IHE IMPACT: Extra Learning Opportunities

Faculty Workload Project

l KerryAnn O’Meara presented findings from the NSF ADVANCE Faculty Workload and Rewards Project and the latest social science research on implicit biases and evidence-based practices for mitigating inequities in academia, particularly in the STEM disciplines. On October 2, she also spoke privately with IHE students on a variety of topics, including her term as president of Association for the Study of Higher Education.

O'Meara is associate dean for faculty affairs and graduate studies and professor of higher education in the University of Maryland College of Education. The Institute sponsored her visit in partnership with other campus units.

Years that Matter Book Talk

l Journalist Paul Tough shared perspectives from his book, The Years that Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us at Ciné in Athens on October 7. Drawing on his interviews and dozens of visits to campuses across the country, Tough related stories of students trying to find their way through the application process and into college.

The event was co-sponsored by IHE, the Willson Center for Humanities & Arts, and the UGA Office of Research.

First-Gen Student Workshop

l Amy Stich led an interactive workshop on first-generation college students as part of UGA's Certificate in Diversity & Inclusion (CDI) for university faculty and staff.

Her course, The First-Generation College Student: Inclusion, Empowerment and Academic Success, held appropriately on November 8, asked participants to identify and discuss the ways in which campus communities can support first-generation students in a research-intensive university.

International Association Study

l Jens Jungblut, associate professor for public policy/public administration in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Oslo, shared research on the influence and membership patterns of the International Association of Universities (IAU) at an Education Policy Seminar on January 17. 

IAU is the only inclusive and global meta-organization in higher education. Jungblut compared regional and institutional characteristics that are good predictors of which higher education entities are more likely to become members and shape the association.

Overviews of Geo-spatial & Analysis Tools 

l IHE hosted an introduction to Bayesian analysis in Stata led by Chuck Huber on January 24. Huber is the associate director of statistical outreach at StataCorp, LLC. 

PhD candidate Stephen Mayfield presented tips and best practices for working with geo-spatial data in Stata and Tableau in a separate peer-to-peer program coordinated by IHE students. 

Over the course of his work with Rob Toutkoushian on a Spencer Foundation project, he acquired expertise with the program. “Geo-spatial analysis is still relatively novel and underutilized in higher education, but it’s very powerful. I had to reference online tutorials and teach myself how to calculate various geographic data. I knew an introduction would be useful for others,” said Mayfield.

Data Analytics in Higher Education Lecture

l Hugh J. Watson gave an open lecture on data analytics as part Karen Webber’s Data Analytics for Higher Education course on January 28. Drawing from decades of work in business settings, he outlined the various kinds of analytics, the types of information that they inform, and the ways that the field is changing. 

Watson is a Professor of MIS and a C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Chair of Business Administration in the UGA Terry College of Business. He is a leading scholar and authority on business intelligence and analytics, having authored 24 books and over 200 scholarly journal articles. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Breakfast

l IHE sponsored a table at the 17th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Breakfast, honoring Dr. King’s legacy and celebrating the work of area peacemakers. The inspirational event is coordinated through a partnership of UGA, Athens–Clarke County Unified Government, and the Clarke County School District. 

Alumnus Dominique Quarles (PhD 2019) helps to coordinate the program each year as the director of the Office of Institutional Diversity at UGA.

Women in Higher Education Conference

l Leslie Gordon and Jennifer Stephens (PhD 2013) helped to coordinate the Georgia Association for Women in Higher Education (GAWHE) and the American Council on Education (ACE) Women’s Network 2020 Annual Conference held at the University of Georgia on February 26-28, More than two hundred participants from across Georgia attended the meeting, titled Cultivating Vision and Focus through Intentional Leadership.

SHEEO Priorities

l Rob Anderson (PhD 2014), president of the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO), shared three of SHEEO’s current initiatives: accountability, finance, and research on March 6. He discussed how each area connects with policymaking efforts nationally and within state agencies.

Talking through our Challenges Zoomtables

l More than sixty students and IHE graduates from across the U.S. discussed experiences and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in higher education during a series of online meetings. 

Charles Knapp hosted a session focused on positive leadership traits that can inspire colleagues through challenges (April 11). Rob Toutkoushian facilitated two sessions on the financial impacts of the coronavirus on institutions of higher education (May 11 and 18). George Spencer led a discussion of college access and success programs for students from underserved populations during the COVID pandemic (June 22).