Extending the reach of college impact researchers and administrators in and beyond the field of higher education.
Researching
How College Affects Students
College Impact Laboratory (CoIL) consists of higher educator researchers interested in college and its influence on students.
Physically located at The Ohio State University, the lab serves as a convening space for educators to learn about college impact as a research domain, with members feeling empowered to use empirical work to articulate arguments, voice opinions, and innovate toward building college improvement strategies.
It is our hope that CoIL sustains a productive dialogue – extending the reach of the empirical good work done by college impact researchers and administrators in and beyond the field of higher education.
Meet the Team
Matthew J. Mayhew, Ph.D.
Dr. Mayhew is the William Ray and Marie Adamson Flesher Professor of Educational Administration. His research has focused on how collegiate conditions, educational practices and student experiences influence learning and democratic outcomes, including moral reasoning, pluralism, productive exchange across worldview differences, and innovation. To support the study of college and its impact on student development and learning, he has been awarded more than $20 million in funding from sources, including but not limited to, the U.S. Department of Education, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Merrifield Family Trust, and the National Science Foundation. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles in journals as well as How College Affects Students: Volume 3. He received his doctorate from the University of Michigan.
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Jossie Muñoz
LAB DIRECTOR
Jossie earned her B.A. from Dickinson College and her M.A. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from New York University. Before joining CoIL, Jossie worked as a Senior Manager for a nonprofit that became the state of California’s college and career planning platform. Prior to that, she worked as an Assistant Manager of Academic and Alumni Affairs at New York University Abu Dhabi. Jossie is delighted to be working again with Dr. Mayhew and be a part of such a talented research team.
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Emily Creamer, Ph.D.
POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR
Emily has worked in higher education for over 16 years. Before her role at The Ohio State University, she worked as a postdoctoral scholar at Case Western Reserve University where her scholarship focused on women-identifying folks, campus climate, workplace trauma, and the critical nature of mentoring. Her passions involve helping students with their mental health and balancing their academic, career, emotional, and social lives. Emily earned a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Bowling Green State University. She also holds two master’s degrees from the University of Toledo: one in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and the second in Higher Education Administration. Her bachelor’s degree is from Mount Union College with majors in psychology and sociology.
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Laura S. Dahl, Ph.D.
COIL CONSULTANT
Laura is the former research director for CoIL. She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at NYU and previously worked as an assistant professor in the School of Education at North Dakota State University. Her research critically examines how collegiate environments can influence outcomes such as sense of belonging, self-authored worldview commitment, career outcome expectations, appreciative attitudes toward diverse others, and integrative learning. Laura earned a Ph.D. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from The Ohio State University. She has a master’s degree in College Student Affairs Administration from the University of Georgia and a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
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Renee Bowling, Ph.D.
COIL CONSULTANT
Renee is a recent graduate of the Higher Education Student Affairs doctoral program. She previously served in U.S. higher education and K-12 administration in South Asia. Renee holds a B.A. in Sociology from The University of Akron, a M.A. in Counseling and Human Development from Walsh University, a postgraduate certificate in Religious Studies and Education from Harvard University and has completed The Ohio State University’s Accelerated Licensure Program for Superintendency. Her research interests include comparative international education, educational leadership, critical internationalization studies, religious literacy, and global education policy.
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Alan Sells
Alan is a second year Ph.D. student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program. Coming from Mobile, AL, their first degree in Secondary Education/General Science gave them a strong foundation in educational theory, while their M.Ed in Higher Education Leadership combined their passion for pedagogy with student service. Their research interests include student development theory and identity development, particularly in gifted, high achieving, and queer students. They have been working in higher education professionally for almost 10 years, advising honors college students for the past 5, and are excited to carry on student centric research.
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Susannah Townsend
Susannah is a second year Ph.D. student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program. After earning a B.S. in Biology from Emory University, she then earned her MPH in Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology from UC Berkeley. She worked briefly in clinical trials data analysis before shifting to institutional research at the University of California system and then at Mount Carmel College of Nursing. Her primary research interest is understanding how institutions can better meet the needs of first-generation college students and ensure their first-year success.
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Yun-Han Weng
Yun-Han is a second year Ph.D. student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program. She earned her M.S. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin -Madison. Yun-Han has worked in the MBA and Master’s Career Management office at the Wisconsin School of Business. She is a quantitative researcher. Her research interests include collegiate environments, interdisciplinary STEM education, and international students’ learning outcomes.
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Kara Graham
Kara is a first year Ph.D. student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program. She earned her B.S. in Business Administration from Indiana University and spent her early career working in the market research industry. After pivoting to the nonprofit sector and working with transition-age foster youth for ten years, she shifted her efforts to academia. Kara recently completed her M.Ed. in Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics, and Assessment from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research focuses on the mechanisms that enhance postsecondary experiences and close outcome gaps for students from underserved backgrounds such as former foster youth.
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Anisha Gill Saluja
Anisha is an incoming PhD student. Originally from the United Kingdom, she is currently earning her Master's degree in Educational Leadership from North Dakota State University (graduating in Spring 2024). Additionally, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Primary Education from the University of Reading. Anisha is presently employed as an Athletic Academics advisor. Her passions within this job include prioritizing equity and working to ensure that her student advisees feel supported in both their academic and personal lives. While in this role, Anisha has also worked to establish a Student-Athlete of Color Affinity group and has created materials on the subject of Student Development.
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Monica Quezada Barrera
Monica is a third year Ph.D. student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program. She began her college experience at her local community college, Santa Ana College, where she received her associate's in Liberal Arts. Monica earned her bachelor's degrees in Social Policy and Public Service with a double major in Education at the University of California, Irvine. She completed her M.S. from California State University, Long Beach, in Counseling option in Student Development in Higher Education. Her research interests focus on first-generation Latinx/a/o/e college students, family dynamics, and children of immigrants.
Our Projects
CoIL currently houses the following major research projects.
Enhancing Diversity in Career and Technical STEM (EDiCTS)
Funded by ECMC Foundation, EDiCTS is designed to enhance diverse student recruitment, retention, graduation, and entry in the automotive technical workforce.
EmPOWERment
The EmPOWERment Project is funded by a five-year multi-million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation. This project uses mixed methods to evaluate the experiences and learning outcomes of graduate students enrolled in a novel trans-disciplinary STEM program.
Interfaith, Spiritual, Religious, and Secular Campus Climate Index (INSPIRES)
INSPIRES is a collaboration between Dr. Matthew J. Mayhew (The Ohio State University) and Dr. Alyssa N. Rockenbach (North Carolina State University). This assessment tool measures, evaluates, and represents an institution’s efforts towards, and commitment to, establishing a welcoming climate for students of different worldview identities. This project is funded by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, an organization committed to courageous multi-faith efforts.
Including Faculty on Religious, Spiritual, & Secular Mattering (InFORM)
InFORM seeks to capture information on faculty religious, spiritual, and secular (RSS) identification patterns and examine how the expression of RSS beliefs of faculty working in American colleges and universities shape their teaching, research, and service. This project is funded by the Templeton Religion Trust.
Interfaith Research Clearinghouse
The Interfaith Research clearinghouse is intended to serve as a central location for empirical work examining how we can harness educational opportunities in college to enhance relationship-building and cooperation for students of very different religious, secular, and spiritual identities (RSSIs).