College graduation rates have been on the academic and political agenda. The United States graduation rate is 59%, however, 68% of nontraditional students do not graduate with baccalaureate degrees within the time frame of six years. Scholars are attributing the decreasing graduation rates to barriers encountered by nontraditional undergraduate…

As postsecondary institutions increasingly integrate technology into developmental education, it becomes important to understand how technology is used in these programs, what challenges institutions have encountered relating to the technology, and what considerations institutional leaders take into account when deciding whether and how to…

To guide and support teacher candidates in developing the knowledge and skills they need in the classroom, teacher preparation programs must prepare students in acquiring the experience and expertise needed to demonstrate mastery of general knowledge in the specific subject or content area. In addition, teacher preparation programs must support…

Over the past 50 years, living-learning programs (LLPs) have emerged as a dynamic curricular innovation in higher education. These programs are residentially based, seeking to seamlessly integrate the classroom and residence hall environments and blur the traditional boundaries between the academic and residential experiences for students (Kuh,…

Social work educators have an ethical responsibility to graduate students who are academically, behaviorally, and professionally prepared to enter the social work profession. Although a student's suitability to the profession is not necessarily hindered because of the effects of a psychiatric disability or an emotional problem, sometimes it is.…

The professional literature on gatekeeping in social work education has grown; however, there remains a dearth in the literature regarding how educators truly work to engage students who are experiencing a psychiatric disability or other emotional problem. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 26 social work educators from 22 colleges…

The use of affirmative action admissions practices in U.S. colleges and universities has been a source of contentious public debate and legal battles since the policy's inception in the 1960s. The legal challenges to race-conscious admissions will continue for the foreseeable future, including renewed court scrutiny on specific universities'…

Low student retention and persistence rates are a concern for leaders in higher education, especially private colleges, dependent upon tuition. College leaders need insight into whether programs designed to increase retention are effective. Explored in this qualitative case study were the perceptions about the effectiveness of the Self-Success…

The authors analyze twenty in-depth interviews with faculty members about how they perceive information literacy (IL) to examine two key factors: how disciplinary background influences conceptions of IL among faculty members in academic departments and how the instructors' perception of information literacy differs from that of professionals in…

This article reports on student surveys and faculty interviews with regard to a university pilot project of a common book program for first-year students. We found that a minority of students read the book and the book was integrated into only some faculty members' courses. First-year students varied in their perceptions of the impact the project…

Within the field of teacher education, increased emphasis has been placed on social justice education (SJE). This qualitative study examined a group of beginning teachers who voluntarily participated in a social justice critical inquiry project (CIP). The findings indicate that while many of them were successful at teaching social issues, they…

In the Fall 2010 semester, student enrollment in distance education courses increased in the United States to over 6.1 million students taking at least one distance course. Distance education allows institutions to meet increasing demands from the government and business sectors for more graduates in ways that face-to-face courses cannot meet with…

Social work educators have an ethical responsibility to graduate students who are academically, behaviorally and professionally prepared for entry into the social work profession. Although a student's suitability to the profession is not necessarily hindered because of the effects of a psychiatric disability, sometimes it is. When this occurs,…

Faculty and student feedback on blended courses is instrumental to improving blended courses and programs. The purpose of this article is to describe the process and results of blended learning outcome assessment at a large, multi-campus, private university. The outcome measures used in this assessment were developed in the context of current…

This paper presents a qualitative study that used classroom observations, faculty interviews, and student interviews to investigate the meaning and importance of seven non-cognitive variables to a cohort of developmental writing students at an urban community college. The variables studied included finances, study management, college surroundings,…