Elevating University Students to Facilitate Institutional Change

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 7:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Centering Students and Student Leadership in Higher Education

Abstract

Using a Students as Partners (SaP) framework, this study examined how students may enhance institutional change efforts focused improving student success in seven STEM departments at a large, public research university. Using a department action team model (DAT), results suggest that students who are both generative and confirmatory, with faculty and staff DAT members who are receptive to student DAT engagement, are associated with the highest level of success in meeting DAT goals at the end of a one-year facilitation process. Further, DATs that utilize student data were also the most likely to meet DAT goals. Results from this study provide guidance to universities on how to help increase the likelihood of successful change efforts using the DAT model.

Authors

• Susan P Farruggia, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Jaeyun Han, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Mikayla Strasser, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Fructoso M Basaldua, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Rachel Anna Yim, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Carmen Lilley, University of Illinois at Chicago