ABSTRACT
Berta Vigil Laden is Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. She holds a B.A. degree from the University of New Mexico in history and Spanish; an M.A. degree from California State University, Northridge, in educational psychology; and an M.A. degree in higher education and a Ph.D. in administration and policy analysis from Stanford University. As an educator for over 20 years, she has taught in high school, adult school, community college, and university settings. She also has held various administrative positions, including department and division chair. Her research focuses on higher education and policy issues of culture, ethnic identity, access and equity, persistence, retention, transfer, and completion for ethnically diverse students in two-and four-year colleges. D.Michael Pavel, whose traditional name is ChiXapkaid, is a member of the Skokomish Indian Nation. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Puget Sound and his master’s and doctorate from Arizona State University. He is currently a faculty member in the College of Education at Washington State University. His teaching and research interests include tribal colleges, postsecondary teaching
and learning, Indian education, American Indian entrepreneurship, and higher education access and achievement. He has published over 40 articles, chapters, and national reports on Indian education and Native American people in higher education while consulting with major foundations and tribal communities across the country. More importantly, he is a traditional bearer, a position which carries with it the responsibility of learning and teaching future generations of tribal members all aspects of the sacred and traditional way of life among the Skokomish. Sheila Pedigo is the Dean of Students at Saint Mary College in Leavenworth, Kansas. She is also a doctoral student in the higher education program at the University of Kansas. Barbara K.Townsend is Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Leadership at The University of Memphis. She has also served as chair of the Department of Leadership and as associate dean of the School of Education at Loyola University Chicago. She is a former community college faculty member, having taught developmental English and study skills and served as acting chair of the Division of Developmental Studies at Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, Virginia. Her research interests include the concept of institutional distinctiveness, community college transfer students, higher education as a field of study, and gender issues. Publications include the edited volumes A Search for Institutional Distinctiveness (1989) and Gender and Power in the Community College (1995), the coedited Women in Higher Education (1993), and the coauthored Creating Distinctiveness: Lessons from Uncommon Colleges and Universities (1992). Mark VanDenHende is a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology at Washington State University. He also teaches courses within the department and is a research assistant. His research interests center on Native American education, educational history, and community college administration. He has a B.A. in U.S. history and an M.Ed, in student personnel administration in higher education from Western Washington University. He has also taught at Western Washington University and worked in student affairs there. Lisa Wolf-Wendel is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Kansas. She received her doctoral and master’s degrees
in higher education from the Claremont Graduate School. Her undergraduate degree in psychology and communications is from Stanford College. She has published several articles on women’s colleges and has engaged in extensive research on the topic of environments conducive to the success of women students. Her dissertation, chaired by Daryl Smith, explores the baccalaureate origins of African American, Latina, and European American women who earned doctorates. The study also examines the institutional characteristics associated with successful institutions. Recent research endeavors include an analysis of the relationship between the availability of financial resources and baccalaureate origins.
