A Guide to the Research: Faculty & Univ. Professionals' Awareness / Support

APS Observer, vol. 13, no. 7 (Sept. 2000).
On the Association for Psychological Science website.

in What Makes Racial Diversity Work in Higher Education: Academic Leaders Present Successful Policies and Strategies. Frank W. Hale, ed. Stylus, 2004. Also available in the Education Library: LC3727 .W43 2004.

English Journal, vol. 99, issue 3 (Jan 2010), pp. 42-49.
Some "English Journal" ("EJ") readers may fondly (or not so fondly) remember reading lists for college-bound students, which were once routinely distributed to promote the reading of "The Scarlet Letter," "Pride and Prejudice," "The Pearl," and other noteworthy classics. Today, virtually any English teacher would recognize that a focus on solely canonical texts was the greatest flaw of these lists; however, another important consideration exists: How did the authors know that college professors expected students to have read these books? Were faculty polled to learn if the reading lists mattered and why? Were focus group interviews conducted of students who had and had not read these books? Did an analysis of syllabi or assignments demonstrate a prevalence of these books in university classes? In short, what "assessment" confirmed the value of reading lists for college-bound students? Because of the current testing craze across the country, the authors use the A-word, "assessment," cautiously; however, "assessment" need not be an inherently negative word. As evidence, "EJ" readers should consider the writing assessment currently taking place across the country on university campuses. Unlike state-mandated tests, university assessment tends to be designed, implemented, and interpreted by local faculty and administrators for local purposes, such as to more accurately describe and analyze curricular programs, to enhance teaching, and to improve student learning--all honorable objectives. Most importantly here for "EJ" readers, university assessment initiatives have the potential to provide highly relevant information to English teachers, especially those working with college-bound students. To substantiate this claim, the authors share results and classroom implications from their assessment of faculty perceptions about writing at a regional, Midwestern campus of 20,000 students, many of whom are first-generation college students. Additionally, the authors offer assessment strategies to help "EJ" readers respond to anecdotal claims and state assessment results in their own schools.

The British Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 80, pt. 2 (June 2010), pp. 199-221.
Background. The differential effectiveness of schools and teachers receives a growing interest, but few studies focused on the relevance of student ethnicity for this effectiveness and only a small number of these studies investigated teaching in terms of the teacher—student interpersonal relationship. Furthermore, the methodology employed often restricted researchers to investigating direct effects between variables across large samples of students. Aims. This study uses causal modeling to investigate associations between student background characteristics, students' perceptions of the teacher—student interpersonal relationship, and student outcomes, across and within several population subgroups in Dutch secondary multi-ethnic classes. Methods and sample. Multi-group structural equation modeling was used to investigate causal paths between variables in four ethnic groups: Dutch (N = 387), Turkish first- and second-generation immigrant students (N = 267), Moroccan first and second generation (N = 364), and Surinamese second-generation students (N = 101). Results. Different structural paths were necessary to explain associations between variables in the different (sub) groups. Different amounts of variance in student attitudes could be explained by these variables. Conclusions. The teacher—student interpersonal relationship is more important for students with a non-Dutch background than for students with a Dutch background. Results suggest that the teacher—student relationship is more important for second generation than for first-generation immigrant students. Multi-group causal model analyses can provide a better, more differentiated picture of the associations between student background variables, teacher behavior, and student outcomes than do more traditional types of analyses.

Dissertation. University of Northern Colorado, 2010, 219 pages.
Institutions of higher education can create more welcoming and success-promoting environments for first-generation students by helping them connect with faculty, particularly through mentoring relationships. This research explored the motivations of faculty from first-generation backgrounds who mentored first-generation college students within the federally-funded Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program. The five primary themes include: illustrations of teaching and mentoring, first-generation status, inspirations for mentoring, strategies for mentoring, and challenges in academe.

Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, vol. 55, issue 4 (Apr 2008), pp. 425-446.
Success in college is not simply a matter of students demonstrating academic ability. In addition, students must master the "college student" role in order to understand instructors' expectations and apply their academic skills effectively to those expectations. This article uses data from focus groups to examine the fit between university faculty members' expectations and students' understanding of those expectations. Parallel discussions among groups of faculty and groups of students highlight important differences regarding issues of time management and specific aspects of coursework. We find definite incongruities between faculty and student perspectives and identify differences between traditional and first-generation college students. We argue that variations in cultural capital, based on parents' educational experiences, correspond to important differences in each group's mastery of the student role and, thus, their ability to respond to faculty expectations. The conclusion discusses the theoretical and practical implications of considering role mastery a form of cultural capital.

Harvard University Press, 2009.
They're not the students strolling across the bucolic liberal arts campuses where their grandfathers played football. They are first-generation college students-children of immigrants and blue-collar workers-who know that their hopes for success hinge on a degree. But college is expensive, unfamiliar, and intimidating. Inexperienced students expect tough classes and demanding, remote faculty. They may not know what an assignment means, what a score indicates, or that a single grade is not a definitive measure of ability. And they certainly don't feel entitled to be there. They do not presume success, and if they have a problem, they don't expect to receive help or even a second chance. Rebecca D. Cox draws on five years of interviews and observations at community colleges. She shows how students and their instructors misunderstand and ultimately fail one another, despite good intentions. Most memorably, she describes how easily students can feel defeated-by their real-world responsibilities and by the demands of college-and come to conclude that they just don't belong there after all. Eye-opening even for experienced faculty and administrators, The College Fear Factor reveals how the traditional college culture can actually pose obstacles to students' success, and suggests strategies for effectively explaining academic expectations. Also available in the Education Library: LB2328 .C77 2009.

Dissertation. Anderson University, 2009, 153 pp.
Traditionally, first-generation college students (students whose parents didn't attend college) are at a distinct disadvantage in regards to academic performance and outcomes at post-secondary institutions; and according to the literature, the most commonly declared major of first-generation students is business. Student response systems (SRS) are an in-class student polling technology that is designed to create an engaging and inviting learning environment that maximizes active learning. The research on SRS has cited numerous benefits to students including student satisfaction, engagement, exam performance, and class interaction. This study will assess the effectiveness of SRS in terms of improving exam scores (which have a positive correlation to graduation rates) of first-generation students majoring in business. Ideally, SRS will lead to higher exam scores which will benefit the personal/career goals of these students and improve the retention rates of post-secondary institutions. The purpose of this study is threefold. This study seeks to determine (1) if student response systems (SRS) have a significant positive effect on exam scores of all students that are exposed to the system; (2) if SRS causes a significant improvement in the exam scores for first-generation college students majoring in business exposed to SRS compared to first-generation college students majoring in business not exposed to SRS; and (3) if first-generation college students majoring in business who are exposed to SRS report positive feelings towards the use of the technology in the classroom.

Thesis. Dept. of Counseling, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2013.
Career counseling has evolved to become more holistic and sensitive to multicultural differences. Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) is an effective, integrative model used in career counseling to conceptualize environmental variables that affect career choice. Research of contextual influences in the career development of college students has focused on race, ethnicity, and gender, with little recognition of other multicultural factors, such as socioeconomic status (i.e., income, education). Low-income, first-generation college students represent a significant at-risk segment of undergraduate enrollment, yet questions remain about the career development of this population. Using qualitative methodologies and SCCT as a theoretical lens, the researcher interviewed eight sophomores whose experiences were embedded in a need-based learning community at a Midwestern, public, metropolitan, four-year university. The purpose of the investigation was to examine the barriers and supports that influence the career selection and implementation of low-income, first-generation college students. As college campuses become more diverse, counselors must expand their understanding of the perceptions students bring to the career choice process. Counselors who are aware of potential environmental barriers and supports will be better equipped to make these factors an explicit aspect of the career counseling process. Findings from the current study suggest that counselors should encourage resilience and focus on environmental supports that might be used to confront career barriers.

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011. Available in the Education Library: LC148.2 .F338 2011. Center for the Enhancement of Learning & Teaching (CELT) in the Science Library., 5th floor. LC148.2 .F338 2011 (Note: Restricted access in CELT: faculty & graduate students only.)

Issue Brief. 30 pp.
This report, which was commissioned as part of the Institute for Higher Education Policy's Walmart Minority Student Success Initiative, seeks to highlight how specific institutional policies and faculty-driven, classroom-based practices at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) can change in an effort to better support the academic and social success of first-generation students. The report is structured in the following sections: (1) A brief summary of first-generation students as defined in literature and national data; (2) An overview of existing programs and resources that support first-generation students; and (3) A thematic breakdown of promising practices for improving first-generation student success, supported by examples from participating institutions. Through institutional examples, this report provides a road map for MSIs and other institutions hoping to enhance institutional capacity to better serve first-generation students. The success of this population is imperative to achieving overall gains in strengthening global competitiveness and national goals around postsecondary completion. (Contains 1 figure and 9 footnotes.)

Neal-Schulman Publishers, 2000. Young Library - 5th Floor: Z711.2 .T43 2000.

Innovative Higher Education, vol. 34, issue 1 (April 2009), pp. 33-49.
Research has shown that first-generation, low-income college students experience both isolation and marginalization, especially during their first-year of college, which impacts their long-term persistence in higher education. In this article, I argue that learning community pedagogy designed with attention to multicultural curricula is one vehicle to address the challenges faced by these college students. Organized around the themes of identity, community, and agency, an interdisciplinary Multicultural Learning Voices Community (MLVC) was created at a large, public midwestern research university to provide TRiO students with challenging academic coursework that would connect with their lived experience and help them build bridges of social and academic integration during their critical first-year of college. This article presents qualitative data from a multiple case study of seven cohorts of the MLVC, which captures students’ perceptions of their experience.

Research in Higher Education, vol. 50, issue 5 (Aug. 2009), pp. 437-459.
This study examined whether the effects of student-faculty interaction on a range of student outcomes--i.e., college GPA, degree aspiration, integration, critical thinking and communication, cultural appreciation and social awareness, and satisfaction with college experience--vary by student gender, race, social class, and first-generation status. The study utilized data on 58,281 students who participated in the 2006 University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES). The findings reveal differences in the frequency of student-faculty interaction across student gender, race, social class and first-generation status, and differences in the "effects" of student-faculty interaction (i.e., conditional effects) that depended on each of these factors except first-generation status. The findings provide implications for educational practice on how to maximize the educational efficacy of student-faculty interaction by minimizing the gender, race, social class, and first-generation differences associated with it.

Kappa Delta Pi Record, vol. 41, issue 4 (Sum 2005), pp. 172-175.In this article, the author, an Associate Professor of Education at West Virginia State University, describes teaching classes of first-generation college students whose cultural stories provide rich frames of reference as they explore and process the material of the teacher education program. In the final exam each semester, she asks the students to select and describe a metaphor whose characteristics as they know them best fit their perception of a classroom. This "exercise in metaphors" allows the students to stretch their thinking and refresh their conventional mind-sets about the kinds of classrooms they envision for themselves. The results provide a unique blend of past and present knowledge and experiences as these preservice teachers revisit the truths of their upbringing to inform their emergent teaching and learning philosophies.

Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, vol. 9, issue 4 (2007-2008), pp. 407-420.
This article presents results of a multiple case study involving four first-generation, working-class, white male college freshmen who discuss their perceptions of faculty support. These perceptions are analyzed using Tinto's theories of student retention, specifically as they relate to faculty-student interaction. The study found that first-generation, working-class students are intimidated by the idea of seeking out faculty for support, resulting in a lack of support from their faculty. Since Tinto's theories find a strong link between faculty support and student retention, this study suggests that colleges need to be more strategic and systematic in finding ways to develop faculty-student interactions for first-generation, working-class college students.

About Campus, vol. 11, issue 6 (Jan-Feb 2007), pp. 8-12.
The author has become increasingly drawn to the notion of cultural capital and its explanatory function in regard to the experience of students in higher education, particularly students whose families have not shared the privilege granted by a college education. Through seasons of watching Little League, the author has discovered that there is capital in baseball as well, and it functions in some ways that are quite similar to cultural capital. Using the analogy between baseball capital and cultural capital, the author reflects the ways in which students who enter college with less cultural capital are disadvantaged, not through their ability or their commitment but through having less access to relationships and sources that foster success simply because the people involved understand higher education and can help students negotiate their way through an often complex maze. That disadvantage can be lessened when faculty and student affairs professionals share their capital with first-generation students.

Communication Education, vol. 57, issue 3 (Jul 2008), pp. 356-372.
Do service learning courses offer the opportunity for first-generation students to experience academic and social integration and ultimately, academic success? Our study answered this question by exploring the quality of interaction between first-generation students and faculty that characterizes service learning pedagogy, and by revealing ways in which service learning courses academically engage first-generation students in community service projects. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods, results confirm the vital role of communication between faculty and first-generation students and the potential for service learning courses to facilitate the process of integration. Implications for continued research in this area of instructional communication are also explored.

Journal of Instructional Psychology, vol. 36, issue 3 (September 2009), pp. 210-14.
The presence of first-generation students in the college classroom poses specific challenges for instructors, across disciplines. Being cognizant of the unique characteristics and tendencies of first-generation students is a first step in better reaching this population. Also, implementing strategies geared specifically toward first-generation students will help these students in efforts to bridge the gap between a high school education and a baccalaureate degree. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

Dissertation. New Mexico State University, 2005, 163 pages.
This dissertation examines coordination of power, knowledge, and discourse in education, focusing on how historically underserved but successful college students learn to use the power of their intellect and the power of the discourse of their discipline through interaction with faculty mentors during apprenticeships in knowledge making. Participants were low-income and first-generation or underrepresented juniors, seniors, and a graduate student designated as McNair Scholars and their faculty mentors engaged in research. The purpose of the study was to see how the process of academic mentoring influenced acquisition of the discourse of the disciplines. Data for four case studies were gathered through observation and audio taping of student/mentor meetings and semistructured interviews. Units of analysis were determined and "markers" of each utterance's position ("inside" or "outside") were defined. A database was designed for preliminary analysis of the coded transcripts. Each unit of analysis was also analyzed for the action in the talk. Actions were entered in the database and were explored as emergent themes. The qualitative phase of the analysis included extensive case journaling, thematic freewriting, and discourse analysis. Statistical analysis suggests two categories of mentoring actions: supplemental and enabling. Supplemental actions are monologic and are often used in classrooms; enabling actions are dialogic, requiring the give and take of conversation. Those used most frequently were translation, elicitation of information, and validation. Student action categories were participatory actions (classroom activities such as reading, taking notes, or composing text) and engaged/enabled actions (which took place through being a partner in a dialogue). Qualitative analysis suggests that, beneath the surface work of teaching and learning to conduct research in a discipline, mentors were teaching and students were learning a new coordination of power, knowledge, and discourse. That reorganization seems to begin with an authorizing act---being mentored---and progresses as students learn to act in authorized ways, to interrogate everything and to be explicit as they gain validation. This dissertation, written in a narrative style, is a hybrid form of research writing addressing issues of learning to teach and to write in a remodeled margin while contributing to the work of remodeling.

Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education. 2011. 48 pp.
This paper offers a comprehensive description of the academic and social support systems for low-income, first-generation students attending a major four-year, for-profit, multi-campus university. College retention and success research has determined that effective support services succeed in retaining and graduating low-income, first-generation students by "acknowledging their backgrounds, needs, and expectations and then taking action to accommodate them" (Myers, 2003). Campuses like DeVry University do not have federal outreach such as TRIO Student Support Services, which are federally-funded programs designed to provide academic and social assistance for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Consequently, the goal of this study is to identify the kinds of academic and social support services, if any, that a for-profit education institution like DeVry University provides. While data are not yet available that can determine the effectiveness of DeVry University's recent support initiatives, the findings from this study highlight practices at DeVry that are grounded in the literature on effectively supporting low-income, first-generation students. These are practices that other for-profit institutions can look to emulate. Appendices include: (1) References; and (2) Interview Protocols. Individual sections contain footnotes. (Contains 7 tables and 14 figures.)

Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, vol. 13, issue 4 (2011-2012), pp. 499-518.
Extensive qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 first-generation college students. Profound changes to the students resulting from exposure to academic liberal arts course content were documented. Specifically, this study explores evident thematic trends and specific examples of how liberal arts course work provided students with profound senses of freedom and liberation from emotional/psychological issues and ideological/political constraints. Exactly how exposure and learning resulted in these changes, and what these changes mean to the individual students, is explored in detail. What faculty can do to more effectively teach and retain these students is also discussed.

Dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, 2009, 183 pp.
This study extends previous research on the Student Support Services program, a federal program that works to ensure college retention and graduation for low-income and first generation students, by examining the benefits and the costs of higher-impact SSS projects. Higher-impact SSS projects are defined as such because the graduation rates of their participants exceed the national graduation rate for other low-income and first generation students who have not participated in the SSS program.
Applying a methodology used in other benefit-cost analyses of education programs, this study explores how the benefits over 40 years following participation in higher-impact SSS projects exceed the costs of these projects. This study focuses on benefits and costs to society. The benefit measures utilized in this study include higher income, lower health care costs and lower costs of crime. The cost measures include grant award costs, institutional project contributions, Pell Grant costs and the costs of Stafford Loan subsidies.
The findings show that at three discount rates of 3%, 7% and 10%, the benefits of higher-impact SSS projects consistently exceed their costs. In addition, in most estimates of the future value of benefits generated by higher-impact SSS projects, the benefits generated by these projects are significant enough to provide for the grant award costs of all SSS projects at 4-year colleges and universities in project year 2005-2006, the year that is the focus of this study.
This study's findings have implications for future research. Because the benefits of higher-impact SSS projects are significant, future research should focus on identifying the components of these projects responsible for success and incorporating these components into less successful projects in an attempt to increase the college graduation rates of all SSS projects. However, this study emphasizes that benefit-cost analysis should be one of many measures used to evaluate SSS projects and determine program success.

Dissertation. Education Dept., University of Nebraska - Lincoln, 2013.
The purpose of this case study was to understand and compare student and faculty perspectives about how cultural competency of faculty shapes learning within a learning community for low-income, culturally diverse students at a public, Midwestern metropolitan university. Higher education institutions are becoming more diverse as more first-generation, low-income, and culturally and ethnically diverse students are pursuing higher education. Faculty members have an important role in creating positive and engaging learning environments for this diverse population. Through classroom observations and semi-structured interviews with nine faculty members and nine students in a learning community, the researcher gained insight into the role of cultural competency in learning.
The researcher addressed the grand tour question: What role does faculty cultural competency play in shaping the learning experiences of low-income, culturally diverse students? The following sub-questions also guided the inquiry: (a) How do faculty members define and explain cultural competence? (b) How do students define and explain cultural competence? (c) What does cultural competence look like in the classroom? (d) How do faculty members develop cultural competence? and (e) How does teaching in the learning community change pedagogy?

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Kentucky, 2011.
First-generation college students are less likely to attend and complete college than their peers whose parents have completed college. Among the reasons cited for this disparity is lack of parental familiarity of the college admissions process and financial aid opportunities. First-generation youth wishing to pursue a college education must rely on others for this knowledge. This study examines first-generation college students' perceptions of support and whether their places of origin have any bearing on their future plans. The study examines interviews with participants through the lens of Tinto's (1993) model of student departure to examine whether their responses, and whether their places of origin, point toward likelihood of student retention. This study finds that students cite parents and high school faculty and staff as most supportive when preparing for college. After arriving in college, there are no differences among students based on place of origin and likelihood of retention. Participation in a retention program appears to help the students meet the criteria for student retention as outlined by Tinto's model.

The Review of Higher Education, Vol. 33, issue 3 (Spring 2010), pp. 391-414.
Research clearly indicates that faculty members have the potential to influence student learning outcomes through their pedagogical practices, but we know less about what influences faculty members’ choices to employ specific pedagogical practices. This study, based on data from 2,853 faculty members who teach courses that serve primarily first-year students on 45 campuses nationwide, identifies the individual, organizational, environmental, programmatic, and policy factors that individually and collectively influence faculty members’ decisions to engage in one particular pedagogical practice requiring students to engage with difference.

Academe, vol. 94, issue 4 (Jul-Aug 2008), pp. 24-27.
The author does not think of himself as a logical candidate to help first-generation college athletes graduate. He is 59 and middle class, not a former athlete or a first-generation college graduate, and obviously not hip. More to the point, he is white and Texas-born, and he attended segregated schools his whole student life. He was even at the University of Texas in 1969 when the Longhorns had the dubious distinction of becoming the last all-white national champions in football. Yet he has become involved in the lives of many young men and women athletes over the past decade, most of them African Americans. This unofficial role is an incredibly meaningful part of his teaching life, mostly because it still surprises him. In this article, the author shares how his experience mentoring college athletes changed his life and his approach to education.

Educational Gerontology, vol. 36, issue 1 (2010), pp. 67-90.
The success of older adult students seeking higher education degrees depends, in part, upon fulfillment of critical support needs. This phenomenological study explored the experiences of nine contemporary Older Baby Boomer students (ages 50-62) who are pursuing bachelor's degrees at a Midwestern university. Qualitative data was gathered from individual interviews and reflection questionnaires. Nancy Schlossberg's transition model provided a theoretical framework for the findings, which suggest that most of these learners (a) are first generational college students with deficient information about formal higher education process, (b) are primarily motivated by career aspirations, and (c) experience complex support needs.

Issues in Educational Research, vol. 19, issue 1 (2009), pp. 61-78.
In this study, the authors examined the views of 171 college students concerning their best and poorest college professors. In a multi-stage conversion mixed analysis design, students' stories of their best and poorest college professors were thematically analysed, resulting in 15 dominant themes for their best college professors and 12 dominant themes for their poorest college professors. After conducting frequency analyses, inferential statistics were conducted to ascertain whether statistically significant differences were present in endorsed themes as a function of ethnicity and generation status. Though Hispanic and White participants did not differ in their endorsement of themes, first-generation college students endorsed fewer themes for their poorest college professor than did non-first-generation college students. Linkages of our findings with the extant literature are provided.

Journal of College Student Development, vol. 58, no. 8 (Nov 2017), pp. 1166-1183.
Investigates first-generation students' perceptions of how an academic enrichment program addresses their mental well-being. A total of 25 undergraduate students enrolled in the program participated in focus groups and interviews. Students reported the program promoted their mental well-being by helping them to feel cared for, cultivating a sense of belonging, preventing and remediating distress, and helping them become resilient.

Dissertation. Library and Information Studies, University of Wisconsin, 2013.
Incorporating Sonnenwald's information horizons (IH), Astin's Input-Environment- Outcome (I-E-O) model, and Weidman's model of undergraduate socialization, this study examines FGC and non-FGC students' socialization experiences in relation to their information behavior. The theoretical framework of IH describes how contexts, situations, and social networks shape individuals' information behavior; this framework emphasizes the role of social networks in information-seeking activities and the relationships among sources used by individuals. I-E-O and undergraduate socialization models emphasize the interaction aspect in undergraduate socialization. To delineate the complex networks in college students' information-seeking activities, this study investigates how students position various information sources on their academic IH maps and examines the sequential and referral relationships among sources. Specifically, the study focuses on the roles of peers, professors, and parents in IH. With an explanatory mixed-methods research design, this study investigates how students' backgrounds and college socialization experiences influence their IH. The findings also demonstrate that students with different FGC status and in different class cohorts have different socialization experiences. Socializing agents, such as parents, peers, and professors, are important factors affecting students' academic source use behavior; information literacy courses positively affect students' use of the library and experts. The study reveals that socialization elements are an important aspect to be added to the framework of IH and helps advance the use of mixed-method approaches to study information behavior.

Institute for Higher Education Policy. 2012. 8 pp.
To meet our nation's college completion goals by 2025, postsecondary institutions must graduate a total of 23 million more students over the next 13 years. As the higher education sector continues to consider strategies to meet this ambitious goal, it is crucial that higher education institutions use data effectively to analyze where they are, where they need to be, and what steps will get them there. Many institutions that serve large numbers of 21st century students who are crucial to meeting the goal and have been traditionally underserved in the past--such as students of color, low-income students, and first-generation college students--have extensive knowledge of how to best support students and reduce barriers from enrollment to graduation. Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) in particular have historically educated and graduated a large proportion of underserved students. Therefore, MSIs have great potential for graduating an even larger number of college graduates over the next decade. This brief highlights how MSIs can better identify, collect, and use data for internal decision making and provide external audiences with a deeper understanding of how MSIs contribute to the higher education landscape. Specifically, this brief highlights how MSIs from the Lumina MSI-Models of Success project have used data to implement policy and programmatic changes on their campuses in support of student and institutional success. The goal of this brief is to continue a conversation about ways MSIs can build upon their data work to improve future reporting, analyses, and decision making. In addition, the lessons shared in the brief have broad application to other institutions, especially those that serve students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is the second in a series of briefs by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) to feature emerging themes from the Lumina MSI-Models of Success program. (Contains 3 boxes and 10 footnotes.)

NASPA Journal, vol. 41, issue 4 (Sum 2004), pp. 569-587. Requires ILL.
The purpose of this research is to gain some understandings of how university professionals who work with marginalized student populations perceive their professional work as situated within a university context. The professionals in this study work in federal TRIO programs that serve first-generation, low-income students who have been traditionally underrepresented in the academy. We hope this research furthers understanding of TRIO programs and their impact on underrepresented students. Specifically, this article discusses TRIO professionals' perspectives on how their institutional context affects their ability to serve students. This article focuses on the ways institutional participants understand and value these programs, as well as on the ways that institutions could be more supportive of TRIO programs.

Dissertation. Communication Studies, University of Nebraska Lincoln, 2012.
The purpose of the present study was to explore teacher-student interaction, teacher-student relationship formation and development, and the ways in which teacher- student interaction and relationships facilitated support and ultimately persistence to graduation for first-generation students in the transition to college. In this study I sought to better understand the nature of interaction in the teacher-student relationship of these first-generation students during their transition to college. I took an interpretive communication-centered approach to identify the teacher messages that first-generation students perceived to be relational turning points with their teachers as well as their perceptions of teacher messages and relational turning points. Thirty participants were interviewed for this study.

Communication Education, vol. 61, issue 4 (Oct 2012), pp. 335-357.
The current study examined the memorable messages first-generation college students received from their on-campus mentors about college and family. Accordingly, 30 first-generation college students shared mentors' memorable messages during in-depth, semistructured, responsive interviews. Four hundred sixty-seven pages of transcripts were analyzed for emergent themes. First-generation college students' voices revealed five college memorable messages themes including (a) pursuing academic success, (b) valuing school, (c) increasing future potential, (d) making decisions, and (e) support and encouragement. In addition, three family memorable messages themes emerged, including (a) comparing and contrasting, (b) counting on family, and (c) recognizing the importance of family. (Contains 2 tables.)