The Community College Journal of Research and Practice recently published an article researched and written in part by Cochise College Behavioral Science Instructor Dr. Mark von Destinon and Cochise College alumna Jeanmarie Keim.

The article, “Gender and ethnicity: The relationship between Adlerian themes,” grew out of research conducted under a Title V grant provided by the U.S. Department of Education. The study found that the retention of students, especially of Hispanic students, may be improved if student services and classroom instructors consider the importance of social belonging to the students’ culture. The authors recommended that campus activities provided by the college should be continued and perhaps increased and adapted to draw in some of the connections to local sub-cultures.

Since the study was conducted, the college has added a student life coordinator on the Sierra Vista Campus, and the director of housing at the Douglas Campus also serves in a similar role. In addition to the Student Government Association, the college is home to a number of clubs focused on math and science, technology, social issues, and literature, among others.

Von Destinon has been with the college since 1992 and has held a number of faculty and administrative positions. He currently teaches psychology and sociology courses. Keim is a Cochise College graduate who is now a tenure-track faculty member at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She previously was a faculty member at the University of Arizona South and has taught classroom and online courses for Cochise College. She is currently teaching psychology online and is president-elect of the American Psychological Association’s Society of Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy. Stroud is a graduate student at the University of New Mexico, and Roberts is finishing his doctoral degree at Antioch University in Seattle.