During the Spring 2020 semester, college campuses across the US closed to most in-person activities as the COVID-19 pandemic began, forcing students to complete the remainder of their semesters online and away from campus. These changes disrupted students' opportunities to engage in the social aspects of the college experience and potentially…

The influence of whiteness on campus spaces is perhaps unsurprising, given that student affairs professionals (SAPs) often normalize ideologies and practices around whiteness (Cabrera et al., 2016, 2017). Whiteness is often demonstrated in how SAPs advocate (or not) for Students of Color and respond to racialized incidents that occur all too often…

Organizational commitment, as defined by Allen and Meyer, is a three-facet (affective, normative, and continuance) construct related to important employee attitude and behavioral outcomes. Student engagement, while a popular topic among educators, is not as well-defined nor supported by a large body of research linking the construct to meaningful…

Transfer students are a significant and growing population on campuses across the US. However, little is known about students' perceptions of themselves as transfers and how these may be informed by their experiences. In this study, we used an in-depth qualitative case study approach and the intersectional model of multiple dimensions of identity…

The student population of American colleges and universities is becoming increasingly diverse. Though the racial and ethnic makeup of a campus population has been given the most attention in diversity and inclusion efforts, there has been a growing focus on LGBTQ issues in recent decades. As a result, institutions of higher learning have been…

This dissertation answers the following research question: How does Christian hegemony influence sense of belonging for students of minoritized religions on a college campus? Institutions of higher education claim to be secular and inclusive spaces for their students (Jacobsen & Jacobsen, 2012; Joshi, 2020; Jun et al., 2018; Lang &…

About 1.1 million international students came to the United States in the 2019-2020 school year to study at institutions of higher education (Israel and Batalova 2021). Little has been written about the qualities that make a host national student or group of students welcoming to international students. Chi Alpha Campus Ministries is a network of…

In the 22nd Century of the United States, student veterans' enrollment numbers have been increasing among higher education institutions. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore student veterans' experiences with the support services they have used and to identify which characteristics of support services student veterans find…

The debate on campus regarding speech and inclusion has largely come to be framed as a two-sided issue: one side for free, open expression, clashing with the other side for diverse inclusion. All sides of the debate -- the proponents of free expression, most inclusionists, and those who seek the co-existence of the two values -- invoke the notion…

We report on a qualitative research study that identifies both challenges and successes resulting from the implementation of a Peer Education program at an urban, Hispanic-serving, Tier 1 Research University. By drawing on the experiences of 29 peer educators, we demonstrate the ways that combining peer mentoring and tutoring provided benefits for…

Community college presidents must understand the phenomenon of campus safety. For this mixed-methods study, community college presidents in one state were surveyed, and three presidents from the same community college system participated in in-depth interviews. Descriptive statistics measured the levels community college presidents' knowledge and…

Despite the increase of studies done on trans college students and an increase in LGBT Centers on college campuses, college campuses are still failing to adequately meet the needs of their trans students. Furthermore, the ongoing effects of racism in queer and trans spaces remain a phenomenon in urgent need of redress. This study uses queer of…

Since 1995 and until it apparently eased with the coming of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, ethnicity has become the dogmatic principle of the country for its social and political policies. Consequently, it has permeated through university campuses and affected relationships among students belonging to different ethnic groups. This study makes a…

This narrative study explored the relationship of coaches and Black male student-athletes seeking to understand the stories of Black male student-athletes, their relationship with their coaches, and the role of the coaches in their academic, athletic, and social identity development. Using narrative techniques, the author worked with three…

Online education, also referred to as distance education, has been on a steady rise for over a decade, and California community colleges offer more online courses than any other public higher education institution. Although the success gap, as measured by course completion, between online and face-to-face learning is closing overall, online…