Bettencourt Receives ACPA Funding for Student Affairs Research

December 12, 2024 – Dr. Genia Bettencourt from the University of Memphis College of Education (COE) is one of the recipients of the 2024-2025 Senior Scholars grants from the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). Bettencourt and her colleague Dr. Lauren Irwin from the University of Tennessee Knoxville plan to use the funding to research the experiences of mid-level personnel in higher education.

“Dr. Irwin and I hope to fill a crucial need by illuminating that experience. Over the next year and a half, we hope to interview mid-level practitioners across the United States and across functional areas to better understand their experiences,” Bettencourt said.

“The research is motivated by my experiences working in student affairs, including most recently as a faculty member for ACPA’s Mid-level Manager’s Institute,” said Bettencourt.

The project “Examining Mid-Level Experiences in Student Affairs” will look at the experiences of mid-level student affairs practitioners, particularly regarding how they negotiate systems of power. Bettencourt, an assistant professor in COE’s Department of Leadership, says this research is motivated by her personal experiences working in student affairs.

“Mid-level practitioners are a population that is integral within student affairs as they execute the vision of senior leadership while training and developing new professionals and grad students, yet there is scant research related to their experiences,” said Bettencourt.

What excites Bettencourt most is to provide more user-friendly resources to support mid-level practitioners on the ground, using tools like videos, case studies and discussion guides. The ACPA Senior Scholars grant will provide the funding to collect data and develop innovative products to disseminate results, in addition to traditional journal articles.

. This grant adds to funding previously provided by the Southern Association for College Student Administrators (SACSA) Assessment, Evaluation and Research Grants. Bettencourt and Irwin have been instructed to provide ACPA with a project update in May of 2025 and a completion and submission of their research by December 2025.

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