In recent years, an increasing number of international students have enrolled in engineering programs in U.S. colleges and universities. These students often encounter challenges, and academic advisors play a significant role in international students' academic success. Using a model of intercultural communication competence, we explored attitudes toward and understanding of cultural differences among academic advisors in a college of engineering at a 4-year research university. We also investigated advisors' knowledge of and skills in conducting intercultural communication with international students. The findings shed light on advising international students in engineering programs, and we provide recommendations for academic advisors on conducting effective communication with students from diverse cultural backgrounds.

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and associated social responses may uniquely affect people living with HIV (PLHIV). SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing and a cross-sectional survey on COVID-19’s socio-behavioral impacts were conducted among a large PLHIV cohort in Hanoi, Vietnam. We examined anonymous antibody test results for 1243 PLHIV (99.8%) from whom plasma was obtained and completed surveys were collected in June/July 2020, just after the end of the first COVID-19 outbreak and nationwide lockdown. Three participants (0.2%) tested positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies. HIV treatment was generally maintained without antiretroviral therapy interruption, but COVID-19 had substantial impacts on economic security and risky health behaviors among PLHIV, which may have amplified psychological stress. These findings highlight the need for continuous monitoring of COVID-19’s impacts on PLHIV and for efforts to mitigate these impacts.

Principal-student racial congruence exists in a school when the race of the principal matches that of the largest race group among the student population. We argue that principal-student racial congruence is a topic that has received little attention in the literature. Using Texas data, we investigate the presence of principal-student racial congruence in public schools and the varying ways it manifests across differing school contexts. We found a slim majority of public schools to be racially congruent. Although we are aware of no research basis for considering racial congruence in administrator placement practices, our analysis suggests that Texas school districts do exactly that. Further, we found the likelihood of a White principal-student match to be much higher than that of any other congruency. The implications of our findings, as well as their contribution to a larger discussion of race and school leadership, are offered in the concluding sections of the article.

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