New Book: More Age-Inclusive Practices Needed Across Academia, Writes Alumnae Fulford ’02
Congratulations to Keene State alumnae Collie Fulford ’02, whose new book, Insiders, Outliers: Centering Adult Student Writers at an HBCU, was published on June 17 by Rutgers University Press as part of its American Campus Series.
Leaning on case studies of diverse adult learners at a historically Black university, Fulford, PhD and associate professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Buffalo, integrates her experiences as an educator and former nontraditional student.
The book argues for increasing attention to the needs and strengths of degree-seeking adult students, including learning about the writing practices this group brings from their nonacademic life experiences.
“The book addresses an area of higher education that deserves much more attention,” Fulford said. “That is adult students, their educational histories, and their life-wide experiences as writers…My goal is to amplify their stories so that faculty, staff, and administrators can learn from them and make higher ed more inclusive. I also hope other researchers will be sparked to conduct further studies about this underrepresented population.”
Fulford earned a degree in English at Keene State, where she also served as assistant director of the college’s Center for Writing from 2007-09. She held that part-time position during the final two years of her PhD work at the University of Massachusetts Amherst while raising three children.
“Kirsti Sandy—who had been my undergraduate writing and rhetoric professor—probably introduced me to Dr. Phyllis Benay, who was the Center’s director at that time. That job also gave me a chance to apply what I had been learning about theories of writing and rhetoric differently than only in the classroom because I got to see how Phyllis promoted writing across the campus.”
Like a lot of the participants in her studies, Fulford felt quite different from many of her traditionally aged classmates because she had adult responsibilities of work and family that were “reference points in my classes,” adding that “There was no mistaking me for a 19-year-old. My age difference could have been alienating, yet many KSC faculty and staff made me feel welcome even though I had different strengths and needs than my classmates.”
She said her then-adviser, Judy Perry, didn’t judge her when she needed to go part-time or disappear entirely because of other responsibilities.
“Instead,” Fulford said, “she welcomed me back every time. Scholarship about student persistence marks that phenomenon as ‘swirling’ or ‘dipping in and out’ of college, and it’s quite common for adult learners. Often, institutions regard it as a problem, though, because non-continuous enrollment appears to indicate that students aren’t being retained. But in adult lives, enrollment flexibility is a must.”
When faculty recognize the strengths that adults bring from outside academia, while also being aware of the challenges these same students may face, they are practicing age-inclusive teaching, she said.
She added that students in her studies of adult learners speak about how important faculty encouragement is to them.
“The major I finally chose was a result of how faculty mentors treated me more than pre-existing attraction to any one particular field. I followed the teachers who offered me compelling ways to bring my interests from outside of school into my coursework.”
Fulford said she now knows, from her research on adult learners, that the degree of age-integration she experienced at Keene State more than two decades ago is not as common as it could be in higher education.
“I wrote Insiders, Outliers to contribute to changing that.”
Fulford begins a new position at Syracuse University in mid-August as the director of the Writing Center and associate professor in the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition.
Rutgers University Press is committed to advancing and disseminating knowledge to scholars, students, and the broader reading public. The American Campus series seeks books that explore recent developments and public policy issues in higher education.
Publisher’s 30% discount code: RUP30
