Over the last four years at Union College, the authors and their colleagues have developed a successful peer-mentoring program called Peer Assistants for Learning (PALs). Students are faced with many stressors and need help in addressing issues that may be troubling them, many of which are not academic issues. Students may perceive that faculty…

On a college campus, educators and students live on the edge of tragedy. They walk that edge everyday, aware that the possibility of death is always one misstep away. One careless move by any of the hundreds or thousands of them walking that edge, and their whole community falls into a canyon of grief from which they will climb only after weeks,…

Remedial courses and programs are typically treated in isolation from the core mission of the college or university, an institutional quarantine. The author sees the remedial function as interconnected with foundational concerns: what does it mean to enter higher education in America? What truly is the relationship between the research and…

In this article, the authors describe a pilot project in which formative feedback from industry professionals creates a genuine learning experience for students. Industry is giving feedback to higher education that many graduates are not employable or that they need substantial postcollegiate on-the-job training. Higher education is struggling to…

In this article, the author offers suggestions for effectively addressing disability in and outside the classroom. She believes that a new vision for disability education that moves away from a limitations model and toward humanizing disabilities is crucial for campus communities. Through an introduction to universal design of instruction,…

When she was graduate coordinator for the Office of Community Service-Learning's Alternative Breaks (AB) program at the University of Maryland-College Park, the author had the privilege of working with undergraduate student trip leaders as they researched, planned, and coordinated weeklong service-learning immersion trips in which students would…

An ally, as defined by dictionary.com, is "a person, group, or nation that is associated with others for some common cause or purpose." Therefore, allies are people whose orientation is "outside" of the oppressed group. An ally is often a person who recognizes her privileges and works in alliance with members of oppressed groups to stand against…

Recognition of the promotion of self-reliance as a prevailing purpose of higher education in the United States can be found in many college and university mission statements. Student independence and self-determination are also long-standing staples of theories of student development. Returning home to live with mom and dad is not a goal that…

In this article, the author shares her research findings on the differences between how men and women respond to college. She explores some of the cornerstones of the undergraduate experience--living away from home, interacting with faculty, being academically engaged, and learning about diversity--and how they contribute in unique ways to women's…

Kathleen Manning identifies seven philosophical positions in relation to the broad issue of difference. Recognizing and understanding where they stand in this matrix allows educators to work more effectively with students, faculty, and staff about the complex and sometimes contested issue of difference.

Though many institutions provide an a la carte approach to the first year, Julie Alexander and John Gardner argue that meeting the needs of first-year students requires a cohesive strategic action plan. Here is their practical framework for mapping and developing such a plan.

Georgetown University has developed an innovative approach to addressing student health and wellness issues through curriculum infusion--a collaborative pedagogy that introduces real-life health issues faced by college students into their academic courses.

The Serve America Act was signed into law in April 2009. The Act provides for many opportunities to serve and learn for pre-college youth, college students and graduates, and even baby boomers. It dramatically increases intensive service opportunities by setting AmeriCorps on a path from 75,000 positions annually to 250,000 by 2017, focusing that…

The academy plays a significant role in male students' experience of gender. In this article, the authors explore how educators can effectively support healthy and productive gender identity development among college men. Their goal is to provide insight into how campus cultures convey and reinforce lessons about what constitutes "normal"…

The recent creation of Web 2.0 applications dramatically alters the ways in which universities recruit and educate students. Technology insiders usually attribute the phrase "Web 2.0" to Tim O'Reilly, author and publisher of the ubiquitous O'Reilly series of technology books (http://oreilly.com). Although there is no shortage of definitions of Web…