Background: The purposes of this study were to (1) longitudinally examine US college and university COVID-19 dashboard content and (2) explore county-level population health and COVID-19 community indicators where colleges with large undergraduate enrollments were located. Methods: We identified 10 colleges with the largest undergraduate…

This dissertation research is a case study centered on graduate student responses to eight (8) risk and crisis emails sent from two (2) University of Minnesota leaders delivered between February 2020 and August 2021. The study joins conversations about technical communication, risk, and crisis communication, as well as advancing work on digital…

Objective: To examine the relationship between COVID-19-related distress and mental health among first-year college students. Participants: Data for this longitudinal study (n = 727) were collected before the school year (August 2019), end of fall semester (December 2019), and soon after the university suspended in-person instruction (April 2020).…

Asian Americans have long been targeted and blamed for problems in social, political, and educational realms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this racial bigotry contributed to hostile environments for Asian American college students. While previous research has discussed the negative impacts of racism on this population, my study explores how Asian…

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many courses were forced online. This posed particular challenges for courses with laboratory or hands-on components. A group of instructors at the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin-Madison designed an online, asynchronous course structure for teaching introductory horticulture courses…

The COVID-19 pandemic altered how our communities communicate and interact with one another. To keep students and communities safe, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) transitioned from in-person classes and community events to closing their campuses and offering academic courses online. Community programming and events were canceled or…

In response to COVID-19, educators rapidly pivoted to new and innovative ways of delivering lecture material. The ability to host synchronous lectures on platforms like Zoom gave students continued access to classroom material in the face of an ongoing pandemic. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in exam scores between…

The Study Abroad Health and Safety Report informs students and parents about significant health and safety incidents while studying abroad. Incidents, as reported on the Study Abroad Health and Safety Survey, are defined as deaths and hospitalizations that occurred during participation in a study abroad program. Minnesota legislation (Minn. Stat.…

During a global pandemic, many students in 2020-2021 turned to peer-facilitated academic support through supplemental instruction (SI) to succeed. In this study, proficient students were hired as SI Leaders and trained to facilitate study sessions in a collaborative virtual learning environment. The impact of online SI support is assessed upon…

The Office of Higher Education is required by the Minnesota Legislature to publish the Study Abroad Health and Safety Annual Report, which serves to inform students and parents about significant health and safety incidents occurring during study abroad. This report provides data for Minnesota colleges and universities for the years 2015-2021. This…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the loss of many lives and transformed the global educational system. This has resulted in a rapid transition from face-to-face classroom meetings to online education delivery. Online education provides another opportunity to engage students during crises, such as pandemics. However, during the transition to online…

The COVID-19 pandemic forced higher education to develop new strategies to meet the needs of students. One of the most critical issues was delivering an online experience in undergraduate Biology laboratories aimed at meeting hands-on outcomes, specifically within the health sciences. Hybrid lab group models in which students rotated between…

This study analyses the techniques and procedures that were developed and the changes that took place in the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Autonomous University of Puebla (BUAP), both in Mexico, and the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), in the United States of America. To face the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic,…

Open-access colleges are an important pathway to economic mobility for millions of Americans. But graduation rates at these colleges are low--for example, only 36 percent of first-time, full-time freshmen at community colleges graduate within three years. Over the last two decades, MDRC and others have conducted research to build the evidence base…

The Office of Higher Education is required by the Minnesota Legislature to publish the Sexual Assault Data Report, which includes information regarding the outcomes of sexual assault incidents reported to postsecondary institutions. This report provides data for Minnesota colleges for the years 2015-2021. This report also includes discussion of…