This study of minority students entering their first year of an urban historically Black college (HBCU) investigated the utility of commercial subliminal audio aids to improve academic performance, along with a method of automatic delivery of said messages. Recruited from graduates of an eight-week summer program, 324 developmental students were…

Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi are the three Black women and founders of #BlackLivesMatter (BLM). Despite being founded by Black women, public discourses about BLM often foreground Black men's lives, and deaths, at the hand of the state. When attention is given to the violence against Black women, they are either blamed for their…

Undergraduate minority retention and graduation rates in STEM disciplines is a nationally recognized challenge for workforce growth and diversification. The Benjamin Banneker Scholars Program (BBSP) was a five-year undergraduate study developed to increase minority student retention and graduation rates at an HBCU. The program structure utilized a…

This paper reports on the process by which the curriculum for the 16-week, one semester course, MUSC 2022, Ear Training and Sight Singing, was internationalized. Since the world is increasingly becoming a global village, I wanted students to expand their awareness of other countries, along with the music and history of those countries, through…

The Smooth Transition for Advancement to Graduate Education (STAGE) project was a three-year pilot project designed to mentor undergraduate students primarily from under-represented groups in the mathematical sciences. The STAGE pilot project focused on mentoring students as they transitioned from undergraduate education to either graduate school…

This study aimed to discover how trust is established during the decision-making processes of boards of trustees at private historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). This study also aimed to address if and how board composition and individual board members' value systems play a role in the decision-making process and work of the board.…

This study undertook an empirical examination of those institutions identified as "invisible" in "The Invisible Colleges: A Profile of Small, Private Colleges With Limited Resources." As of 2012 to 2013, 354 of the original invisible colleges continued to operate as accredited private, 4-year institutions. However, 80 of the…

Research indicates that preservice teachers who pass professional readiness exams through multiple retakes are less likely to pass content area exams. This qualitative study focused on three African American preservice teachers whose success cuts against this trend. Findings revealed participants engaged in targeted preparation, used a range of…

This chapter emphasizes the importance of going beyond racial and ethnic diversity at HBCUs to include other forms of diversity such as socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and international status.

This design case describes the tensions and resolutions related to the iterative design of a virtual STEM peer mentoring program for White and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) women in STEM study programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). Stakeholder feedback, along…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) University of North Carolina at Charlotte: Using the EIA [Excellence in Assessment] Application as a Catalyst for Intentional Improvement (Christine Robinson and associates); (2) Editor's Notes (Stephen P. Hundley); (3) Northern Arizona University's Journey to…

College rankings have become a ubiquitous part of American higher education. As the popularity of rankings has increased, so have the number of research studies attempting to better understand the impact rankings have on college/university admissions outcomes. In the past, these studies have focused almost exclusively on elite national…

Purpose: To assess the perceptions and practices of presidents of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) regarding carrying concealed handguns on their campuses. Methods: This study is a multi-wave national survey of all (n=103) HBCU presidents. Because of the homogenous small sample size valid parametric tests of significance could…

Despite wide application of research skills in higher education, undergraduate students reported research and computer anxiety, and low association between research and their professional goals. This study aims to assess whether peer-assisted mentoring programs would promote positive changes in undergraduates' attitudes toward research. Using a…

When it comes to higher education, finding the right school is only one obstacle in the lives of most African-American males. Studies show that even out of the number of enrolled African-American males in the nation, about one-third of them will actually complete an undergraduate degree. A lack of experience in higher education may affect the…