Editing a Scholarly Book... I Did a Thing... But Why?

In December 2022, my first scholarly book, Academic Recovery: Supporting Students on Academic Probation was published by the National Resource Center on the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition (NRC).

This book was truly a labor of love for multiple reasons. Namely, for several semesters, I taught a seminar course for first-year students on academic probation. In teaching this course, I noted that the students I was working with were no more or less intelligent than the students who did not find themselves on academic probation. Though they often lacked adequate self-regulated learning strategies for their new environment, lacked a perception of support from those in their lives, and/or had low self-esteem/self-efficacy. Some too were in majors or courses that didn't align with their passions and strengths. At a campus conference for academic advisors a colleague, Cam Fowler, recently stated beautifully that "all students are inherently valuable and capable of positive growth." This statement resounds true for the students I have worked with over the years on academic probation.

Each of the students that I worked with was capable. What they often needed was an academic companion to uplift them, facilitate their development of growth mindsets, normalize challenge, and offer hope and support. The idea of academic companioning comes through as a theme of several chapters of the book and is beginning to inspire a future post here. What is Academic Probation? In higher education, academic probation is a status given to students who have not met the academic standards set by their respective institutions. Academic probation is a unique transition, between poor performance and either recovery or dismissal, experienced by up to a quarter of all college students at some point in their academic journey. This status can be a significant setback for students, but it also presents a crucial opportunity for institutions to provide targeted support and resources to help struggling students get back on track. However, academic probation programs and students on probation are often overlooked in the higher education landscape.

Why this book?

I hold a deep personal convocation that second chances are an important aspect of personal growth and development. Second chances can provide us the opportunity to learn from mistakes, make amends, and improve our behavior or situation. I've been given my fair share of second chances in my personal, academic, and professional lives and am grateful to everyone who has shown me this grace during my journey. For college students, academic probation may be an important "second chance" to adapt to personal and transitional challenges and systemic barriers that lead them to struggle academically. I believe that probation programs should be intentionally designed to help students make the most of this second chance.

Additionally, during the admissions and orientation process, institutions make numerous promises to students, such as providing a supportive learning environment, offering high-quality academic programs, and providing access to resources that will help students succeed. If students find themselves on academic probation and institutions fail to offer targeted support and resources to help them overcome their academic challenges, we fail to deliver on these promises. Such a failure deprives students of the opportunity to develop as learners and critical thinkers, experience the benefits of higher education (maybe a future post), and may result in their dismissal from the institution with student debt but lacking the economic benefit that follows earning a college degree.

While designing the course for students on probation, I took note of the resources, mental energy, and research that has been devoted to supporting students during other transition periods, such as the first-year experience. While supporting students in these other transitions is critical, students on academic probation are also in a critical transition period and require targeted support and resources to succeed academically. By devoting more time to intentionally design probation policies and programs and the resources to facilitate them effectively, I believe institutions can ensure that all students receive the support they need to achieve their academic goals and succeed in college.

What's in the book?

Academic Recovery: Supporting Students on Academic Probation features chapters on institutional policies, advising academic recovery students, academic coaching for students on probation, academic intervention programs, designing seminar courses to support students on probation, and finally assessing academic recovery programs. I was blessed beyond measure to work with true scholars and experts in their disciplines on each of these chapters. Two shorter format case studies are also included which showcase many of the topics identified in the scholarly chapters playing out on actual campuses. Finally, in the conclusion, my friend Dr. Richie Gebauer and I attempted to pull out themes that ran through each of the preceding chapters and call for intentionality of design and integration with other campus services and programs for the benefit of students on probation.

This book is not the end of a conversation, but i hope can provide a blueprint for campus leaders and scholar-practitioners to engage in a dialogue aimed at improving the experience of these students on their own campuses.