How do faculty and advisors influence the way students feel a sense of belonging in higher education? Science Education Advisor Dr. Katie McCorrison co-hosts with Dr. Joe Gaston in a special alumni highlight episode. Alternative school teacher Sophia Houston discusses how engaging, hands-on experiences such as onsite field trips offer new perspectives for students with limited experiences. Informed by her research with university faculty, Dr. Henning and Dr. Tran into disparities between an individual and their organizational norms, Houston has developed meaningfully tangible experiences for marginalized students in secondary science classrooms. She also discusses how this "cultural mismatch" can hinder first generation college students as they navigate applying for admission and financial aid as well intersecting with STEM disciplines and student organizations. In exposing student perceptions of barriers to access advisors and resources as well as condescending attitudes by faculty, Houston is getting the word out about how to become agents of change in better assisting and promoting marginalized college students.

"Peer Helpers Plus" equips people with tools to healthily treat and support each other and to destigmatize the term "mental health". Join host Dr. Joe Gaston with guest host Dr. Tres Stefurak as they talk with the founder of Thrive Way LLC and Executive Director of the Jennifer Claire Moore Foundation, Allison Moore. Tune in as Moore discusses basic level coping skills and character curriculum for all students across needs levels and through real-life situations that can impact any student. Learn the benefits of peer mentoring in equipping people to deal with signs of distress among those with whom they interact and the curriculum available to districts to train members of leadership, program coordinators, parents, and key stakeholders. Moore also shares her experiences as a non-traditional doctoral student in the graduate Instructional Design Program at South as well as her upcoming guide to fundraising through planning and hosting rodeos.

You can contact Allison Moore at: Allison@jennifermoorefoundation.com or allison@thriveway.com.

Dr. Kathy Thompson shares the inspirational story of her career as a black, female educator in STEM education as she celebrates mentors, taking chances, and high-bar goal setting. Tune in with hosts Dr. Joe Gaston and Dr. Susan Ferguson as they learn how productively run local and state grant projects can attract invitations to attain and administer federally run grant-funded programs.

Join Dr. Tres Stefurak as he hosts the first Grad Edition of Sincerely, South, a series that highlights graduates of the College of Education and Professional Studies. He is joined in the studio by USA graduate Jason Williams as they discuss inspiration to teach as influenced by early experiences working with students with special needs, as well as the need for male influence in the elementary classroom. Tune in to get inspired as they discuss the motivation to teach and the desire to fill a need in the community.

Dr. Joe Gaston is joined in the studio by Physical Education faculty, Dr. Craig Parks and Dr. Shelly Holden. Dr. Parks discusses his internal grant funded research exploring student attrition from undergraduate physical education programs, as a microcosm of the trend in declining undergraduate enrollment and program completion. Dr. Holden talks about lessons learned from the EdTPA portfolio evaluation and the effort to make the process and outcome more indicative of actual preservice teacher competencies and abilities.

This is the second in a two part episode where we hear directly from high school students in teacher preparation academies about what motivates them to pursue teaching as a career. Drs. Joe Gaston and Susan Ferguson continue the conversation with guest Dr. Allan Allday as they listen to interviews with high school juniors and seniors who visited the podcast studio as part of a campus preview initiative facilitated through faculty in the college. Themes in this episode include how the teacher prep academy facilitates experiences for future teachers as well as how many hope to be role models for future generations of students.

In this episode we hear directly from high school students in teacher preparation academies about what motivates them to pursue teaching as a career. Drs. Joe Gaston and Susan Ferguson welcome back to the show chair of the Department of Leadership and Teacher Education, Dr. Allan Allday, as they listen to interviews with high school juniors and seniors who visited the podcast studio as part of a campus preview initiative facilitated through faculty in the college. Themes in this episode include inspiration to become engaging educators, as students recount teachers who made life-changing impact in their lives, as well as wanting to be an encouragement to students in light of negative situations they faced.

Tune in as Dr. Angelia Bendolph shares her journey as a first generation college graduate who has made her mission serving students in P-12 through higher education and effecting change in government, engineering, and industrial arenas through human-centered/learner-centered design and solutions. From her early career as an engineer to her doctoral journey in Instructional Design, Dr. Bendolph's message that community and mentorship matter in the success of underrepresented populations in STEM professions, is one that will encourage and inspire.