eNews from USC Rossier

February 8, 2011

CERPP Conference Stimulates Ideas and Discussion

Chronicle of Higher Education featured a story about the USC Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice's conference, "The Case for Change in College Admissions." The article discusses how senior university officials at the summit considered how they might help resolve social inequities and still compete for the best students. Read the article.

Chronicle of Higher Education also featured an opinion piece by Mike McPherson and Sandy Baum on potential solutions to admission selectivity problems raised at the CERPP conference. Read the piece.

In response, the New York Times expanded upon the CHE piece, spurring further commentary and debate about the college admissions quagmire. Read the piece here.

Tierney Discusses Pros and Cons of For-Profit Colleges

Dr. William G. Tierney was quoted in a Los Angeles Times story about the growing criticism of for-profit colleges.

"We cannot reach the needs we have in California without a for-profit sector," said Tierney, who the article notes acknowledges flagrant violations at some for-profit colleges but says cases of excessive debt and low employability exist in traditional education as well.

"I should not be paying tax dollars for somebody to get a degree as a dishwasher because he doesn't need it," Tierney said. "But why doesn't that hold for everybody? Why wouldn't that hold for the person who's accumulating $100,000 in debt and majoring in philosophy at Stanford?"

Read the article.

Dowd to Moderate Capitol Hill Briefing on STEM

Dr. Alicia C. Dowd will serve as moderator at a February 15th briefing on Capitol Hill that will discuss a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Report called Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. The report outlines strategies to increase minority participation in the science and engineering workforce pipeline.

Organized by the STEM Education Coalition in collaboration with the House Diversity and Innovation (D&I) Caucus, the event serves to educate Members of Congress and their staffs about the importance of expanding diversity in the STEM fields to ensure the continued leadership, competitiveness and security of the United States.

Dowd, an expert on STEM-related issues in higher education, will moderate a panel of speakers and share her thoughts to members of Congress and their staffs based on CUE's three-year study on the topic that has already produced three reports. Three Rossier Ph.D. students will accompany Dowd.

Read the report.

Kezar's Participation in Investigating Committee Noted

Inside Higher Ed stated that Dr. Adrianna Kezar was part of the American Association of University Professors investigating committee that looked into issues involving the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Faculty Senate.

Read the article.

Melguizo Writes and Advises on Higher Education

Dr. Tatiana Melguizo has a forthcoming article in The Review of Higher Education. Her article is entitled "College aid policy and competition for diversity."

Melguizo also is serving as a higher education expert in a recently awarded grant to the Center for the Study of Economic Development (CEDE), in the Economics Department, at Los Andes University, Bogotá, Colombia. The main objective of the study is to estimate the costs that the government would have to incur in the next decade in order to fulfill the goals of increasing access and persistence while maintaining educational quality.

Astor Participates in White House Meeting

Dr. Ron Avi Astor participated in a White House meeting on military families' issues hosted by the office of Dr. Jill Biden on January 31.

Astor currently is working to improve school climate in military-connected schools, and is involved in a Department of Defense research project with eight school districts to create a national prototype for sustainable infrastructures that use data-driven models to create supportive schools. Staff, students and parents will be empowered to use evidence to improve school climate and address military students' special needs.

Calling All NASPA Presenters

Rossier Recruiting and Admissions is gathering information for the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) reception coming up on March 15, 2011.

If you are scheduled to give a presentation at the conference, please e-mail Nina Nieves at nmnieves@usc.edu no later than February 21 so that all Rossier presenters can be acknowledged.

Rossier Welcomes New MIS Director

Pixie Boyden has joined Rossier as the new Director for Management Information Systems (MIS).

Boyden comes from Loyola Law School where she served as Assistant Director of Administrative Computing for the past eight years.

In her new role at Rossier, she will work to build a vision, direction and objectives for information technology at the school. Boyden has two sons, and lives in Pasadena.

Alumnus Writes about Safety of Mahu Students

Ed.D. alum Dr. Dan Morgan, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Hawai'i Pacific University, authored a piece in the Honolulu Weekly about the safety of "mahu" youth in secondary schools.

Morgan explains that in Hawai'i, the term "mahu" has been used to describe a two-spirited person, a person of mixed gender, or one who embodies a third gender. He notes a recent study that found Hawaii's mahu students are at greater risk of violence than the general student population. The piece was based on Morgan's dissertation.

Read the article.

Alumna's School Highlighted