Student Affairs Executive, a new media brand, will elevate the work of student affairs professionals through executive journalism, peer insights and an annual leadership summit.
Peake Media is proud to announce the launch of Student Affairs Executive, a new media brand and executive community created to spotlight the people, ideas and strategies shaping the student experience across higher education.
Student affairs professionals play a critical role in whether students thrive in college. Their work touches nearly every aspect of the student experience outside — and increasingly alongside — the classroom, from belonging and well-being to housing, engagement, career development, student support and much more. Yet the scope and impact of that work can sometimes go unrecognized.
Student Affairs Executive was created to help change that.
“Our goal with Student Affairs Executive is first and foremost to shine a spotlight on the incredible work being done by student affairs leaders across the country,” said Rachel Chonko, the editor-in-chief of Peake Media. “There are leaders developing innovative programs, navigating incredibly complex challenges and finding new ways to help students succeed every day. We want to tell those stories — not only because the work deserves recognition, but because we believe sharing what these leaders are learning can move the entire profession forward.”
That mission was shaped through conversations with student affairs executives from institutions across the country. Those conversations reinforced both the breadth of the profession and leaders’ desire to learn how their peers are approaching common challenges. As one leader described it, student affairs outcomes are rarely the product of a single department; they are the result of teams working together across the student experience.
Journalism Built Around Student Affairs Leaders
Student Affairs Executive will primarily serve vice presidents, vice chancellors, associate vice presidents and other senior leaders with cross-functional responsibility for the student experience.
Through exclusive interviews and in-depth articles, its editors will go directly to those leaders to understand what they are doing, why they are doing it, what they are learning and what others can take from their experience.
Coverage will explore the executive-level issues shaping student affairs and higher education, including student success, data and assessment, well-being, workforce challenges, budgets and revenue, technology and AI, organizational strategy, external pressures and communicating the value of student affairs. Those priorities reflect feedback gathered directly from leaders during the development of the brand.
The focus will be practical and peer-driven: not simply identifying the challenges facing higher education, but examining how institutions and their leaders are responding to them.
Bringing the Conversation Into the Room
Student Affairs Executive will extend that mission beyond journalism with the inaugural 2027 Student Affairs Executive Summit, taking place July 20-22 at The Lodge at Spruce Peak in Stowe, Vermont.
The event will bring together senior student affairs executives for candid, peer-to-peer conversations. Rather than a traditional conference built around a packed schedule of lectures or a trade-show floor, the Summit will create space for leaders to work through shared challenges, exchange ideas and build meaningful relationships with peers. That approach reflects feedback from student affairs leaders who said smaller gatherings can allow for deeper and more useful conversations.
Learn more at peakemediaevents.com/student-affairs-executive-summit.
Advancing the Profession by Sharing Its Stories
Ultimately, Student Affairs Executive is built around a simple belief: When leaders share what they know, the entire profession gets better.
By giving exceptional student affairs work greater visibility, digging into the thinking behind it and creating opportunities for leaders to learn directly from one another, Student Affairs Executive aims to both recognize the profession and help equip those leading it for what comes next.
“Student affairs leaders are solving hard problems every single day, often without much attention outside their own institutions,” said Chonko. “We want Student Affairs Executive to be a place where that work is seen, where leaders can learn from one another and where great ideas at one institution have the opportunity to inspire progress at many others.”
About Student Affairs Executive
Student Affairs Executive is a Peake Media brand serving senior student affairs leaders across higher education. Through executive-level journalism, exclusive interviews, practical peer insights and an annual invite-only leadership summit, Student Affairs Executive highlights the people and strategies advancing the student experience and gives leaders a platform to learn from one another.
LEAD WITH BETTER INSIGHT
Join senior student affairs leaders receiving practical strategies, peer perspectives and the trends shaping higher education.
With more than a decade of experience in B2B journalism, Rachel Chonko is Editor-in-Chief of Student Affairs Executive and Peake Media. She specializes in connecting leaders with the ideas, strategies and peers that can help them navigate complex challenges and strengthen their organizations.
Through Student Affairs Executive, Rachel works closely with senior student affairs leaders across higher education to explore the issues commanding executive attention — from student success, data and assessment to organizational strategy, financial leadership, technology and stakeholder engagement. Her reporting is grounded in conversations with the leaders doing the work, with an emphasis on practical insights, institutional case studies and peer perspectives.
Rachel also helps shape the Student Affairs Executive Summit, an intimate, discussion-driven event designed to bring senior student affairs leaders together for candid conversations, relationship building and shared problem-solving.
Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn or explore her latest articles.
