Learn more about social class and socioeconomic status, various forms of capital, class identities, and implications in student affairs. This program is sponsored by Socioeconomic and Class Issues in Higher Education Knowledge Community leadership team members.

This program offers participants an overview of class identity and its corresponding forms of capital (Bourdieu, 1986; Yosso, 2005). The presenters offer information from research and literature while also allowing participants to reflect on and assess how class identity does and might show up in higher education and student affairs. The three content categories of the session include: 1) Defining Class, 2) Types of Capital, 3) Interactions Between Class Identity and Student Affairs. 

Homelessness among college students is a significant problem. Many young people experiencing homelessness recognize education as a primary pathway toward living wages and healthy, self-sufficient lives, yet they confront tremendous barriers to accessing and completing post-secondary education. This program will help student affairs professionals understand who is considered homeless under various federal laws; how to make the case for supporting homeless students on campus; where to get started or to build upon existing efforts; and legislative efforts to support students experiencing homelessness in higher education.

Student homelessness is a large and growing problem in both K-12 and higher education. At the post-secondary level, a 2016 study found that 8.7% of the California State University student population (approximately 41,170 students) experience homelessness at any given time. A national study found that at least 14% of community college students experience homelessness. These students face incredible barriers to accessing and completing post-secondary education, including lack of adult support, housing, health care, and food, as well as histories of trauma, abuse, and neglect.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of participating in this program, participants will be able to:

• understand the education and the housing definitions of homelessness;
• make the case for specific campus outreach and supports for homeless students;
• identify and locate key partners on and off campus to meet the needs of homeless students; 
• take first steps, or build on existing efforts, to improve services and supports for homeless students; and
• understand specific federal and state legislative efforts to remove barriers and create opportunities for students experiencing homelessness.

Higher education, an institution founded on inequity, has long harbored institutional racism making it difficult for Black male administrators to achieve equitable outcomes with their White peers. This program highlights results from a dissertation study investigating how Black male administrators navigate racism in higher education. Results from this dissertation study are used to inform a new theory and concepts about navigating racism in higher education.

In 2014, the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) conducted a census of the asexual community, receiving over 14,000 responses. Results showed that the most common age of self-recognition of an asexual identity is 17 years old. Further, 25.1% of asexual people have never come out, and for the 74.9% of those who have, the most common age of first disclosure is 19. These two statistics show that asexual individuals are first recognizing their asexual identity and coming out to others (if they come out at all) during a time that they will possibility be attending higher education institutions. This makes it crucial for asexual representation and understanding within identity-based departments and organizations of higher education. Participants of this program will gain knowledge of asexuality and the need to build ally curriculum at their own institutions.

When student affairs professionals discuss wellbeing, we often consider financial wellbeing, physical wellbeing, emotional wellbeing and social wellbeing. But often forgotten is the importance of spiritual wellbeing, an element highlighted extensively in the 2003-2005 UCLA Study of Spirituality in Higher Education. Follow up work to this seminal study by Dr. Jenny Small and others have found that this area of wellbeing may be extraordinarily important for college students. Yet, the data finds that marginalized religious students may be missing out on these benefits due to environmental conditions present on the college campus. Learn more in this program.

“Neurodiversity” is both a biological and a cultural phenomenon. Learning about the culture of neurodiversity will widen your perspective for those whose brains function in ways different from the neurotypical mainstream. This strengths-based, positive approach will alter your view of "outside-the-box" thinkers. Learn how proper niche construction can mold the future for neurodivergent students and how you can provide a community of acceptance for your campus.

Like many across the country, members of the University of Memphis community were saddened and outraged by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others. These tragic deaths and the ensuing civil unrest, compounded by the impact of the COVID crisis, shined a spotlight on systemic racism that continues to inflict trauma and violence on communities of color. In June 2020, UofM President M. David Rudd announced in an email to the campus community a reform and change initiative designed to target the Eradication of Systemic Racism and Promotion of Social Justice within the University and larger community. In this briefing, Cory Major, who served as co-lead of the Closing Gaps Workgroup, provides an overview of the initiative and how it involved and impacted all major levels of university programming, alumni, and community engagement.