Education Commons^™

Going To A Psychiatric Hospital Saved My Life And My Student Affairs Career, Jo Wilson

The Vermont Connection

The ongoing mental health crisis for college students has been a notable topic in recent years and while a necessary conversation, this often overlooks an underlying mental health crisis for higher education staff and the connection between both crises. As a former mentally ill graduate student and now (still) mentally ill student affairs practitioner, the connection is clear and a conversation now is critical. Using my personal narrative as a current practitioner, self authorship, and disability theory intersections, I am using this piece as a counternarrative and interruption to traditional student and staff development. Lastly, I seek to encourage a …

The Experiences Of Black Women Senior Student Affairs Officers: A Multiple-Case Study, Tamekka L. Cornelius, Donald Mitchell Jr.

The Qualitative Report

Within this multiple-case study, we explored the experiences of Black women in senior student affairs officer (SSAO) positions at four-year historically white institutions (HWIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States. We used Black feminist thought and representational bureaucracy to theoretically frame the study. Participants included SSAOs representing three HWIs and two HBCUs. Four central themes—often expressed within experiences of marginalization—emerged across the cases: 1) I Have a Right to Be Here; 2) Creating Networks; 3) No Straight Line to the Top; and 4) I’m Thinking about the Black Girls Coming Behind Me. We conclude the …

Defining Collaboration Through The Lens Of A Delphi Study: Student Affairs And Academic Affairs Partnerships In Residential Learning Communities, Margaret Leary, Tina M. Muller, Samantha Kramer, John Sopper, Richard D. Gebauer, Mary Ellen Wade

The Qualitative Report

Evidence suggests that collaborations between academic affairs and student affairs can foster student success both inside and outside of the classroom. Residential learning communities (RLCs) are a popular avenue by which these two divisions can find collaborative opportunities to integrate students’ curricular and cocurricular experiences. Although this strategy can be rich in student success rewards, academic affairs, and student affairs face challenges as they work to overcome cultural and structural differences. One of these challenges may simply be the lack of a shared interpretation of collaboration. The purpose of this study is to arrive at a consensus definition of collaboration …

An Education In Sexuality & Sociality: Heteronormativity On Campus, Jason K. Wallace

Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs

In An Education in Sexuality & Sociality: Heteronormativity on Campus, Dr. Frank Karioris discusses the role of universities in creating sexed and gendered relationships and hierarchies within society. Through his ethnographic study, Dr. Karioris explores homosociality and challenges heteronormativity on college campuses. This book review provides an overview of this work along with critique and implication for higher education.

What's In An Ally? Closing Gaps In Lgbtq+ Support, Laura Gentner

Journal of Research, Assessment, and Practice in Higher Education

This study will explore the relationship between LGBTQ+ identifying students’ expectations of and experiences with allies, and their perceptions of campus climate. LGBTQ+ ally training programs and visibility of LGBTQ+ allies contribute to both campus climate and LGBTQ+ students’ perceptions of that climate, leading to more positive and healthy college experiences. However, it is not clear that current practice in training and educating allies truly reflects the needs of LGBTQ+ identifying students.

While research is available for the design and implementation of ally training programs, there is little to no research on what LGBTQ+ identifying students expect of allies, nor …