Q&A
Paris Wicker Named 2026 NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow
By VICKY SANTOS
Published July 21, 2026
Paris Wicker, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy in the Graduate School of Education, has been selected as a 2026 National Academy of Education (NAEd)/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow — one of just 25 scholars chosen nationwide from nearly 500 applicants. The prestigious fellowship supports early-career researchers whose work addresses some of the most pressing issues in education.
Drawing on more than a decade of experience in college admissions and student affairs, Wicker’s interdisciplinary research examines the connections between student success, well-being, campus climate and equity in higher education. Her work focuses particularly on the experiences of Black and Indigenous students, faculty and staff, and seeks to better understand how institutions can create conditions that allow all members of their communities to thrive.
Wicker combines mixed and multi-methods research with critical and relational frameworks to explore how social connections, support systems and institutional environments shape educational experiences and outcomes.
“I don’t believe student success and student well-being have to be mutually exclusive, and my research highlights their interdependence,” Wicker says.
Her scholarship has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Ford Foundation, and the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research, and has appeared in leading academic journals across the field.
Through her fellowship project, Wicker will analyze nearly 800,000 responses from the Healthy Minds Survey to investigate how students’ social support networks influence well-being and academic success.
Paris talks about the fellowship, her research and the impact she hopes it will have on higher education.
What does receiving this fellowship mean to you personally and professionally?
It’s an incredible honor to receive this opportunity. The National Academy of Education and the Spencer Foundation are two of the most prestigious organizations in the field of education. I care deeply about the work of college student well-being, but to receive an endorsement of this nature is incredibly affirming. The fellowship also provides mentorship and professional development from prolific scholars in the field. It is a literal dream come true.
Your project examines college student success and well-being through social networks and support systems. What drew you to this area of research, and why is it especially important right now?
My interest in student success and well-being stems from more than 12 years of experience working in college admissions and student affairs.
In my day-to-day interactions with students, I saw many of them struggling to be well and feeling as though they had to choose between being “successful” or being well. I don’t believe student success and student well-being have to be mutually exclusive, and my research highlights their interdependence.
This work is especially important as colleges and universities are experiencing record levels of student loneliness, mental health challenges and declining well-being. Understanding how relationships and support systems contribute to student outcomes is critical for creating campuses where all students can thrive.
Your study uses nearly 800,000 responses from the Healthy Minds Survey. What are some of the key questions you’re hoping to answer through this research?
This longitudinal project examines student success, well-being and social support networks over a 16-year period from 2007 to 2023. I’m focused on two main questions.
First, how has the composition of students’ personal and institutional support networks changed over this timeframe, and what relationships exist between social network structures, student characteristics and the strength of support ties?
Second, to what extent do network measures and characteristics relate to institutional well-being and academic outcomes, and how do those relationships vary across different institution types and geographic regions?
How do you hope your findings will inform policy or practice on college campuses?
There is no shortage of research highlighting the importance of individual wellness behaviors such as sleep, nutrition and self-care. While those factors are important, I hope my findings will support the shift towards treating well-being as a collective and relational experience rather than solely an individual responsibility.
As loneliness, shrinking social networks and mental health concerns continue to rise, colleges need frameworks that create equitable conditions for all students to thrive. This project has the potential to advance policy and practice by demonstrating the importance of social integration and examining how different forms of support relate to student well-being and success.
Implications from the project have the potential to show institutions how they can make better use of existing survey and relational data. Rather than collecting new data, which can be expensive and burdensome, this project may provide a prototype for converting secondary data into relational data and offering new insights into how institutions can support student success and well-being.
How has your experience at UB helped shape or support this research?
As an early-career faculty member, UB and, in particular, X. Christine Wang and Carly Ogletree in the Graduate School of Education’s Office of Research, were instrumental in helping develop and refine this project. They provided space for brainstorming, idea sharing, and thoughtful feedback throughout the application process.
This was actually my second time applying for the fellowship — I was a semifinalist last year — and their encouragement and strategic guidance were invaluable in strengthening my resubmission.
How does this work connect to the students and communities you serve through your role at UB, and what do you hope it contributes to higher education overall?
My students know that teaching and advising for well-being is a philosophy and approach that I use in my role as faculty here at UB. I see my role as helping students learn how to care for themselves and for one another.
I hope my research contributes to the development of network-based interventions that make it more likely for students, faculty, and staff from all backgrounds and lived experiences to succeed and be well in higher education.
At a time when the value and purpose of higher education are being questioned, I want to frame well-being as an important outcome of the higher-education experience itself.
