RESEARCH
Peer-Reviewed Research
The Promoting At-Promise Student Success (PASS) project has generated a significant amount of peer-reviewed research related to how programs and institutions might best support at-promise students. Below is a collection of that research organized by subject. New research will be added as the project progresses.
Creating a Campus-Wide Culture of Student Success
An Evidence-Based Approach to Supporting Low-Income, Racially Minoritized, and First-Generation College Students
By Ronald E. Hallett, Adrianna Kezar, Joseph A. Kitchen, Rosemary J. Perez (2024
Offering a new approach to institutional practices, this book describes evidence-based strategies to create a campus culture conducive to truly supporting all students. We are at a critical crossroads in higher education, where large numbers of low-income, racially minoritized, and first-generation college students – referred to in this book as "at-promise students" – are attending college in greater numbers than ever, yet access has not translated to significantly improved retention and graduation rates. This book, therefore, proposes a realignment of existing initiatives to create campus-wide support through a new model of coordination.
The ideas presented in this book are the culmination of one of the largest studies of comprehensive college support programs for at-promise students. Chapters include illustrations of the key concepts and promising practices of the Promoting At-promise Student Success (PASS) Project, as well as guiding questions that can be used to facilitate conversations on campus. In this helpful resource, the authors address how student supports are delivered in validating ways, rather than focusing solely on what supports are offered, as has typically been the way institutions address the issues that at-promise students face.
This book is intended to provide guidance and support to educators who want to be a part of changing how higher education supports at-promise students toward increased equity.
Achievement
The potential of and mechanisms for a hub of innovation on campus to support changes for low-income, first generation, and racially minoritized college students
Research in Higher Education, 63(7), 1237-1260.
Kezar, A., Perez, R.J, & Swanson, E. (2022)
Balancing time in college: Examining time-use and academic outcomes of students in a comprehensive college transition program.
N/A
Park, E.S., & Swanson, E. (2021)
Program staff as facilitators of academic self–efficacy, academic behavioral change, and achievement among low–income, first–generation, and minoritized students.
Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 60(4), 477-494.
Rivera, G., Kitchen, J. A., & Cole, D. (2023).
The possibilities and precautions of using the designation “at-promise” in higher education research.
Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, 2(2), 16-29.
Bettencourt, G., Irwin, I., Todorova, R., Hallett, R., & Corwin, Z. B. (2023).
Expanding student success: An experimental evaluation of a comprehensive college transition program.
Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 14(4), 835-860.
Melguizo, T., Martorell, F., Swanson, E., Chi, E., Park, E. & Kezar, A. (2020).
Examining the relationship between psychosocial and academic outcomes in higher education: A descriptive analyses.
Aera Open, 7, 23328584211026967.
Swanson, E., Melguizo, T. & Martorell, F. (2021).
Career Self-Efficacy
Rethinking traditional approaches to major and career development: The major and career ecology model.
Academic Leader.
Kitchen, J.A. (2023).
At-promise college student major and career self-efficacy (MCSE) ecology model.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 16(3), 369.
Kitchen, J., Kezar, A., & Hypolite, L. (2023).
Promoting college students’ major and career self-efficacy through validating support.
Journal of College Student Development. 62(4), 422-437.
Kitchen, J. (2021).
Developing major and career self-efficacy among at-promise students: The role of a comprehensive college transition Program.
Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 0(0).
Hypolite, L. I., Kitchen, J. A., & Kezar, A. (2022).
The tensions of teaching low-income students to perform professionalism.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Online First. 10.1037/dhe0000455
Perez, R. J., Bettencourt, G. M., Hypolite, L. I., & Hallett, R. E. (2023)
More than a pathway: Creating major and career ecology that promotes the success of low-income, first-generation, and racially minoritized students.
About Campus, 25(6), 4-12.
Kitchen, J. A., Kezar, A., & Hypolite, L. I. (2021).
Career self-efficacy: A mixed-methods study of an under-explored research area for first-generation, low-income, and under-represented college students in a comprehensive college transition program.
American Behavioral Scientist, 64(3), 298-324.
Kezar, A., Hypolite, L., & Kitchen, J. A. (2019).
Comprehensive College Transition Programs
Learning how to tailor programmatic offerings to support low-income, first-generation and racially minoritized student success.
Journal of Postsecondary Student Success 1(1), 25-27.
Kezar, A., Perez, R., Kitchen, J. A., & Hallett, R. (2021).
Promoting at-promise student success in 4-year universities: recommendations from the thompson scholars learning communities.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 14(4), 457.
Swanson, E., Culver, K.C., Cole, D., & Rivera, G. (2021).
Fostering equitable engagement: A mixed-methods exploration of the engagement of racially diverse students in a comprehensive college transition program.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. (Advance online publication)
Culver, K. C., Perez, R. J., Kitchen, J. A. & Cole, D. G. (2022).
A practical guide to causal mediation analysis: Illustration with a comprehensive college transition program and nonprogram peer and faculty interactions.
Frontier Education, 7.
Chi, E.W., Huang, S., Jeon, M., Park, E. S., Melguizo, T., & Kezar, A. (2022).
Examining undergraduate college students’ experiences participating in longitudinal qualitative research.
The Qualitative Report, 28(1), 340-359.
Perez, R. J., Acuña, A., & Wheaton, M. M. (2023).
Supporting first-generation, low-income, and under-represented students’ transitions to college through comprehensive and integrated programs.
American Behavioral Scientist, 64(3), 223-229.
Kezar, A., & Kitchen, J. A. (2019).
A typology of college transition and support programs: Situating a 2-year comprehensive college transition program within college access.
American Behavioral Scientist, 64(3), 230-252.
Hallett, R. E., Kezar, A., Perez, R. J., & Kitchen, J. A. (2019).
Tailoring programs to best support low-income, first-generation, and racially minoritized college student success.
Journal of College Student Retention. 25(1), 126-152.
Kezar, A., Kitchen, J. A., Estes, H., Hallett, R., & Perez, R. (2020).
Ecological Validation
Creating a culture of ecological validation to improve at-promise student experiences and outcomes.
Creating a culture of ecological validation to improve at-promise student experiences and outcomes.
USC Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California.
Hallett, R., Kezar, A., Bettencourt, G., Kitchen, J., Perez, R., Reason, R., & Corwin, Z.B.(2024).
Creating a student-centered campus-wide culture that supports historically and currently marginalized students.
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 56(5), 22-30.
Hallett, R. E., Kezar, A., Perez, R. J. & Kitchen, J. A. (2024).
Guidance for educators seeking to build validating relationships that promote college success for low-income students.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Advanced online publication.
Kitchen, J. A., Perez, R., Hallett, R., & Reason, R. (2024).
An ecological approach to creating validating support for low-income, racially minoritized, and first-generation college students.
Online First. New Directions for Higher Education.
Hallett, R. E., Kezar, A., Kitchen, J. A., Perez, R. J., & Reason, R. (2024).
Developing low-income college students’ sense of belonging: The role of validation.
Journal of College Student Development 64(2), 231-238.
Kitchen, J.A. (2023).
Ecological validation model of student success: A new student support model for promoting college success among low-income, first-generation, and racially minoritized students.
Journal of College Student Development, 62(6), 627-642.
Kitchen, J.A., Perez, R. J., Hallett, R. E., Kezar, A., & Reason, R. D. (Nov-Dec 2021).
Promoting at-promise student success through ecological validation.
Academic Leader.
Kitchen, J. & Corwin, Z. B. (2022).
Mapping the connections of validation and high impact practices.
In J. Zilvinskis, J. Kinzie, J. Daday, K. O’Donnell, & C. Vande Zande (eds.), Delivering on the promise of high-impact practices: Research and models for achieving equity, fidelity, impact, and scale (pp. 30-39). Stylus Press.
Kezar, A., Hallett, R. E., Kitchen, J. A., & Perez, R. (2022).
Scaling success for low-income, first-generation in college, and/or racially minoritized students through a culture of ecological validation.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. (Advanced online publication)
Kezar, A., Hallett, R. E., Perez, R., & Kitchen, J. A. (2022).
Maintaining validation through empathy: Exploring how higher education practitioners support at-promise students during COVID-19.
Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 60(1), 3-16.
Bettencourt, G. M., Perez, R. J., Hallett, R. E., Corwin, Z. B. (2022).
The process of academic validation within a comprehensive college transition program.
American Behavioral Scientist, 64(3), 253-275.
Hallett, R. E., Reason, R. D., Toccoli, J., Kitchen, J. A., & Perez, R. J. (2019).
Methodology
Advancing the use of ecological systems theory in college student research: The ecological systems interview tool.
Journal of College Student Development, 60(4), 489-496.
Kitchen, J. A., Hallett, R. E., Perez, R. J., & Rivera, G. J. (2019).
Examining a comprehensive college transition program: An account of iterative mixed-methods longitudinal survey design.
Research in Higher Education, 60, 392-413.
Cole, D., Kitchen, J. A., & Kezar, A. (2018).
Proactive Advising
Validating approaches to proactive advising: A promising practice to promote college success among low-Income, first-generation, and racially-minoritized students in a comprehensive college transition program.
Social class supports: Programs and practices to serve and sustain poor and working-class students through higher education, by G. Martin & S. Ardoin (Eds)., Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing (pp. 209-222).
Kitchen, J. A., Perez, R., & Hallett, R. (2021).
Program staff as facilitators of academic self–efficacy, academic behavioral change, and achievement among low–income, first–generation, and minoritized students.
Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 60(4), 477-494.
Rivera, G., Kitchen, J. A., & Cole, D. (2023).
The impact of a college transition program proactive advising intervention on self-efficacy.
Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 58(1), 29-43.
Kitchen, J. A., Cole, D., Rivera, G., & Hallett, R. (2020).
Professional Learning Communities
Professional learning communities and culture change in higher education: Facilitators to learning ecological validation to support historically marginalized students.
Journal of Postsecondary Student Success 4(2), 82-110.
Kezar, A., Hallett, R. E., Corwin, Z. B., Hypolite, L. I., Nagbe, M. N. (2025).
Moving toward institutional culture change in higher education: An exploration into cross-functional professional learning communities
Innovative Higher Education.
Kezar, A., Hallett, R. E., Corwin, Z. B. & Hypolite, L. (2024).
Creating systemic culture change and solving vexing problems on campus: The promise of professional learning communities in higher education.
Academic Leader.
Kezar, A., Corwin, Z.B, Hallett, R.E, Hypolite, L., & Nagbe, M. (2022).
Sense of Belonging and Mattering
The role of academic validation in developing mattering and academic success.
Research in Higher Education, 63(8), 1368-1393.
Swanson, E. & Cole, D. (2022).
Facilitating a sense of belonging for students with multiple identities.
In E. Bentrim & G. Henning (eds.), The impact of sense of belonging in college: Implications for student persistence, retention, and success (pp. 59-71). Stylus Press.
Hallett, R. E., Kezar, A., Kitchen, J. A., & Perez, R. (2022).
Shared Academic Courses
Pedagogy of validation: Autobiographical reading and writing courses for first-year, low-income students.
Innovative Higher Education, 46, 623-641.
Perez, R.J., Acuna, A., & Reason, R.D. (2021).
Identity-conscious strategies to engage low-income students in a learning community: shared courses in a comprehensive college transition program.
Teachers College Record 123(8), 146-175
Culver, K.C., Swanson, E.S., Hallett, R.E., & Kezar, A. (2021).
STEM
Well-Being
The relationship between low-income college students’ time use and well-being: A mixed methods exploration.
Research in Higher Education.
Kitchen, J. A., Bowman, N., Todorova, R., Irwin, L. & Corwin, Z. B. (2024).
Exploring compassion fatigue and community care in student affairs.
Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice
Perez, R. J., Bettencourt, G. M. (2023).
Understanding how student support practitioners navigated ideal worker norms during COVID-19: The role of job-crafting.
American Behavioral Scientist, 67(12), 1416-1432.
Bettencourt, G. M., Irwin, L. I., Kitchen, J. A., & Corwin, Z. B. (2022).
A practical guide to causal mediation analysis: Illustration with a comprehensive college transition program and nonprogram peer and faculty interactions.
Frontier Education, 7.
Chi, E.W., Huang, S., Jeon, M., Park, E. S., Melguizo, T., & Kezar, A. (2022).
A typology of college transition and support programs: Situating a 2-year comprehensive college transition program within college access.
American Behavioral Scientist, 64(3), 230-252.
Hallett, R. E., Kezar, A., Perez, R. J., & Kitchen, J. A. (2019).
Advancing the use of ecological systems theory in college student research: The ecological systems interview tool.
Journal of College Student Development, 60(4), 489-496.
Kitchen, J. A., Hallett, R. E., Perez, R. J., & Rivera, G. J. (2019).
An ecological approach to creating validating support for low-income, racially minoritized, and first-generation college students.
Online First. New Directions for Higher Education.
Hallett, R. E., Kezar, A., Kitchen, J. A., Perez, R. J., & Reason, R. (2024).
At-promise college student major and career self-efficacy (MCSE) ecology model.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 16(3), 369.
Kitchen, J., Kezar, A., & Hypolite, L. (2023).
Balancing time in college: Examining time-use and academic outcomes of students in a comprehensive college transition program.
N/A
Park, E.S., & Swanson, E. (2021)
Career self-efficacy: A mixed-methods study of an under-explored research area for first-generation, low-income, and under-represented college students in a comprehensive college transition program.
American Behavioral Scientist, 64(3), 298-324.
Kezar, A., Hypolite, L., & Kitchen, J. A. (2019).
Considering college students as “at-promise.”
Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California
Hallett, R. E., Hypolite, L., Corwin, Z. B., Nagbe, M., & Kezar, A. (2024)
Creating a culture of ecological validation to improve at-promise student experiences and outcomes.
USC Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California.
Hallett, R., Kezar, A., Bettencourt, G., Kitchen, J., Perez, R., Reason, R., & Corwin, Z.B.(2024).
Creating a campus-wide culture of student success: An evidence-based approach to supporting low-income, racially minoritized, and first-generation college students.
Taylor & Francis.
Hallett, R. E., Kezar, A., Kitchen, J. A., & Perez, R. J. (2023).
Creating a culture of ecological validation to improve at-promise student experiences and outcomes.
Creating a student-centered campus-wide culture that supports historically and currently marginalized students.
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 56(5), 22-30.
Hallett, R. E., Kezar, A., Perez, R. J. & Kitchen, J. A. (2024).
Creating systemic culture change and solving vexing problems on campus: The promise of professional learning communities in higher education.
Academic Leader.
Kezar, A., Corwin, Z.B, Hallett, R.E, Hypolite, L., & Nagbe, M. (2022).
Developing low-income college students’ sense of belonging: The role of validation.
Journal of College Student Development 64(2), 231-238.
Kitchen, J.A. (2023).
Developing major and career self-efficacy among at-promise students: The role of a comprehensive college transition Program.
Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 0(0).
Hypolite, L. I., Kitchen, J. A., & Kezar, A. (2022).
Differences and similarities in time use and well-being among female and male undergraduates.
Innovative Higher Education.
Bowman, N. A., Irwin, L. N., Katsumoto, S., Tennessen, N. F. & Todorva, R. (2024).
Ecological validation coordinating groups: Key processes related to campus-wide culture change.
Ecological validation model of student success: A new student support model for promoting college success among low-income, first-generation, and racially minoritized students.
Journal of College Student Development, 62(6), 627-642.
Kitchen, J.A., Perez, R. J., Hallett, R. E., Kezar, A., & Reason, R. D. (Nov-Dec 2021).
Examining a comprehensive college transition program: An account of iterative mixed-methods longitudinal survey design.
Research in Higher Education, 60, 392-413.
Cole, D., Kitchen, J. A., & Kezar, A. (2018).
Examining the relationship between psychosocial and academic outcomes in higher education: A descriptive analyses.
Aera Open, 7, 23328584211026967.
Swanson, E., Melguizo, T. & Martorell, F. (2021).
Examining undergraduate college students’ experiences participating in longitudinal qualitative research.
The Qualitative Report, 28(1), 340-359.
Perez, R. J., Acuña, A., & Wheaton, M. M. (2023).
Expanding student success: An experimental evaluation of a comprehensive college transition program.
Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 14(4), 835-860.
Melguizo, T., Martorell, F., Swanson, E., Chi, E., Park, E. & Kezar, A. (2020).
Exploring compassion fatigue and community care in student affairs.
Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice
Perez, R. J., Bettencourt, G. M. (2023).
Facilitating a sense of belonging for students with multiple identities.
In E. Bentrim & G. Henning (eds.), The impact of sense of belonging in college: Implications for student persistence, retention, and success (pp. 59-71). Stylus Press.
Hallett, R. E., Kezar, A., Kitchen, J. A., & Perez, R. (2022).
Fostering equitable engagement: A mixed-methods exploration of the engagement of racially diverse students in a comprehensive college transition program.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. (Advance online publication)
Culver, K. C., Perez, R. J., Kitchen, J. A. & Cole, D. G. (2022).
Guidance for educators seeking to build validating relationships that promote college success for low-income students.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Advanced online publication.
Kitchen, J. A., Perez, R., Hallett, R., & Reason, R. (2024).
Identity-conscious strategies to engage low-income students in a learning community: shared courses in a comprehensive college transition program.
Teachers College Record 123(8), 146-175
Culver, K.C., Swanson, E.S., Hallett, R.E., & Kezar, A. (2021).
Learning how to tailor programmatic offerings to support low-income, first-generation and racially minoritized student success.
Journal of Postsecondary Student Success 1(1), 25-27.
Kezar, A., Perez, R., Kitchen, J. A., & Hallett, R. (2021).
Maintaining validation through empathy: Exploring how higher education practitioners support at-promise students during COVID-19.
Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 60(1), 3-16.
Bettencourt, G. M., Perez, R. J., Hallett, R. E., Corwin, Z. B. (2022).
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