This article describes the emerging role of assessment coordinators in student affairs divisions. It highlights opportunities and challenges in that role along with key findings from assessment projects. Specifically, this article has several purposes. The first is to identify the role of the assessment coordinator and the opportunities the…

Despite the significant amount of research related to student persistence, institutions must develop and implement assessment practices that account for their unique mission and purpose. This chapter describes a framework for engaging in assessment activities to improve student success. Specifically, it examines how assessment efforts can be used…

Education abroad is a rapidly expanding opportunity for undergraduate students in the United States. Concurrent with this growth in total numbers is a growth in the diversity of participants. Students with different ethnic backgrounds, academic majors, age, socioeconomic status, and disabilities are increasingly seeking opportunities overseas. In…

The number of online courses offered at the postsecondary level is increasing at a rate greater than the increase in overall higher education enrollment, with approximately one of every four higher education students taking at least one course online (Allen and Seaman, 2009). In 2008, students with disabilities represented nearly 11% of all…

Philanthropy has shaped American higher education from inception. While religion earns the biggest slice of philanthropy, education runs second and well ahead of other causes. Most community college donations are earmarked for scholarships. Foundation dollars can be used strategically to meet the needs of students who cannot qualify for federal…

The experience of war makes those who fight a special group within the general population. The purpose of this study was to investigate how combat veterans who become college students make the transition to campus life, in order to identify how administrators can acknowledge and support them. A total of six women and 19 men were interviewed; 24…

The purpose of this chapter is to offer frameworks and considerations for student affairs professionals seeking to serve the transition needs of the current generation of student veterans. The historical intersections of the military and higher education, particularly with respect to the effects of the draft on students and higher education,…

The number of women veterans attending college is increasing. This suggests that campus professionals need to become aware of how issues associated with mental health, sexual assault, and gender identity may influence how women veterans make the transition into the higher education environment. This chapter addresses the special needs of women…

One of the most consistent messages one hears from veterans on campus is the need for a strong sense of community and belonging. St. Cloud State University (SCSU), part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system (MnSCU), is collaborating with the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) and the SCSU Student Veterans…

Active-duty personnel, reservists, veterans, and their spouses or dependents represent 30% of the 10,000 students at the University of West Florida (UWF). With base realignment activities, a rise in the number of troops returning from deployments, and an increase in military-affiliated students on campus, the needs of veterans and their families…

Students who have experienced conflict as members of the military come to college expecting to be supported, if not honored for their service. One way that campus administrators can facilitate transitions for student veterans is to assist in founding and maintaining campus-based student organizations for veterans. Military service is a bonding…

Today, America is being challenged to meet the needs of unprecedented numbers of wounded and disabled veterans returning from military service. In past conflicts such as those in Korea and Vietnam, approximately three service members were wounded for every one who died. However, in the current conflict in Iraq, the ratio of wounded--including…

In her seminal essay on white privilege, McIntosh (1988) began a discussion on privilege that has taken hold in areas outside her original intent. In this chapter, the author discusses privilege as it pertains not only to race and gender but to religion, especially the Christian faith. The author incorporates the current state of religious flux in…

Given the internal and external challenges Muslim students face, it is important that student affairs practitioners find ways to assist Muslim students in their adherence to their religion as they pursue their degree. In this chapter, the authors present a brief introduction to Islamic tenets, discuss challenges facing Muslim college students, and…

Scholarship about campus responses to death-related events emphasizes the need for members of the campus community to be open to discussing grief-related issues. Faculty members and resident assistants (RAs) are ideally situated to observe and respond to bereaved students. Faculty--tenure-track, adjunct, and teaching assistants--have regular…