Title: Making Meaning of Supporting Student Spiritual Development: Perceptions of Graduate Students in a Student Affairs Program

This interpretive, descriptive qualitative study explores how graduate students in a student affairs preparation program make meaning of their role in supporting student spiritual development. Six one-on-one semi-structured interviews with six graduate students were conducted in this single-site study. Five prevalent themes emerged from the data, each playing a role in how the participants conceptualized and made meaning of their roles in supporting student spiritual development. They are: (a) definition of spirituality, (b) personal life experience, (c) feelings of discomfort with the role, (d) places of comfort with the role, and (e) the work of student affairs. This study contributes to the understanding of what internal and external factors influence graduate students when they are considering this role, specifically adding to the literature a deeper understanding of areas of discomfort with spirituality. The author suggests ways in which graduate programs can better prepare incoming student affairs professionals for the work of supporting student spiritual development and raises questions about the utility of th