Call for Submissions: Special Issue on First-Generation College Students

Guest Editors: Mark Biggs, Associate Dean, College of Arts & Letters, Missouri State University

Rachelle Darabi, Associate Provost for Student Development and Public Affairs, Missouri State University

Tracey Glaessgen, Assistant Director, First-Year Programs, Missouri State University

Kelly Wood, Interim Director, First-Year Programs, Professor, Communication, Missouri State University

For inquiries contact Tracey Glaessgen:  TraceyGlaessgen@MissouriState.edu

For this special issue of the eJournal, the editors welcome submissions focusing on research, projects, and approaches that celebrate and support the experiences, skills, and values that first-generation college students bring with them to campus. 

Who are first-generation college students?  Defined as students whose parents never completed a four-year degree, first-generation college students comprise a growing population at institutions of higher education. Researchers and practitioners have shown that:

• first-generation students from diverse backgrounds are an increasingly important component of any institutional recruitment plan, as they comprise a significant portion of the student population at many schools;
• how colleges and universities help their first-generation students develop their social and cultural capital is paramount to their success;
• completing a degree can significantly impact a first-generation student’s future earnings and improve his or her life and community;
• despite tight resources at colleges and universities, enhanced retention and degree completion for first-generation students can be a driver of and support for improved institutional outcomes.

Submissions Topics: The above dimensions of institutional goals and first-generation students’ needs are interwoven and overlapping. For this special issue, submissions will focus on: best practices or successful models that are supported by appropriate assessment or evaluation findings; presenting quantitative and/or qualitative results of studies relevant to first-generation students in higher education; or describing institutional best practices. Possible topics may include but are not limited to:

• high-impact practices that support first-generation college students;
• innovative programs (faculty-, staff-, or student-led) designed and assessed to advance first-generation college student success (i.e., persistence and degree completion);
• partnerships that have emerged through the work of strengthening first-generation college student support;
• Best practices used in higher education that influence first-generation college student support;
• Initiatives and communication strategies used at your institution to create cultural change regarding awareness of and support for first generation students

The eJournal of Public Affairs is a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, open-access electronic journal published by Missouri State University in partnership with the American Democracy Project. For this special issue, the editors welcome submissions on a range of topics that center on the work being done in higher education to measure and/or strengthen first-generation college student support on campus, in the community, or at the intersection of the two domains.

In this special issue of the eJournal, the editors are seeking scholarly submissions that address efforts supporting first-generation students. In addition to articles, the editors will also consider for publication reports, descriptive essays, videos, interviews, photo essays, multimedia, etc., that showcase innovative or exemplary projects.

Submission Deadline: July 1, 2018 (earlier submissions welcomed and appreciated). All submissions must follow the format outlined on the eJournal website: http://ejopa.missouristate.edu/index.php/ejournal/about/submissions.   

For more information, visit eJournal.missouristate.edu or e-mail: eJournalPA@MissouriState.edu