Pursuing post-secondary education is often thought of as a pathway to tremendous economic success, yet many students, such as low-income, first-generation students, and students of color, are still underrepresented in higher education. Despite receiving more attention than in the past, the socioeconomic gap in higher education has remained the same. The ever-rising cost of higher...
Extending from a larger autoethnographic project, this scholarly personal narrative will portray one program director’s vision for the field of higher education. ACPA’s Strategic Imperative for Higher Education framework calls upon practitioners and scholars to start from a place of love. The field of higher education and student affairs was built on operating with an ethic of...
Latine students are the fastest growing ethnic group currently in higher education and yet they experience lower undergraduate completion rates than their white peers. In this paper I explore Validation theory, in combination with community cultural wealth and the Bicultural Orientation Model and Influences on Latino Identity, and the ways in which they can be used to support...
College represents an increase in autonomy for students, and this allows for trans* students a to explore their gender identity. However, many institutions have policies and practices that are discriminatory of trans* students. This paper explores the ways in which institutions of higher education can transform their institutions and policies for the betterment of trans* students.
In this essay, the author reflects on her journey from joy in teaching to ennui and back again. She shares three lessons that she learned from her journey that can be applied to your own teaching practice.
In this essay I present a visual journal to reflect on my experiences as a new ungrader. In line with the theme of this journal, my visual essay provides reminders and possibilities for us to consider to help spark more joy in our work. The guiding question of the essay is how can new practices such as ungrading and visual journaling enhance our joy and support students? The...
The COVID-19 pandemic permanently altered the field of higher education and created a broad culture shift in labor across the country. In this commentary, I explore the idea that the demands of student affairs practitioners are intensifying as students crave connection to others, yet student affairs professionals may be seeking to build an identity outside of work. I offer the...
Many institutions of higher learning and more specifically predominately white institutions (PWIs) have created divisions, teams, and administrative roles aimed at transforming problematic and racism-centered institutions. However, the teams and leaders almost never have true autonomy or institutional support in creating an environment not centered in whiteness or white feelings...
In this article, I argue that higher education inflicts trauma on Black and Indigenous students. However, trauma-informed practices can serve as a liberatory practice that disrupts white supremacy culture and minimize harm against BIPIC students. I define trauma and trauma-informed practices (TIPs) and weave how racial trauma, including political, generational, and necrophiliac...
It is okay, beautiful, and brave to be different and take a different path as long as your own dreams and goals are being fulfilled. As virtual learning and online classes are becoming more popular, more students are realizing they can have the best of both worlds, that is, further their education while fulfilling family obligations. The student parent life is a different journey...
Meghan Trainor’s 2016 song, “Woman Up”, serves not only as a call to action for women everywhere, but also serves as a representation of the collective force of women necessary to exist and persist within higher education. Throughout this piece, one will come to see that student leaders need experiences in higher education to feel empowered, and women leaders can be the ones to...
Both Queer studies and Black studies have come a long way in the last decade of higher education scholarship. Even so, there is still a gap in the literature of dual-marginalized students, particularly Black Queer students. Drawing from multiple critical theories, this literature review looks at how secondary marginalization takes place in single-identity campus centers, and how...
The educational system perpetuates capitalism and material wealth, valuing White and Western ideologies, thus alienating certain identities and narratives. As a first-generation and low-income child of APIDA immigrants, I strive to bring awareness to cultural wealth due to the erasure of marginalized identities and narratives. Rather than just focusing on the struggles of holding...
By Joe Russell, Published on 04/05/23
By TVC 44 Executive Board, Published on 04/05/23
An audio recording of this reflection can be downloaded from the right-hand side bar of this page.
By Mattie Schaefer, Published on 04/15/22
Navigating in uncertain times is an understatement for leaders in higher education. There is no playbook for today’s institutional challenges. Student needs, administrative requirements, faculty demands, and community relations all warrant to fresh look into how institutions address the risks that threaten business as usual. COVID-19 has challenged the status quo – shaking...
Currently we find ourselves in a moment of transition, what initially seemed like a match made in graduate assistantship /supervisor bliss would quickly become 800 miles of change. Transitions are often two fold - full of hope and grief as we long for all that is next and reflect on the things we left behind. However, our shared experience of how it feels to be BIPOC in...
Self-care is a principle of the student affairs profession that has constantly been praised and espoused as necessary for effective work. Countless literature describes the benefits of self care, but little has been written about the demanding nature of student affairs that requires self-care in the first place. Rather than examining the system that overworks its professionals...
Much of the current scholarly literature on neurodiversity in higher education tends to focus solely on the experiences of neurodiverse students. There is a significant gap in the literature that highlights how neurodiverse professionals survive and thrive in careers in higher education. Utilizing the Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN) Methodology, this paper aims to address the...
By Catherine Meyer, Published on 04/15/22