Dr. Maximilian T. Schuster is an associate professor of practice and associate chair of the Department of Educational Foundations, Organizations, and Policy where he teaches master and doctoral-level courses in higher education and student affairs, coordinates the MEd program in Higher Education, and maintains an affiliation with the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies program. Additionally, he helped form the School of Education’s Education, Leadership, and Social Change Living Learning Community in Irvis Hall.
Dr. Schuster’s scholarship broadly explores the variation in the lived experiences of college students with minoritized identities throughout their higher education journeys. He draws heavily on organizational culture, campus climate, and college student identity development frameworks to inform this work. Dr. Schuster is the recipient of several research grants and awards from student affairs and higher education professional associations.
Prior to joining the faculty, Dr. Schuster enjoyed seven years of professional experience in student affairs, working in residence life and student life offices.
Dr. Schuster completed a PhD in Higher Education Management at the University of Pittsburgh, and his dissertation, “Compartmentalized cultures, integrated transitions: Exploring first-year student transition at a middle Atlantic university,” earned the Outstanding Research Award from NODA, the Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education. Dr. Schuster also holds an MEd in Higher Education Management from the University of Pittsburgh and BA in English and French from Washington & Jefferson College.
Dr. Schuster teaches MEd and EdD courses in student affairs and higher education, drawing on contemplative pedagogies to enrich student learning. He usually teaches the following courses:
- MEd Internship in Higher Education
- Professional Development Seminar in Higher Education
- Student Development Theory
Dr. Schuster’s scholarship is practitioner-orientated and intended to have practical implications for higher education leaders and student affairs professionals. His work employs qualitative methodologies as well as constructivist and critical data analysis techniques to explore college students’ lived experiences, with an emphasis on LGBTQ+ students and students with multiple minoritized identities.
Schuster, M. T. (Editor, forthcoming). Students, campus, and democracy: Advancing democracy-sustaining learning in higher education. Information Age Publishing.
Schuster, M. T. (2024). Becoming co-learners and mentors: Creating intentional and sustained connections between faculty and graduate learners in accelerated or short-term academic programs. In E. T. Parker & T. L. Trolian (Eds.) Promoting meaningful student-faculty experiences in graduate education. Routledge.
Schuster, M. T., & *Greathouse, T. L. (2024). Guiding concepts, thematic mind maps, and personal theories of action: A new framework for using and teaching student development theory. In J. Clark & J. Martin (Eds.), Student affairs professional preparation: A scholar-practitioner guide to contemporary topics. NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.
Schuster, M. T. (2023). Well-being experiences of resident assistants with minoritized identities. Journal of College and University Student Housing, 49(3), 46-65. https://www.nxtbook.com/acuho-i/acuho/journal_vol49no3/index.php#/p/129
Schuster, M. T., & Stalker, R. (2022). Resident assistants with minoritized identities: The promise of identity-affirming microclimates in enhancing RA experiences. Journal of College and University Student Housing, 49(1), 10-31. https://www.nxtbook.com/acuho-i/acuho/journal_vol49no1/index.php#/p/13
Schuster, M. T. (2021). “An experience unlike any other”: The experiences of first-year students with minoritized identities with campus climate during the 2016 presidential election. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 14(4), 580-591. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000252
DeAngelo, L., Schuster, M. T., & Lauchaud, Q. A. (2021). The faculty role in grooming and gatekeeping students’ of color potential along the professoriate pipeline. Review of Higher Education, 44(4), 493-521. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2021.0010
Schuster, M. T. (2019). Learning culture: First-year student transition, institutional culture, and the bubble of trial adulthood. Journal of College Orientation, Transition, and Retention, 26(2), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.24926/jcotr.v26i2.2400
DeAngelo, L., Schuster, M. T., & Stebleton, M. J. (2016). California DREAMers: Identity, activism, and empowerment among undocumented college students. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 9(3), 216-230. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000023
- ACPA Commission for Admission, Orientation, and First-Year Experience and National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition Research Grant to study students’ political engagement, 2019
- ACUHO-I Research Grant to study college resident assistants with minoritized identities, 2017
- ACPA Commission for Gender and Sexualities Research Grant to study college student leaders with queer identities, 2017
- Teaching Excellence Award from ACPA Commission for Faculty and Graduate Programs, 2024
- Publication of the Year Award from AERA’s Graduate and Postdoctoral Education Across the Disciplines SIG, 2023
- Betty L. Harrah Manuscript of the Year Award from ACUHO-I, 2023
- Excellence in Research Award from NASPA’s Orientation, Transition, and Retention Knowledge Community , 2021
- NASPA Emerging Faculty Leader, 2020-2021
- Outstanding Research Award from NODA—Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education, 2017
Dr. Schuster maintains membership with the following professional associations where he is involved with presenting at national conferences as well as various peer review service: ACPA-College Student Educators International, Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, and the Journal of College Student Retention.
Some of his recent conference presentations include:
- Schuster, M. T. (2024, March). From preparation to renewal: A new multi-phase approach to democratic student engagement. Presentation at National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Annual Conference. Seattle, WA.
- Schuster, M. , & Greathouse, T. (2024, March). Applying student development theories in modern student affairs context. Presentation at National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Annual Conference. Seattle, WA.
- Schuster, M. , Edward, G. (2024, February). Summer work experiences: A catalyst for first-year students’ career competencies. Presentation at Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience. Seattle, WA.
In addition, Dr. Schuster is a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Certified Practitioner and a Research Mentor for the First/ Continuing Experiences in Research Program in the University of Pittsburgh Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.
