John Gardner is the senior fellow of the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, (which he founded in 1986), and distinguished professor emeritus of library and information science at the University of South Carolina. Currently he is executive director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College in Brevard, North Carolina and coeditor, with M. Lee Upcraft, of The Freshman Year Experience.

Betsy Barefoot is co-director and senior scholar of the Policy Center on the First Year of College. She is also a Fellow with the National Resource Center for The First-Year of College and Students in Transition at the University of South Carolina.