Author Archive

Promoting College Access for First-Generation College Students: Creating a College-Going Culture

Increasing access to college, regardless of background or income, has been a goal of educational leaders in the United States for more than sixty years (President’s Commission on Higher Education, 1947; Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, 2006). Educational officials have aggressively sought to expand access to postsecondary education for under-represented populations, including low-income and minority students.

Despite a significant investment of federal dollars, this goal remains largely unfulfilled. The gap between the college enrollment …

Read More …

Beyond RateMyProfessors: Blessings and Curses of Course Selection Resources on the Internet

Internet savvy students come to advising sessions armed with new tools and a broader information base. In many cases, the students’ technological savvy and information base may exceed that of their advisers. For example, how many faculty advisers are aware of the grade distributions of their colleagues or of variations in grading patterns among different sections of classes offered by other departments?

The website RateMyProfessors.com discussed by Duberstein (2010) in The Mentor has significant implications …

Read More …