July 16, 2019Tackling Inequitable Opportunity Structures in HIPsby Buffie Longmire-AvitalAs of 2017, 41- 43% of full-time undergraduates who are between the ages of 16 – 24 – and who are not considered heads of households or supporting dependents – are working. When comparing the rates of employment for these…
May 8, 2019A High Impact Federal Work-Study Appointmentby Buffie Longmire-AvitalI was a working learner. Working learners refer to students who need to work. In a 2015 report from Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce, Carneval, Smith, Melton and Price found that approximately 40% of all undergraduates are working…
March 7, 2019What’s Their Capital? Applying a Community Cultural Wealth Model to URby Buffie Longmire-AvitalSteeped in critical race theory (CRT), Yosso’s (2005) work presents a helpful framework for recognizing the capital that HURMS bring to a mentored relationship, more specifically the undergraduate research (UR). In applying CRT, Yosso expands the default assumptions around cultural…
March 4, 2019Recognizing Student Capital in Mentored Undergraduate Researchby Buffie Longmire-AvitalThere are numerous articles, studies, and discussion pieces outlining the benefits of the undergraduate research (UR) experience for students. For example, Madan and Teitge (2013) suggest that UR amplifies the knowledge gained by the student in the classroom. They also…
January 4, 2019Using Critical Race Theory to Craft Undergraduate Research Experiencesby Buffie Longmire-AvitalNineteen years ago I was in the middle of my first year serving as head resident advisor (HRA) to an almost entirely first year residence hall. As the HRA I was responsible for organizing and providing monthly professional development for…
November 15, 2018The Art of Crafting a Mentored CUREby Buffie Longmire-AvitalIn my last post, I argued that course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) can be a stepping stone for a student’s path toward mentored undergraduate research, but to yield equitable impact for historically underrepresented minority students (HURMS), CUREs must include mentorship…
October 25, 2018Reflecting on Course-Based Undergraduate Research (CUREs)by Buffie Longmire-AvitalBangera and Brownell (2014) lay out a compelling list of barriers students encounter while attempting to engage in undergraduate research. The authors also argue that, given the institutional nature of some of these barriers (e.g., implicit bias or lack of…
October 8, 2018Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity, Oh My!by Buffie Longmire-AvitalCan we review the differences among diversity, inclusion, and equity work? I think we should. In blogs written by Meg Bolger and Dr. Geraldine Cochran we are given tools to work through our understanding and often mistaken conflation of these…
September 18, 2018Seven Potential Barriers to Engaging in Undergraduate Research for HURMSby Buffie Longmire-AvitalThere is no shortage of evidence celebrating the advantages of engaging in undergraduate research or its firm position as one of the 11 high-impact educational practices, such as the building of confidence and efficacy in students, being cited as the…
August 28, 2018The Package I am Inby Buffie Longmire-AvitalYears ago I was reading a book with my oldest son, who after looking at the various dyadic pairs of characters on a particular page began to observe out loud who “matched” and who didn’t. He then moved the conversation…