live-in/on Report and the 2021 Carnegie Classifications were utilized to compare differences between variables. This session will explore the methodology of this study and the findings that found disparities in professional development funding for college administrators. These inequities have an impact on the growth, morale, and retention of college administrators. The findings revealed an average of $900 in annual professional development funds, though funding varied greatly by region, institutional type, salary, and enrollment size. For example, public institutions offered higher funding than private ones, while larger campuses offered greater funding than their smaller counterpart. These disparities highlight a “resource-rich get richer” dynamic that exacerbates inequities in professional development funding and raises concerns about burnout, attrition, and professional stagnation. Using human capital theory as the theoretical framework, this session highlights how investing in professional development funding can strengthen practitioner retention and enhance the work these professionals do with college students.
