This Issue: Intersecting Education and Engineering |
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Through force of crisis, the pandemic is conditioning us as a society to look at things in new ways, including how we shop, work, celebrate, and travel. We have also been challenged to rethink how we learn. The education system, from pre-kindergarten up through higher education terminal degree programs, has gone through a seismic upheaval that may leave no corner unchanged. So what does the future of education look like?
Our guest editor and esteemed faculty member of the Pullias Center, Dr. John Brooks Slaughter, has been asking that question long before COVID came along and threw all the game pieces on the proverbial floor. In this issue, he shares his perspective on tackling education challenges with thinking and solutions from the world of engineering. We also share news of his landmark appointment at USC, announce the latest round of the Delphi Award, recap some of our recent publications, and share the work of Dr. Tichavakunda, who is examining how anti-blackness manifests in higher education access and persistence.
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The Pullias Center's John Brooks Slaughter reflects on his unique role at the intersection of education and engineering.
There have been many occasions when I have been asked, “What does a Professor of Education and Engineering do?” Over time I have developed an answer that on the surface may seem glib or flippant. I say, my job is to teach education students something about engineering and engineering students something about education. But because of the overwhelming events of the past year, I have decided that the explanation is not as offhand or dismissive as it may appear but more substantive and germane than even I had thought.
2020 was a year in which everyone was impacted by the novel pandemic, Covid-19, and those of us in this country experienced the calls for racial justice and the end to police brutality in the wake of the tragic and senseless murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Eric Garner, among others, especially African Americans. It was also a time when we saw enormous political divisiveness and the emergence of white supremacists who had been mostly undercover until they were emboldened and encouraged to make their presence known...
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This joint promotion in the USC Rossier School of Education and USC Viterbi School of Engineering recognizes Dr. Slaughter's exceptional contributions to both schools.
Dr. Slaughter joined USC Rossier in 2010, with a joint appointment at the Viterbi School of Engineering, and has been a valuable member of the Pullias Center ever since. His naming as Deans’ Professor of Education and Engineering is the latest achievement in a career filled with accomplishments. Dr. Slaughter has received distinctions of the highest caliber for his contributions to science and engineering policy, as well as his lifelong dedication to increasing diversity in the fields.
These distinctions, among many others, include the Martin Luther King Jr. Award (1997) and Black Engineer of the Year Award (1987), of which he was the first recipient. In 2015, Dr. Slaughter was recognized by the White House for his exceptional mentoring and awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM). He has received 21 honorary degrees, including from USC, as well as the USC Provost Mentoring Award in 2016 and the USC Presidential Medallion -- the University’s highest distinction -- in 2019...
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The Delphi Award consists of two $15,000 awards given to two new recipients each year to recognize noteworthy efforts to support non-tenure-track faculty.
The Pullias Center for Higher Education, in partnership with the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U), is now accepting applications for the 2021 Delphi Award. The $15,000 cash award is given annually to two individuals or groups who have worked to support adjunct, contingent and non-tenure-track faculty in promoting student success.
“Non-tenure-track faculty often are rarely given the kind of support and security that tenured and tenure-track faculty are given despite making up the bulk of the teachers in higher education,” said Adrianna Kezar, director of the Pullias Center. “This culture needs to change towards campuses investing in their part-time, adjunct, and contingent faculty and the important role they play in students’ lives. The goal of the Delphi Award is to recognize those who are on the forefront of doing that with innovative approaches and ideas.”
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SPOTLIGHT: Recent Pullias Center Reports and Publications |
The Pullias Center publishes reports, briefs, and guides that encapsulates our research and recommendations on student access and success in higher education. Some of our recent publications:
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“The State of Black Students in Higher Education: Cincinnati and the Southwest Ohio Region” examines how anti-blackness manifests in higher education access and persistence for Black people in a region with a large Black population. This project is being conducted by Pullias Center Alumnus Dr. Antar Tichavakunda and is one of five funded through the Pullias Center Equity Alumni Award.
Today, about 42.9% of Cincinnati, Ohio’s population is represented by Black people, the second largest racial group in the city. Yet, Black unemployment in the Cincinnati metro area is at an all time high and with the exception of one university. At no point between 2013 and 2017 did any postsecondary institution have greater than a 10% Black undergraduate student population. Anti-Blackness is prevalent in Cincinnati despite it’s large population of Black individuals, and this project will study how anti-Blackness manifests itself in higher education access and persistence in particular.
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Quick Takes
from the Pullias Center
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Recommended Media
Suggestions from Guest Editor Dr. John Brooks Slaughter
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The Pullias Newsletter will return in March |
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