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Illinois has the fifth largest Latino population in the United States. A Complete College America (2011) fact sheet for Illinois reported degree attainment for Latinos to be 7% in comparison to 74% for White students. These educational disparities served as a catalyst for the community service collaboration that ensued between a Latino nonprofit organization and an activism researcher. From the perspectives of a humanistic educator, how the interweaving of social entrepreneurial principles together with Latino college success discourse led to the development of a culturally responsive college scholarship fund program and its offerings of financial resources, networks of information and natural mentoring relationships is explained. Reflections about a pathway for humanizing higher education together with 2013–2016 case study findings bring forward authentic voices of Latino community college students impacted by these student success initiatives.

In many ways the state of affairs for students, service delivery personnel, and researchers in the field of college students with learning disabilities (LD) has remained largely unchanged over the past 25 years. Many of the same barriers to student success that we have seen over the past three decades remain today. In this chapter, I review issues related to success for college students with LD, explore current service delivery models, and discuss potential areas of future research that could lead to improved outcomes for college students with LD. Additionally, I explore the possible need to reconceptualize service delivery models on college campuses.

This chapter explores the concept of identity-conscious advising and coaching to support the development of First-Generation Black Male College Students during their undergraduate experience. Advising and coaching represent foundational practices colleges and universities use to support student success. Much like other aspects of education, institutions implement advising and coaching practices without consideration for how the identity of the student or the professional delivering the service influences student outcomes. First-Generation Black Male College Students' interactions within the college context are often framed by their visible, racial, and gender identities as opposed to their first-generation experience. First-Generation Black Male College Students experience microaggressions, discrimination, deficit perspectives, or negative stereotypes. By exploring an identity-conscious approach to relevant advising theories and coaching approaches, the chapter highlights the importance of building trusting, affirming relationships that lean into the lived experiences of First-Generation Black Male College Students without subjecting them to false, harmful stereotypes. This approach requires self-awareness on the part of educators and an understanding of the racialized dynamics that are inherent in the experience. Without addressing anti-Blackness, the impact of advising and coaching on First-Generation Black Male College Students is likely to have diminished or limited effects for this vital student population.

The overrepresentation and lack of academic success for Black male athletes on college campuses are problems that warrant attention in the 21st century. A recent report from the University of Pennsylvania shows that over the four-year period between 2007 and 2010, Black males were overrepresented in college sports (Harper, Williams, & Blackman, 2013), a startling reality considering that Black males are severely underrepresented in the general student body. Further complicating matters is the fact that Black male student-athletes do not graduate from college at rates comparable to their peers (Harper et al., 2013). Focused primarily on the experiences of Division I Black male student-athletes, this chapter begins with an overview of literature relevant to successful academic support programs. The authors also present an overview of best practices for advising African American male student-athletes, derived from athletic departments with a demonstrated record of academic success for Black males.

The success of Black males in community colleges across the nation is at a pivotal turning point. Due to increased social unrest in America and the global challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a renewed focus on equitable outcomes for marginalized, underrepresented, and minoritized student groups. Consequently, institutions have sought to identify innovative and effective solutions to recruit, engage, retain, and graduate Black males.

In this chapter, best practices focused on the areas of advising, engagement, instruction, and programing will be discussed. The authors call for a strategic shared responsibility between Academic Affairs and Student Services to promote the educational, civic, and social success of Black males. The importance of workforce development for nondegree seeking Black male students will be explored. It is vital for community college professionals to develop cultural competency by developing a shared understanding of values and language. Other areas to be emphasized include developing consistency for psychological safe spaces, disaggregating student data, and providing access to key services and resources.

This paper aims to demonstrate the variety of ways institutions and their libraries approach student success both conceptionally and operationally.

Librarians from nine different institutions of higher education were given a series of questions about student success on their campuses and in their libraries. They responded with written essays describing their experiences and perspectives.

The contributed pieces are collected together and display a shared interest in defining “student success,” aligning strategic planning with student success initiatives and establishing (and assessing) strong infrastructure to support student success.

These examples help us observe what is happening throughout higher education and see potential paths forward at our own institutions engaged in this work.

We examine variation in high school and college outcomes across New York City public high schools. Using data on 80,000 students who entered high school in 1998 and following them into the City University of New York, we investigate whether schools that produce successful high school students also produce successful college students. We also explore differences in performance across sex, race, and immigration, and we briefly explore selection issues. Specifically, we estimate student-level regressions with school fixed effects, controlling for student characteristics, to identify better and worse performing schools based on state mandated exams, graduation, and college performance.

The aim of this study is to determine what pre-college characteristics predict college success for students of color enrolled within science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs, as measured by cumulative grade point average (GPA) after three years of initial enrollment.

To increase the generalizability by avoiding a single-year focus, the sample includes 954 first-year students entering one predominantly White research university during Fall 2010, Fall 2011 and Fall 2012 (Allen and Bir, 2011); GPAs were collected following three years of initial enrollment. IBM statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) Statistics 22 was utilized to conduct correlation and multiple linear regression analyses.

Within all conditional models, after controlling for multiple variables, the number of advanced placement (AP) credits, standardized test scores and specific type of high school GPA were significantly related to cumulative college GPA after three years of enrollment. However, when multiple forms of high school GPA were included within a full model, only the number of AP credits and standardized test scores remained statistically related to cumulative college GPA. Further, high school core GPA is more strongly correlated with cumulative college GPA after three years of enrollment than overall high school GPA, high school science GPA and high school mathematics GPA.

This study adds to prior research by identifying that high school core GPA is an important predictor of college success and that the cumulative effect of enrollment within AP credits may be more beneficial than the cumulative effect of involvement within dual enrollment courses.

This research explores the key factors that contribute to the success of Black students in a predominantly White institution (PWI). Two measures of success are examined: cumulative grade point average (GPA) and graduation status.

Using student-level data from a southeastern university, this research estimates education production functions using ordinary least squares regression.

While the negative effect of being Black is significant for both cumulative GPA and graduation status, the effect becomes overshadowed when peer effects are added. The authors also found the critical effect of institutional support on student success.

The student-level data are restricted to a single institution over a relatively short period of time, which limits the authors' ability to analyze institution-level factors.

This research provides a broad view of many significant factors for student success with particular highlights on the importance of encouraging Black students to utilize institutional support.

This study is an extension of the education production function model in the field of student success. The study identified peer effects and institutional support as more powerful determinants of student success than race.

This paper aims to demonstrate the variety of ways institutions and their libraries approach student success both conceptionally and operationally.

Librarians from eight different institutions of higher education were given a series of questions about student success on their campuses and in their libraries. They responded with written essays describing their experiences and perspectives.

The contributed pieces in this second installment are collected together and a variety of ways the academic library engage with “student success” are discussed. Initiatives include high-impact practices, fostering academic rapport and creating a sense of belonging, experiential learning and creative spaces and professional development.

These examples help to observe what is happening throughout higher education and see potential paths forward at the institutions engaged in this work.