Graduate students have experiences and knowledge that can support small- and large-scale projects and initiatives. Engaging graduate students in these projects is crucial for their development and allows for different perspectives and experiences for the team. Three graduate students supported the development of a new AECT journal, "Journal…

In this article, we discuss the developmental aspects of students' experiencing and making meaning of racism and propose that such processes parallel how trauma has been shown to impact development. More specifically, we name racism as a form of trauma with developmental consequences.

Many students come to higher education with a history of trauma. College life may also expose students to traumatizing events. While the past decade has witnessed greater discussion of trauma-informed frameworks, it has not regularly been applied to the college environment. We advance the concept of a trauma-informed campus, where administrators,…

Faced with the threat of declining enrollment and the closing of prominent Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) programs, university faculty, and personnel must re-examine the efforts and effectiveness of strategies used to recruit and retain high-quality students. While the mismatch between supply and demand in teaching and teaching of…

This article draws on the concept of structural lag to expand the notion of transitions in higher education contexts beyond linear and age-differentiated. Research reported here responds to scholars who are taking theories of transition into conceptually new landscapes. Using a rhizomic data analysis of a doctoral research project, the idea of…

Several factors, such as declining birth rates, and the COVID-19 pandemic, have contributed to the current downward trend in college enrollments in the United States (Marcus, 2021, May 22). Declining enrollments create a greater focus on retention of students. Retention, however, is complicated by factors such as rising tuition costs, an uncertain…

To effectively lead with our religiously diverse national and global communities, colleges and universities must engage practices and conditions that promote student interfaith learning and development. Recent research highlights seemingly divergent factors that both play significant roles to help prepare students for productive engagement across…

American colleges and universities have been concerned with the student experience since their founding when in loco parentis was a de facto model of the student-institutional relationship. The nature of that relationship has changed over time but consistently demonstrated a concern and responsibility that colleges and universities had for the…

In this book, the authors bring together in one place essential information about college students in the US in the 21st century. Synthesizing existing research and theory, they present an introduction to studying student characteristics, college choice and enrollment patterns, institutional types and environments, student learning, persistence,…

Formal leadership development programs enhance what students learn in the classroom by giving them powerful tools for personal and professional success. They are also a differentiator for many institutions. They help schools attract more high-ability students, distinguish themselves from peer institutions, and increase the value of a student's…

Inclusive Post-Secondary Education Programs (IPSE) have emerged as opportunities for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to experience college life and prepare for independent living and integrated employment. However, to date there is no standard definition for what defines a successful IPSE experience. This manuscript…

While the term 'student experience' is used widely in universities, it is remarkably under-developed as a construct in the academic literature. This paper addresses this gap by proposing a conceptual framework for the student experience of undergraduate students. The approach taken is to identify the key influences that shape the student…

In recent years a host of scholars have considered the contributions of various critical and post-structural perspectives to the study of college student development. This body of work has drawn on critical race theory, intersectionality, and queer theory, among others, to advance more power-conscious approaches to student development. Critical…

This article discusses the use of digital storytelling, a pedagogical tool, to enhance student learning and meaning-making. During the process of creating and sharing their digital stories, students engaged in self-reflexivity and demonstrated the ability to apply theories of student development to their personal experiences. Findings have…

Not every student has done honors work in the humanities, but all students experience research at a human level that necessarily recalls the work of the humanities. This article describes how Joe Kraus, a professor of literature at the University of Scranton, was inspired to see applied humanities in stories of human experiences, which helped him…