Amber Manning-Ouellette

Dr. Amber Manning-Ouellette is an Associate Professor in Higher Education and Student Affairs at Oklahoma State University (OSU). She also holds the endowed Anderson, Farris, and Halligan Professorship for College Student Development, and served as the Interim Vice President for Student Affairs from 2024-2025 at OSU. Her scholarly work and research foci include socially just leadership education, college student learning and identity development, and postsecondary sexual health education in student affairs. Dr. Manning-Ouellette examines these research areas through various contexts including international education, historical methods, STEM education, and gender perspectives. She teaches a variety of courses such as student development theory, assessment in higher education and student affairs, college student sexuality, and introduction to student affairs.

Dr. Manning-Ouellette is a scholar practitioner and has authored several articles and book chapters on a number of topics across higher education and student affairs. Selected juried articles include college-level sex education courses: a systematic literature review in the Journal of American Sexuality Education, how service-learning influences the persistence of women in STEM fields published in the Journal of the First Year Experience and Students in Transition, and exploring intellectual disability as diversity in higher education in the Journal of College and Character. Selected juried book chapters include the role of liberatory pedagogy in socially just leadership education in Changing the Narrative: Socially Just Leadership Education and College Student Intercultural Development: Examining the Nexus of Student Cognition, Intellectual Development, and Perspectives in Emerging International Issues in Student Affairs Research and Practice. Dr. Manning-Ouellette is the co-editor of Emerging International Issues in Student Affairs Research and Practice as part of the books series International Perspectives on Educational Policy, Research and Practice. Her recent co-edited text is titled, Moving Towards Action: Centering Anti-Racism in Leadership Learning.

Previously, Dr. Manning-Ouellette worked in student affairs administration for over 10 years in various roles while completing her Doctorate of Philosophy in Educational Administration and Higher Education at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC). During that time, she served as the director of enrollment management for the College of Business, focusing on the recruitment and retention strategies of undergraduate students. In addition, she served as a student success coordinator for the first-year experience office where she oversaw 90 sections of first-year seminar courses, developed co-curricular programs, and managed faculty development. Finally, she served as a lecturer of leadership studies at Iowa State University and coordinated a global leadership study abroad trip to Stockholm, Sweden for several years.

Research Interests:

College student civic engagement, service-learning, social justice education and curriculum, postsecondary sexual health education, student leadership development, international student affairs, women in STEM education, diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education