About
Symphony Oxendine, Cherokee/Choctaw, is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Leadership. Symphony worked in Student Affairs for 6 years before pursuing her doctorate. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Studies with a concentration in Higher Education and a doctoral minor in Educational Research Methodology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she also received her M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration. She received her B.A. from Oklahoma State University in Applied Sociology.
Her research interests include critical awareness of the social and institutional issues that affect the educational performance and institutional support of American Indians and other underrepresented groups, graduate preparation programs, cultural identity development, Historically Native American Fraternities and Sororities, student involvement and its impact on retention, leadership development, policy, and political processes within post-secondary education institutions. Her concentration on these research areas will help shape the direction and development of higher education professionals by assisting in the understanding of various institutional, psychosocial, and political processes as a means to support development for underrepresented students.