February 2024 — Research-Practice Partnerships, PASS Project, Pullias Lecture...and More!

Promoting Equity in Higher Education

February 2024

"Research-Practice Partnerships and the PASS Project"

Guest Editor Zoë Corwin, Research Professor

Dear Colleagues,

One of the things I most appreciate about the Pullias Center is our collective commitment across faculty, staff and students to engage in meaningful research, often through research-practice partnerships (RPPs). RPPs involve long-term structured relationships where researchers and practitioners collaborate to learn more about a problem of practice and explore solutions. They entail great intentionality around relationship-building, coordination of logistics, research activities and dissemination of findings — and hold tremendous promise for impact.

During my time at Pullias, I’ve participated in a wide range of RPPs from partnering with school districts and state agencies to develop innovative, game-based college access digital tools, to working with skateboarding organizations to document the ways that skateboarding enhances mental health and community. Most recently, I have had the honor of serving as the Principal Investigator of one of the largest RPPs in the field of higher education — the Promoting At-promise Student Success (PASS) project. Last month, I participated on a panel with Amy Goodburn, one of our practitioner partners and University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Senior Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Undergraduate Education, We discussed how we have cultivated a productive RPP. Below please find our joint-authored reflections on what it takes to navigate an effective research-practice partnership.

Also in this issue, we highlight Ron Hallett’s return to the Pullias Center as full-time research faculty, a move that greatly enhances the Center’s ability to engage in RPPs.

Cordially,

Zoë Corwin

Research Professor

Reflections on the PASS Research-Practice Partnership

By Zoë Corwin & Amy Goodburn

One of the most compelling aspects of research-practice partnerships is drawing on diverse expertise in pursuit of making an impact. The PASS Project, with its focus on fostering a culture of ecological validation to improve academic and psychosocial outcomes for at-promise students, is a meaningful illustration of how RPPs can be effective.

At the recent Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities’ annual conference, Zoë Corwin (The Pullias Center) and Amy Goodburn (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) shared their perspectives on the value of RPPs, as well as the strategies that they have employed to cultivate a successful partnership between the Pullias Center, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and the project’s funder, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation.

Learn More

It's a Full Circle Moment for Ron Hallett

Ron Hallett is the newest faculty member at the Pullias Center, having joined last month as a Research Professor.

It’s a full circle moment for Ron Hallett.

And this is one special circle for him.

As the child of working class parents growing up in Nebraska, Ron didn’t really plan to attend college since no one in his family had done so. When he decided to pursue college the year after graduating high school, his parents supported his goals, but it was up to him to navigate the application process — and with the help and guidance of his high school teacher Sarah Thomas, did just that.

“Ms. Thomas told me that I should consider going to college, which was not something I had thought much about,” said Ron. “She helped me with my application to the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, and really helped me to believe in my ability to become a successful student.” Ultimately, Ron received his undergraduate degree in communications/public relations.

After receiving his PhD from USC Rossier in 2009 and working with Pullias’ founding director Bill Tierney, Ron returned to the Pullias fold in 2015 as part of the Promoting At-promise Student Success Project, then beginning Phase I of the study.

Learn More

SPOTLIGHT

45th Pullias Lecture Registration Now Open

Event Features a Distinguished Panel of National DEI Experts on

Thursday, March 28

Top diversity, equity and inclusion scholars in higher education will come together to discuss the current challenging environment in higher education and offer their historical and policy insights into this issue at the 45th Pullias Lecture, set for Thursday, March 28 at 11am. The event will be held at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

Registration for the Lecture is now open.

“Understanding and Navigating an Increasingly Hostile DEI Environment in Higher Education” is the topic of this year’s Lecture. Moderated by Rossier School of Education Dean Pedro Noguera, the panel features a distinguished panel of national experts on DEI, including:

Eddie Cole, UCLA

Liliana Garces , University of Texas, Austin

Royel Johnson, USC Rossier School of Education and a member of the Pullias Center faculty.

Learn More and Make Your Lecture Reservation

Dr. Julie Posselt Named New Director of USC's Center for Enrollment Research, Policy and Practice (CERPP)

The Center for Enrollment Research, Policy and Practice (CERPP) has named Professor of Education Julie Posselt as its new executive director.

CERPP’s mission is to foster equity in educational access, college admissions and outcomes.

Posselt will continue to work in partnership with the Pullias Center of Higher Education where she will remain a faculty affiliate.

Learn More

"Institutional Transformation for Contingent Faculty — A Delphi Award Webinar

Slated for Wednesday, February 21, 1:00 PT — Register Now

In this Pullias Center webinar, in partnership with AAC&U, we will will explore innovative practices and lessons learned from institutional change initiatives aimed at the equitable recognition and support of contingent faculty.

Campus leaders from the University of Arizona and Loyola Marymount University, recipients of the 2023 Delphi Award, will describe the policies, practices, and programs that have been put in place to advance the recognition, status and participation of contingent faculty on their campuses.

Moderated by Pullias Center director Adrianna Kezar and AAC&U's Ashely Finley.

Mark Your Calendars — The 2024 Delphi Award Application Opens on February 26, 2024

Join the elite group of 12 institutions that have already received a $15,000 Delphi Award for Their Support of VITAL (contingent) faculty.

Not sure if your program is eligible, or if your support of your campus' contingent faculty is Delphi-Award worthy? Then check out our comprehensive Delphi Award Application FAQ page. It's chock full of everything you'll need to know to prepare a successful Delphi Award application. You can also peruse the case studies from our past Delphi Award winners, including 2023's University of Arizona and Loyola Marymount University.

Delphi Award Application FAQs

Kezar, Harper, Carducci Release New Textbook

Adrianna Kezar, Jordan Harper and Rozana Carducci challenge traditional paradigms and ideologies that hinder progress — advocating instead for liberatory systemic change in their new textbook “Higher Education Leadership: Challenging Tradition and Forging Possibilities.”

This thought-provoking textbook offers a new vision for higher education scholars and leaders committed to fostering inclusive, anti-racist and equitable universities.

Now available: Receive 30% off with our discount code!

Read More and Order the Book

Memorial for Tatiana Melguizo Set for Monday, April 8, 11:30am-1pm

Please join us on Monday, April 8, both in-person at USC and virtually, as we come together to remember Dr. Tatiana Melguizo, who passed away in January.

More details about the memorial event will be forthcoming, and all are welcome.

In the meantime, you can share your memories of Tatiana with her family, Pierre, Mateo, Juliette & Amalia, to: to: amor4tatiana@gmail.com

NEW PUBLICATIONS

Koren, E. R., Curtis, J. W., Kezar, A., & Culver, K. C. (2024). Faculty, Academic Careers, and Environments (FACE) institutional data providers focus groups report. Pullias Center for Higher Education.

Bickerstaff, S., Melguizo, T. (2024). Developmental Education Reform as a Civil Rights Agenda: Recent History and Future Directions for California. Los Angeles, CA: The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, UCLA.

Strayhorn, T.L., Williams, M.S., & Johnson, R.M. (Eds.) (2023). Creating new possibilities for the future of HBCUs with research. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Hallett, R., Kezar, A., Kitchen, J.A., Perez, R., & Reason, R. (2024). An ecological approach to creating validating support for low-income, racially minoritized, and first-generation college students. New Directions for Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.20489

Holcombe, E., Dizon, J., Kezar, A., & Vigil, D. (2024). Organizing Shared Approaches to Equity Work. Journal of Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2024.2301913

The Promoting At-promise Student Success Research-Practice Partnership Team

MORE NEWS

Zoë Corwin and Joseph Kitchen will be presenting PASS Project sessions at the 43rd Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience in Seattle, WA. They will be co-presenting with campus partners from the PASS Project for two sessions titled “A Multidimensional Peer Mentoring Model for First-Year, Low-Income College Students” on Feb 19, and “Improving First-year Email Communications: A Validating Approach” on Feb 20.

Royel M. Johnson was keynote speaker for Pennsylvania State University’s College of Engineering Racial Equity Forum on February 8. His talk was titled: “Sense of Belonging: An Equity Imperative for Higher Education”

Adrianna Kezar, Elizabeth Holcome and IUSB's Susan Elrod recently held a successful webinar, "Meeting Higher Education's Most Pressing Challenges with the Change Leadership Toolkit.'

LAist 89.3 interviewed Adrianna Kezar about the CSU faculty demands for improved pay and benefits for lecturers.

The January//February issue of Change Magazine includes Adrianna Kezar's provocation titled "Higher Education Leaders Must Form a Collective, Coordinated, and Strategic Movement to Counter the Current Whitelash"

Adrianna Kezar and KC Culver presented the 2023 Delphi Awards to winners The University of Arizona and Loyola Marymount University at the AAC&U National Conference. Watch our new video to learn more about the Delphi Project.

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HIGHER EDUCATION

Promoting Equity in Higher Education

pullias.usc.edu

The World's Leading Research Center on Student Access and Success in Higher Education