Nathaniel J. Bray

Assistant Professor, Higher Education
Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
328A Graves Hall
(205)-348-1159
nbray@bamaed.ua.edu
Appointed in 2004

Recent Courses Taught:

AHE 500 – Perspectives on Higher Education
AHE 521 – Introduction to College Student Personnel
AHE 600 – College Student Development Theory I
AHE 610 – Academic Cultures and Learning in Academe
AHE 642 – Seminar on Institutional Research and Assessment

Areas of Research:

College student development and retention

Faculty – administrator relationship

Academic Degrees:

Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, 2003. Education and Human Development, specializing in Higher Education.

M.Ed., Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, 1996. Higher Education Administration.

B.A., Harvard College, Harvard University. 1993. Biology, cum laude in General Studies.

Professional Experiences:

Assistant Professor. Department of Educational Leadership, Technology, and Policy Studies. The University of Alabama. 2004 – Present.

Research Analyst. Department of Institutional Research and Planning Analysis. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. 2001 – 2004.

Teaching Associate. Department of Human and Organizational Development. Vanderbilt University. 1999 – 2001.

Master Teaching Fellow. Center for Teaching. Vanderbilt University. 1999 – 2000.

Selected Publications:

Bray, N. J. (In Press). Proscriptive norms for academic deans: Comparing faculty expectations across institutional and disciplinary boundaries. The Journal of Higher Education.

Major, C. H., & Bray, N. J. (In Press). Exam scams and classroom flimflams: Urban legends as an alternative lens for viewing the college classroom experience. Innovative Higher Education, 35 (5).

Bray, N. J., Harris, M., & Major, C. H. (2007). New verse or the same old chorus? Lessons from distance education. Research in Higher Education, 48 (7), 889-908.

Del Favero, M., & Bray, N. (2005). The faculty-administrator relationship: Partners in prospective governance? Scholar-Practitioner Quarterly, 3(1), 53-72.

Braxton, J. M., Bray, N. J., & Berger, J. B. (2000). Faculty instructional behaviors and their influence on the college student departure process. Journal of College Student Development, 41 (2), 215-227.

Bray, N. J., Braxton, J. M., & Sullivan, A. S. (1999). The influence of stress-related coping strategies on college student departure decisions. Journal of College Student Development, 40 (6), 645-657.

Selected Presentations:

Major, C. H., & Bray, N. J. (2006). Exam scams and classroom flimflams: Urban legends as an alternative lens for viewing the college classroom experience. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April 7, 2006, San Francisco, CA.

Major, C. H., Bray, N. J., Dyer, B., & Harris, M. (2005). Core curricula for American higher education programs. Presentation at the annual meeting of the Council for the Advancement of Higher Education Programs, November 2005, Philadelphia, PA.

Bray, N. J. (2005). Faculty norms for academic deans’ behavior. Presentation at the annual meeting of the Southern Sociological Society, April 2005, Charlotte, NC.

Bray, N. J., Bush, K. H., Catley, D., Chenier, T., Gile, R., Hung, C., & Olsen, D. (2004). Budget cuts and public higher education: Direct and indirect effects on human resources, instructional infrastructure and student recruitment and retention. Paper presentation at the annual meeting of the Association for Institutional Research, Boston, MA.

Bray, N. J. (2002). Faculty members’ perceptions of administrative norms for academic deans. Paper presented at the 2002 annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Sacramento, CA.