Colleges may not be prepared to support veteran students transitioning from the military to higher education, resulting in more significant attrition levels for veteran students struggling to adapt to their new surroundings. This qualitative phenomenological study examined the experiences of post-9/11 veteran students as they transitioned from the…

During the 2018-19 school year, only 55 ELL students out of 651 graduated in a Central Florida district. The problem addressed in this study was how well the ESOL endorsement courses prepared teachers to teach ELL students and how this endorsement influenced teacher-student relationships for success in higher education. The purpose of this…

Based on a decade of consistently improving student outcomes at Valencia College, first winner of the Aspen Prize for Excellence in Community Colleges, five lessons for connecting student and institutional purpose are described. These include: a focus on what students really experience, understanding the college as a bridge and not a destination,…

This article contributes to the study of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) through a narrative grounded on two points of innovation. It offers frameworks to decenter the conversation on HSIs from normative practices in higher education to focus on pedagogical, cultural, and political relational processes that find greater congruence between…

Higher levels of civic and community engagement in higher education are positively associated with students' academic performance and they also build upon citizenship skills such as informed voting. Yet, while these are worthy and important outcomes of higher education, students from disadvantaged backgrounds can have more difficulty navigating…

Twelve years ago, Sanford Shugart took the helm at Valencia College. This school of 70,000-plus students in Orlando, FL, seemed like any other community college, but Shugart's reason for being there, and the change this college was about to undergo, was anything but ordinary. Before his arrival, the school had begun a process called Campus…

This qualitative phenomenological study of 20 Roman Catholic laypersons in the Greater Miami area investigated the phenomenon of transformation of confessional practice as a result of the undergraduate educational experience. By searching for meaning in each individual's story, two themes or factors and six sub themes emerged. The themes were…

Faculty are the academic heart of colleges and universities. They guide learning and facilitate student academic and social integration in the campus community. As described by Tinto, student integration is an important component to success in college. Out-of-class and in-class faculty-student interaction supports student integration and may lead…

The purpose of this study was to explore to what degree Florida public, 4-year universities are supporting transfer students. This included a focus on accessibility of information for transfer students, the transfer services provided by institutions, and student engagement. This mixed-methods study included three parts. Together, the findings from…

When it comes to educational challenges, the nation's 12.1 million Hispanic schoolchildren face plenty: language, poverty, lower-than-average graduation rates for high school and college, and, more recently, a wave of laws targeting illegal immigrants that has made school seem like less of a safe haven for Hispanic students in some states. Yet, as…