Effective Academic Standing Communications

Dr. Shannon Brady serves as Assistant Professor of Psychology at Wake Forest University and Research Fellow with the College Transition Collaborative, bringing expertise in educational psychology and student well-being. After teaching elementary and middle school on the Oglala Lakota Reservation in South Dakota, she earned her PhD in Developmental and Psychological Sciences from Stanford University. Her research focuses on how institutional practices and messages affect student experiences, particularly examining ways to promote belonging and achievement among underrepresented students. Her groundbreaking work includes leading studies on social-belonging interventions that have demonstrated long-term benefits for Black college students, improving their career satisfaction and community leadership roles a decade after implementation. As a leading expert on students' psychological experiences of academic probation, she investigates how institutional messaging can affect student well-being and achievement. Through her roles at Wake Forest and the College Transition Collaborative, she continues to advance understanding of how educational institutions can better support student success while addressing systemic inequalities in higher education.

Amy Henderson serves as Implementation Manager at the College Transition Collaborative (CTC) at Stanford University, where she specializes in developing and evaluating interventions to promote student belonging and well-being in higher education. Throughout her eight-year tenure at Stanford, she has managed several large-scale research initiatives, including a groundbreaking social belonging intervention study across 23 institutions and a multi-institutional trial evaluating psychologically attuned probation notification letters. Currently working as a research associate at Diversity Science, she partners with organizations to implement evidence-based practices for creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments. Her work focuses on bridging research and practice to help colleges create learning environments that foster equitable student engagement and success, with particular emphasis on helping institutions develop more supportive communications and policies for students facing academic challenges

Katie Mathias serves as Project Manager at the Equity Accelerator (formerly College Transition Collaborative at Stanford University), where she specializes in developing and evaluating interventions to promote student belonging and well-being in higher education. Her work includes managing large-scale research initiatives, including a groundbreaking social belonging intervention study across 23 institutions that demonstrated significant improvements in first-year completion rates. She currently leads a multi-institutional trial evaluating psychologically attuned probation notification letters, helping institutions develop more supportive communications for students facing academic challenges. Through her role, she has contributed to the development of innovative tools and approaches for improving student communications, including a toolkit for writing psychologically attuned academic standing notifications that has been widely adopted by college administrators. Her research demonstrates how small changes in institutional communication can significantly impact student motivation and engagement, particularly during challenging academic transitions. After earning her BA in Psychology with a specialization in Human Resources Management from the University of Waterloo, she has dedicated her career to bridging research and practice in higher education to create more equitable and supportive learning environments.