(l to r) Rossier Board of Councilors member John Katzman, Dr. Melora Sundt and Dean Karen Symms Gallagher joined US Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, along with Dean Marilyn Flynn of the School of Social Work, at the 2011 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles on Sunday night.  Secretary Duncan participated in the celebrity match prior to the game.

Education Week cited the USC Rossier School's MAT@USC online degree program as an innovative example of a master's program in teaching.

Read the article.

The search process continues for Rossier's tenure-track faculty openings. Francisco Martorell, a candidate for the K-12 Policy and Leadership tenure track faculty position, will be facilitating a candidate discussion on Wednesday, Feb. 23, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in The Club Room - Davidson Conference Center.

Martorell will give a talk titled "School Principals and School Performance: Evidence from New York City."

If you are interested in attending, please contact Lori Givens at lgivens@usc.edu. Lunch will be provided.

Dr. Estela Mara Bensimon and Dr. Dominic Brewer (left) were invited to become Fellows of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). They will be installed in the 2011 Class of Fellows. Dr. Bill Tierney was previously inducted into the AERA Fellows Program, which was established in 2007.

The AERA Fellows Program was established by the AERA Council to honor education researchers with substantial research accomplishments, to convey the Association's commitment to excellence in research, and to emphasize to new scholars the importance of sustained research of excellence in the field.

More about the AERA Fellows Program.

Ahmadi on Muslims in Higher Ed & Integration

A recent article by Shafiqa Ahmadi, J.D. on the Patriot Act's impact on Muslims in higher education was featured in USC News.

Read the story.

Ahmadi will also be a panelist at a forum today, Feb. 23 from noon to 2 p.m. at Leavey Library Auditorium. The event, titled "Muslims and the Movement: Community Organizing for Immigrant Immigration," explores what immigrant immigration means for the Muslim American community.

To RSVP, call (213) 740-­3643 or e-mail csii@usc.edu.

Read more about the event.

Dr. Sylvia Rousseau was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from Wake Forest University, where she earned her B.A. in English with a minor in French in 1968. Rousseau accepted the award on Friday, Feb. 18 at a gala in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 

She was selected for her extraordinary career as a teacher and education administrator, her work to unite communities in support of public education, and because she has carried the name of Wake Forest University and elevated the reputation of the University throughout her tireless work on behalf of schools facing deep challenges.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch quoted Dr. William G. Tierney about residency requirements for public state universities.

The article notes that Tierney said there may be instances in which a state needs to attract a very specific type of student.

"Other than that, it's unknown to me why a state would offer easy residency requirements that don't help the citizens of the state," Tierney said.  Read the article.

Dr. Rob Filback was recently elected as Assistant Chair of the College and University Division for 2011-2012 and then Chair for 2012-2013 for the California Teachers to Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL) Association.

Inside Higher Ed quoted Dr. Jerry Lucido about the University of the South cutting its tuition by 10 percent.

In the article, Lucido called the undertaking "a very interesting experiment."

"Cynically," he said, one could view it as "a real time experiment in price elasticity for certain students and maybe that's all it is." But Lucido said that there is also "at face value" another interpretation that could be more significant and "laudable."

Read the article.

Dr. Adrianna Kezar was just awarded a 2011 John Randolph Haynes Foundation Faculty Fellowship.

Kezar is one of eight full-time faculty members in the Southern California region to receive the $12,000 award this year. The award will support her study of non-tenure track faculty and positive policies and practices. 

Dr. Alicia C. Dowd served as a moderator at a Capitol Hill briefing on the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Report, "Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads." She was accompanied by Rossier Ph.D. students Araceli Espinoza, Tiffany Jones and Raquel Rall.

During the briefing, Dowd used data and recommendations from the Center on Urban Education's three-year study on the topic that has already produced three reports, as well as a recently published brief co-authored by Dr. Estela Mara Bensimon about the extent to which Hispanic-Serving Institutions are meeting their mission to improve educational outcomes for Latina and Latino students.

More about CUE's research on pathways to STEM degrees.

Bensimon on Reaching Equity Goals at Texas A&M 

Bensimon also introduced the Equity Scorecard™ and its theory of change at Texas A&M University's Enhancing Diversity seminar series on February 17th. She discussed how the Scorecard tools and process can be aligned to meet the goals of the university's Diversity Plan.

For more information, click here.

This week, check out the following blog posts coming to the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis' 21st Century Scholar:
 
Monday: "Procrastination and the Importance of Getting It Done" by Bill Tierney
Tuesday: "Technology and the Interstices of Qualitative Research and Policy" by Randy Clemens
Wednesday: "Procrastination vs. the Importance of Timing" by Bill Tierney
Thursday: "The Thursday Pop" with Kristan Venegas
Friday: "The Need for Research on Student 'Throughput'" by Bill Tierney

Go to 21st Century Scholar.

Dr. Barbara E. Boyd (PhD '83) passed away on February 14 at age 66. Boyd taught at Cal State Northridge for more than 30 years before retiring last year.

She has been honored by the City of Los Angeles, GLAD, IMPACT, NCOD, Jewish Deaf Congress Hall of Fame, and others for her extraordinary service to the deaf community, as a volunteer, tutor and mentor.

Visit Facebook Page in her memory.

Imre Meszaros, Rossier Ed.D. candidate, was selected as a finalist for the Politics of Education (PEA) Dissertation Award. PEA is a Special Interest Group within AERA.  

Meszaros, Associate Director of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, also earned the Dissertation of the Year from Rossier in 2010. His dissertation, titled "The Political Economy of California School District Parcel Tax Elections," describes the characteristics of districts that place parcel taxes on the ballot and that account for the election outcomes.

Meszaros will be presenting his research at the Association for Education Finance and Policy Annual Conference in Seattle next month.

Read the abstract.