Professional Development Facilitation: Chapter 16 - Engaging Justice-Involved Students

Vanesa Sierra and Pilar Garcia

Higher Education Administration and Leadership, California State University Fresno

 Professional Development Facilitation: Chapter 16 - Engaging Justice-Involved Students
Explanation of Activity
As a class, we will all step outside and then number of the students. The student will

either be number one or number two. Based on the number, that is how the class will be divided

into two groups. Then we will hand out a flashcard to everyone and ask them not to read the card

until further instruction. The students will stand in a line shoulder to shoulder. We will then read

aloud a sentence; depending on the sentence, the whole group will step forward or backward.

This activity will highlight challenges that most, if not all, justice-involved students face daily.

We will ask our peers to see who was familiar with justice-involved students and what they knew

or heard before. It is essential to understand that we all have some privilege compared to

justice-involved students. As professionals seeking a career in higher education, we should be

prepared to serve students across the board.

Key Concepts
Important key concepts that we will be discussing are challenges justice-involved

students face, important concepts, the Seven Core Elements Model, and student engagement

strategies. The four concepts will help analyze and understand what justice-involved students

experience in higher education and in what ways can professionals in this setting help these

students be successful. Justice-involved students face a lot of challenges but some of the most

notable ones are in specific areas such as academic barriers, access to campus housing, financial

aid, and stigma. To understand what justice-involved students feel and experience, some

important concepts to acknowledge are the sense of belonging, intersectionality, and critical

flexibility. In addition, the Seven Core Elements Model and student engagement strategies are

models that explain different ways higher education professionals can shape a meaningful

college experience for justice-involved students. These key concepts show the challenges
justice-involved students are facing and provide strategies to secure their success in higher

education.

Learning Outcomes
As we pursue a career in higher education, it is essential to understand how to engage

justice-involved students. The following learning outcomes will give those who work in higher

education a better understanding of engaging justice-involved students and learn how to meet

their diverse and complex needs.

Student affairs professionals will learn about the four concepts that better understand the

challenges that justice-involved students face in higher education.

(a) academic barriers, (b) access to campus housing, (c) financial aid, and (d)

stigma

Students affairs professionals will learn about theories and concepts that can offer a

framework for understanding the experiences of justice-involved students.

Seven Core elements, intersectionality, and critical reflexivity

Student affairs professionals will be presented with student engagement strategies to

effectively engage justice-involved students in college.

Outline
1. Activity to Introduce Topic (7-10 minutes)

a. Discuss what we learned from the activity.

2. Presentation (15 minutes)

a. Learning Outcomes

b. Concepts to Know

c. Four Major Challenges Justice-Involved Students Face

d. Seven Core Elements Model

 e. Student Engagement Strategies

3. Examples of Two Institutions with programs that help justice-involved students

a. Fresno State Project Rebound

b. UC Berkeley Underground Scholars

4. Questions & Thoughts

a. This will be an opportunity to let the group ask for any clarification and/or share

their thoughts about the topic.

 References
Quaye, S.J., Harper, S.R., & Pendakur, S.L. (Eds). (2020). Student engagement in higher
education: Theoretical perspectives and practical approaches for diverse populations
(3rd ed.), 273-280. New York, NY: Routledge.