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In this issue:
Experts Share Ideas on Applied Baccalaureate Degrees at Lumina Convening
CUE-WICHE Affiliates Program Off to a Great Start
Workshop Aims to Promote Equity for Latino Students
STEM Toolkit Presented at COE Conference
Contra Costa Community College District Interested in Equity Issues
Rossier's New Campaign Launched
2010 ASHE Institutes Conclude |
Equity Scorecard Featured in New Rossier Campaign
CUE's Equity Scorecard™ will be showcased as one of four USC Rossier School of Education initiatives that pushes the envelope in the field of education, as part of the school's new advertising campaign. Learn more about how the Scorecard is making a difference at universities and community colleges nationwide by visiting our new page. You can also tune in to NPR and listen for our spot featuring the Equity Scorecard™.
For more information about the Rossier campaign, click here.
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(L-R) Dr. Anna Neumann, Prof. of Higher Education, Teachers College, Columbia University; Dr. J. Luke Wood, Asst. Professor, Lincoln Memorial University; Annie Bezbatchenko, Consultant, Ford Foundation. | 2010 ASHE Equity Institutes Conclude
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The Center for Urban Education (CUE) leads socially conscious research and develops tools needed for institutions of higher education to produce equity in student outcomes.
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Lumina Invites Experts to Share Ideas on the Applied Baccalaureate Degree
Dr. Alicia C. Dowd, co-director of the Center for Urban Education (CUE) and an associate professor at the Rossier School of Education, participated in a Lumina Foundation for Education convening on applied baccalaureate degrees on September 1-2 in Indianapolis. During the convening, national experts, researchers, and state policy and institutional leaders shared perspectives on state and institutional policies and practices associated with the growing phenomenon of these degrees.
Dr. Debra Bragg, Professor in the Dept. of Educational Organization and Leadership and Director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL), University of Illinois  | The group's discussion was informed by the results of a national Lumina-funded study of the applied baccalaureate conducted by Dr. Debra D. Bragg, an Education Professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Applied baccalaureate degrees were first developed to ensure students who earn technical degrees and credits have the opportunity to earn a bachelor's degree, if they wish to go that route. Today, applied baccalaureate degrees, which can be offered by traditional community colleges and traditional four-year institutions, are now offered in over 40 states.
At first glance, applied baccalaureate degrees appear to be a "win win," Dr. Dowd told the group. She emphasized that in espousing the workforce value of the applied baccalaureate, however, it was also important to demonstrate an equal commitment to equity goals.
Dr. Dowd and Dr. Bragg have been collaborating on integrating equity into policy reform since Dr. Bragg participated in CUE's "Principles and Methods of Participatory Critical Action Research" institute, one of CUE's Institutes on Equity and Critical Policy Analysis, which are led by Dr. Estela Mara Bensimon, CUE's co-director, and funded by the Ford Foundation.
As a result of Dr. Bragg's participation in the Institutes, equity became a core component and goal of Illinois' Pathways to Results (PTR) project, which involves Illinois community colleges in analyzing their data to improve equity and degree completion for students in technical and career pathways in the health sciences, engineering, and other technical fields. The equity focus of Pathways to Results is an important outcome of CUE's Institutes, which were created to infuse policy reform with an emphasis on racial-ethnic equity in postsecondary outcomes. |
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CUE-WICHE Affiliates Program Is Launched in Los Angeles
Dr. Magdalena Martinez, Asst. Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, Nevada System of Higher Education  |
As part of CUE's ongoing partnership with the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE), the CUE-WICHE Affiliate Program was launched in Los Angeles on August 1st - 3rd.
Over the next year, each of the four higher education professionals who were selected as CUE-WICHE Affiliates will engage in a policy project related to the national efforts to increase college completion. The training retreat, hosted by CUE, was directed by Dr. Brian Pusser, an associate professor of higher education and director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. Dr. Pusser collaborates with CUE in bringing equity perspectives to policy reform.
Using the equity-focused approach exemplified in CUE's and WICHE's work as a point of reference, affiliates will seek ways to tackle issues of equity and college completion.
The CUE-WICHE Affiliates for 2010-11 are: Magdalena Martinez, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, Nevada System of Higher Education; Anne-Marie Nunez, Assistant Professor, University of Texas, San Antonio; Sonia Ortiz-Mercado, Dean, Student Services and Special Programs Division, California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office; and Heather Wathington, Assistant Professor, University of Virginia. |
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CUE Collaborates to Improve Latino Student Completion of STEM Degrees
(L-R) Dr. Eric Marinez, Assoc. Professor of Chemistry-Biochemistry, CSU Long Beach; Maria Ramirez, Program Coordinator, Jensen Student Access to Science Center, CSU Long Beach; Rosita Ramirez, Research Assistant, Center for Urban Education  | The Center for Urban Education organized a workshop on Aug. 13 for faculty and administrators from Hispanic-serving community colleges and state universities in California to promote greater equity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for Latinos.
The emphasis on these students is for good reason: Latinos and Latinas currently are severely underrepresented in many undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors, in advanced degree programs and in the STEM workforce and professions. If the United States is to regain its economic footing around the world, improving outcomes for students of color is critical.
The main goal of the gathering, funded through the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, was to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, particularly Latino STEM educators, to engage in productive activities that could reduce inequities.
CUE demonstrated how the benchmarking tools of CUE's Equity Scorecard™ could be used to set college and systemwide goals to equitably increase Latino degree completion in STEM. For many of the participants, the all-day workshop was also an opportunity to network and share experiences and perceptions of the racial-ethnic climate of STEM classrooms in the community colleges and on California State University campuses.
To read about the convening in the USC News web portal, click here. To view photos from the workshop, please visit CUE's Flickr photostream. |
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Becoming an Institutional Change Agent for Latinos in STEM
Dr. Dowd and CUE research assistant Roseanne Macias illustrated how CUE's STEM Toolkit could help facilitate the development of institutional agents among college access professionals during a presentation at the Council for Opportunity in Education's 29th Annual Conference in San Diego on September 3rd.
This is the national conference for the Federal TRIO and other college access programs. The theme for this year's conference, "Fitting STEM into the College Opportunity Equation," covered access and retention issues in STEM fields, as well as the value of educational opportunity programs. To read Dr. Dowd's and Ms. Macias' presentation, "Becoming an Institutional Change Agent for Latinos in STEM," click here. |
| Key Stakeholders at Contra Costa Community College District Interested in Equity Issues
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On Monday, August 30th, Dr. Bensimon and Dr. Dowd presented to an audience of nearly 50 people representing the Chancellor's Office for the Contra Costa Community College District. Audience members included the Board of Trustees, the district chancellor and presidents, faculty leaders and other key stakeholders from the three colleges in the district.
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Chancellor Helen Benjamin of Contra Costa Community College District (on right) discusses equity issues with other participants.
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Drs. Bensimon and Dowd had been asked by the Chancellor to address the college district's entire leadership on the larger strategic issue of what is needed to bring about equity in higher education. They reflected on CUE's philosophy and approach to equity -- the need to acknowledge and change beliefs and institutional practices that impede the achievement of equity in student academic outcomes.
CUE has been working with Los Medanos College, part of the Contra Costa Community College District, since September 2009 to increase its retention and transfer rates for students of color. |
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Upcoming Events
Building Healthy Communities: Improving Educational, Health, Social, and Economic Outcomes for Young Men and Boys of Color (MBoC)
The California Endowment, Center for Healthy Communities
Los Angeles, CA - September 28
Dr. Bensimon will present with Dr. Frank Harris, assistant professor at San Diego State University and former CUE associate director, at this research and policy symposium which features workshops, commissioned studies and discussion groups and draws attention to the potential of a public policy focus on young men and boys of color. The central goal of the event is to promote an agenda for equitable, healthy communities in California and beyond.
Pathways to Results Kick-off Meeting October 5 Dr. Dowd will address the 2010-2011 Pathways to Results kick-off meeting, which will bring together policy makers and administrators from 18 Illinois community colleges. Pathways to Results (PTR) is an initiative of the State of Illinois which develops and offers programs of study based on career pathways. With the goal of continuously improving academic outcomes and employability of students in these career pathways, PTR has invited Dr. Dowd to discuss CUE's research on equity, and specifically, the Equity Scorecard™.
Warren Institute's Research Roundtable on College Completion
Washington, D.C. - October 14-15
As part of the Warren Institute's Roundtables on Education, Dr. Bensimon will discuss CUE's work with WICHE, addressing the Center's equity-focused research concerning accountability and postsecondary degree completion. As an open forum for discussion and collective learning, the Roundtables foster dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers and leaders of national organizations involved in education reform.
Keeping Our Faculties of Color Symposium: Faculty Diversity in Higher Education: An Agenda for Research and Change
University of Minnesota - November 1 and 2
Dr. Bensimon will be on the researcher panel to discuss research about recruiting and retaining faculty of color at this University of Minnesota symposium. The event will bring together scholars committed to understanding and promoting faculty diversity and articulate a national research agenda for advancing faculty diversity in higher education. The resulting agenda will be included in a publication to be produced about the symposium.
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Center for Urban Education (CUE)
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
Waite Phillips Hall
Suite 702
Los Angeles, California 90089
Tel: 213.740.5202
Fax: 213.740.3889
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