In response to urgent student mental health needs across Virginia's college campuses, the 2022 Virginia General Assembly appropriated funds to support a two-year mental health workforce pilot program at public institutions of higher education. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), in consultation with the Virginia Health Care…

Few examples of demonstrable program learning improvement projects exist. To provide guidance for those seeking to report program learning improvement, we offer a real example of an implemented learning improvement project for a Computer Information Systems major curriculum. The example follows a six-criteria model and the subsequent standards for…

Research courses are often the least popular among BSW and MSW students because the connection between social work practice and research is not always evident. This teaching note introduces the structure of the Social Work integrative Research Lab (SWiRL), which was implemented in a social work program without a doctoral program at a large public…

This case study looks at the implementation of an extracurricular program, the ePortfolio Peer Consultants (ePPC) peer-mentoring technology group, as a part of an ePortfolio project at the University of Virginia and its impact on the development of ePortfolio skill sets. Specifically, we seek to understand if and how the participation in this…

College enrollment has increased over the past 10 years and is projected to continue growing over the next 10 for both full- and part-time students. At the same time, institutions face low retention and graduation rates. One policy that shows promise in increasing completion rates, especially for adult learners and those who served in the…

This brief tells the story of Lumina Foundation's and states' efforts to promote an equity agenda for higher education, featuring the 2015 Equity Policy Academy-- which focused on improving educational equity for students from historically underserved groups--as a turning point. Based primarily on interviews with Lumina staff and key state leaders…

Regent University's Special Education and Reading Specialist Programs introduced the Nook Initiative fall 2013. This paper discusses the implementation, the need for integrated tablet technology in teacher preparation, initial outcomes of the study, and offers suggestions for practice. A second tablet pilot program introducing the iPad mini in the…

In a country with an increasing population of nonwhite students, there are far too few teachers of color. The numbers are particularly distressing when it comes to finding male teachers of color, who are essential role models for black boys. As a result, black and Latino children sitting in classrooms with white teachers, day after day and year…

Increasingly across the United States, institutions of higher education (IHE) are offering a wide array of postsecondary educational (PSE) opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities (ID). As more students with ID aspire to college, it is incumbent upon IHEs to engage in rigorous program evaluation to assess student outcomes and…

Numerous researchers discuss the solidarity-producing effects of crime, natural disasters and mass tragedies; however, there is much we do not understand about the processes involved in the phenomena. We specify the social relationships that "generate" and "sustain" solidarity by building on Hunter's descriptions of the…

Spatial visualization skills are vital to many careers and in particular to STEM fields. Materials have been developed at Michigan Technological University and Penn State Erie, The Behrend College to assess and develop spatial skills. The EnViSIONS (Enhancing Visualization Skills-Improving Options aNd Success) project is combining these materials…

This document reports on sexual assault and rape on campuses in Virginia and on efforts to address these types of violence at colleges and universities. Part I looks at state-wide activities in 1991-1992 which included eight focus groups on campuses, a state-wide campus sexual-assault conference, the establishment of five regional consortia to…