Dr. Barefoot is one of the three co-founders of the Policy Center on the First Year of College where she currently serves as Co-Director and Senior Scholar. Prior to 1999 was Co-Director for Research and Publications for the University of South Carolina’s National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. She has extensive university teaching experience at undergraduate and graduate levels. Her special area of expertise is the scholarship of efforts to improve the beginning college experience. She is widely published and is universally regarded as a leading scholar in her field. She is also highly regarded for her editorial and management skills in the production of higher education publications. She has twenty-five years of experience working on issues of first-year student success at the national level.
