National University (NU) announced the launch of the Cause Research Institute (CRI), a new applied Research and Development arm that will coordinate research, scholarship, and other innovation efforts focused on social sector challenges, including education, health, human services, and criminal justice. This institute will seek to close the academic barriers that marginalized and nontraditional students face in higher education.
Dr. Thomas Stewart, vice chancellor for Social Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, was named as the inaugural executive director of CRI.
The CRI will concentrate on expanding undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate research opportunities for underrepresented students and institutions. The institute will serve as a hub that will work with broad-access universities, community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and K-12 schools that can now engage members of NU's community to support various academic fields. In addition to coordinating research and development activities for current NU faculty and students, the CRI will offer research, evaluation, assessment, and other professional services to peer institutions and organizations.
Dr. Thomas Stewart, vice chancellor for Social Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, was named as the inaugural executive director of CRI.
"Our mission is to deliver accessible, world-class student experiences by providing quality programs and services that ensure student success through meaningful learning," said Stewart. "We have primarily nontraditional students at the university, nontraditional older working-class students who have families, and we built a model that doesn't challenge them to make a choice between family, work, and school."
Across the nation, universities are increasingly establishing new institutes and resources centering on marginalized students and nontraditional students.
