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by Jewel Caruso
Paul Rubin (PhD 2017) recently co-published a research article this month called "Analyzing Congressional Research Service Reports on Education: How is Information Used at Congress's Think Tank?"
Rubin and his co-authors provide insights into the content and sources that the Congressional Research Service (CRS) references when developing reports and providing information to federal policymakers. For this study, the researchers analyzed CRS Reports that focus on pre K-12 or postsecondary topics.
Holly Hawk (PhD 2020) recently accepted a new position at Clemson University in the School of Accountancy as a clinical assistant professor.
Hawk previously taught in the Tull School of Accounting at the University of Georgia. She earned her Masters of Accountancy with a concentration in Audit and Systems from UGA and her BBA with a concentration in Accounting and Technical Communications from Mercer University.
Karley Riffe (PhD 2018) announced her relocation from Auburn University to the University of Cincinnati. She will be joining the faculty as an assistant professor in higher education.
Barrett J. Taylor's (PhD, 2012) new book, Wrecking: Deinstitutionalization and Partial Defenses in State Higher Education Policy (Rutgers University Press, 2022) is now available in paperback and e-book.
In the publication, Taylor shows how social changes set a collision course in higher education and offers a unique and compelling perspective linking higher education policymaking to broader social and political forces.
McBee IHE graduates, students, and faculty gathered for a discussion of enrollment management on Friday, July 29 over lunch. Graduates Kelley Lips and Rebecca Sandidge led the conversation and provided an overview of the strategic place of enrollment management in higher education institutions.
John Fuchko III (PhD 2019) was appointed the interim president for Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia.
Fuchko outlined his approach to this new role in his open letter on the CSU president's webpage. He stated his commitment to the institution's tagline is to be Creative to the Core. "As each of us strives to fulfill Columbus State University's mission, let's be guided by a shared commitment to creativity and innovation," wrote Fuchko.
Heidi Leming (PhD 2013) authored a chapter in the recently released book Delivering on the Promise of high-Impact Practices: Research and Models for Achieving equity, Fidelity, Impact and Scale.
The McBee Institute welcomed four graduates back into the classroom virtually on July 21 to speak to students about their preparation for and experiences in noncampus roles.
The panel consisted of Rachel Burns, senior policy analyst at SHEEO; Patrick Crane, vice president of strategic initiatives in the North Carolina Community College System; Samaad Wes Key, program officer for postsecondary success at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and Emmanuel Little, the director of training, diversity, equity, and inclusion for Big Brothers, Big Sisters Atlanta.
Samaad Wes Keys, PhD 2014, was selected for UGA's 2022 40 Under 40 class presented by the UGA Alumni Association.
Melissa Whatley (PhD 2019) announced her latest publication in the Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education which was co-written with Heidi Fischer of Old Dominion University.
Melissa Whatley (PhD 2019) received the 2022 Best Article Award from the CIES Study Abroad and International Students (SAIS) Special Interest Group.
The article, "Balancing finances, politics, and public health: international student enrollment and reopening plans at US higher education institutions amid the COVID-19 pandemic", was co-written with Santiago Castiello, a higher education scholar-practitioner.
Ashley Burnside (EdD 2019) has been named the director of the center for student success at the University of Southern Mississippi starting July 1, 2022.
She will lead projects on the success and retention-based initiatives, student outreach, staff operations, and retention-based scholarship awarding.
Dominique A. Quarles (PhD 2019) has been named Georgia Southern University's associate vice president for inclusive excellence and chief diversity officer starting August 1, 2022.
The institution has committed to making inclusive excellence a strategic pillar and a core value. Quarles' position is essential to achieving that goal.
On June 20th, Dr. Melissa Whatley (PhD 2019) tweeted an announcement of her latest publication in the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. "Who enrolls in internationalized courses? An exploration of at-home access at one community college" is available on APA PsychNet's website.
Andrew Crain (PhD 2020) started a new position as the lead recruitment consultant at the Missouri University of Science and Technology on April 4, 2022.
Crain's new position will allow him to directly support the growth of Missouri S&T by recruiting top executives and academic talent. His passion and experience in career development, mentoring, and organizational change will be valuable assets in this new role.
Charles Mathies (PhD 2010) will join Old Dominion University as a tenure-track assistant professor this fall.
Mathies's research focuses on international higher education, examining higher education policy at the international, national, and organizational levels. For the past 11 years, he has worked as a research fellow at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. He also is an associate editor for the Journal of International Students and has a seat on the editorial board for the Tertiary Education and Management Journal.
The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) Forum returned as an in-person gathering on June 6-9, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona.
The MIHE community was well represented with presentations each day and with Karen Webber transitioning to president of the organization on Wednesday, June 8.Check out the sessions below. More information about the conference and list of all programs https://www.airweb.org/forum/2022/home.
AIR Forum 2022 Tuesday, June 7 12:45-1:30 PST
Melissa Whatley's quip on Twitter is representative of the humor and approachability that she brings to quantitative analysis. She writes, "when I was in the first grade all I wanted to do was be an author. I’m not sure a quant methods textbook is what 5-year-old me had in mind, but maybe this will do."
Joy Blanchard (MIHE PhD) and Ashley Clayton (former postdoctoral associate) were honored for their contributions to the LSU community at a special awards ceremony on May 4 for university faculty.
Blanchard received the 2022 Brij Mohan Distinguished Professor Award. This award recognizes a full-time faculty member at the rank of associate professor who serves as a model for the community in demonstration of a commitment to peace, equality, and social justice.
Blanchard is an associate professor in the College of Human Sciences & Education.
by Larissa Lozano Although there is substantial writing by academics from working-class backgrounds, there is little research on the relationship between social class and positions in academia.
To address this gap in research, Karly Riffe (MIHE PhD 2018), Meghan Pifer, Jacob Hartz, and Maria Ibarra gathered narratives from over 200 working-class academics (WCA) to understand how they contribute to student goals and development. Their findings appear in Innovative Higher Education.
by Larissa Lozano Denisa Gándara (PhD 2016) and Stijn Daenekindt, (Ghent University), take a unique approach to researching performance-based funding (PBF). While previous research focused narrowly on states that have implemented, their study also includes states that have not implemented this policy through data modeling and analysis of PBF-related rhetoric in newspapers.
A large number of MIHE students, faculty, alumni, and former postdoctoral associates are participating in the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Cultivating Equitable Education Systems for the 21st Century. The meeting was held April 21-26, 2002 with participants able to attend virtually and in-person in San Diego, CA.
AERA 2022 Thursday, April 21 2:30-4:00
by Larissa Lozano
“Despite the centrality of academic structure to [higher education organizations] and their work, our knowledge of it is limited,” says Sondra Barringer, MIHE postdoctoral associate 2013-2016. She aims to bridge this knowledge gap through her article “Understanding Academic Structure: Variation, Stability, and Change at the Center of the Modern Research University” for The Review of Higher Education. Using data about research universities with doctoral programs from 2012-2013 and 2017-2018 academic years, Barringer answers the following questions.
As enrollment in graduate programs is increasing, so is educational debt. Many students wonder if they can afford to stay in school and how they can reduce the debt burden of attending college.
Using national data on student finance and institutional expenditures, Karen Webber, professor emerita of higher education at the McBee Institute of Higher Education, and Rachel Burns (MIHE Ph.D. 2018) a senior policy analyst at SHEEO, relate trends in student demographics and institution types on the amount of graduate debt.
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