Recent scholarship indicates a growing emergence in research on the experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) college students and on the ways in which colleges and universities do or do not address the specific needs of TGNC students (Beemyn, 2005; Beemyn, 2012; Goldberg et al., 2018; Nicolazzo, 2015). As visibility increases…

Restorative practices can serve as a proactive approach to address behavior in a way that not only repairs harm and restores relationships, but also creates stronger communities. Using a circle-style conversation to elicit our perceptions of the potential of these practices to support and advance liberatory principles, we sought to uncover the…

Gender-inclusive housing (GIH) continues to grow as an option for consideration at colleges and universities across the U.S. A follow-up to a 2016 study by Taub and colleagues was conducted to gauge and assess developmental growth trends of GIH within campus housing. A majority of 184 participants (n = 129) reported that their institution has…

University housing can play a significant role in undergraduate students' college experiences. Unfortunately, many LGBTQ + students face a myriad of harmful experiences on campus, including in campus housing that can negatively impact their belonging and well-being. To address this issue and foster LGBTQ + students' overall belongingness on campus…

Research suggests there are numerous benefits gleaned from faculty interacting with students outside of the classroom. However, there is far less research on faculty-in-residence (FIR) experiences in general and Black FIRs in particular. Furthermore, there is no research that examines how FIRs promote institutional diversity, equity, and inclusion…

More than one-in-five of undergraduate students are raising dependent children as part of their college experience. Yet, while student-parents are a substantial demographic, with unique needs and challenges, the field of higher education has been slow to acknowledge their presence, and they still remain largely invisible on their own campuses.…

Significant advancements resulting from various legislative and grant initiatives have resulted in increases in higher education programs enrolling students with intellectual disability (ID). Information about program practices in admissions, academic access, employment, campus housing, and extracurricular activities was gathered via a national…

Over the last decade, the number of SWIDs interested in postsecondary opportunities has increased. This is partially in response to the HEOA of 2008, which opened the door to more educational opportunities and supports for SWIDs; SWIDs can now consider college an option, not just a dream. As a result, the demand for new programs continues to grow…

The residential experiences of students with disabilities in higher education play a pivotal role in their overall campus education. However, little is known about the ways that staff who manage and support these residential environments understand and work with issues and concepts of disability. Utilizing constructivist grounded theory, this…

Religious, secular, and spiritual identities (RSSIs) are an important aspect of the complex experiences of students in higher education. Often dismissed or forgotten by higher education professionals, RSSIs have shifted drastically over the 20+ years since Love and Talbot first wrote about them in 1999. While scholarship on RSSIs has steadily…

Examining the role of inclusion assistants as part of a redesigned residential life curriculum at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) in the Midwest served as the impetus for this qualitative case study. The inclusion assistants program was designed to increase the support provided to students with underrepresented identities (e.g., students…

Using findings from a national study of trans* students' experiences in gender-inclusive housing, we argue student affairs educators must move toward gender-inclusive housing as an intentional--rather than best--practice. We frame this innovation in the practice of gender-inclusive housing through findings related to the need to perform ongoing…

This study, a multisite qualitative case study, examines the responses of three institutions of higher education to normative disruption of the gender binary. Normative disruption, or the challenging of the social status quo, occurs when power structures in society are pushed back against. Central to this study is the use of open systems theory,…

In this dissertation, I explored how residence life professionals are teaching social justice. Using critically informed qualitative methods, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 student affairs professionals who are responsible for ongoing social justice-oriented initiatives in residence life. I also analyzed documents associated with…

Gender inclusive housing (GIH) is widely viewed as a best practice to include trans* students within collegiate residence halls. Because of this insistence that GIH is an inclusive strategy, GIH has become a national trend across universities. Yet, in spite of GIH's increasing popularity, there is a dearth in the literature on the effectiveness of…