Category: For School

In higher education, efforts to diversify student populations often fall primarily under recruitment strategies, but retention efforts are where many institutions fall short. While colleges use standardized tests, essays, and GPAs to assess a student’s readiness for academia, they often overlook a critical question: Is the campus itself ready to support, nurture, and develop these diverse students?

When students from diverse backgrounds step onto a campus, they are seeking more than just a degree—they are searching for a sense of belonging. This extends far beyond the classroom to basic human needs, as outlined in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. From food and water to shelter and safety, students require a campus environment that supports their physiological and cultural needs. Yet many institutions fail to meet these needs, neglecting to offer culturally appropriate food options, religious accommodations, or services like ethnic hair care. These oversights can leave students feeling isolated or unsupported.

Colleges must recognize that their responsibility extends beyond academic achievement. It’s essential to provide holistic services that support the emotional, cultural, and personal growth of diverse student populations. Students need to feel seen, affirmed, and supported in their identities in order to thrive. This includes not just the services available but also the people who make up the campus community. Reflective representation is key—when students see themselves in their professors, advisors, and peers, they feel more connected and empowered to succeed.

One common mistake colleges make in retention strategies is an over-reliance on tuition scholarships. While financial support is crucial, it is not a cure-all. Many students, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, are working adults, parents, or caregivers, balancing full-time jobs while pursuing their education. Scholarships help, but they do not address the other critical needs students face, such as academic advising, mentorship, flexible schedules, and access to mental health resources. To ensure student success, colleges must invest in support services that address the full range of student experiences—inside and outside the classroom.

It’s important to remember that financial barriers are not always the primary reason students drop out. Often, it’s a lack of clarity or support in navigating the college experience itself. Is the enrollment process straightforward and supportive? Are students comfortable asking questions in class? Do they know where to turn for help when they need it? Institutions must ask these questions and work to create a campus culture that is not just diverse but inclusive and welcoming to all.

Attending college is a transformative journey, especially for first-generation students and those from diverse backgrounds. It’s about more than career preparation—it’s about personal growth, critical thinking, and becoming global citizens. These students are building confidence, self-esteem, and a sense of self-worth as they work toward their degrees. Colleges must recognize the broader impact of their efforts and prioritize inclusive, student-centered retention strategies to ensure all students thrive.

Retention strategies for diverse student populations need to be both effective and inclusive. Institutions should seek continuous feedback from students to refine these strategies and build a culture where diversity is not just acknowledged but celebrated. By doing so, we create campuses that truly support and uplift the diverse voices that have long been marginalized.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”

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Studying the data, intentional collaboration, and asking students what they need are keys to improving outcomes.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) held the Attaining College Excellence and Equity Summit: Holistic Advising and Wraparound Services in Washington, D.C. Speakers addressed evidence-based practices, collaboration, access, and advising.

U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel A. Cardona spoke about his experience as an undergraduate student. Despite doing well academically, as a first-generation college student, he felt lost. He went to the dean of the College of Education at Central Connecticut State University and said, “I need help, or I’m out.” His story illustrated the need for comprehensive advising with an essential focus on access.

The day’s panels and speakers discussed a wide range of issues and provided attendees with information on raising the bar for advising and student support.

Johns Hopkins University senior Daivik Chawla was the first person to emphasize the importance of student voices in student support. He appreciated the impact that peer mentors had on him and became a peer advisor as a sophomore.

“Advising and strong peer relationships have incredible potency,” said Chawla. “I also worked as a study consultant, where I was able to empower some of my peers by teaching them effective study strategies and time management scheduling.”

That was also emphasized with the panel, Experiencing the Power of Peer-to-Peer Advising, moderated by Dr. Chris Morphew, dean of Johns Hopkins University School of Education, on which mentor Timothy Huang and mentee Jeevika Setzer discussed their experiences. As of 2020, Johns Hopkins expanded this to a year-long program. Mentors go through a week of training prior to new student orientation. Throughout the year, mentors can provide mentees with information about mental health resources available on campus.

“When a peer is talking to you about it, it’s a more real perspective,” said Setzer.

On the panel, Learning from Leaders: Scaling Advising Solutions, moderated by Dr. John Lane, vice president for academic affairs and equity initiatives with the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, individuals from the City University of New York (CUNY) and State University of New York (SUNY) shared models for student success. Donna Linderman, senior vice chancellor for student success, SUNY, said thinking holistically about student needs is crucial. There must be diverse hires. It is also important that advisors are trained to be culturally sensitive and responsive.

Linderman said data is used for both program management and evaluation. “Using data in a disaggregated manner where you’re looking at all dimensions of how you are delivering your advisement or your support services so that you see who is benefiting and who is not… [and see] where the gaps are,” she said. “Creating data management systems in real time so that staff are trained to use that data and to think about it as an equity tool.

“Change is the most critical dimension of a successful program,” she continued. “The data and the voices of the students tell you what you are doing or not doing as effectively as you can.”

On the panel, Selecting Evidence-Based Advising Strategies to Improve Student Outcomes, led by Dr. Deborah Santiago, chief executive officer of Excelencia in Education, panelists spoke about their work and what they’ve found are key elements to success. Dr. Aaron Thompson, president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, said equity must be a top priority. He also spoke about building effective partnerships.

“In Kentucky, we’ve built a culturally competent certification process,” said Thompson. “[Institutions] have to show how they’re doing with disaggregated data on the students that historically haven’t done as well as all students.

“It’s also about not being afraid to talk about equity,” he said. “If we are failing our most disenfranchised populations, we are failing in education, and we have no excuse for it.”

The day prior, ED and IHEP held a preconference, Securing the Mental Health of America’s College Students. Data show that unmet mental health needs are linked to adverse student outcomes. A point that was emphasized throughout the sessions is crafting policies and services attuned to student needs.

The plenary panel, Cost-Effective Strategies to Increase Capacity and Scale Supports, examined barriers and innovative strategies to remove them. “One of the biggest barriers that we think exists when it comes to mental healthcare is that students are defining mental health differently than our higher ed institutions, and increasingly we feel that higher ed systems are not reflecting the values that students have,” said Laura Horne, chief program officer of the national nonprofit Active Minds.

Moving forward, institutions need to have a broader definition and attention to mental healthcare, Horne said. This includes having a holistic view and seeing mental health in relation to social issues, such as gun violence and reproductive rights as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“We need full campus ownership and buy-in and need to not be afraid to embrace some of these issues, even if they’re politicized,” said Horne. “We have made a commitment over the next five years to make sure that anything we create definitely resonates with students of color and queer students because what we know is that often, when we create new things that support a small population, everybody benefits.

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“The polarizations we’re living with now are heartbreaking to me,” said Townes. “I’m feeling like this [professorship] is a great challenge, and more than that, a great possibility to see if there are ways in which the prominence of the chair can help start conversations that lead people to working together as opposed to being at each other’s throats or not listening.”

The professorship honors King “by modeling the moral authority, prophetic vision of justice, peace, and love, ethical leadership, and global consciousness that he advocated for and embodied,” according to STH.

The chair was previously held by longtime STH faculty member Rev. Walter E. Fluker, who retired from the position in 2020.

Townes holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a Ph.D. in religion in society and personality from Northwestern University.

Her scholarship as a womanist and Black theology comprises work on social issues such as racial health disparities and environmental racism. Before becoming the first Black dean at Vanderbilt Divinity School in 2013, she was the first Black woman president of the American Academy of Religion, the first African American and first woman to serve as associate dean for academic affairs at the Yale Divinity School, and the first Black woman president of the American Academy of Religion.

Townes serves as the president of the Society of Christian Ethics, the first Black woman to hold the office. She will return to the classroom in spring 2025.

“I’ll try to help students get a better sense of the structures we’re dealing with and not just personal opinion or sound bites or all those other things that are not quite what you should be using to build a society that is sustainable, but also where are each of us individually in that structure,” Townes said. “And how can we be better people in light of it?”

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