This brief advocates for using a strengths-based “at-promise” approach to describe and support marginalized students in higher education, moving away from deficit-oriented “at-risk” terminology. It highlights the dual focus of recognizing students’ potential and institutional responsibility to remove barriers while fostering equitable and inclusive environments for success.
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Moving toward institutional culture change in higher education: An exploration into cross-functional professional learning communities
This article explores the implementation of cross-functional professional learning communities (PLCs) involving faculty, staff and administrators at three different institutional types – research, urban regional, and rural regional universities – with the goal of learning about and then implementing a culture change approach to support academic and psychosocial success for historically marginalized student groups. The action research-based study explores the research question: Do cross-functional PLCs help support institution-wide culture change? And if so, how?