February 28, 2011

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Save the Date for 33rd Pullias Lecture 

james geeMark your calendars for the 33rd Pullias Lecture on Monday, April 4 from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. at the Davidson Conference Center Embassy Room.

This year's Featured Speaker is Dr. James Paul Gee (right), Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University and a renowned author on video games and learning. His lecture is titled "GAMES, LEARNING, AND THE LOOMING  CRISIS IN HIGHER EDUCATION." 

Commentary will be offered by Dr. Henry Jenkins, USC Provost's Professor of Communications, Journalism, Cinematic Arts and Education.

RSVP here. For info, contact Diane Flores at [email protected]
Candidate Discusses Online Racial Discrimination and Adolescents
brendesha tynes

Brendesha Tynes, tenure track candidate for an education psychology faculty position, will lead a discussion on Thursday, March 3 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in WPH 403.

The talk is titled "Race and Generation MySpace: A Program of Research on Online Racial Discrimination and Adolescent Adjustment."

To RSVP, contact Lori Givens at [email protected]
Faculty Forefront
Bensimon Offers Keynote and Has Research Cited 
Estela Mara Bensimon

Diverse Magazine cited an article by Dr. Estela Mara Bensimon in the volume "New Directions for Institutional Research, Students of Color in STEM."

The piece notes that Bensimon "points to the propensity of campus personnel to complain that 'minority students' don't use the academic services made available to them on campus.

Read the piece.

The University of Puerto Rico (UPR) hosted Bensimon on February 22nd for an event that explored the current state of institutional research in Puerto Rico's state  university system. As the event's keynote speaker, she offered a presentation to UPR's institutional researchers called, "The Evolution and Context of Institutional Research in Higher Education."

The event comes as part of UPR's strategic initiative to develop a culture of institutional assessment and evaluation.Bensimon's remarks are intended to provide a framework on how that can be achieved through data analysis and inquiry.
Tierney Comments on Cutting Tuition
wgtierney

The Daily Caller quoted Dr. William G. Tierney about the University of the South cutting its tuition.

In the article, Tierney called the move "a great idea."

"College tuition is such a confusing issue," he said "It's kind of like buying a car: You never pay the sticker price unless you don't worry about money. And everybody worries about money."

Tierney suggested that other institutions might consider following suit.

"At the absolute best institutions - thought of as the best ... I don't see that happening," he said. "But at institutions that are one step down from that, they are taking a hard look."

Read the article.
Immordino-Yang Named "Rising Star" for Research
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang

Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang
was identified as a "rising star" by the Association for Psychological Science (APS) for her early career contributions. Her profile and research will be featured in the APS Observer.

Mail & Guardian (South Africa) also cited a study by Immordino-Yang and colleagues, which found that some emotions may be missed in rapid media exchanges like texting or Tweeting.

Read the story.

She also recently delivered two talks at the conference on Learning and the Brain in San Francisco on Feb 16th and 17th, in which she spoke about the implications of social and affective neuroscience findings for culturally appropriate teaching practice. On Feb. 18th, she spoke at the neuroscience/neurology rounds at Stanford, and participated in a public clinical interview of a high-functioning hemispherectomy patient (missing the left hemisphere of his brain) whose learning she had studied for her dissertation research.
Lucido Adds to College Admissions Dialogue
jerry lucido

Dr. Jerome Lucido was quoted in an Inside Higher Ed article about Harvard and Princeton announcing they will restore early admissions.

Lucido said that while the shifts by Harvard and Princeton were "understandable," they are unfortunate. "I think they did the right thing a few years ago," he said. American higher education -- particularly for those who will never go to Harvard and Princeton -- needs to send signals that there are "lots of good choices" for students, and that the rush to pick a college isn't necessary. Harvard and Princeton sent that message a few years ago, but not Thursday, he said. "It will be a lot easier for colleges to follow this example than the more virtuous example" of dropping early admissions, he added.

Read the article.

Wohlstetter Comments on Diversity in Charter Schools
Priscilla Wohlstetter

The Monterey County Herald quoted Dr. Priscilla Wohlstetter about issues of diversity in relation to charter schools.

"Race and ethnicity is not what makes for a good school," she said. "The key to a good school is having a good mission. Once you get those kids in the door, how are you going to teach them? In California, where racial politics are so strong, we have to come back to what it means to education. How are you going to teach all kids to high levels?"

Read the article.
21st Century Scholar Offers New Posts
21st century scholar

Check out these upcoming blog posts on CHEPA's 21st Century Scholar blog:



Monday:
"Clowns" - Bill Tierney reviews Salman Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown
Tuesday: "Money Matters and Districts Don't Have It" - Randy Clemens
Wednesday: "Do the Math (even if you're getting a Ph.D. in English)" - Bill Tierney
Thursday: "The Thursday Pop with Kristan Venegas"
Friday: "First Friday with Mark DeFusco"
Rossier Research
CUE Shares Expertise with Nevada System...
cue logo

CUE project specialist Dr. Sandra Luca presented findings on community college and university student success rates at a meeting of the Nevada System of Higher Education's (NSHE) Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Council last week.  This presentation lays the groundwork for Dr. Estela Mara Bensimon to meet with NSHE's Board of Regents' Committee on Cultural Diversity on March 11th.  She will examine how the pipeline data can be used to set system and campus level goals and what the policy implications are if such goals are adopted.

 

These meetings are part of the Equity and Policy Partnership between NSHE, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) and CUE, which uses NSHE student data to examine student success and course completion. The partnership supports NSHE's college completion agenda by examining equity in student success at critical junctures on the path to a degree, including credit accumulation milestones.  CUE's data approach provides NSHE's leaders with a strategy to determine precisely where to intervene in the freshman-to-graduation trajectory in order to meet annual college completion targets and other institutional and system priorities.

 

 ... And Los Medanos College 

 

An evidence team of 17 faculty, administrators and staff at Los Medanos College (LMC) has been working to implement CUE's Equity Scorecard™ to improve student retention and transfer rates. Currently focused on basic skills courses, the collaboration between LMC and CUE is designed to expand the transfer pipeline for students from underrepresented minority groups who may also be enrolled in developmental education.  

 

Read more about CUE's work with Los Medanos in USC News.

Rossier Family
Visiting Scholars Learn about Sustainability
professional development event

The Office of Professional Development Programs hosted a week-long conference on Sustainability for 22 visiting scholars from Soka University, Japan on February 21st-25th.

The group of scholars consisted of business administration students studying sustainability, and their visit was part of the content education Rossier provides to English Language Learners through its professional development programs.

The group also visited Toyota's Headquarters in Torrance and received a tour of their LEED Buildings by Mark Yamauchi
(Director or Facilities, Toyota Sales USA).  The visiting scholars also received a tour of our LEED Gold Certified Ron Tutor Hall building.
Alumna Accepted into Academic Leadership Academy
CastaƱeda

Dr. Laura Castaneda (EdD '10) was accepted to the Scripps Howard Academic Leadership Academy at Louisiana State University's Manship School of Mass Communication in Baton Rouge, LA, June 5-9.

The academy focuses on training leaders in academic programs in journalism and mass communication. Castaneda is currently Assistant Director at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism.
In This Issue
Save the Date for 33rd Pullias Lecture
Candidate Discussion with Brendesha Tynes
Bensimon Offers Keynote and Has Research Cited
Tierney on Cutting Tuition at University of the South
Immordino-Yang Named "Rising Star" for Research
Lucido Leads College Admissions Dialogue
Wohlstetter on Diversity in Charter Schools
This Week on 21st Century Scholar
CUE Shares Expertise with Nevada System
Visiting Scholars Learn about Sustainability
Alumna Accepted into Academic Leadership Academy
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