Alumni News

When Le-Quita Booth enrolled in the Ed.D program at the University of Georgia’s Institute of Higher Education (now the Louise McBee Institute) in the mid-1980s, she had no difficulty articulating her motivation. She was told that she needed a doctoral degree to be considered for the promotion she wanted. So, she pursued and obtained the degree while continuing to work full time.

by Larissa Lozano

Rachel Burns, MIHE alumna, will lead and develop a multi-year research initiative to quantify the impacts of college closures in partnership with the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. In her new role as senior policy analyst at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO), she also will support other organization priorities in policy evaluation and research.

by Larissa Lozano

Brantley conducted interviews with chief academic officers and uncovered eleven key insights into what exactly makes chief academic officers stay or leave their positions. Brantley cites recent research indicating that 47% of CAOs have been in their positions three years or less and the median term is around six years. 

Dr. Kellie McElroy Hooper has been appointed as the first dean of the School for Public and Professional Services at Augusta Technical College. 

“I believe learning is a lifelong experience that can be life changing. Learning promotes growth, curiosity, and increases self-confidence,” Hooper says. 

The McBee Institute proudly announces the following students earned their degrees during the fall 2021

Joy Blanchard, LSU professor and MIHE graduate, admits that she calculated how long it would take her university's football coach, at his salary, to earn her salary for "a little dark fun." But the answer, 2.6 days, is even more stark than anticipated.

Barrett Taylor (PhD 2012) is quoted extensively in an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education on the University of Florida controversy surrounding the barring of professors to testify in litigation against the state (‘I’m Speechless’: What prompted the U of Florida to tell professors not to testify?)

Members of the university administration defended the denials on loose "conflict of interest" claims. "As UF is a state actor, litigation against the state is adverse to UF's interests," wrote Gary Wimsett, assistant vice president for conflicts of interest.

McBee IHE graduate Angie Royer led a Zoomtable on campus work forces, Adapting and Thriving in an Ever-changing World. The pandemic forced faculty and students to dive into remote learning, and it introduced many staff members and their supervisors to teleworking.

Royer shared emerging research and data to unpack how higher education institutions and other industries are incorporating lessons learned from the pandemic into increased work force flexibility. She also presented data on demographic differences in attitudes toward and experience with teleworking.

Following his graduation in May 2021, Kanler Cumbass (MEd) started as a post-graduate intern for the Education Strategy Group (ESG). He hopes to work with administrations to uplift marginalized student populations. His main research interests include Title IV/financial aid policy, and the impact student finances have on degree attainment.

Cumbass said, "[T]he organization believes that high-quality higher education leads to economic growth and mobility for underserved students and communities. My personal values deeply align with ESG, and I am excited to get to work!"

Denisa Gándara (PhD 2016) joined the University of Texas as an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy.

Her research agenda broadly explores higher education policy and finance, with an emphasis on populations historically excluded from and underserved in higher education. Gándara is a William T. Grant Scholar and the recipient of a Dissertation Fellowship from the Ford Foundation and the National Academies of Sciences. 

Andrew Crain (PhD 2020) won first place in the Journal of Science Policy & Governance Policy position paper competition.

His paper, "Inclusive Science Policy and Economic Development in the 21st Century: The Case for Rural America," provides four key recommendations for a more equitable science policy that taps into the rich potential of the rural US. "[T]he next frontier of science policy could very well be rural inclusion," said Crain.

Kyle Tschepikow (PhD 2012) is the executive director for business engagement and innovation, effective August 2021.

In this newly-formed position, he oversees the formation of the Office of Business Engagement., a merger of Corporate Relations and Industry Engagement.

In addition to providing strategic leadership of the UGA Innovation District. Kyle's work will seek to strengthen university/industry collaboration to benefit student opportunities and other partnerships.

Dr. Russell Keen, (EdD, 2019), an administrator with more than 20 years’ experience in higher education, has been named executive vice president for administration and chief of staff to Augusta University President Brooks A. Keel.

Rebecca Perdomo (PhD 2019) is featured in Forbes (August 16, 2021) "What Do We Know About Hispanic Serving Institutions?"

Perdomo and colleagues at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Schools (HACU) launched a Hispanic-Serving Institution Dashboard to provide details about individual schools.

Effective August 16, Nathan Moore (IHE PhD 2020) will assume the position of assistant to the president at the University of Georgia.

As assistant to the president, Nathan’s work will focus primarily on executive communications, strategic planning, regional accreditation, and university research and innovation.

Dominique Quarles (PhD 2019) accepted a new position as assistant vice president for access, diversity, and inclusion at Mississippi State University, effective August 1.

Dr. Quarles has served as the director of diversity and inclusion in the Office of Institutional Diversity at the University of Georgia since 2017.

Andrea Kiely (MEd 2021) accepted a position at UNC Asheville as the career coach in University's Career Center.

Since her appointment, Kiely has been preparing for the students' return for fall classes, and is excited to get started working with them individually and in group settings.

As part of her role, she also will supervise a group of student workers, called the "Career Peers," who support the work of the Center and extend the reach of the professional staff.

Josh Patterson (PhD 2020) recently was named the research director for higher education studies at SoundRocket, a research study design implementation and analysis service.

"I'm excited to join a company with an established reputation for sound social science research and to help build on their success in multi-institutional studies and campus climate research in higher education," said Patterson.

Tim Letzring (IHE EdD) has been elected to serve on the board of trustees of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

The 77 member board oversees accreditation of about 800 public and private colleges and universities across 11 southern states.

"It is a great opportunity to serve on the SACSCOC Board of Trustees, and I can tell already the tremendous learning experience this will provide me," said Letzring.

Letzring is part of the Florida delegation. His three-year term will conclude December 31, 2023.

Karley Riffe (IHE PhD 2018) and Sondra Barringer (former postdoc) found significant and persistent differences in staff salaries across institutions of higher education, over time, and across occupational families.

Their research, recently published in the Review of Higher Education, focused on salaries, organizational structures and labor markets for non-instructional and non-administrator staff in four-year non-profit schools across the United States.

Jon Turk recently rejoined ACENet's podcast DotEDU as a guest in the "What Covid-19 Has Taught Higher Education Leaders" episode (June 17, 2021).

He shared on-going findings from a partnership between TIAA Research and ACE to survey college and university presidents through the pandemic. The short "presidential pulse surveys" began in April 2020 and have been administered repeatedly since.

This week it was announced that Lady Cox (IHE EdD, 2019), Auburn University’s Associate Vice President for Student Affairs is a co-author of the recently released book, College Ready 2021: Expert Advice for Parents to Simplify the College Transition.

Cox joins thirteen other family relations professionals from major universities around the country in contributing to the book.

Jonathan Turk (PhD) starts a new position as assistant professor of higher education in the School of Education at Saint Louis University in August 2021.

He will teach research methods courses in the school's graduate program. Turk also will pursue his active research interests, particularly around higher education access, persistence, and success among community college students.

Turk has been a director and researcher at the American Council on Education (ACE) since 2014.

Dr. Melissa Whatley (PhD 2019) started a new position as an assistant professor of international and global education at the School for International Training's Graduate Institute.

The SIT Graduate Institute is a private graduate institution that focuses on global leadership and development. The Institute provides a variety of degrees, including international education, climate change, and diplomacy.

Dr. Whatley’s teaching will focus on using quantitative research methods to improve accessibility and inclusivity with diverse students.

Increasing campus diversity is a pressing issue in higher education, and many institutions are exploring many different solutions. In a recent Hechinger Report article by Jill Barshay, Dr. Kelly Rosinger (IHE PhD) discussed her research on how test-optional policies affect—or rather, do not affect—diversity in college enrollment.