We assessed college students' perceptions of safety related to concealed carry of firearms on a university campus. Explicit assessments were collected before passage, before implementation, and after implementation of the law; implicit assessments were collected before and after implementation. For comparison, we included college students from a…

Organizational climate (OC) affects employees, their interactions with students, and is essential to student achievement. However, the research is limited in that it is not clear how college faculty and staff perceive OC factors that may contribute to student academic achievement. The aim of this study was to answer the following research…

Utilizing interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA), this study describes how the phenomenon of hope is experienced by six first-generation college students at South Texas Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), how student affairs contributed to that hope, and how these students understood the spaces on a college campus relative to their…

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…

For the technologies, curriculum, skills, and subsequent successes to be realized, higher education must first rethink and rebuild its culture. Yet the foundation of this necessary transformation may come as a surprise. Instead of "higher edding" solutions (wrapping innovation in cumbersome bureaucracy and complex procedures and…

This study examined differences in reported campus criminality on selected community college campuses in the years between 2005 and 2016 representing the years preceding and succeeding the implementation of Mississippi's 2011 concealed carry legislation. Each campus included in this study is a public-funded community college in Mississippi. Using…

The growing number of U.S. engineering jobs signifies a need for more students to pursue engineering degrees. To increase access to engineering education, in 2015, Texas A&M University established Engineering Academies (EA) in cooperation with selected community colleges. The problem addressed in this study was a lack of knowledge about why…

There is a need to fully understand why Hispanic students are not as successful as other cohorts of students are when completing college. In past research, the focus has been on persistence and retention, but understanding the need for connection and feelings of campus immersion have been absent. The research questions investigated the barriers…

This qualitative case study utilizes a nested research design, including both survey and interview data, and a campus ecology framework to analyze students' perceptions of free speech and sense of belonging at a single institution in South Central Texas. The recent conflict on campuses surrounding free speech is indicative of deep tension…

Despite a multitude of possible explanations for racial and ethnic group differences in collegiate achievement, scholars have continued to call for new research and theories to better explain this ongoing phenomenon. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the relationship between grit, racialized campus experiences, and college…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate how Latinx students perceive the campus climate in curricular and cocurricular settings at a four-year public Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in Texas. In addition, the study examined Latinx students' understanding of the HSI designation and how their expectations of institutional…

Texas community colleges are facing new challenges every day from outside forces. One of the latest forces is the Texas state legislature. The state legislature has allowed the carrying of conceal weapons on community college campuses with the passing of Senate Bill 11 (Handgun Laws, 2018). Historically, community colleges have been safe places…

Despite there being numerous studies on leadership, persistence, and sense of belonging, there are few studies that examine these constructs for student employees who work in student unions. The number of students employed, on or off campus, while working on a degree is increasing (Watanabe, 2005). One of the places on campus where students can…

In a post #SilentSam, #METoo, #BlackGirlOnCampus, #WhatHappenedtoSandraBland world, a world where universities find themselves inundated by a 24-hour social media cycle and the truth of campus life is one viral video away, both communication staff and instructors are often tasked with new social media responsibilities not previously encountered or…

Despite their better-than-average preparation, former dual credit and advanced placement students have placed into developmental education upon entering higher education. In this phenomenological study, six students were randomly selected to be interviewed from a group of 562 who placed into developmental education at one Texas university during a…