Sarah E. Whitley, Ph.D.
Vice President, Center for First-generation Student Success, NASPA
Sarah E. Whitley serves as vice president of the Center for First-generation Student Success, an initiative of NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and The Suder Foundation. Prior to joining NASPA, Sarah earned a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development where her scholarly interests included issues of inequality, academic motivation and decision-making, teaching and learning, the success of first-generation and low-income students, and the university presidency and board governance. Her dissertation examined the academic decision-making of low-income and first-generation college students with interest in humanities disciplines in a post-Recession context. From 2007 – 2013, Sarah served as director of First-Year Experience and Family Programs at Longwood University where she was responsible for a host of transition, first-year experience, student success, and community engagement initiatives. Sarah is the author of First-generation Student Success: A Landscape Analysis of Programs and Services at Four-year Institutions as well as other scholarship on first-generation and related topics.
A first-generation college graduate, Sarah also holds an M.Ed. in college student personnel administration from James Madison University, a B.S. in political science from Longwood College, and is a 2010 graduate of the HERS Bryn Mawr Summer Institute.
Connect with Sarah on Twitter @sarahewhitley
Speaker Travels From
Virginia
Sarah is available for in-person and virtual engagements! Contact us today.
Speaker Topics
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First-generation Students in Community Colleges: A National Exploration of Institutional Support Practices | |
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Who are first-generation college students? Defining, tracking, and understanding experiences |
Understanding the intersectional first-generation student identity |
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Institutional strategies for supporting first-generation students at scale |
Shifting from deficit to asset-based approaches for first-generation student success |
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Creating inclusive environments and the impact of National First-Generation College Celebration Day |
The role of student affairs practitioners in supporting and advancing first-generation student success |
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Strategies for faculty and staff to improve classroom experiences for first-generation college students |
What does it mean to be “first-generation student-ready”? Examining institutional policies, procedures, and jargon and dismantling barriers to success |
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Building an engaged community: Securing senior leadership support and establishing infrastructure for making first-generation student success an institutional priority |
Networking institutional resources for strengthened support of first-generation college students |
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Support matters: First-generation students and family systems |
Custom presentations also available |
Speaker Presentations
Books, News, & Media
Reports
- Whitley, S.E., Benson, G., & Wesaw, A. (2018). First-generation Student Success: A Landscape Analysis of Programs and Services at Four-year Institutions. Washington, DC: Center for First-generation Student Success, NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, and Entangled Solutions.
Scholarly Papers
- Roksa, J., Silver, B.R., Deutschlander, D. and Whitley, S.E. (2020). Navigating the First Year of College: Siblings, Parents, and First‐Generation Students’ Experiences. Sociological Forum. doi:10.1111/socf.12617
- Roksa, J., Deutschlander, D., & Whitley, S.E. (2020). Parental Validation, College Experiences, and Institutional Commitment of First-Generation and Low-Income Students. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 1-15. doi: 10.1080/19496591.2019.1699105
- Roksa, J., & Whitley, S.E. (2017). Fostering Academic Success of First-Year Students: Exploring the Roles of Motivation, Race, and Faculty. Journal of College Student Development 58(3), 333-348. doi:10.1353/csd.2017.0026.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
- 'Why Do We Have So Many Freaking Acronyms?!' Some Colleges Target Jargon in the Name of Student Success.(July 31, 2019)
CNBC
- The coronavirus crisis has been extremely challenging for many first-generation college students (July 28, 2020)
Community Impact
- UT Dallas works to ensure success of its first-generation students (October 25, 2019)
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Inside Higher Ed
- An Asset Perspective on First-Gen Students (April 11, 2019)
- Maximizing Success for First-Gen Students (October 4, 2018)
NPR
- 'First-Gen' Proud: Campuses Are Celebrating An Overlooked Group. But Is That Enough? (November 8, 2019)
U.S. News & World Report
- What to Know as a First-Generation College Student (May 14, 2019)
The Verge
Past Speaking Engagements
- SXSWEDU
- National Conference on Race and Ethnicity
- Campus Labs Elevate
- AL1GN Conference
- Florida Consortium's Focus on First-gen Conference
- Southwest Symposium on First-generation Student Success
- Council for Opportunity in Education Annual Conference
- National Resource Center on the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition
- NASPA Annual Conference
- NASPA First-generation Student Success Conference
- Achieving the Dream Annual Meeting
- University of California First-generation Symposium
- National Orientation Directors Association Annual Conference
- NASPA Regional Conferences
- ILEA Partnerships for College Completion
- Rutgers University RU 1st Forum
- Texas A&M University
- Ohio State University
- Columbus State Community College
- Purdue University
- University of Pennsylvania
- Southern Methodist University
Interested in having Sarah E. Whitley, Ph.D. as a speaker at your next event, symposium or conference?