Festus Cobena Ainoo
University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, Maryland, United States
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Festus Cobena Ainoo is a Ph.D. student and Instructor at the University of Maryland whose work centers on high-impact practices (HIPs), religion and spirituality in higher education, student success and retention, international education, leadership development, and educational access.
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Navigating Power and Culture: Equitable Advising and Supervision of International Graduate Students
A systematic review of 21 empirical studies identified language barriers, cultural dissonance, academic expectation gaps, and social isolation as four core challenge clusters for international postgraduate students, with supervision outcomes directly linked to supervisor multicultural competence (Ramchander, 2022). International students face additional intersectional pressures: race, migration status, and epistemic marginalization within hidden curricula that privilege Western knowledge systems (George Mwangi et al., 2019; Kidman et al., 2017). Cross-cultural PhD research distilled seven factors supporting mutual transformative learning, including trust-building and meta-communication (Gjøtterud & Ahmad, 2018). International students themselves identified three elements of equitable doctoral education: authentic inclusion, differentiated teaching and assessment, and individualized institutional resources (Hou & Jam, 2020). Drawing on lived experience as international graduate students, this session equips advisors and new professionals with equity-informed supervision strategies grounded in evidence.
Asset-Based Programming That Centers International Students' Belonging: A Conceptual Framework
Asset-Based Programming That Centers International Students' Belonging: A Conceptual Framework for Student Affairs Practice
Research consistently identifies language barriers, social isolation, and fragmented institutional supports as major obstacles to campus belonging for international students (Maundeni et al., 2010; Ackah & Kuranchie, 2015). A systematic review warns that siloed, deficit-framed programming perpetuates exclusion rather than inclusion (Starr-Glass, 2017). Yet studies show that asset-based, culturally inclusive approaches, including integrated first-year experiences (Yang, 2025), trained peer mentoring programs (Patel et al., 2024), and structured intercultural contact projects (Campbell, 2012), significantly improve belonging and adjustment outcomes for international students. Campuswide, cross-division coordination has also been shown to reduce fragmented delivery (Veerasamy & Raby, 2024). Drawing on lived experience as international graduate students and grounded in theory and peer-reviewed evidence (literature review), this session equips attendees with practical, research-backed, and actionable programming frameworks transferable to any campus.
Festus Cobena Ainoo
University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, Maryland, United States
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