The cultural chasm between university administrators and undergraduate students is hard to visualize if those administrators are anything like Dean of Students Luoluo Hong.
Dressed in a crisp, red sundress and sporting a short, sharply razored haircut, Hong hardly appeared ignorant of the college aesthetic at a UW-Madison roundtable discussion at the Memorial Union Wednesday. But Hong's vast experience with student affairs was evident in her address on the challenges of the shifting undergraduate perspective, titled \Millennials, Miracles and Mayhem: On the Changing Nature of Student Affairs Work.""
Despite being less removed from the undergraduate demographic than many in her high position-she received her B.A. from Amherst College only 13 years ago-Hong acknowledged her job has become increasingly difficult as society's changes affect the undergraduate experience. She melded statistics from Beloit College and University of California-Los Angeles with her own observations to highlight major shifts in student perspectives over the years.
Compared to previous generations of college students, Hong said, today's undergrads are ""more savvy and street smart but less independent; more technologically aware but less emotionally connected ... more civic-minded, yet they are also more pragmatic and materialistic.""
Hong said student priorities-both educational and moral-are also changing, since today's students feel driven by outcomes rather than by achievement.
""Students today study less than ever but are getting higher GPAs than ever before,"" she said. And they are willing to be dishonest to earn them; According to a survey done by the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute, 75 percent of undergrads have admitted cheating at least once in college.
These statistics-and general trends like those in the Beloit College list-show a need for significant changes in positions like hers, Hong said.
""The work of student affairs is dramatically changing,"" she said. ""For many of us, this is actually a revolt that is taking place.""
To effectively communicate with a constantly evolving youth culture, Hong said the usual strategies of throwing ""simple, compartmental and linear solutions"" at problems would not suffice.
Instead, Hong said those working in student affairs need to try to understand students' hopes and struggles in an increasingly alienated society.
""Matters of the brain are a lot easier to talk about than matters of the heart,"" she said. ""[But] we all have a role today in making sure we address our students' holistic development.""
Julie Elliott, student services coordinator in the Provost's office, called Hong ""amazing"" in her approach to student issues.
""She definitely takes away the intimidation factor,"" Elliott said. ""She brings a lot of energy to a position that is often held by someone who is too far removed from students.""
Linda Newman, an academic adviser in the UW-Madison School of Education, echoed this enthusiasm for Hong's ideas.
""I was really excited [and] challenged with the notion that there really is a student culture ... throughout undergraduate institutions around the country,"" she said. ""And those of us doing advising and being older really need to have some understanding of that culture.\
