Topic: policy & research
What Campus Data Tell Us About Student Mental Health and COVID-19
Recent stories have warned of a “mental health tsunami” and a “mental health crisis on campuses” as over the past two years, students and campus communities worked to master the new normal of masking, vaccines, and social distancing in a global pandemic. As we look toward the future, what should campuses do about the mental health of students?
Time is Running Out to Make Simple Fixes to GI Bill Education Benefits
Changes are needed to the Isakson-Roe Act of 2020 so service members and their families can get the most our of their education benefits. Can Congress get this done?
A Trauma-Informed Lens for Addressing Race-Based Incidents on Campus
As campuses deal with the impact of COVID-19 and systemic racism, campus leaders have an opportunity to make sustainable, structurally supported change that provides foundations for reparation, reconciliation, and healing for campus communities.
Do Institutions Really Know What Is Going on With Their Students’ Mental Health?
A number of studies, articles and blog posts in recent years have hinted that campuses are figuratively hanging off of a mental health cliff. Kate Wolfe-Lyga and Marcus Hotaling write that while numerous factors that have likely contributed to this increase in need, the main concern is whether colleges and universities have the capacity to support their students’ mental health.
Shared Equity Leadership: Transforming Campus Communities Is a Collective Responsibility
Shared equity leadership can help dismantle the systems that perpetuate inequities by drawing upon the strengths of a range of campus stakeholders rather than the perspective of a single leader.
Rethinking the Academy: Lessons From Higher Ed’s Response to Equity Concerns During COVID-19
With vaccines now available and campuses preparing for a return to “normal,” higher education leaders must ask what we have learned about our institutions’ capacity for change and how we will incorporate that learning into a post-COVID future, not just in terms of teaching and learning but also in considering equity and inclusion.
Examining HR Hiring Practices for LGBTQ+ Professionals at Community Colleges
Research shows that students are more likely to persist and complete when they see themselves reflected in faculty, staff, and leadership on campus. How can we ensure that diversity in leadership extends to LGBTQ+ professionals, particularly at community colleges?
Congress Lifted the Pell Grant Ban for Incarcerated People. What Now?
With Pell Grant access restored, we can now move forward with more postsecondary programs in prison, which are an evidence-based way to shatter many of the inequities and obstacles associated with reentry that people with low-incomes and communities of color face—the very communities that colleges and universities are strive to serve better.
Let’s Remake Racially Unsafe STEM Educational Spaces
The time has come to make the structures, practices, and policies in STEM departments work better for underserved students, writes Vanderbilt professor Ebony McGee.
Innovating Transfer Through Regional Partnerships: Houston Guided Pathways to Success
Regional partnerships between two- and four-year institutions, like Houston GPS, are increasingly a critical means to bolster transfer and degree completion. Starting with seven institutions, it has grown to include 13 two- and four-year institutions with an aggregate enrollment of more than 300,000 students in the Houston-Gulf Coast region.
Regional Data-sharing Agreements: The Central Florida Education Ecosystem Database
Higher education is increasingly embracing the use of big data to increase and assess the effectiveness of institutional policies and practices and to drive needed change. The Central Florida Education Ecosystem Database (CFEED) offers one promising model for regional data-sharing agreements that can increase educational attainment.
Innovating the Transfer Pipeline Through Regional Partnerships
Collaboration between two-year sending and four-year receiving institutions is key to improving community college student transfer and graduation rates. The Central Florida Educational Ecosystem Database and Houston Guided Pathway to Success are two innovative models for achieving this goal.