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Reports

The following reports have been presented to the ASHE membership and were supported in part by Ascendium, Lumina, and the Spencer Foundation.

The goals of the 2020 Research to Practice Project were to collaborate with New Orleans and Louisiana-based higher education institutions and community-based organizations on higher education issues of local concern (with state and national implications) to produce some product of value, such as a brief that can inform policy and practice.
We aimed to solicit project ideas from Louisiana-based higher education institutions that were locally important but also had implications for broader audiences. To help guide the project we created an advisory board made up of colleagues from Louisiana-based institutions and other higher education associations. Finally, we sought to recruit volunteers to work on research to practice teams from Louisiana as well as across the country and to have teams that were intergenerational and included faculty, student affairs administrators, academic leaders, and graduate students.
Indeed, we accomplished each of these objectives. First, we identified three topics via a survey of LA higher education and community-based organizations, and consultation with the LA Board of Regents in April, 2020. We formed three research to practice teams on the topics of college affordability, equity-minded personnel decisions, and student employment. Each issue was especially salient for Louisiana-based higher education institutions living through the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, many high school students changed their college-going plans to either delay or not attend higher education, and the plans of Black and Brown students especially effected. Many LA college students attending HBCUS and state schools are self-support and depend on college student employment for living expenses. Yet many lost employment opportunities as campuses shut down due to COVID-19. Finally, LA institutions will have to make hard decisions about furloughs and lay-offs given the financial fall-out of the pandemic.
Furthermore, we made sure project topics were actionable in the context of LA politics, finances, local realities, and have potential stakeholder(s) identified that could benefit from the final products. It was important that projects had a relevant research base in field of higher education, were able to be studied remotely, with extant data or data that could be collected within a three month period without taxing campuses, and could result in value-added products—useful for higher education leaders and practitioners.
Our advisory board was convened in April 2020 and helped with the design of projects and recruitment of topics and volunteers in May 2020. We launched the project with our teams in June 2020 and introduced teams to advisory board members and the values and principles of research to practice projects. Two of our advisory board members with significant experience with research to practice projects held a webinar to answer team questions and P.I. O’Meara outlined expectations and a timeline for the projects. The teams then began meeting every two weeks throughout the 2020 Research to Practice Projects Sponsored by Spencer Foundation Page 1 summer, connecting with LA stakeholders on questions, sources of data, and to ensure they were crafting products that would be value-added. The advisory board held two webinars in July and August 2020 to check in with teams. Two members of the advisory led a special session on communicating findings for broad audiences.
Each of the three teams had a liaison from the advisory board who also worked to guide and check-in with teams (e.g. Christopher Broadhurst, Judy Kiyama and KerryAnn O’Meara).
  • By September 15th, 2020 teams began submitting draft products to the advisory board for feedback and P.I. O’Meara ensured each product received feedback from at least 3-4 advisory board members. Final versions of reports and op-eds were submitted to ASHE by October 15th and we used funds from this Spencer grant as proposed to support graphic design services for those reports. We also utilized funds from the Spencer grant, as proposed, to support attendance by LA-based colleagues at our national conference. 
  • The three teams and members of the advisory board presented the final products and reflected on their experiences at the 2020 Virtual ASHE conference, November 21st, 2020 in a presentation we have attached entitled: “In Partnership with Louisiana: 2020 Research to Practice Project Reflections.” One of the reports is currently under slight revision with our graphic designer and then all of the products will be posted on the ASHE website by December 7th, 2020. Both reports are also going to be shared with the LA Board of Regents and community college chancellors.

College Affordability

  • “State Financial Aid Policy Changes to Meet Louisiana Postsecondary Education Attainment and Equity Goals.” A policy report authored by Kevin R. McClure, Ashley B. Clayton, Melissa Whitley & Catherine Hartman. 
  • “Louisiana’s Public Community Colleges and Universities Are Great Option in The New Economy.” An Op Ed run in local LA newspapers by Joy Blanchard and William Wainwright; with contributors Dr. Tireka Cobb - Field Outreach Services Director, Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA), Dr. Emily Campbell - Chief Enrollment Management Officer, Louisiana Community & Technical College System (LCTCS); Dr. Claire Norris – Associate Vice President for Inclusion, Diversity, and Effectiveness, University of Louisiana System.

Student Employment

  • “The Crisis of On-campus Student Employment Amid COVID-19, An Additional Burden for Vulnerable Groups.” An Op Ed that will shortly be submitted to Diverse Issues in Higher Education by authors: Steven Kenney, Vincent Carales, Desiree Anderson, Tyler Hallmark, David W. Robinson-Morris, Chris Marsicano, Danica R. Brown, and Jennifer Johnson.

Equity-Minded Personnel Decisions

Advisory Board

  • KerryAnn O'Meara, 2020 President, Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)
  • Jason Guilbeau, Executive Director, Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)
  • Carrie S. Robison, Deputy Commissioner for Research and Sponsored Initiatives, Louisiana Board of Regents
  • David A. Tandberg, Vice President Policy Research and Strategic Initiatives, State Higher Education Executive Officers
  •  Jason Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow, State Higher Education Executive Officers
  • Matthew Holsapple, Associate Program Officer, Spencer Foundation ● Judy Kiyama, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Higher Education
  • Christopher J Broadhurst, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, University of New Orleans
  • Lorelle Espinosa, Vice President Research, American Council on Education
  • Brian Sponsler, Vice President of Policy, Education Commission of the States

The research reported in the 2020 ASHE Research to Practice Project was made possible (in part) by a grant from the Spencer Foundation (#202100030). The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Spencer Foundation.

Final Report (pdf)

About the Institute

Building upon the tremendous success of the institute in 2021 in Puerto Rico, the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) will once again engage with local higher education leaders in our 2022 conference location, Las Vegas, Nevada. Because Clark County, Nevada is one of the largest K-12 school districts in the nation, there is a unique opportunity to bridge our connections across education.We will engage with key players involved with student access and transitions, namely high school college counselors, higher education admissions counselors, and higher education enrollment leaders (e.g., vice presidents for enrollment management). We will once again align key areas of this project to the key areas of Ascendium:
  • Removing Structural Barriers to Success, specifically engaging with effective practices as well as identifying misaligned policies and practices to student access
  • Streamlining Key Learner Transitions, specifically engaging with Southern Nevada’s connection to the tourism and hospitality industry and related industries
  • Supporting Rural Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training, specifically engaging with areas outside of Las Vegas and Reno as the remainder of Nevada is considered rural
These areas allow for a consistent project from our 2021 project in San Juan while providing for the successes and challenges of Las Vegas to be considered. The four key areas also align with the values of ASHE as well as the expertise of our members.The Institute will aim to bridge connections amongst Institute attendees to expand access to higher education as well as college student success.

The outcomes of the Institute will be to:

  • Learn from Southern Nevada higher education leaders.
  • Contribute knowledge to significant questions in Southern Nevada.
  • Expand networks amongst practitioners and scholars.
This will include engaging K-12 College Counselors, Higher Education Admissions Counselors, and Higher Education decision-makers. Additionally, informing the institute would be the research of three teams of ASHE members working with Southern Nevada institutional leaders to apply findings from empirical data to higher education practice and policy.ASHE members would be learning from and with Southern Nevada leaders instead of being in a position of authority. The institute, therefore, is the connection between the work of ASHE member scholars and the frontline knowledge and experiences of Southern Nevada leaders.The work will begin with listening sessions led by the project’s leadership team. We are hoping to garner two things from these sessions:
  1. to understand local successes and challenges around four key areas
  2. to develop an advisory committee of local leaders to help guide this work

Event Leadership

  • Vanessa A. Sansone (Institute Chair), University of Texas-San Antonio
  • Juanita K. Hinojosa (Institute Coordinator), University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Removing Structural Barriers to Success

  • Jorge Burmicky (Team Leader), Howard University
  • Andrew Marx (Team Coordinator), University of Massachusetts Boston
  • Cristina Nader, Texas A&M University
  • Jessica Rivera, Ohio State University
  • Jude Paul Dizon, Rutgers University
  • Roberto C. Orozco, University of Minnesota

Streamlining Key Learner Transitions

  • Federick Ngo (Co-Team Leader), University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Lisa M. Rubin (Co-Team Leader), Kansas State University
  • Amanda J Simpfenderfer, William and Mary
  • Benjamin Pincus, Seton Hall University
  • José Del Real Viramontes, University of California, Riverside

Supporting Rural Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training

  • Ashley Clayton (Team Leader), Louisiana State University
  • Michelle Bailey (Team Coordinator), University of Delaware
  • Ali Watts, University of Utah
  • Ty McNamee, University of Mississippi
  • Kamia F. Slaughter, Auburn University
  • Natasha McClendon, UNCF
Final Report (PDF)
The ASHE 2021 Institute with Puerto Rican higher education leaders held in November 2021, was a day-long program with invited college and university leaders across the Puerto Rican higher education landscape (public/UPR, private, technical) that occurred prior to the 46th Annual Conference for the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). In alignment with the theme of the 2021 ASHE Conference “Spanning and Unsettling the Borders of Higher Education,” the Institute encouraged Institute attendees to consider the multiple ways that higher education crosses both designated and imagined borders in practice, policy, and scholarship

The National Institute for Transformation and Equity (NITE) and ASHE are partnering to launch an ASHE-NITE Report Series, which will include a collection of national reports on critical underserved populations in postsecondary education. Emerging and established researchers will collaborate as a team to contribute a set of white papers documenting promising practices for creating equitable and inclusive campus environments to build consensus in the field about key concepts, findings, and gaps. Additionally, the white papers will offer actionable steps institutional leaders can take to implement these practices and propose future research needs to realize equity and inclusion for minoritized and often forgotten populations.

Goals of the Collaboration

The overarching aim of the reports is to synthesize existing knowledge about how to create inclusive and equitable campus environments for underserved populations, and provide recommendations for higher education research, policy, and practice. Specifically, the series will include a total of 5 reports, each focusing on a particular student population: (1) racially minoritized adult learner, (2) low-income and first-generation, (3) Indigenous, (4) immigrant and refugee, and (5) (formerly) incarcerated students.

Download ASHE-NITE Papers

ASHE Collabotators 

Lucy LePeau, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs at Indiana University
Associate Director for Organizational and Strategic Initiatives for the National Institute for Transformation and Equity
 
Samuel D. Museus, Ph.D.
Professor of Education Studies at the University of California, San Diego
Director of the National Institute for Transformation and Equity
 
Lori Patton Davis, Ph.D.
Professor of Urban Education at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
President of the Association for the Study of Higher Education

Erin Castro, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Utah

Gloria Crisp, Ph.D.
Professor at Oregon State University

Dimpal Jain, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at California State University, Northridge
 
Judy Marquez Kiyama, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of Denver

Nicole Alia Salis Reyes, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor of Educational Administration at University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa

Heather J. Shotton, Ph.D. (Wichita/Kiowa/Cheyenne)
Associate Professor of Native American Studies at University of Oklahoma

Marissa C. Vasquez, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor of Community College Leadership 
Associate Director, Community College Equity Assessment Lab (CCEAL)
San Diego State Unviersity
 
Varaxy Yi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Higher Education, Administration, & Leadership at California State University Fresno
 
Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher Ph.D, Professor/Associate Head Department of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership
Director, Office of Community College Research and Leadership 
Associate Dean, The Graduate College

PLANNED DELIVERABLES FOR THE COLLABORATION

With support from the Lumina Foundation, the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) and the National Institute for Transformation and Equity are publishing a report series that will focus on underserved student populations (indigenous, formerly and currently incarcerated, immigrant and refugee, low-income and first-generation, and racially minoritized adult learners). These reports utilize critically-conscious and equity-minded perspectives to analyze these critical populations. The reports will address the sociopolitical contexts that shape the experiences of these students, as well as provide actionable steps policymakers and practitioners can take to facilitate transformation to better support and maximize success among these populations.