Dr. Eddie Comeaux serves as associate professor of higher education in the Graduate School of Education. He maintains an active research agenda that examines the college student experience—with special attention on athletes and underrepresented students— and how those experiences influence their subsequent outcomes. Central to much of his work are issues of access and equity. Comeaux has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles in the major journals for higher education and other related fields including Educational Researcher, Journal of Higher Education, Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, Journal of College Student Development, Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, and Sociology of Sport Journal. He also has published three books, Introduction to intercollegiate athletics (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015) Making the connection: Data-informed practices in academic support centers for college athletes (Information Age publishing, 2015), and College athletes’ rights and well-being: Critical perspectives on policy and practice (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017). Comeaux is currently working on his next book, Organized captivity: Control, hyper-surveillance, and disposability of Black athletes in the corporate university.
Having spent many years conducting research on college athletes and students from underrepresented groups, Comeaux is committed to creating more inclusive and optimal learning environments for these students. He developed the Career Transition Scorecard (CTS), an action- oriented approach to accountability and change in intercollegiate athletics. Comeaux is currently working closely with participating athletic departments to implement the CTS and other “best practices” not only to foster evidence-based approaches among higher education professionals in order to better understand the educational landscape of college athletes but also to enhance the quality of athletes’ school-to- career transitions. Additionally, in a research project commissioned by the UC Office of the President, Comeaux is working to understand the college access and choice processes of high-achieving African American students in California. He is also engaged in a funded research project that seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding and explanation of the pre-college and college experiences of underrepresented students of color enrolled in the University of California—and to identify reasonable factors that will create more equitable pathways to college, and broaden the ways we define academic success in the admissions process.
Comeaux is the current convener for the Higher Education Administration and Policy program. He teaches courses on college student development theories, intercollegiate athletics, foundations of research, and diversity issues in higher education. Comeaux is the current Vice Chair of Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS). He is also the co-founder and former Chair of the Special Interest Group, Research Focus on Education and Sport for the American Educational Research Association. In addition, Comeaux serves on several editorial boards. Prior to earning his Ph.D. at UCLA, he was drafted out of the University of California, Berkeley in the amateur free draft by the Texas Rangers baseball organization– and spent four years playing professional.
