Ross Aikins

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Adjunct Associate Professor

Policy, Organizations, Leadership, and Systems Division

Program Manager

Contact

raikins@upenn.edu

(215) 898-8398

Media Inquiries:
Contact Penn GSE Communications.

Education

Ph.D. (Higher Education and Organizational Change) UCLA, 2011
M.A. (Higher Education and Organizational Change) UCLA, 2005
B.A. (English and Comparative Literary Studies; Education Minor) Occidental College, 2003

Areas of Expertise

College student health
Alcohol and other drug use
Mental health
Admissions and college access
Artificial intelligence in higher education

Programs

Higher Education M.S.Ed.

Programs

Higher Education Ph.D.

Higher Education Ed.D.

Bio Nav

Biography

Professional Biography

Dr. Aikins joined the faculty of Penn GSE in Fall 2013. He received his Ph.D. in Higher Education and Organizational Change from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2011, and specializes in collegiate substance abuse and student health research. Dr. Aikins has teaching, administrative, and research experience in K-12 and postsecondary settings, including the University of Southern California, Carnegie Mellon University, UCLA, and Occidental College.

Prior to joining Penn GSE, Dr. Aikins received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Institute of Health (NIH) Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Development and Research Institutes (NDRI) in New York City, and lectured at CUNY Brooklyn College.

In his current role, Dr. Aikins advises over 60 full- and part-time master’s students in the Higher Education Division, and oversees the Penn GSE Graduate Assistantship Program for full-time M.S.Ed. students. Additionally, Dr. Aikins teaches graduate classes, supports admissions functions of the Higher Education Ph.D., Ed.D., and M.S.Ed. programs, and manages the Higher Education Division.

Research Interests and Current Projects

Dr. Aikins’s primary research interests concern college student health and wellness, including mental health, substance abuse issues, sexual health and safety, institutional responses to COVID-19, and most recently, student use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in postsecondary settings.

His current research explores academic use cases and evolving ethical perceptions around ChatGPT and other AI platforms among college students. Previously, Dr. Aikins analyzed institutional policy responses to COVID-19 that promote campus health outcomes, resulting in a collaboration with the University of Toronto to comparatively analyze crisis communications of Chinese, Canadian, and U.S. postsecondary institutions during the outbreak of COVID-19.

His doctoral research qualitatively explored the health and developmental implications of college students who use stimulant medications medically and non-medically (e.g., Adderall, Ritalin, and other so-called “cognitive enhancement drugs”), which earned the Margaret J. Barr Research Award from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.

In his role as an NIH Research Fellow, Dr. Aikins served as Primary Investigator of a large multi-regional survey of prescription drug diversion, investigated the ethics and social equity of enhancement-drug use in academia, and published on the mental health and substance use characteristics of student veterans of color.

Outside of his primary teaching and administrative responsibilities to the Higher Education Division, Dr. Aikins has presented over 20 selected or invited talks at organizations including The American Educational Research Association (AERA), The American College Health Association (ACHA), The Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), TED, and NerdNite.

Publications

Selected Publications

O’Shea, M., Mou, L., Xu, L., & Aikins, R. (2022). Communicating COVID-19: Analyzing higher education institutional responses in Canada, China, and the USA. Higher Education Policy, 35, 629–650. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-022-00276-y

Aikins, R. (2019). “The White version of cheating?” Ethical and social equity concerns of cognitive enhancing drug users in higher education. Journal of Academic Ethics, 17(2), 111–130.

Aikins, R., Zhang, X., & McCabe, S.E. (2017). Academic doping: Institutional policies regarding nonmedical use of prescription stimulants in U.S. higher education. Journal of Academic Ethics.

Aikins, R. D., Christian, M. E., & Harper, S. R. (2017). The NCAA on drugs: Players, performance-enhancing drugs, and the need for tougher testing policies and practices. In S. R. Harper & J. K. Donnor (Eds.), Scandals in College Sports. New York: Routledge.

Morton, C. M., Hoefinger, H., Linn-Walton, R., Aikins, R., & Falkin, G. P. (2015). What are youth asking about drugs? A report of NIDA Drug Facts Chat Day. Journal of Drug Education. 45(3-4), 195–210. DOI: 10.1177/0047237915622084

Aikins, R., Golub, A., & Bennett, A. (2015). Readjustment of urban veterans: A mental health and substance use profile of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in higher education. Journal of American College Health, 63 (7), 482–494.

Harris, S., Nikulina, V., Gelpí-Acosta, C., Morton, C., … Aikins, R., Smith, V., Barry, V., & Downing, M. J. (2015). Prescription Drug Diversion: Predictors of Illicit Acquisition and Redistribution in Three U.S. Metropolitan Areas. AIMS Public Health, 2(4), 762–783. DOI 10.3934/publichealth.2015.4.762

Aikins, R., Hoefinger, H., Guarino, H., Rosenblum, A., Magura, S., & Joseph, H. (2015). Conducting rapid street assessment of drug users in NYC using oral fluid and brief interviews: A feasibility study. Journal of Addictive Diseases.doi:10.1080/10550887.2015.1059118.

Aikins, R. (2015, April 9). High achievers. Times Higher Education, pp. 34–41.

Aikins, R. (2015). From recreational to functional drug use: The evolution of drugs in American higher education: 1960–2014. History of Education: Journal of the History of Education Society, 44(1), 25–43. doi: 10.1080/0046760X.2014.979251.

Aikins, R. (2012, August 15). Olympics, doping, genes, and other inconsistencies in ‘performance enhancement’ and sport. Points: The Blog of the Alcohol and Drugs History Society (University of Florida).

Aikins, R. (2011). Academic performance enhancement: A qualitative study of the practices and beliefs of stimulant using college students. Journal of College Student Development, 52(5), 560–576.

Courses

EDUC 592 Professional Development in Higher Education

EDUC 619 College Student Health

News & Media

Penn GSE News

Students are leaning into AI. Faculty need to catch up, according to Penn GSE study

Ross Aikins found students are finding new ways to use the tools, and AI is especially helpful for international students.

January 26, 2024

In the Media

What students said about the Spring of ChatGPT

Ross Aikins reports findings to Inside Higher Ed from interviews with dozens of students about how they used AI tools in their studies over the spring and summer. Going into fall, he says, faculty will need to revisit their policies early and often.

Inside Higher Ed | September 7, 2023

We must do better for the next Lia Thomas

Should there be more than two podiums, two gendered sets of record books? More could be done to recognize transgender athletes’ accomplishments, Ross Aikins writes.

Inside Higher Ed | March 25, 2022

Looking at the supply chain of higher education

"Higher Ed has always been efficient, but only for a certain segment of the population," Ross Aikins told The Supply Change podcast, in a conversation about access, inequality, tuition hurdles and more.

The Supply Change | December 24, 2019

Academic Performance Enhancing Drugs in Higher Education

Ross Aikins and Anita Gupta join host Dan Loney to discuss the recent increase of academic doping and how colleges are dealing with this new trend.

Wharton Business Radio Highlights | August 7, 2017