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Urban public universities play a critical role in the higher education missions of access and success of historically underrepresented and economically disadvantaged populations. Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) also attract similar scholarly attention to understand the impact of these institutions on marginalized and underrepresented racial and ethnic students. Most research with this focus has, however, concentrated on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), where positive effects on a large spectrum of student outcomes have been well documented. The amount of research about the impact of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and/or their educational practices on various college outcomes, including persistence and academic achievement, is limited and inconsistent. Focusing on a single institution that combines its urban location and the HSI status creates a critically important opportunity to examine its educational practices, such as a first-year seminar (FYS), and its impact on retention and first-year academic achievement for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. Therefore, due to the extra challenge of serving diverse student populations in urban locations and calls for more research in specific locations and institutional types, it is important to understand the extent to which FYSs serve their students on urban Hispanic-Serving campuses. This study aims to contribute to the line of inquiry about the impact of FYSs at a large urban HSI on the first-to-second year retention and first-year GPA of students of color and contribute to relatively scarce literature.

This study examined the role of a state need-based financial aid policy in Latina/o high school students' meaning making of postsecondary access. Utilizing narrative research, the analytical focus on the meaning making uncovered patterns of individual agency in the journeys of eight Latina/o high school students who were recent enrollees in the state need-based financial aid program.

This study examined the impact of a first-year seminar (FYS) on educational outcomes among students attending an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution (eHSI) in the southeastern United States. Four undergraduate cohorts of first-year students between 2012 and 2016 were the focus of this study. After accounting for a variety of demographic characteristics through propensity score matching, we found that the FYS course increased the likelihood of students returning to college for a second year if they (a) expected very little financial contribution from their families, (b) were women, or (c) were African American men. The course also appeared to increase students' first-year GPA among women and African American men. While the effects of the program on the general population were small, underserved populations benefited from the course.

Social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook remain prolific on college campuses across the country and touches on various aspects of collegiate life, including the classroom. This case study examines student usage of Facebook, its potential impact on faculty interaction, and institutional policy. After providing a literature review and context for the case study, the case study delineates a situation where the integration of an SNS can complicate the pedagogical environment when used as a communication median for not only administrators and faculty, but various stakeholders in higher education. How would an institution handle such complications, such as student appeals in cases where a faculty member integrated a non-university supported SNS as a pedagogical tool in the classroom? Although a large number of college students are using Facebook, it remains a social, not academic, median, enabling them to communicate with friends, relatives and other students. SNSs like Facebook show no indication of lower popularity. Given the dynamics, faculty may be tempted to meet students on their turf to facilitate engagement, but at what costs and liability?

Utilizing Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a conceptual framework, this study examines student perception of faculty of color in academia from student professor preference. Using an experimental design to test the effect of race on selection of faculty with whom to take a course, we showed student participants two types of pairings of faculty: first, pairs of photos of faculty of different races, and same age and attractiveness, then names of faculty, paired by different race were shown. The study provided evidence of racial bias with a strong preference for courses taught by White faculty by various subgroups of students, providing a snapshot of what faculty of color potentially stand to face in classroom environments.

This qualitative study utilizes feminist media analysis to examine the depiction of college women in the U.S. TV show "Greek." Overall women engage in and graduate from higher education at rates greater than men, but representations of higher education in popular culture tend to minimize women's intellectual engagement within the academy. Our findings focus on two themes emerging from our analysis: that of the show's depiction of college women as "intellectual-lite" through portrayals of their limited and stereotypical interests, and their depictions as "knowers," portrayed through the ways they make sense of college and how they engage in it. As artifacts of popular culture, such as TV shows, provide templates of college student identity and behaviors for viewers, we close with recommendations to challenge continuing misrepresentations within personal and institutional practice in higher education by suggesting ways to recognize and counter these messages.

The purpose of this study is to examine gender preferences that students may have in hypothetical professor selection by either profile picture or catalog listing. First, we showed picture profiles of male and female professors (while controlling for attractiveness and age) to student participants and asked them to select one or the other. Second, we provided students with faculty names indicating their gender in a simulated course catalog format and asked them to select one from the pair. We found that students preferred male faculty overall, both in the photo and name experiment. When we compared male students to female students, male faculty were consistently selected in the name experiment; however in the photo experiment, female students preferred female faculty while male students preferred male faculty. Further, we found evidence of indirect racial effects. Students more often selected male faculty when the photos were White and when the names were White, Black, and Asian. Hispanic faculty pairings were the only ethnic groups where female faculty were preferred over male faculty.

This study extends the scope of research that examines the connection between physical attractiveness and student perception through a survey analysis. While other studies concentrate on physical attractiveness alone, we examined not only perceptions of attractiveness but its impact on students' perception of knowledge, approachability and faculty selection in a hypothetical course. Using ordered logistic regression, logistic regression and ordinary least squares regression to examine the interaction between age, attractiveness, knowledge and approachability, our findings show that younger faculty members are perceived as more approachable and more attractive, while older faculty members are perceived as more knowledgeable. Faculty perceived as more attractive are also perceived to be more approachable. Further, we test the impact that these results have on faculty selection in a hypothetical course and find that students are more likely to select an attractive and approachable faculty member to take a course with, regardless of perceived knowledge of the faculty member. Overall, although the perception of beauty may be cursory, its results may not be when considering the primacy effect, role model effect and teaching effectiveness assessment.

Students succeed in college by engaging with faculty, peers, and the community. Institutional leaders can utilize organizational learning strategies to learn what works to support civic learning outcomes and student success.

Using a multi-method approach involving fixed effects and logistic regressions, this study examined the effect of the Oklahoma's Promise Program on student persistence in relation to the Pell and Stafford federal programs and according to socio-economic characteristics and class level. The Oklahoma's Promise is a hybrid state program that pays in-state college tuition for students that have completed a series of academic and disciplinary benchmarks in high school and demonstrated financial need. Results indicate that the Promise program alone or in combination with Pell grants and Stafford loans is a predictor of persistence; however, this effect varies by income and race/ethnicity. (Contains 5 tables.)

This study explored the impact of financial-aid on student-athletes' academic progression from freshmen to sophomore year in associates' degree programs in Oklahoma. Differences were found according to socioeconomic status (SES), gender, and race/ethnicity and between athlete and nonathlete students. (Contains 6 tables and 2 figures.)

Using a longitudinal, state-wide dataset, this study assessed the effect of financial aid on the persistence of full-time students in associate's degree programs at the Oklahoma community colleges. Three financial-aid sources were examined: the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP), Pell grants, and Stafford loans. Results indicate that these forms of financial aid, alone and in combination, were predictors of persistence measured in terms of the student progressing from 1st-year status to 2nd-year status. The effect of financial aid, however, was moderated by ethnicity and income. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)