The Negative Impact of Racial Microaggressions on College Students of Color

The goal of this chapter is to describe the adverse impact of racial microaggressions on college students, particularly as it pertains to their decreased self-esteem and academic achievement. It will also provide insight on specific forms of microaggressions and how they may be perceived by various targeted groups. Although this chapter focuses on the impact of microaggressions on college students of color, the adverse effects on college students with disabilities, LGBTQ students, and students with physical and mental disabilities are to be noted as equally detrimental. Finally, this chapter will include implications to deconstruct racial microaggressions and provide insight on how educators and administrators may disarm racial microaggressions in the classroom and on college campuses in general.

From Digital Distraction to Digital Motivation

The presence of technology on college campuses has increased rapidly in recent years. Students come to the classroom with a variety of technological devices including smart phones, tablets, or laptops and use them during academic activity. For this reason, there are many researchers who, in recent times, have been interested in the problems derived from digital distraction in higher education. In many cases, researchers have conducted studies and surveys to obtain first-hand information from the protagonists, that is, from university professors and students. Despite the efforts, there are many questions that still remain unanswered. The authors are aware of the enormous challenge that the use of technology poses in the university classrooms and want to delve into the causes and consequences of student digital distraction and the strategies that can be used by instructors to curb student digital distraction without deteriorating student-instructor rapport in the context of higher education.

Social Justice Research Within the Appalachian Higher Education LGBTQ Community

U.S. college campuses are becoming more diverse regarding color, religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Much of the past research has focused on the multitude of struggles and hurdles Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBTQ) students face. This review of the research has shown what these minority students face daily and are beneficial in understanding the cultural impacts on the growth and development of LGBTQ students. Additional research is needed to further consider the effects of higher education facilities for students and educators. Extensive research concerning LGBTQ students' treatment in rural areas is needed, specifically for Appalachian LGBTQ students, as many gaps still require research to solve various issues.

Developing LGBTQ Competence in Faculty

Contemporary college campuses can be hostile and unwelcoming places for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) faculty, staff, and students. This chapter examines through the lens of structuration theory the implementation of an LGBTQ professional development series for faculty as an impetus to change such unwelcoming environments. The LGBTQ professional development series was designed to foster individual and organizational change by first increasing the LGBTQ cultural competency of faculty members, and second by providing these agents encouragement and tools to change unwelcoming structures within themselves, their organization, and their disciplinary influence.

Service and Philanthropy as College Student Activism for Fraternity and Sorority Members

College student activism is often thought of as a problem to be dealt with, focusing on the potentially damaging role that student protest can take on a campus. Activism, however, can be defined in a multitude of ways, including how students express themselves in their commitment to others. This notion of community service or service learning has taken on a major role on many college campuses, and can highlight the powerful and positive impact of student activism. This chapter explores the role of service and philanthropy as mechanisms for college students to express their beliefs and commitments to others. Specifically exploring those student behaviors in fraternities and sororities, activism among undergraduates can be a tremendous asset to an institution, to a community, and ultimately, to the students themselves.

Campus Sexual Violence and Title IX: What is the Role of Restorative Justice Now?

Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) have used restorative justice (RJ) to address sexual misconduct on college campuses under Title IX. In 2020, Title IX guidance was codified. The application of RJ under the new policy may create procedural and distributive justice issues. This article (1) defines the new policy; (2) explores suitability of RJ to sexual misconduct and specifically yellow zone behavior under the new policy; (3) discusses justice for the various stakeholders under the guise of advantages and disadvantages; and (4) makes recommendations to strengthen the choice of either implementing or not implementing restorative justice.

A method for campus-wide SARS-CoV-2 surveillance at a large public university

The systematic screening of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic individuals is a powerful tool for controlling community transmission of infectious disease on college campuses. Faced with a paucity of testing in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities developed molecular diagnostic laboratories focused on SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing on campus and in their broader communities. We established the UC Santa Cruz Molecular Diagnostic Lab in early April 2020 and began testing clinical samples just five weeks later. Using a clinically-validated laboratory developed test (LDT) that avoided supply chain constraints, an automated sample pooling and processing workflow, and a custom laboratory information management system (LIMS), we expanded testing from a handful of clinical samples per day to thousands per day with the testing capacity to screen our entire campus population twice per week. In this report we describe the technical, logistical, and regulatory processes that enabled our pop-up lab to scale testing and reporting capacity to thousands of tests per day.

A Behavioral Science Framework for Understanding College Campus Sexual Assault

We propose a behavioral-science approach to sexual assault on college campuses. In this framework, people commit assault when aspects of the immediate situation trigger certain psychological states. No set of mental processes or situational configurations is a precise predictor of assault. Instead, the interaction between mental processes and situational configurations predicts when sexual assault is more or less likely to occur. We begin with an illustrative story to show how a behavioral-science approach is relevant to sexual assault. Next, we map out a framework that suggests how behavioral theories of situations and mental processes have been or could be used to describe, predict, and develop ideas for the reduction of sexual assault. Relevant situational configurations include geographical configurations, local situational and informational cues, and situation-based power. Theories of mental processes include person perception, social norms, moral reasoning, and goals. Our framework can be used to demonstrate how “good” people can commit assault and how individuals can and will refrain from assault within institutions with a “bad” record. Compared with previous theories of sexual assault, a behavioral-science framework offers unique understanding and generative methods for addressing sexual assault on college campuses.