Nicholas Fuselier, PhD

Photo of Nicholas Fuselier

Nicholas Fuselier, PhD

Assistant Professor
Leadership, Research, and Foundations
Columbine Hall 3043

Bio

Dr. Nick Fuselier serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership, Research, and Foundations. Prior to his current role as a faculty member, Dr. Fuselier worked as a student affairs professional in a variety of functional areas including first year experience, college access and student success programs, leadership development, service learning, and community engagement. His work as a professional was recognized by ACPA-College Student Educators International as he was honored as an Annuit Coeptis Emerging Professional awardee in 2017. He has also served a three-year term on the ACPA-College Student Educators International Governing Board from 2020-2023.

Dr. Fuselier is a qualitative researcher whose research interests are anchored in this guiding question: How can colleges and universities be radically transformed in ways that center the needs and lived experiences of those most marginalized in our campus communities. His most established strand of research investigates the ways in which colleges and universities build capacity to serve, support, and advocate for undocumented students. His other research interests include critical perspectives on leadership education, trauma-informed practices in higher education, and the phenomenon of religious trauma and its impact on college student identity development. His work is published in a number of peer-reviewed journals including Educational Policy Analysis Archives, College Student Affairs Journal, Community College Journal of Research and Practice, Journal of College Access, Journal of Leadership Education, Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs, and Journal of Leadership Studies.

Since his time at UCCS, Dr. Fuselier’s teaching has been recognized. In 2021, he received the SAHE Program’s Influential Educator award. In 2022, he received the College of Education’s Outstanding Teaching award. Additionally, Dr. Fuselier currently as a Co-Chair for Faculty PRIDE – the university’s LGBTQ+ support and advocacy group.

Areas of Interest

  • Trauma-informed student affairs practice
  • Qualitative methods of inquiry
  • Religious trauma and college student identity development
  • Critical perspectives on leadership education
  • Student affairs practitioner positionality
  • Supporting undocumented college students
  • Race, racism, and racist-nativism in higher education
  • Critical whiteness studies
    

Education

  • Ph.D. in Higher Education, University of North Texas, 2020
  • Graduate Certificate in Community College Leadership, University of North Texas, 2020
  • M.Ed. in Student Affairs in Higher Education, Texas State University, 2013
  • Bachelor’s of Interdisciplinary Studies (Concentration: Social Justice), University of New Orleans, 2010

Teaching

  • LEAD 8250 – Policy Analysis and Evaluation
  • LEAD 5110 – Culturally Responsive Practices in Higher Education
  • LEAD 3000 – How College Students Develop
  • LEAD 3030 – Crisis Preparedness and Response in Higher Education

Selected Publications

Witkoswky, P., & Tapia-Fuselier, N. (Forthcoming). Influence of undergraduate student affairs coursework on undergraduate engagement. College Student Affairs Journal.

 

Witkowsky, P., & Tapia-Fuselier, N. (Forthcoming). Influence of undergraduate student affairs coursework on graduate school transition and professional socialization. Student Affairs on Campus.

 

Mitchell, R., Tapia-Fuselier, N., & Witkowsky, P. (Forthcoming). Recruiting and retaining higher education leaders the rural community college “lifestyle.” Journal of Education Human Resources.

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N. (2022). “We do it all”: Understanding the experiences of Undocumented Student Resource Center Professionals. Innovative Higher Education. Advance online publication.

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N. (2021). Enhancing institutional undocu-competence through establishing undocumented student resource centers: A student-encompassed approach. Journal of College Access, 6(2), 132-145.

 

Alanis, J., Witkowsky, P., & Tapia-Fuselier, N. (2021). Student engagement: Key to the persistence of undocumented Latinx college students. Journal of College Access, 6(2), 146-159.

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N., Jones, V., & Harbour, C. P. (2021). Uncovering whiteness as discourse: A critical discourse analysis of the in-state resident tuition debate for undocumented students in Texas. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 29(52), 1-25.

 

Beatty, C., Irwin, L., Owen, J., Tapia-Fuselier, N., Guthrie, K., Cohen-Derr, E., Hassell, S., Rocco, M., & Yamanaka, A. (2020). A call for centering social identities: Priority 1 of the national leadership education research agenda 2020-2025. Journal of Leadership Studies, 14(3), 1-6. doi: 10.1002/jls.21719

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N., & Young, J. L. (2019). Examining community colleges’ public responses to the threatened end of DACA: A document analysis. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 43(10), 807-811. doi: 10.1080/10668926.2019.1600605

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N., & Irwin, L. (2019). Strengths so white: Interrogating StrengthsQuest education through a critical whiteness lens. Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs, 5(1), 30-44.

Selected Presentations

Kunkle, K., Olivares, C., & Tapia-Fuselier, N. (2020). Understanding Community College Professionals’ Competence in Serving, Supporting and Advocating for Undocumented Students in Texas. Paper to be presented at the Council for the Study of Community Colleges Conference, Tempe, AZ. (Conference Cancelled due to COVID-19 Crisis)

 

Kunkle, K., & Tapia-Fuselier, N. (2020). Promise for All? A Content Analysis of Publicly Funded Community College Promise Programs. Roundtable to be presented at the Council for the Study of Community Colleges Conference, Tempe, AZ. (Conference Cancelled due to COVID-19 Crisis)

Tapia-Fuselier, N., & Kunkle, K. (2020). Connecting In-State Resident Tuition Policies for Undocumented Students to Underlying Political Goals for Education. Roundtable to be presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, San Francisco, CA. (Conference Cancelled due to COVID-19 Crisis)

 

Harbour, C. P., Tapia-Fuselier, N., & Sanders, J. (2020). Developing a Sense of Arendtian “Worldliness” at the Community College. Paper to be presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, San Francisco, CA. (Conference Cancelled due to COVID-19 Crisis)

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N., & Chen, P. D. (2019, November). Doing “soul” work: Understanding the experiences of Undocumented Student Resource Center professionals. Research Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference, Portland, OR.

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N., Jones, V., & Harbour, C. (2019, November). Revealing Whiteness as discourse: Analyzing the in-state resident tuition debate for undocumented students in Texas. Research Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference, Portland, OR.

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N., Harbour, C., & Wolgemuth, J. (2019, April). Community colleges, neoliberalism, and the implications for students from marginalized populations. Roundtable presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, Toronto, ON.

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N., & Taylor, J. (2019, March). Virtual undocu-competence: An analysis of community colleges’ websites. Paper presented at the Council for the Study of Community Colleges Conference, San Diego, CA.

 

Harbour, C., & Tapia-Fuselier, N. (2019, March). Civic engagement, public space, and the community college. Paper presented at the Council for the Study of Community Colleges Conference, San Diego, CA.

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N. (2019, March). Community college campuses respond to the “wind down” of DACA. Paper presented at the ACPA Annual Convention, Boston, MA

 

Irwin, L., &, Tapia-Fuselier, N. (2019, March). Deconstructing and reimagining StrengthsQuest education through a critical whiteness lens. Sponsored by the Commission for Student Involvement. Experiential session presented at the ACPA Annual Convention, Boston, MA.

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N. (2018, August). Advocating for Undocumented Students: An Undocu- Competent Institutional Response Framework. Paper presented at the Texas Higher Education Symposium, Houston, TX.

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N. (2018, April). Open Access?: Undocumented Students and Community Colleges. Roundtable presented at the Council for the Study of Community Colleges Annual Conference, Dallas, TX.

 

Tapia-Fuselier, N., Akil, E., and Wright, K. (2018, March). Centering Identity in Strengths- Based Education in Student Affairs. Sponsored by the Coalition for Multicultural Affairs. General session presented at the ACPA Annual Convention, Houston, TX.

Organizations

  • ACPA-College Student Educators International, Governing Board Member, Assembly Coordinator for Communities of Practice
  • Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Member
  • Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC), Member
  • American Educational Research Association (AERA), Member

Awards

  • AERA Division J Emerging Scholars Workshop, 2020
  • UNT Toulouse Graduate School Dissertation Award (Social Sciences Category), 2020
  • Outstanding Doctoral Student, UNT Higher Education Program, 2020
  • Outstanding Dedication to Professional Service, ACPA Graduate Students and New Professionals Community of Practice, 2020
  • Annuit Coeptis Emerging Professional, ACPA: College Student Educators International, 2017