About Campus
Enriching the Student Learning Experience
About Campus is a scholarly magazine that focuses on bringing theory to life in stories of practical application as a way to enrich the student learning experience. The magazine seeks to be a space where authors engage in storytelling that highlight day-to-day praxis for postsecondary educators on and off college campuses. The magazine’s readership is wide and far-reaching, including a diverse array of administrators, faculty, staff, students, and policy-makers across educational contexts. With this readership in mind, authors are invited to use theory, practical experiences, and conceptual thinking to illuminate approaches to ongoing challenges facing postsecondary education. About Campus prioritizes manuscripts that focus on timely and pressing issues affecting student affairs and higher education contexts. Authors are encouraged to focus their manuscripts on pressing issues and how they can imagine alternative, emancipatory, and/or liberatory possibilities in education. In this way, About Campus offers a space for authors and readers to continue collectively reimagining the field of higher education. About Campus publishes articles revolving around three main focal areas: College students: the magazine advances critical understandings about who college students are and the environments in which they live, learn, work, think, play, and get to know themselves and others. We invite submissions that detail rich, complex, and compelling narratives about students and student learning in postsecondary educational contexts. Student affairs praxis: the magazine invites work that advances knowledge on pressing issues while challenging dominant narratives of student affairs work. We invite submissions that explore innovative and exciting directions in the application of theory to practice to enhance student learning. The process and values of postsecondary education: the magazine amplifies work that focuses on education as a process and its varied effects on the student learning experience. We encourage submissions that invite readers to wrestle with the complex challenges facing postsecondary education, especially those that offer fresh perspectives and creative, transformative approaches to addressing those challenges. About Campus addresses these aims by offering authors multiple possible article types which provide an in-depth exploration of a timely topic (Campus Feature), profile an innovative campus practice or program (In Practice), examine assessment practices around student learning (Taking the Pulse), feature first-person stories of educational praxis (View from Campus) or claim a stance regarding a compelling campus issue (Bottom Line).
| Z Nicolazzo | Associate Professor, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona |
| Roman Christiaens | Doctoral Candidate, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona |
| Reginald Blockett | Assistant Professor, Higher Education Administration, Auburn University |
| Laila McCloud | Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership and Counseling, Grand Valley State University |
| Moira Ozias | Assistant Professor, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona |
| Purvi Patel | Director of Civic and Campus Engagement, Institute of Politics, University of Chicago |
| Adrián Arroyo Perez | Associate Director of Faculty Affairs, Office of Faculty Affairs, University of Arizona |
| Carmen Rivera | Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Colorado State University |
| Erin Simpson | Assistant Dean of Students, Director of the Gender and Equality Center, and Coordinator of OU Advocates, University of Oklahoma |
| Michele Tyson | Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Denver |
| Cynthia Villarreal | Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, Northern Arizona University |
| Rachel Wagner | Associate Professor, Educational and Organizational Leadership Development, Clemson University |
| Katherine Wheatle | Culture, Race, and Equity Officer, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation |
| Alina Wong | Vice President, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Macalester College |
| D. Chase J. Catalano | Assistant Professor, Higher Education, Virginia Tech |
| Becki Elkins | Associate Professor, Student Affairs Administration, University of Wisconsin La Crosse |
| Leonard Taylor, Jr. | Director, National Survey on Student Engagement and Associate Professor, Higher Education and Student Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington |
| Susana Muñoz | Associate Professor, Higher Education, Colorado State University |
| Alan M. “Woody” Schwitzer | Old Dominion University, Norfolk, USA |
| Amanda R. Tachine | Assistant Professor, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University |
| Melvin Whitehead | Assistant Professor, Student Affairs Administration, Binghamton University |
| Alex C. Lange | Colorado State University, USA |
| Ryan Evely Gildersleeve | University of Denver, USA |
| Jean M. Henscheid | National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition |
| Patricia M. King | University of Michigan, USA |
| Marcia Baxter Magolda | Miami University of Ohio, USA |
| Charles C. Schroeder | University of Missouri at St. Louis, USA |
| Frank Shushok, Jr. | Roanoke College, USA |
| Michele Tyson | University of Denver, USA |
| Heather Shea | ACPA President, Michigan State University |
| Flo Guido | ACPA Governing Board Director of Research and Scholarship |
| Chris Moody | Executive Director |
WRITING FOR ABOUT CAMPUS
What We’re About
About Campus aims to provide a space for dialogue among colleagues with different perspectives who share a passion for student learning in postsecondary education. Our magazine strives to tell stories that explore innovative pedagogies and practices that influence the experiences and lives of college students in and out of the classroom. The articles in our magazine present experience and knowledge from a unique mix of researchers, public figures, professionals, faculty members, students, and those working in both student affairs and academic affairs. About Campus grounds insights and perspectives of the many practitioners and researchers who are thinking creatively about higher education, testing new ideas and practices, and assessing the effects of the policies on college campuses.
What An About Campus Article Should Do
• In each article, authors take a stand on how to advance our shared agenda of “enriching the student learning experience.”
• Authors have something original, timely, and interesting to discuss.
• Each article discusses a topic of general interest to a broad audience of educators including administrators, faculty, and staff. For example, even if an article is specifically about classroom teaching, the authors don’t assume that the reader is a classroom teacher.
• Each article speaks to a broad audience by using clearly defined and inclusive language (i.e., an article either explains clearly or does not contain phrases that only a select group of the educational community might understand, such as holistic learning or metacognition).
• Each article relies on a thorough understanding of current literature but does not include or sound like a traditional literature review. Technical or discipline-specific terms are used only when necessary; when such terms are used, they are clearly defined.
• Authors write in an engaging and sophisticated style that includes examples, specific stories, and even metaphors to help ground the topic and show the readers, as opposed to just telling them about it. Readers “meet” the authors and the subjects of the stories, but the stories are not too chit-chatty or unnecessarily autobiographical.
• The article is not overstated or overreaching. The author doesn’t need to have a “Final Answer” that solves or fixes everything, but the article does address possible solutions or new approaches.
The About Campus Article Types
Features
(length: 4000 to 5000 words)
Leading thinkers and researchers, practitioners on the front lines, and leaders in higher education explore far-reaching and critical topics, analyze new research, and detail implications for practice. Features provide an in depth look at issues in a range of areas affecting higher education. They draw upon current literature to offer appropriate background for the issue (although they do not include a traditional literature review), present results of new research, and explore new perspectives. Each feature approaches a timely topic from an original angle and shows how the topic affects student learning in a variety of contexts.
In Practice
(length: 1800 to 2400 words)
In Practice articles profile innovative campus practices that foster student learning. Describing best practices in a college or university setting, each article describes the purpose, context, and players involved in implementing the practice; uses assessment data to report the learning outcomes of the practice; and includes implementation challenges and strategies to address them. Articles offer readers key insights to help them adapt this practice to multiple contexts.
Taking the Pulse
(length: 1800-2400 words)
Taking the Pulse articles examine one of the most essential, but also most challenging, issues involved in successful educational practice: how to determine whether students are learning. These articles profile assessment practices that are accessible to a wide audience and useful in a variety of contexts. Each article should provide readers with practical ideas and principles about using assessment as a tool to inform their everyday work.
Views from Campus
(length: 1800-2400 words)
Views from Campus has candid first-person portraits and stories that model how educators work with students in various contexts to promote learning. These stories shed light on the special issues and challenges faced by those who live and work on our campuses — students, faculty, and staff alike. Stories can range from the humorous to the heartbreaking. These articles can examine personal experiences, campus events, everyday life events, or special moments.
Bottom Line
(length: 1800-2400 words)
These provocative, persuasive articles bring readers’ attention to a particular issue or challenge facing higher education. Authors clearly state their position, draw upon evidence as necessary to make their case, and show how the issue or challenge affects student learning. These articles should call readers to action and help them consider how the issue or challenge affects their own practice.
For any article submission, authors can submit narrative inquiry, portraiture, autoethnography, poetics, photographic, diagrammatic, educational criticism and connoisseurship, and other forms of arts-based scholarship.
Note: For general inquiries, please contact the About Campus Editorial Team at aboutcampus@du.edu.
ABOUT CAMPUS WRITING GUIDELINES
Authors are encouraged to use a writing style that couples narrative, storytelling and scholarship in enhancement of the specific topic. Articles should frame issues concisely to attract readers’ attention, develop ideas clearly and dynamically, and provide a practical application for the importance of these concepts in a wide range of educational contexts.
Structural Elements and Expectations for About Campus Manuscripts
Writing Style and Approach
Unlike most academic journal articles—which follow a standard structure of Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results, Discussion, Limitations, and Future Directions—About Campus articles use more literary-like structures and organization techniques to guide readers from start to finish. You can find the sample feature and articles at https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/ACA
Appropriate Use of Language
• Use first person, singular and plural (e.g., I and we) where appropriate.
• Do NOT use he/she or s/he and avoid he or she, which is awkward. Instead, use the plural as much as possible (Example: students ... they rather than the student ... he or she ...).
• Use a person’s full name the first time she or he is mentioned.
• When using proper names, whether of individuals or institutions, please double-check them for accuracy.
• Use jargon-free and inclusive language (i.e., an article does not contain phrases such as holistic learning or metacognition that only a select group of the educational community will understand).
• Avoid sexist language such as spokesmen, chairmen, and man in the generic sense. Substitute spokesperson, chair, individuals or people, and so on.
• Use the active voice as much as possible and avoid passive constructions. Give credit where credit is due; let those doing the actions DO the actions. See the difference below.
o Active: For a long time, educators have accepted that ....
o Passive: For a long time, it has been accepted that…
References
• Appropriately Integrated References in the Text (NOT APA Format): It is important that you pay special attention to our in-text reference style because it is different than APA style.
Like other magazines that publish serious nonfiction for a general audience, we ask authors to be selective in their use of references and to identify fully all references within the text of the article. Using an academic reference style can interfere with authors’ success in reaching out to a broad audience. It can encourage attention to details that may not be important to people outside of the authors’ particular field.
Also, because an academic reference style does not require authors to offer a context for a reference, it puts at a disadvantage those readers who are unfamiliar with particular sources or who may not have the time or interest to seek out the listed sources to understand how they fit into a certain argument. Please integrate reference information for specific facts and sources of direct quotes into the text, as shown in the examples below.
• As Ernest Boyer explains in Campus Life, “American higher education is, by almost any measure, a remarkable success. In recent decades, new campuses have been built, enrollments have exploded, and today, many of our research centers are ranked world class. Still, with all of our achievements, there are tensions just below the surface and nowhere are the strains of change more apparent than in campus life” (p. 1).
• In a recent article of the Journal of College Student Development, Patricia King and I describe how this integrated perspective can be applied to Learning.
• As Jean Henscheid states on her web site, “Half of all students are above average.” [Note: If a web-based document does not have page numbers, simply include the author’s name and the title of the site in the sentence.]
• A Reference List: Even though About Campus is not an academic journal and we do not take a scholarly approach to references in the text, we do want to make certain that readers can locate those sources that authors identify. For this reason, we provide reference lists at the end of articles and we ask authors to be thorough and provide all the essential details outlined below. Please use APA style for the reference list.
Word Limits
Authors must attend to the word limits according to the article type with their submission. Article submissions that extend beyond the marked word count will be returned automatically for revision.
ABOUT CAMPUS SUBMISSION PROCESS
To ensure prompt review of your manuscript, please check to make sure that your manuscript meets all of the following criteria before you submit it to About Campus.
Formatting Your Submission
• Save your manuscript as using your name, a title abbreviation, and the date of submission. Eg. “Mary Simmons_The Mobile Advisor_6.11.2014”
• Include page numbers.
• Type the manuscript in 12-point Times New Roman font.
• Double space and indent your paragraphs.
• Do NOT vary font size or style for titles, subheadings, or any special text.
• Do not include running headers (this is important, as special formatting can cause problems in e-mail transmission).
Title Page Specifics
a. Word count (which includes the title, author biographic information, manuscript text, and references). Please put the word count in the top, left-hand corner of the title page.
b. Title of the manuscript.
c. Full names, titles, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of all authors.
d. Short bios (40 words or fewer) of all the authors, including current affiliation.
e. Name of the article type (e.g. In Practice, Feature, etc.).
Note: The Editorial Team reserves the right to send back all submissions that do not follow these formatting guidelines.
Submitting a Manuscript
About Campus submissions are managed through an online portal hosted by Sage. To create an account and submit a manuscript, please visit the following link: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aboutcampus.
The Editorial Process: Working with the Team
Our editorial process is collaborative. We often work with authors at the conceptual stage to identify direction and focus (as well as throughout the writing process through multiple revisions). Our goal is to help cultivate and then publish substantive, engaging articles. You and your co-authors can view the status of your manuscript at any time by checking your Author Center after logging in to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aboutcampus.
About Our Process
• Our magazine utilizes a masked review process. Authors must remove any identifying information from their manuscript. This includes the author’s name within the text, location and university affiliation, and self-citations of published work.
• The Editorial Team will review and provide feedback on your manuscript. We review manuscripts as quickly as possible. Because the team is small, it may take six to eight weeks for an editor to respond to your manuscript. Editorial Team members and authors will correspond until they agree the manuscript is at a final draft stage; most manuscripts will go through several rounds of revision.
• The Editorial Team will notify you when your article has been accepted for publication. Once an article is ready for publication, it becomes a part of our warehouse of articles from which we choose when we put together issues of the magazine.
• When an article is slated for a particular issue, we ask authors to sign a copyright transfer agreement (see below) and provide pull quotes. Pull quotes will be highlighted through the publication of the article. Please submit at least 2-3 quotes for every page.
• The About Campus editorial assistant will notify you when your article has been slated and will e-mail the copyright transfer agreement to you. It must be signed and returned in order for the article to be published.
• The Editorial Team will make necessary changes in the article (including its title) for clarity, length, and conformity to style. You will be sent an edited version of your article for a brief review prior to its publication.
Copyright Transfer Agreement Information
Below are key rights we ask authors to assign to us. Please read this information carefully and make sure you feel comfortable with the rights as outlined. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact the Editorial Team at aboutcampus@du.edu
1. You have supplied an original manuscript for inclusion in an issue of About Campus.
2. You agree that the manuscript you have furnished is original and prepared especially for About Campus; that it has not been and is not being registered for copyright and/or published elsewhere; and that you will not release it for any purpose prior to publication of About Campus issue in which it is scheduled to appear.
3. You guarantee that your work does not infringe any copyright, violate any property rights, or contain any scandalous, libelous, or unlawful matter, and you agree to hold the Sage as Publisher harmless against any claim that may be incurred involving such matters.
4. You grant the editor and the office of the publisher the right to make changes in the article (including its title) for clarity, brevity, and conformity to style. You will be contacted about your contribution before it is set in type only if substantive changes, which the editor will determine, are made in the editing process. You will not receive proofs; the publisher and editor will be responsible for all proofreading of the article.
5. You agree that your contribution will be published, copyrighted, and sold by Sage, Publishers, in its own name or any other name throughout the world, in all forms and editions, including electronic editions. Nonetheless, you may copy or reprint your material provided you obtain prior written approval from and make proper attribution to Sage.
6. If, for any reason, the article is not published, you are free to use your manuscript for any purpose you desire.
7. In appreciation for your contribution to About Campus, Sage will send you ten (10) complimentary copies of the magazine issue in which your article appears and a complimentary one-year subscription to the magazine. If you prefer, you may use this subscription benefit to introduce a friend or colleague to About Campus by providing an alternate name and mailing address on the form that accompanies this Letter of Agreement.
8. You will keep the editor informed of any change in your address that may take place between now and your receipt of the materials from Sage.