September 2023 Cohort
This project focuses on two primary areas: exploring the heterogeneity of the Latine student
population at MSU (1) and assessing the readiness of MSU for the Seal of Excelencia awarded by Excelencia in Education (2). In the first area, he will survey undergraduate students to understand how other identity variables such as country of origin, racial-ethnic identification, skin color, and intersectionality inform their academic lived experiences. In area two, he will key review components from the Excelencia framework, such as data, practices, and leadership at Montclair to see how well we are serving our Latine students.
Dr. Harrison will be undertaking the First Gen Faculty Initiative which is a new volunteer initiative among MSU faculty (and staff and administrators) who are themselves the first in their families to graduate college, and who hope to improve the sense of belonging, efficacy, retention, and graduation rates among First Gen Montclair students (who constitute about 45% of our student body). These students are more likely to be retained less than non-First Gen students.
She is working with various offices and departments to form individual and group mentorship cohorts, create programs for current, prospective, and incoming students to increase their sense of belonging and ease the transition to higher education, and discover best practices being used at other colleges and universities around to the country to serve the needs of First Gen students.
Dr. Strickland has begun a student success initiative that has three interrelated goals. First, he will implement data-informed curriculum reform to create equitable student pathways to success using Curricular Analytics.
Second, he will create and implement a plan for course redesign of general education courses
that supports teaching, learning, success, completion, and retention.
Finally, he will evaluate student assessment practices in courses to improve equity and success in general education courses. Together, the aforementioned goals will foster a more equitable curriculum aimed at serving our racially and ethnically diverse students. HEAL Proposal 2022 – J. Strickland.