In one important way, student-veterans are like all other students. They need supportive relationships to achieve their academic goals. Serving these students well means learning their stories and helping them succeed. In the process, some of these people may change one's life. In this article, the author shares the touching stories of some of the…

"Open access" is a core mission component of the community college. Through this mission, public two-year colleges provide postsecondary opportunities to nearly all individuals desiring further education. However, access is not necessarily synonymous with success. Many students, including black males, have concerning levels of success, or the lack…

The August 16, 2011, "Chronicle of Higher Education" article "Want Data? Ask Students. Again and Again" by Sara Lipka posits that in higher education there is a culture of oversurveying students and too often relying on surveys as the main, or only, way of assessing the impact of programs and services on student satisfaction and learning. Because…

In recent years, many institutions have developed residential living-learning communities that aim to involve faculty in promoting peer-to-peer learning and furthering students' scholarly interests in a residential setting. A special type of living-learning community--the residential college--has been embraced by many: Harvard University; the…

In this article, the authors argue that successful learning communities are built on the stakeholders' clear understanding of how a learning community model is fundamentally different from traditional curricular approaches and cannot simply be overlaid onto traditional pedagogy. Especially in difficult economic times, well-functioning learning…

The author challenges her students and herself to engage with tough issues like class, race, gender, disability, and homophobia. In this article, she discusses how she helps them learn from, and even embrace, the conflict that inevitably arises. Constructive management of classroom conflict begins with creating a cooperative learning environment…

The new GI Bill offers the best educational benefits for veterans in the history of the nation. While many campus officials believe a surge of student veterans is under way, 2012 is the first year of college eligibility for veterans who enlisted specifically for the Post 9-11 GI Bill benefits signed into law in the summer of 2008. Further, the…

Though many programs for undecided students focus on the "developing purpose" vector, the author argues that putting purpose before competency is putting the cart before the horse. In this article, she shares practical strategies she has used to help her students at the University of Arizona reach competence in understanding the academic world.…

Educators with a passion for facilitating learning among undergraduate students believe that education for the common good is central to what they do. In this excerpt from her new book ""Multiplication Is for White People": Raising Expectations for Other People's Children," the author suggests that this is an essential view at every educational…

Co-rumination, a social process between two friends, is defined as the frequent and excessive discussion of personal problems. Like body image and alcohol use, it is one of those complicated issues embedded in larger cultural realities, which makes it universally recognizable. On campus, co-rumination has deleterious side effects: it challenges…

Searching for employment during this recession-battered market has proven difficult for many new college graduates. As unemployment trends and hiring outlooks continue their slow resurgence, the competition for jobs remains fierce, and the students are feeling the pressure. In this article, the author describes Nichols College's new, web-based…

In this article, the authors consider the strengths and weaknesses of digital media in the organization of student activism, and how educators can better assist and advise student activists using digital media to create improved learning opportunities. To gain a perspective on the relative strengths and challenges of online media in regard to…

On a Thursday night in December 2010, a Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) first-year student stepped in front of a train and killed himself. Because it took some time for the news to reach campus and be confirmed, the student was "funeralized," as they say in the South, and buried before his professors or peers could be informed. That left…

College instructors are more than teachers; they are also observers, and the observations they make can teach them much about their students--both who they are and what motivates them. As a college instructor and a certified ropes course facilitator, the author has had the opportunity to observe her classes and those of her colleagues at the ropes…

Recent changes in basic economic conditions make it harder for college students to find their way in the new economy. However, in addition to these structural changes that drive up the costs of living in society, many students are also suffering from the effects of developing an unsustainable, affluent lifestyle both before and during the pursuit…