Academic Affairs and Student Development

Rosemary (Rosie) Perez

As a fourth-year doctoral student, Rosie's research centers on professional socialization during graduate training and its effects on individuals' transitions from graduate school to the work force.

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy in Higher Education

This program focuses on the teaching and learning missions of colleges and universities, and on the communities in which these central functions occur. Scholarship in this concentration includes academic programs and curriculum; student learning and development; student access, adjustment, and achievement in higher education; teaching and research processes; college and university faculty; and leadership in administrative units with teaching and learning responsibilities. Three major perspectives are used in this concentration to inform students' understanding of teaching and learning environments: individual learning and development, institutional factors that affect teaching and learning in postsecondary contexts, and societal conditions (social, cultural, and historical) that affect learning and teaching.

Students in this concentration are preparing for teaching, research, and/or administrative careers in postsecondary education. For a potential academic or research career, concentrators' likely areas of research include students, faculty, diversity, teaching and learning, curriculum, history, philosophy, international and comparative higher education, and institutional policy. Administrative careers exist in a myriad of areas within the academic and student affairs structures of colleges and universities, including: student affairs administration, faculty development, student support services (including athletics and academic advising), multicultural affairs, and curriculum development.

Profiles of student and alumni ambassadors who have participated in the higher education programs provide additional information about who fits in a program and what they might do after graduating.