This study explored the lived experiences of Black male mentees mentored by female staff in high school school-based mentoring (SBM) programs. Specifically, it identified how their relationship achieved the four components of relational-cultural theory to improve academic achievement and support graduation. According to TEA (2022b), Black students…

Operating from intersecting theories of validation, marginality, and mattering, this phenomenological study investigated undocumented student support services from the perspective of 49 Undocumented Student Resource Center (USRC) practitioners. In-depth interviews highlighted the ways that USRC practitioners served as validating agents, directly…

Many student affairs professionals have experienced grief spanning across their personal and professional lives. As student affairs professionals, they often serve on the "front lines" when bad things happen. These roles are mentally exhausting to take on and can be overwhelming. This article explores two different cases of staff deaths,…

The purpose of this study was to understand how student affairs educators make meaning of the concept of career readiness among undergraduate students they directly advise or supervise at a public, research institution in Texas. This study was driven by the increased pressure of higher education as a whole to highlight college graduates'…

High-quality student affairs programming and support services are indispensable to community college student success. Yet, while institutions establish well-structured assessment of academic programs, few engage in formal institutional measurement of student affairs and services effectiveness. This article shares two community colleges' stories of…

The 1999 Texas A&M University Bonfire collapse killed 12 students and injured dozens. Response to this event involved a number of campus administrators, lasted for many years, and led to the emergence of new risk management standards. Nearly 20 years later, researchers explored how campus leaders experienced the tragedy and reflected on their…

Inherent challenges affect first-generation students' persistence from as early as the first college year. Using cultural capital as a guide, this study is unique in that it investigates the contribution of first-year policies and programs to the success of first-generation students in 57 bachelor's degree-granting institutions across five states…

Among the many issues facing today's higher education, the change in student demographic posits significant challenges to effectively managing higher education. Enrollment statistics predict that minorities will fill up to 48% of the student population by 2050 (Enyeart Smith, Wessel and Polacek, 2017). Because universities play a primary role as…

The role of student affairs educators is to ensure that students not only obtain an educational experience, but also that out-of-classroom experiences contribute to holistic development. In particular, student affairs professionals often coordinate residential living, student activities, and advising programs. These programmatic offerings need to…

The purpose of the qualitative study was to identify the ways in which Student Affairs professionals in higher education in South Texas experienced and negotiated compassion fatigue through their everyday responsibilities. Research questions explored the development and experience of, and coping with, compassion fatigue. Grounded in Constructivist…

Considerable attention by scholars for the last two decades has focused on issues of spirituality and higher education. Literature in the field of college student affairs suggest that, in order promote the development of the whole student, practitioners in the field should consider adopting theories of faith and spiritual development. This study…

The author has been working with colleagues Trudy Banta and Karen Black on a new Jossey-Bass book, "Designing Effective Assessment: Principles and Profiles of Good Practice," which focuses on assessment profiles from a variety of colleges and universities. These profiles also represent the spectrum of institutions from research…

The purpose of this study was to 1) identify the pathways and strategies by which Latina administrators reach their positions within student affairs, 2) examine how the intersection of gender and ethnicity influence their leadership and 3) describe their leadership styles utilizing traditional models, or something unique to Latinas. As the number…

Approximately half the students who enroll at an institution will complete a bachelor's degree within six years (Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie, & Gonyea, 2008). The majority of the students who decide to leave their initial institution do so during their first year (Tinto, 1993). Tinto reported that the withdrawal rate is highest during the first…

Social justice allies make important contributions to fighting oppression in campus environments and in their communities after college. However, knowledge of how one becomes a social justice ally is limited. This qualitative, phenomenological study was designed in an effort to better understand the social justice ally development process and…