Readers searching for information on careers in student affairs can find plenty of articles, chapters, and books on how to find a position in the profession. The literature has much less to offer on the question of how to leave a job—despite the fact that hundreds, if not thousands, of people leave student-affairs positions each year for one reason or another.
You would be wise to give the same careful consideration to quitting a position as you gave to obtaining it. (I will deal only with voluntary departures in this column. Leaving because of retirement, or because you have been fired or laid off, are unique situations that I’ll talk about in a later column.)
Many of us in the profession are familiar with Nancy Schlossberg’s work on helping adult students in transition. Just as her model of the “4 S’s” (situation, self, support, and strategies) can be helpful to students, it can also provide a useful framework for us when we are working through the question of how to leave.
Taking stock of your situation is the first step. An important dimension of the decision to leave is the extent to which you feel it is being driven by you or by others. It is one thing to quit because you are moving toward a goal; it is another to do so because you are being pushed away or feel the need to get away.
Are you leaving the profession entirely, either temporarily or permanently, for a position outside of student affairs? Are you leaving full-time employment to work part time as you pursue a graduate degree? Are you quitting to take another student-affairs position at your same institution? At another institution? While all of those are reasons for quitting, they are very different transitions and give rise to different feelings and practical implications.
A final matter to consider is whether the timing of your departure is expected or unexpected. Student affairs is a field with high attrition among entry-level professionals. New professionals who remain in the field often move into a new position in the first three to four years of their careers. A mid- or senior-career professional switching positions so quickly is less common. Questions to consider: How do you feel about leaving now? How will others feel about it, and to what extent will their reactions concern you? Would waiting until the end of the term or academic year make a difference? How about waiting until next year?
Just as you take stock of the situation, it is helpful to take stock of yourself. What are your goals for the transition? What are the parameters of your decision to leave? What are your priorities? Answering those questions can significantly shape your departure. Listing “getting out” or “getting out now” as your first and only priority is going to be a much different process than a departure from a position within the next year when you identify an opportunity for career advancement in a given region or at a particular type of institution.
It is also important to understand your own history of departures and transitions. How have those experiences shaped how you feel about your current career path? What skills and insights have you gained from previous departures that you can bring to this one? Whether you are leaving to move toward a goal or to get away from a problem, do you feel that you can, and will be able to, shape your departure?
After you mull your situation and yourself, turn to the matter of support. Who should you tell that you are considering quitting? When should you tell them? Who can help you identify career opportunities, or serve as a reference? Who can you talk to about your feelings and experiences as you move through the process?
The need for candor about your possible departure is intertwined with the timing of the decision and the nature of your work relationships. You must be mindful both of the people you report to and the ones who report to you. Are you fortunate enough to have a supervisor with whom you can discuss the possibility of moving on? Or is the relationship such that it would be best to let that person know your plans only once you become a finalist for another position? Are those who report to you committed enough to their work and the goals of the institution that they will remain focused on performing well even if they know you may move on before long, or is it best to withhold that information until you have actually made plans to leave, so that you avoid the problem of serving out your final months as a lame duck?
The strategies you employ in considering your departure are informed by the answers to your questions regarding situation, self, and support. Should you, for example, take a hard or soft approach to your departure? Do you have to (or is it wise to) make a decision with a firm deadline—for example, leaving your position at the end of the current academic year—no matter whether you have your next job lined up? Or do you have an opportunity to make a soft decision, perhaps looking for a new position, and then leaving if the right opening turns up?
While you have strategic options for making the decision, you also face some strategic imperatives as you move through the decision process. First and foremost, keep in mind that student affairs is a small world. Act ethically, speak clearly but professionally regarding any challenges you are experiencing in your current post, and present a positive view of the opportunity you are pursuing as well as the one you are leaving. There is no point in burning bridges, and there is nothing to be gained from establishing a reputation as a gossip or a complainer.
