College Student Affairs Leadership Faculty
Laila McCloud
Director of the M.Ed. in Higher Education Program, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Counseling
[email protected] Google Scholar
B.A., M.Ed., DePaul University; Ph.D., The University of Iowa
Dr. Laila McCloud joined the faculty in August 2021. Prior to coming to GVSU she was an Assistant Professor of College Student Personnel at Western Illinois University. She holds a Doctorate in Educational Policy and Leadership Studies (Higher Education and Student Affairs) from the University of Iowa. Prior to pursuing a faculty career, she served as a student affairs educator focused on issues of equity and access at several institutions in the Chicagoland area. Dr. McCloud's research uses critical theories and methods to explore: (1) the professional and academic socialization of Black college students; (2) the professionalization of multicultural student affairs work; and (3) teaching and learning practices in higher education and student affairs graduate preparation programs.
She serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of College Student Development. Dr. McCloud is an active member and has held leadership positions in higher education and student affairs associations such as ACPA, ASHE, and NASPA. Her research has been published in the Journal of College Student Development, the Journal of Higher Education, and the Journal of the Professoriate. Dr. McCloud is a Research Associate with the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL). In 2022, she was recognized as the NASPA Region IV-E Robert H. Shaffer Award for Academic Excellence as a Graduate Faculty Member.
Dr. McCloud teaches courses in the Adult & Higher Education (AHE) and College Student Affairs Leadership (CSAL) programs, including The Adult Learner (EDH 648), Higher Education & Student Affairs Functions (EDH 651), Administration of Student Affairs Programs (EDH 653), and advises master’s theses and projects (EDH 693/695).
Paul E. Bylsma
Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Counseling
B.A. Calvin College; M.Ed. Grand Valley State University; Ph.D. Michigan State University.
Dr. Paul Bylsma joined the faculty in August 2023. Prior to coming to GVSU Paul held roles in enrollment management, alumni relations, and supervising pre-service social studies student teachers. Paul holds a Doctorate in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education from Michigan State University. Paul's research utilizes sociomaterial theories to explore teaching, learning, knowledge, and practice in a higher education context as a complex encounter between people, space, and time. His recently-finished dissertation illuminates the hidden curriculum in undergraduate business education as a formative influence on students' embodied educational experiences.
Outside of academia, Paul's interests include reading, brewing, working and playing in the yard, and sustaining a household with his partner and two children.
Paul teaches courses in the Adult & Higher Education (AHE) and College Student Affairs Leadership (CSAL) programs, including The Adult Learner (EDH 648), Materials and Methods for Adult and Continuing Education (EDH 650), Theories of College Student Development (EDH 647), College Students in the United States (EDH 652), and advises master’s projects and theses (EDH 693/695).
Karyn E. Rabourn
Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Counseling
B.A., M.A., Michigan State University; Ph.D., Indiana University Bloomington
Dr. Rabourn joined the faculty in August 2015 and earned her B.A. in Elementary Education and M.A. in Student Affairs Administration from Michigan State University. Dr. Rabourn completed her Ph.D. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University (IU) in 2016. At IU, Dr. Rabourn worked for the Center of Postsecondary Research with the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Project for Academic Success and served as an assessment consultant to the Division of Student Affairs. Dr. Rabourn worked at the University of Pittsburgh and Michigan State University within residential life, with a focus on recruitment, selection, and training of professional, graduate, and undergraduate staff members. Dr. Rabourn’s research interests include higher education finance, assessment of student affairs practice, and access, persistence and retention of non- or post-traditional and historically underrepresented students. Her current research examines college student attitudes towards student loan borrowing and debt and she hopes to uncover valuable information that will assist to improve practices and policies related to student borrowing.
Dr. Rabourn currently serves as the Program Director of the M.Ed. in Higher Education program and has taught Theories of College Student Development (EDH 647), Higher Education and Student Affairs Functions (EDH 651), The American College Student (EDH 652), Administration of Student Affairs Programs (EDH 653), Critical Issues in Higher Education (EDH 658), and advises master’s projects and theses (EDH 693/695).
Liz Chase
Senior Student Success Coach
B.A. Michigan State University; M.Ed. Grand Valley State University
Liz Chase has been working with students at Grand Valley State University since 2015. She spent her first two years in the Disability Support Resources Office assisting students with academic accommodations and coordinating the Campus Links program designed for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She then went on to serve as the Student Retention and Special Projects Coordinator working with both Student Affairs and Academic Affairs (2017-2022) and spent time outside of this role as a co-director of the anti-violence peer education group, ReACT!. Liz now serves as a Senior Student Success Coach in the Student Academic Success Center where she partners with students on their academic journey. She is also a Co-Advocate providing students with victim/survivor advocacy support. Prior to coming to GVSU, Liz worked as a Program Manager for Design Dance, LLC. and acted with the Chicago Mammals.