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Co-Director Dowd Speaks at University of Melbourne
On April 18, 2013, CUE Co-Director and Associate Professor of Higher Education, Alicia C. Dowd spoke at the University of Melbourne as part of the Ideas and Issues in Higher Education seminar series. Dr. Dowd's seminar presentation entitled "Designing Accountability for Equity in U. S. Postsecondary Education" addressed challenges to building equity goals into public accountability policy. Using the Equity Scorecard as an example, she focused on the process as one approach to reach equity among racial/ethnic groups in college participation and outcomes. The seminar series put on by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education occur monthly and address a range of issues from theory to policy to research and development.
Above: Dr. Dowd addresses the audience and invites them to discuss how data-based inquiry as seen in the Equity Scorecard can be used to address campus equity issues. Find out more about the seminar series. [link] -
Equity in Excellence
Partnering with WICHE for Equity in Colorado
The Center for Urban Education (CUE) at the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) are partnering on a project supporting the implementation of Colorado’s bold higher education reform agenda. With funding from the Ford Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CUE and WICHE will work with three postsecondary institutions in Colorado - the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the Community College of Aurora - as well as with the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) and the Colorado Community College System to align the state’s higher education policy measures with concrete, equity-focused measures.
Read more about the project here. -
Equity in Excellence
Building on Existing Efforts
Equity in Excellence, a two-year, $1 million project funded equally by the Ford Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is building on work already underway in Colorado. Over the past two years, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education and other education and political leaders have created a new strategic plan and legislation aimed at increasing the number of Coloradans aged 25 to 34 who hold high-quality degrees and certificates. Equity in Excellence will assist the state’s public colleges and universities in translating the goals outlined in the plan and legislation into concrete action at the campus level.
Read more about the project here. -
Equity in Excellence
Leadership in Equity and Education Gaps
“A focus on equity in access and in success must accompany the completion agenda that currently dominates the national higher education discourse,” says Estela Mara Bensimon, CUE’s co-director. “Meeting ambitious statewide completion goals will require on-the-ground ownership of equity and excellence as institutional and system-wide goals, as a matter of policy and of practice.” “Closing the postsecondary education gap has become more critical than ever, as our student population has become more diverse,” says David Longanecker, president of WICHE. And if action isn’t taken, that gap will only grow bigger. Photo: David Longanecker and Estela Bensimon at the February meeting of the Equity in Excellence Advisory Board.
Read more about the project here. -
Former Student Honored for Transfer Research
Kenechukwu (K.C.) Mmeje Received the Townsend Award for his Dissertation
Kenechukwu (K.C.) Mmeje (EdD ’12), a student of CUE Co-Director Estela Mara Bensimon, selected as an Honorable Mention by the 2013 Dissertation of the Year selection committee. His dissertation was titled “The Transfer Academy: Providing Community College Students with the Informational, Structural, Relational, and Culture Resources to Transfer Successfully to a Four Year College.” Mmeje is currently the Associate Dean of Students at Loyola University Chicago.
Celena Alcala, John Lee, Kenechukwu (KC) Mmeje at their graduation in May 2012. Dr. Mmeje earned the Townsend award for his doctoral research. Read more about his research and the award on the Rossier news site.
Publications
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Action Research: An Essential Practice for 21st Century Assessment at HSIs
Hispanic Serving Institutions must play a lead role in addressing the shortage of Hispanic graduates, particularly in STEM. Beyond benchmarking, they must include action research to encourage the adoption of innovative practices. March 2013
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Transfer Access and the Role of Institutional Agents
Low-status college students benefit from the intervention of institutional agents, particularly as it pertains to transfer. These findings, and the case for further professional development for institutional agents, is outlined in a new paper by CUE Co-Directors Alicia C. Dowd and Estela Bensimon, along with Jenny H. Pak. February 2013
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Transfer Equity for "Minoritized" Students: A Critical Policy Analysis of Seven States
This study, recently published in Educational Policy, focuses on and analyzes policies that affect transfer student equity and access in seven states. The study was co-written by CUE Research Assistant and Rossier School of Education PhD student, Megan Chase, Co-Directors and Professors Estela M. Bensimon and Alicia C. Dowd, and former CUE Research Associate Loni Bordoloi Pazich. December 2012
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Critical Perspectives on Race and Equity in Review of Higher Education
CUE Co-Director Estela Mara Bensimon co-authored a piece in, and edited, a Special Edition of the Review of Higher Education, the journal of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. October 2012
