In 2007, "About Campus" published the author's article "Humble and Hopeful: Welcoming First-Generation Poor and Working-Class Students to College." It has been used as a handout in various student orientations, included as a chapter in Teresa Heinz Housel and Vickie Harvey's "The Invisibility Factor: Administrators and…

In 2002, former US President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) into law, leading to a significant change in the way elementary and secondary teachers design curricula and instruct their students, as well as the ways in which students learn and view learning in and outside of the classroom. Most domestic students entering…

There is likely no campus facility where students spend more time than a residence hall--not the student union, an academic building, or an athletic facility. Especially on a residential campus, where students may spend two, three, or more years living in residence, the potential impact of campus residential environments on student learning is…

American author Napoleon Hill stated that "with every disappointment, heartbreak, or failure, there exists an equal (usually greater) positive benefit." In this article, the author shares how weathering her own personal storms has helped her to guide her students to the learning opportunities inherent in their challenges. Her experience with the…

Are athletics a positive or negative educational force? The viewpoint widely shared across academe is that participation in intercollegiate athletics has a positive impact on students and contributes to learning and moral development. Often, this notion is captured in the phrase "character development," a shorthand way to describe the individual…

Traditional-age college students face a host of challenges during the transition from home to campus. Perhaps one of the most substantial challenges--one that relates directly to adjustment and quality of life--involves the formation of new relationships, and the awareness, development, and establishment of boundaries between their own emerging…

Perhaps a decade ago, accreditation agencies might have been satisfied with a list of student learning outcomes and some evidence that students achieved them. More and more, accreditors request evidence of "improvement". It is not enough to merely demonstrate that what one is doing works reasonably well; one must also show that he or she…

Concern over the transition to postsecondary education for students with disabilities led Ball State University personnel to create the Faculty Mentorship Program (FMP ) in the summer of 2006. The program is a model for collaboration between the disability services office, the faculty members of Ball State, and the Learning Center. The purpose of…

Over the past several decades, college-student retention has arguably been the most intensely studied issue in academe. Though the body of retention literature grows ever larger, no one model adequately explains the process by which college students make a decision to leave an institution or to persist to graduation. And while no magic bullet…

In this article, the author examines the challenges of highly mobile students and what educators can do to retain and support them. The findings and recommendations presented here are based on two complementary research projects conducted with homeless students transitioning from high school to college. The author focuses on the residential…

Cocurricular events are capable of providing rich learning opportunities for students. However, as the film and speaker sequence described in this article demonstrates, all too often they fail to reach their potential. In order to teach lessons and enhance skills related to civic responsibility, these events must be designed with a purposeful…

As English as Second Language (ESL) students move past their first college year toward degree completion, they may find themselves struggling on their own. This article describes one community college's approach to supporting ESL students throughout their academic career. English as a Second Language Across the Curriculum (ESLAC) provides…

Today's parents are involved in college students' lives more than those of any previous generation. The purpose of this article is to help institutions constructively manage their relationships with parents, for the benefit of students, the institution, and the parents themselves. The author seeks to offer guidance to institutions in developing a…

Many colleges and universities in the United States offer summer programs for their incoming students. While programs are structured and administered in a variety of ways and target various student populations, the most common type of summer bridge program aims to serve historically underrepresented students and students of low socioeconomic…

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.