The Power of Two: Undertaking a Collaborative Independent Study

Welcome to the Spring 2016 issue of Cur-

rents, the Higher Education Program’s news-

letter at UMass Boston. In this issue, we are

excited to present bios of the members of our

Nickles & Dimes cohort (2015); updates from

students, alumni, and faculty; an article on

how members of cohort 2012 found their dis-

sertation topics; abstracts of dissertations

completed in the 2014-2015 academic year; a

special feature article on group independent

studies; and news from the New England Re-

source Center on Higher Education

(NERCHE).

Wishing everyone a fruitful spring semester!

Your newsletter editorial board,

Kati Szelényi, Lance Eaton, and Mike Walker

The phrase “independent

study” typically conjures

up an image of a lone stu-

dent, toiling away under

the guidance of a faculty

member. Last fall the two

of us shook up this stand-

ard model by undertaking a

joint independent study on

feminist inquiry. Now that

the study is complete, we

thought it might be helpful

to share our experience in

Currents in order to pro-

vide an example of how a

collaborative independent

study can emerge and de-

velop. Our hope is to en-

courage future scholars to

engage in collaborative

work, and to make the

point that independent

studies do not need to be

solo studies. Indeed, we

found that having a re-

search partner in this in-

quiry markedly strength-

ened the resulting learning

and, in fact, better mirrored

the collaborative nature of

post-PhdD/EdD academic

research than either a

standard class or a solo

independent study.

Changing Roles

When you take a class, you

have an expectation that

the instructor has mastered

the subject matter, careful-

ly constructed

Editors’ Notes

Editors’ Notes 1

Collaborative Independent Studies

1,6,7

Student and Alumni Up-dates

2,5,13

Faculty Updates 2,12,1416

Introducing Cohort 2015 3,4,6

Dissertation Abstracts 8-11

Choosing a Dissertation Topic NERCHE News

15,18 16-18

Inside this issue:

Spring 2016

University of Massachusetts Boston

Currents

Cont. p. 6

By Erin Kelley and Anne Perkins (cohort 2012)

Suzanne Buglione (graduate of 2012) had a wonderful year filled with many accomplishments. In late 2014,

the American Association of State Colleges and Universities published Becoming a steward of place: Lessons

learned from AASCU Carnegie Community Engagement Applications, authored by John Saltmarsh, Kerry Ann

O’Meara, Lorilee Sandmann, Dwight Giles, Jr., Kelley Cowdery, Gia Liang, and Suzanne Buglione. Suzanne’s

book chapter with Amanda Wittman, entitled Connecting past and present: Adult learner and practitioner experi-

ences through service-learning, was published in the edited volume, The community college and service-

learning in fall 2014 by Palgrave Press; Amy Traver and Zivah Perel Katz, editors. Suzanne also developed and

presented a national webinar in 2014 for Complete College America, entitled Guided pathways for success –

STEM academic maps: A focus on Community College Academic Map Building with Jonathan Gagliardi, Bruce

Vandel and Lawrence Abele. In addition, Suzanne presented her research, The American community college: Su-

perhero for the public good or path for the marginalized at the Transformative Researcher and Educator for De-

mocracy Conference at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth in winter of 2014.

In February, 2015, Suzanne was honored with the John & Suanne Rouesche Excellence Award for Community

College Innovation. And in spring 2015, she and colleague Kathy Torpey Garganta presented their re-

search, Intentional leadership: Building leadership in the community college at the League for Innovations at the

Community College Conference in Boston, MA and at the American Association of Community College Confer-

ence in San Antonio, Texas. In addition, Suzanne presented her research, Nontraditional students’ outgroup expe-

riences in higher education, at the Adult Education Research Conference at Kansas State University.

In August, 2015, John Drew (cohort 2012) was promoted to Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Manage-

ment at UMass Boston where he helps lead a large division including Financial Aid Services, Undergraduate Ad-

missions, the Office of the Registrar, Merit Scholarships, and the One Stop. John previously served as Director of

Undergraduate Admissions at UMass Boston.

On October 4, 2014 John married Michael Panarelli. After meeting in college and being together for many years,

they decided to tie the knot with a fall ceremony and reception.

(cont. on p. 5)

Student and Alumni Updates

Page 2 Currents

Faculty Updates

Gerardo Blanco Ramírez, assistant professor , has expanded his research agenda beyond quality assurance

and accreditation. He has recently explored the ways colleges and universities represent students and themselves.

This work has led to a 2014 ASHE roundtable and a 2015 ASHE interactive symposium. This line of inquiry has

also produced a journal article entitled “‘You don’t look like your profile picture’: The politics and ethics of re-

searching online university identities,” which was recently published in Educational Research and Evalua-

tion. Gerardo has pursued this work in collaboration with Lyssa Palu-ay (cohort 2011). He also explored these issues

comparatively, leading to a 2014 ASHE Council for International Higher Education pre-conference presentation and

a journal article (both co-authored with A. Papadimitriou), entitled “Exploring advertising in higher education: An

empirical analysis in North America, Europe and East Asia” that was recently published in Tertiary Education and

Management. With a more domestic focus, Gerardo collaborated with Professor Ray Franke exploring the Postsec-

ondary Institutions Rating System. This work led to 2014 ASHE and 2015 AERA presentations, as well as a journal

article, currently under review. Gerardo continues to conduct research on accreditation, and this year he received a

research grant from the Office of Global Programs to explore the adoption of US accreditation in Canada.

Gerardo is excited to continue his professional service roles as a member of the ASHE Council for International

Higher Education Executive Board, and as Program Chair for the Higher Education Special Interest Group of the

Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). Additionally, the NAFSA blog recently published an en-

try featuring his research. (cont. on p. 12)

Meet The Nickels & Dimes: The

2015 Cohort

The 2015 Cohort, also known as the

“Nickels & Dimes”; a name we

claimed on Thursday of the first

week of class in June, when that was

about the extent of deep thinking we

could complete (ok, that story’s

mostly untrue). We are an eclectic

and warm group of individuals who

are very excited to be part of the

UMB Higher Education doctoral pro-

gram. We represent a true scattershot

of higher education with strong repre-

sentation from community colleges, 4

-year public colleges, and 4-year pri-

vate colleges in Massachusetts, New

Hampshire, and Connecticut. We

occupy positions as faculty, profes-

sional staff from both the academic

and student sides, a dean, and a vice

president. We look forward to meet-

ing everyone in the program and

don’t be afraid to introduce yourself

to us! But in the meantime, here’s a

bit about each of us:

Christian Bednar

Christian Bednar is an Assistant Pro-

fessor of developmental reading and

writing and the Faculty Coordinator

for the Center for Teaching, Learn-

ing, and Assessment at North Shore

Community College. Prior to North

Shore, Christian taught English 9 and

10 at Masconomet Regional High

School and worked as a freelance

writer for the Eagle-Tribune Publish

Company. He is currently interested

in projects related to student success

and psychosocial interventions, ac-

celerated developmental reading and

writing, and contextualization. Chris-

tian entered the doctoral program at

UMass Boston to deepen his under-

standing of the impact these areas

have on student performance. He and

his wife, Jennifer, live in Salem with

their three beautiful children, An-

nie (6), Jack (4), and Tyler (1).

Gus Burkett

Argentina and Maine couldn’t be

more dissimilar, but Gus Burkett em-

braced the differences as he charted

his future. Originally from Santa Fe,

Argentina, Gus participated in an ex-

change program during his senior

year in high school. The United

States was his first choice, and his

assigned host was from Bangor,

Maine. Gus finished high school in

the United States, and he started col-

lege in Argentina. While higher edu-

cation is free for all in his native

country, the experience is vastly dif-

ferent. Extracurricular activities are

non-existent, and students’ research

course materials are based on a

course syllabus. Preferring the Amer-

ican-style educational system, Gus

contacted his host family, and they

arranged an interview at the Universi-

ty of Maine, Orono. The University

extended a scholarship offer that he

accepted, and the “rest is history.” He

completed his bachelor’s in business

administration and master’s in higher

education administration at the Uni-

versity of Maine, where he also

worked as an Assistant Director, and

later Director, for six years. Gus

moved from Maine to accept a posi-

tion at UNC Charlotte as the Associ-

ate Director for Student Activities

and Programming. Currently, Gus is

the Director of Student Involvement

at Boston College, where he is re-

sponsible for the oversight of leader-

ship development, student organiza-

tions, programming, student govern-

ance, special programs, and the

band's programs. Away from his job,

Gus enjoys hiking, and he continues

to explore Boston. He returns to

Maine regularly to visit family and

friends. He is also involved in work-

ing with his fraternity and is active as

the president for his Alumni Class at

the University of Maine.

Nia DeYounge

Originally from New Haven, CT, Nia

serves as an Advisor in the Interna-

tional Student & Scholar Office at

UMass Boston. She has worked in

the field of international education

for over seven years, beginning with

her experiences as an English teacher

in southern Spain with some very

energetic elementary school students.

After returning to Boston, Nia devel-

oped an interest in immigration poli-

cy and international education. This

interest led to her participation in the

NAFSA Academy, and later to a po-

sition at UMass Boston in 2014.

Nia’s academic background is in In-

ternational Relations, and she holds

degrees from Stanford and Boston

University. Her research interests

include affirmative action and inter-

nationalization. When she is not read-

ing for class, Nia also enjoys travel-

ing, trying out new restaurants,

spending time with family and

friends, and reading books on self-

improvement.

Lance Eaton

Lance Eaton is Coordinator of In-

structional Design at North Shore

Community College, part-time in-

structor, writer, and social media con-

sultant. He’s earned a BA in History,

AS in Criminal Justice, MA in Amer-

ican Studies, Masters of Public Ad-

ministration, and a MEd in Instruc-

tional Design. He has worked as a

part-time instructor in a full-time ca-

pacity (7-9 courses a semester) for

several years at colleges across Mas-

sachusetts and has also worked with

troubled youth for six years. He was

quite excited to start his doctorate at

UMB and further different platforms

for learning, the impact of the open

Introducing Cohort 2015

Page 3

educational resources movement up-

on higher education, and overall, the

ways technology can impact teaching

and learning. His other interests in-

clude reading, running, games (video,

board, or alternate-reality), and feeble

attempts at stand-up comedy.

Jeff Kirksey

Jeff Kirksey is Vice President for

Student Development and Retention

at Eastern Nazarene College in

Quincy. He has served at ENC for

three years. Prior to Eastern Naza-

rene, Jeff served in two different ca-

pacities at Houghton College in

Western New York. At Houghton,

Jeff was the Director of Major Gifts

and later the Dean of Admission and

Retention. His Student Development

experience includes serving as the

Director of Student Programs and

Leadership at Geneva College and

work within the Office of New Stu-

dent Programs at Baylor University.

Jeff cut his higher education teeth as

an undergraduate admission counse-

lor at his alma mater, George Fox

University in Newberg, Oregon. He

holds a BA in Organizational Com-

munication from George Fox and an

MS in Student Services Administra-

tion from Baylor. Jeff is a native of

Montana and often pines of the

Rocky Mountains and some quiet

time on the tractor. He is married to

Sarah and they have four children,

Campbell (7), Everett (4), Titus (4),

and Bennet (2). There is never a dull

moment at their home in Quincy!

Jacqueline Lynch

Jacqueline Lynch is the Manager of

the SABES PD Center for Education-

al Leadership & Strengthening ABE

Programs located at Quinsigamond

Community College, a position she

has held for a year. In this role, she

oversees professional development

for state-funded adult basic education

(ABE) program directors and leader-

ship teams across the state. Prior to

this position, she worked at Roxbury

Community College in a number of

roles which included Special Assis-

tant to VP Academic Affairs, interim

Director of Corporate and Communi-

ty Education, Grants Manager and

ESOL Program Manager. Jacqueline

completed her Bachelor’s degree in

Education in Ireland and her Master’s

degree in Education at Cambridge

College. Jacqueline has served on the

Advisory Boards of MCAE

(Massachusetts Coalition for Adult

Education), SABES (System for

Adult Basic Education Support), and

a number of ABE programs.

Christine McCarey

Christine McCarey is the Dean of

Enrollment Management and Advis-

ing Services at Cape Cod Community

College. Christine’s educational jour-

ney began at Springfield College

where she earned a BS in Recreation

Management and an MS in Sport

Management. Her professional career

began at Bridgewater State Universi-

ty in the athletics and recreation de-

partment. Following her passion for

soccer, Christine landed a full-time

coaching role at Massachusetts Mari-

time Academy, where she established

an NCAA Division III women’s soc-

cer program in 2007. Shifting gears

to enrollment management, Chris-

tine’s role at CCCC is to provide

leadership for enrollment services

and to promote student success and

retention. Christine is a member of

the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce

Higher Education Council, Upper

Cape Tech School Council, Cape &

Islands Workforce Investment Board,

and the Cape & Islands School Coun-

seling Association. She and her wife,

Kelly, reside in Plymouth, MA.

Melissa Quan

Melissa Quan, M.A. is Associate Di-

rector of the Center for Faith and Pub-

lic Life and Director of Service Learn-

ing at Fairfield University, where she

has worked since 2002. Her responsi-

bilities include leading the institution-

alization of service learning at Fair-

field University; supporting service-

learning course development; building

meaningful community partnerships;

and managing several research pro-

jects for the Center for Faith and Pub-

lic Life. Melissa completed her Mas-

ter’s degree in Education at Fairfield

University with a concentration on

service learning and civic education in

2005. Melissa served as interim Exec-

utive Director of Connecticut Campus

Compact from 2008-2009 and as the

Co-coordinator of the Community

Engaged Professionals Network in

2014-15. She is currently serving as a

Research Fellow with a national Cam-

pus Compact project looking at the

competencies required of Community

Engaged Professionals. Prior to join-

ing the Fairfield University communi-

ty, Melissa served as Assistant Direc-

tor of Evergreen Network, Inc. (ENI)

a community-based organization in

Bridgeport, CT serving women, men,

and children affected by HIV/

AIDS. Melissa is an alumna of the

Jesuit Volunteer Corps (1998-

1999) and currently serves on the

Board of Directors with RYASAP

(Regional Adult and Youth Social

Action Partnership).

Penny Storey

Penny Storey is currently Associate

Director at a Tufts research center.

Originally from Belfast, Northern Ire-

land she moved to Dublin, Ireland to

attend college, where she stayed until

(cont. on p. 6)

Cohort 2015 continued

Page 4 Currents

After more than twenty-five years of experience in enrollment management, student services, and community colleges,

Shelley Fortin (graduate of 2007) left her position as Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student

Services at Florence-Darlington Technical College in South Carolina to begin a new venture. Shelley established

Community College Transfer, LLC in April 2015 and she serves as CEO. Although more than 80% of students who

begin at the community college express the intention to earn a bachelor’s degree, less than 25% ever make it to the

four-year campus. Community College Transfer, LLC specializes in working with four-year colleges and universities

to help them improve and execute successful transfer strategy. These efforts support the realization of students’ bacca-

laureate intentions and facilitate the achievement of higher education’s goals to provide opportunity, expand enroll-

ment, and increase diversity in the classroom. www.transfermatters.com

Rhonda Gabovitch presented a poster session entitled " Helping par t-time community college students succeed" at

the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges in San Antonio, TX.

Varsha Ghosh (cohor t 2013) published a research br ief, entitled “Educational and civic outcomes for un-

derrepresented Asian Americans” in the Fall 2015 issue of the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA)

Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans Special Interest Group’s newsletter.

This past year has been a busy, but exciting one for Kelly (Treseler) Golden of Cohort 2013. In September 2014, she

left Stonehill College to become the Director of Residence Life at Regis College in Weston, MA. In her year there, she

has worked to review and update their policies and procedures, develop on-going trainings for professional and para-

professional staff, implement a new housing software system, and bring together constituents from various sectors of

the institution to meet strategic goals. In addition, she has worked closely to develop a more comprehensive Title IX

investigation process including the development of a CARE Advocate program to support reporting and responding

parties in sexual assault cases.

In the midst of all this, she also was married this summer! Fr. John Denning, Ed.D. (graduate of 2015) served as the

officiant. Kelly and her husband, David, met at Stonehill while working in Student Affairs under the leadership of Fr.

John. They were married at the campus church of Merrimack, where David works and where they live with their dog,

Teddy. It was a beautiful summer day filled with family, friends, and dancing!

In summer 2015, Melissa Quan (cohort 2015) was selected to serve as a Campus Compact Research Fellow. Melissa’s

team of 15 fellows has been conducting research on the knowledge, skills, and values required of community engage-

ment professionals (CEPs). Her team has completed a comprehensive literature review and the next step will be focus

groups with CEPs.

Lloyd Sheldon Johnson (graduate of 2012) gave the keynote address on Culturally responsive teaching in an era of

racial violence and social unrest at the 2nd Annual Culturally Responsive Teaching Conference at the Community

College of Baltimore County in Baltimore, Maryland on September 19, 2015. Lori Catallozzi (Cohor t 2011) and

Liya Escalera (Cohor t 2014) co-presented at the conference on the reciprocal partnership between Bunker Hill Com-

munity College and the Museum of African American History, Boston and Nantucket in a presentation enti-

tled Partnering with community organizations to develop culturally responsive, place-based learning experiences.

Michelle Sterk Barrett had the oppor tunity to present her disser tation research in a number of settings, includ-

ing two peer-reviewed academic conferences (IARSLCE & NEERO), two professional meetings (the Association of

Jesuit Colleges and Universities Service Learning Professionals & the Lilly Fellow Network Exchange Program), as

well as open forums at Boston College, St. Ann Parish (Wayland), and St. Zepherin Parish (Wayland). One of the at-

tendees at the Boston College presentation, Kathleen Hirsch, happens to be a regular contributor to the Boston Globe's

website, Crux. Kathleen was so enthusiastic about the research that she wrote an article incorporating research results.

Michelle also received an honorable mention for her dissertation from the International Association for Research on

Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) and she is the recipient of the Dalton Institute for College

Student Values Dissertation of the Year Award. Further information on her accomplishments can be found on this

website. (Cont. on p. 13)

Student and Alumni Updates continued

Page 5

Cohort 2015 continued

Page 6 Currents

the curriculum, and developed a ped-

agogical structure that will support

your learning process. In an inde-

pendent study at the doctoral level, it

is up to you to locate the resources

and references and set about develop-

ing your expertise. A collaborative

independent study allows for sharing

this responsibility but, more im-

portantly, makes possible a co-

teaching approach, as both (or all)

students come to the study with dif-

ferent areas of prior knowledge and

different skill strengths, and can thus

enhance the learning beyond what a

single student could accomplish

alone. While our faculty mentor in

this study, Dr. John Saltmarsh, was a

key support—guiding us toward ex-

amples of how we could approach

this research, deepening our learning

with key questions, connecting us

with experts in the field, providing

the standard we needed to meet—we

made every attempt to develop this

course and the resulting paper as in-

dependently as possible.

Getting Started

Before we could begin planning our

independent study, we realized that

(cont. on p. 7)

The Power of Two continued

2013, when she moved with her fami-

ly to the US. As a full-time, traditional

-age student, she studied in Dublin,

Lille, and Paris. Since she began

working in higher education, she has

pursued part-time study in Dublin and

now Boston. Within higher education,

Penny worked in access expansion

programs, admissions, and registrar

functions before moving into research

management. Her original experience

in a telecommunications group with

extensive company collaborations

formed an interest in the interface be-

tween higher education and industry.

Her current position in a policy-

oriented center focused on energy and

environmental issues is extending that

interest through insight into the inter-

face between higher education and

government.

Keith Waak

Keith Waak is the Assistant Director

of Off-Campus Housing at the Univer-

sity of Massachusetts Boston. He hails

from Indiana where he was born and

raised, and received an undergraduate

degree from Indiana University in

Bloomington. He then went on to re-

ceive a Master of Education from the

University of South Carolina in Co-

lumbia with a focus in Higher Educa-

tion and Student Affairs. Keith has

worked professionally in the city of

Boston for five years, working at Suf-

folk University before his current po-

sition. As a member of the 2015 co-

hort of the UMass Boston Ph.D. High-

er Education cohort, Keith is hoping to

write his dissertation on transgender

student issues and currently sits on

regional trans* advocacy committees.

Keith is also an adamant volunteer

through the Miss America Scholarship

Organization, is a proud pet owner,

and lives on the Northshore with his

partner.

From left to right: Melissa Quan, Nia DeYounge, Jacqueline Lynch, Lance Eaton, Keith Waak, Christian Bednar, Penny Storey,

Christine McCarey, Gus Burkett, and Jeff Kirksey

The Power of Two continued

Page 7

we needed to have an initial research

question to ensure that we shared a

similar goal and vision for our inde-

pendent study. For us, our question

could not have been simpler: “what the

heck is feminist inquiry?” We had

seen feminist inquiry cursorily refer-

enced in readings in various classes,

and had done some surface-level re-

search on our own, but felt out of our

depth in this knowledge area. Based

upon our individual research areas and

interests, we wanted to learn more.

We began by identifying a comprehen-

sive text to provide a foundation for

the content we sought to master. The

specific text used was Feminist Re-

search Practice: A Primer by Sharlene

Hesse-Biber (2014). We spent the first

six weeks of our “course” reading this

text and discussing its key concepts by

meeting for approximately two hours

each week. During our meetings, we

shared our insights from that week’s

reading, clarified for one another what

may have been unclear, conducted fol-

low-up research on the more perplex-

ing and confusing issues, and plotted

out next steps in the project.

Having this text and these meetings

scheduled was crucial to the forward

momentum of this work. The text pro-

vided us with baseline knowledge that

was needed in learning more about the

various strands and off-shoots of femi-

nist research. It also provided us with

authors and texts that we could then

add to our reading list. The weekly

meetings provided us with deadlines

for continued progress and learning;

there is nothing like an 8:00 am meet-

ing with a colleague to ensure you get

your reading or share of that week’s

writing done. Moreover, the weekly

meetings allowed us to be flexible in

shifting and altering the course compo-

nents as our knowledge deepened. Ra-

ther than following a set script created

before we knew much about feminist

theory, we were able to adapt as we

learned more about feminist theory and

our own research goals.

Resources, both Technical and Hu-

man

The cloud system Dropbox also proved

a real asset to our endeavor, and we

created a shared folder where we saved

our notes, work plan, paper drafts, ref-

erence lists, and analytic memos. This

folder also gave us a way to share our

thoughts between class meetings via

analytic memos. Some of these mem-

os we still use today, and some never

moved past a brief discussion in a

weekly meeting. However, the ability

to write out an idea, even if it is was

only a kernel of a thought, to which the

other person could then respond

proved valuable in keeping connected

throughout the week, keeping our

minds focused on this topic, and re-

cording ideas that became part of our

final paper. Lastly, the Dropbox pro-

vided an efficient way for Dr. Salt-

marsh to keep track of our study, as he

could just look at the folder any time

he wanted to check on our progress.

We also were fortunate to use this ex-

perience as an opportunity to engage

with experts in the field. Dr. Saltmarsh

provided us with introductions to

NERCHE Visiting Scholar Dr. Marga-

ret Post and to University of Maryland

faculty member Dr. KerryAnn

O’Meara, both of whom shared ideas

and resources that proved helpful. We

also met twice with Dr. Gerardo Blan-

co Ramírez, who finally cracked the

code for us on what postmodern and

poststructural theories and research

methods entail, and who gave us valua-

ble coaching on our ASHE proposal. In

sum, the independent study gave us an

interesting reason to reach out to these

scholars, and resulted in interviews,

meetings, and email correspondences

that both deepened our knowledge and

created new professional and scholarly

connections for us.

Dr. Saltmarsh also proved a key asset

for our work by providing a balance of

autonomy and support, and the flexi-

bility needed for the emergent design

of our approach. We also appreciated

his consistently reinforcing the im-

portance of connecting this independ-

ent study to our own research.

The Final Product

We have referred to this project as

emergent, iterative, shifting, and wind-

ing--and all are true. When we first

conceived of our independent study,

we planned to read everything we

could about feminist inquiry, and de-

liver a literature review that could

serve as a compendium for all that is

known and has been written about

feminist scholarship and theory. Early

on, we learned that this was not a via-

ble outcome, as there has been too

much written to capture in one com-

prehensive literature review. We also

found that we wanted to increase the

intellectual complexity of our final

product beyond a literature review and

tie the second half of our independent

study more directly to our dissertation

research.

We accomplished this by engaging in

more of a parallel study, with each of

us setting about becoming an expert in

our own strand or off-shoot of feminist

inquiry: Anne in Feminist Standpoint

Theory and Erin in Queer Theory. Af-

ter working independently for several

months, we came back together to

share our separate drafts of papers and

merge them into one work. This ap-

proach expanded our joint knowledge

beyond what we might know, had our

reading lists overlapped entirely, and

produced enough new ideas that we

submitted a theoretical paper proposal

to ASHE (sadly not accepted—two

reviewers were enthusiastic about the

work and one most decidedly was not).

In closing, we would highly recom-

mend this approach to independent

study. For both of us, it has proved to

be one of the intellectual highlights of

our doctoral program experience.

John F. Denning

The College Young Christian Students in the United States, a Historical Case Study of a Faith-based

Social Movement and its National Office

Abstract

This historical case study of the national staff of the College Young Christian Students (CYCS) employs social move-

ment theory to understand the factors that led to both the development and demise of this movement of Catholic college

students. This study adopts narrative inquiry to explore the internal dynamics of the national staff. There were two pri-

mary sources utilized in this study; the first, an examination of archival material, which included letters, transcripts of

meetings, journal entries, and written reflections by members of the national staff. Interviews conducted with nine for-

mer full-time members of the national staff comprised the second primary source. This study was organized chronologi-

cally, and was bounded, in that it was limited to the work of the national office.

CYCS was an example of specialized Catholic Action, which was a movement of lay Catholics formed to establish

Christian virtues and principles throughout society. The movement was considered specialized because people were

organized by their particular life work, e.g., students, laborers, and farmers. A key organizing principle of the CYCS

was the social inquiry method, which gathered students into groups of eight to twelve participants who worked to estab-

lish Christian values within their environment employing a three step method: observe, judge, and act.

The national office of the CYCS was formed in 1948 and headquartered in Chicago. There were three core elements

which characterized CYCS as a national movement: a general committee that provided oversight to the movement, a

national staff of full-time workers, and an annual program of social inquiries for groups to adopt on individual college

campuses. The national movement began with strong leadership in 1948, endured during a period of minimal social

activism in the 1950s, and rebounded in the late 1950s with an expanded national staff through the mid-1960s. CYCS

ceased to function as a national organization by the end of 1967 during a moment of increased social activism. This

study explores the rich history of the national staff and considers the factors that led to the diminishment of CYCS as a

national movement of Catholic undergraduates.

Shelby J. Harris

The Development of the Global Ready Leadership Scale

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to define Global Ready Leadership and develop a reliable and valid scale to measure

this multidimensional construct. The research addressed the disparity between the demand for global ready leaders and

the lack of a quantifiable method to assess global readiness of college graduates. After an extensive review of the litera-

ture, a 119-item instrument was developed and administered to undergraduates in their senior year at two public univer-

sities in the Northeast (n=592). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to establish preliminary construct validity

and multiple regression was used to assess the relationship of 44 independent variables to the construct of global ready

leadership. EFA helped to identify 10 factors with strong loadings on six subscales: effective intercultural communica-

Dissertation Abstracts

Page 8 Currents

Dissertation Chair Second Reader Third Reader

Dwight E. Giles, Jr. Katalin Szelényi Lester F. Goodchild

Dissertation Chair Second Reader Third Reader

Dwight E. Giles, Jr. Katalin Szelényi Lisa Bardill Moscaritolo

tion, leadership development, global emotional intelligence, global and cultural competence, empathy, and capacity for

social change. The reliability of the scale was evaluated using Chronbach's coefficient alpha, which measured the inter-

nal consistency of items on each subscale. This analysis aided in collapsing the subscales and further identifying scale

items for retention. Through this process, eight subscales were reduced to six subscales with alpha scores ranging from

an acceptable .762 to an excellent .881. Multiple regression was used to analyze the relationships between 44 independ-

ent variables which asked about pre-collegiate and collegiate experiences. Twenty-seven items emerged as demonstrat-

ing a statistically significant positive or negative relationship with the six dependent variables that measured global

ready leadership. The final instrument contained 66 measurement and 9 demographic items for a total of 75 items. Prac-

tices that contributed to the development of global ready leaders included completion of courses that focused on global

and multicultural issues, foreign language proficiency, and conflict resolution. Participation in non-credit leadership

workshops, ethnic/cultural student organizations, military service prior to college and living abroad also demonstrated

positive relationships to global ready leadership. The results of the research produced a concrete definition of a global

ready leader and accompanying instrument that measures the construct and can guide universities as they implement

curricular and co-curricular programs that will support the development of students capable of creating change in an

interconnected world.

Lorna J. Hunter

The Untold Story of the GI Bill: The Experiences of African American Veterans with Attaining Educa-

tional Benefits through the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of African American World War II veterans who

used or attempted to use the higher education benefits of the GI Bill; experiences, that are largely missing from the cur-

rent literature. The overarching research questions which guided this study were: Why did African American veterans

not obtain the same college access and completion results as their White counterparts? What events, circumstances, pol-

icies and practices contributed to African American veterans’ access or denial to the educational benefits of the GI Bill?

This study contributes to the literature by increasing our knowledge of the experiences of African American veterans of

World War II with the military, the Veterans Administration, the implementers of the GI Bill, and the colleges them-

selves.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) was used as the analytical framework for this study because in conjunction with being in-

terdisciplinary, this race-based epistemology provided a lens through which to question and critique the manner in

which race, racism, white supremacist ideology, and illusions of meritocracy molded a bill for veterans that by all ac-

counts was race neutral; but by evidence, showed distinct results along racial lines. By using Critical Race Theory, this

dissertation gave voice to Black veterans in a historical context, and used a racial perspective to shed new light on a bill

that has been widely viewed as colorblind and meritocratic.

This study revealed the strategies that were intentionally used by the framers of the GI Bill to exclude Black veterans

from obtaining higher education benefits, and the barriers of segregation and racism that supported those strategies. The

findings of this study show the extreme challenges, many of them insurmountable, that African American veterans en-

countered that ultimately impacted their ability to fully access the higher education opportunities offered through the GI

Bill. It adds to the current literature by demonstrating the means by which equity was denied, and the defining role that

racism and the GI Bill, from conception to implementation played in the postwar experiences of African American vet-

erans.

Page 9

Dissertation Chair Second Reader Third Reader

Tara L. Parker Dwight E. Giles Jr. Lara Couturier

Page 10 Currents

Danielle Licitra

Art and Design Students' Social Norms Regarding Mental Illness, Creativity, and Help-Seeking Be-

haviors

Abstract

Art and design institutes may have a higher percentage of students with diagnosed or self-reported cases of mental

illness compared to other types of institutions. Furthermore, the art and design culture may to a certain extent glorify

mental illness, given that many famous artists are known to have had a mental illness. Whereas the general popula-

tion tends to stigmatize mental illness, art and design students may interpret mental illness experiences as a catalyst

toward enhancing their creativity. If students associate mental illness with their ability to be creative, then they may

forgo treatments such a prescription medication. At art and design institutes, campus norms may endorse unhealthy

behaviors based on misperceptions about mental illness, creativity, and help-seeking. This impact in turn may be

detrimental to retention, persistence, and graduation.

This study collected data from a national sample of students at art and design institutions. The theoretical framework

was based on social norming theory, which suggests that there may be disparities between perceived and actual so-

cial norms on a college campus. Survey results indicated that 49% of the sample self-reported having a diagnosed

mental illness, and an additional 15% indicated that they believe they have a mental illness but have not yet been

diagnosed. These percentages are significantly higher than previous research on the general college student popula-

tion. Results also indicated that there was a perceived social norm that mental illness enhances creativity. Among

students who self-reported a mental illness, there was an individual belief and a perceived social norm that prescrip-

tion medication interferes with creativity. And students who believed that prescription medication interferes with

creativity were unlikely to choose prescription medication as a type of treatment.

This study provides strong evidence suggesting that individual beliefs and perceived social norms may have an im-

pact on help-seeking behaviors, and has implications for administrators working within art and design institutions.

Deborah L. Liverman

First Career Decisions of African American and Hispanic Women in Science, Technology, Engineer-

ing, and Math

Abstract

The purpose of this case study was to explore how African American and Hispanic women with bachelor's degrees

in science technology engineering, and math (STEM) made immediate career decisions. Research questions ad-

dressed if differences exist in undergraduate experiences and if differences are related to first career decisions. So-

cial Cognitive Career theory and the Culturally Appropriate Career Counseling model guided the study.

Cont. p. 11

Dissertation Abstracts continued

Dissertation Chair Second Reader Third Reader

Jay Dee Dwight E. Giles Jr. Michael Kocet

Dissertation Chair Second Reader Third Reader

Katalin Szelényi Tara L. Parker Phil Gardner

Page 11

Dissertation Abstracts continued

The results showed that academic challenges, continued interest in STEM fields, confidence, and interactions with facul-

ty, graduate students, and undergraduate student peers shaped the attainment of various educational and career outcomes.

A theme consistent for all participants was the experience of isolation in and outside of the classroom. Additionally, re-

sults showed the various influences of gender roles and culture on academic and career decisions.

This study makes several important contributions to the understanding of how African American and Hispanic women

with bachelor's degrees in STEM fields make career decisions. First, confidence in abilities especially in STEM fields is

necessary. If not addressed early on during a student's educational journey, a lack of confidence in abilities has crippling

effects on students' persistence and interest in STEM. Additionally, there appears to be a heightened level of isolation in

STEM education, perhaps because the proportion of underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities is lower in STEM than in

other academic fields. In the transition from degree to career, the multiple identities of Hispanic and African American

women were all important parts of their decision making. Gender roles were most important for Hispanic participants, but

all participants were concerned with balancing their future personal and professional roles. Furthermore, STEM workplac-

es are still seen as male-dominated and not flexible enough for women who desire to have both a professional and person-

al life.

Michelle C. Sterk Barrett

Fostering the Spiritual Development of Undergraduates through Service-Learning

Abstract

By integrating spiritual development theories with Sanford's theory of challenge and support and study findings, this

mixed methods study examines how spiritual development may be occurring through service-learning. The relationship

between service-learning participation and spiritual growth is analyzed by addressing the following research questions: 1)

Does spiritual growth occur among undergraduates participating in service-learning? 2) Which aspects of the service-

learning experience relate to the occurrence of spiritual growth? 3) What role do "challenge" and "support" play in the

process of spiritual growth?

The 272 study participants are drawn from the Boston College PULSE Program, a service-learning program that requires

10-12 hours of weekly service for the full academic year while students simultaneously take an interdisciplinary philoso-

phy and theology course entitled, Person and Social Responsibility. The quantitative strand of this study sought to objec-

tively understand the components of the PULSE program that may relate to spiritual development among undergraduates

through a pre-test/post-test survey adapted from the College Student Beliefs and Values instrument created by Astin, As-

tin, & Lindholm (2011). The qualitative strand consisted of semi-structured, one-on-one interviews with eleven study par-

ticipants whose quantitative survey results demonstrated particularly high or low levels of spiritual change.

Study findings indicate that nearly 80% of study participants grew spiritually during the service-learning experience. Con-

sistent with Sanford's (1962, 1966,1967) theory of college student development and the spiritual development theories of

Fowler (1981) and Daloz Parks (2000), spiritual growth was most likely to occur when students experienced significant

challenge balanced with support. Qualitative and quantitative results found that challenge was related to the eye opening

experience of witnessing injustice at service sites while simultaneously being exposed to diverse perspectives through

course assignments and discussions. This eye opening experience led students to struggle spiritually as they questioned

prior assumptions and beliefs. Support was found in relationships and effective integration of course content with the ser-

vice experience.

Dissertation Chair Second Reader Third Reader

Dwight E. Giles Jr. John Saltmarsh Alyssa B. Rockenbach

Page 12 Currents

In October 2014, Jay Dee, associate professor, delivered two seminar presentations on higher education organization and

administration at the Center for the Studies of Higher Education, Nagoya University, Japan. In November 2014,

Jay presented a paper with Higher Education doctoral student Kate Bresonis (cohort 2009) at the ASHE conference in

Washington, DC. The title of the paper was, “The use of appreciative inquiry in organizational strategy develop-

ment.” In March 2015, Jay served as a research paper discussant at the European Union Studies Association, which met

in Boston. The session was titled, “The changing governance of higher education, research, and innovation.” His cur-

rent research projects focus on organizational learning in higher education institutions, faculty development, and the re-

lationship between college and university organizational characteristics and student learning outcomes.

Ray Franke, assistant professor , has published a monograph entitled “Revisiting college degree completion: New

evidence on the effects of financial aid, college experience, and institutional climate” (Scholar’s Press), a book chap-

ter “Why the status quo isn’t good enough: Examining student success for diverse populations in the United

States” (Sense), and a book review in the Teacher’s College Record. In addition, he has multiple projects currently under

review at various stages in journals such as the American Educational Research Journal, Higher Education Policy, and

Research in Higher Education. Over the past year, he has continued his work with the Benjamin Franklin Institute of

Technology (BFIT) and expanded it to study how incentivized interventions can increase student success and institution-

al retention. He also continues his work on the federal Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy at the local level

and nationally. Together with various co-authors, Ray has presented 10 papers at the annual meetings of ASHE

(Washington, D.C), including the policy pre-conference (CPPHE), AERA (Chicago), and Consortium for Higher Educa-

tion Researchers (CHER) in Rome, Italy, in which he also served as discussant and/or chair. He was appointed to the

editorial board for the Journal of Student Financial Aid (a NASFAA journal) and as a research affiliate for the HOPE

Lab under the direction of Prof. Sara Goldrick-Rab at UW Madison. For his work on financial aid and college cost, he

has been interviewed for CNBC, MSNBC, and the Boston Globe.

Dwight Giles, professor , and Anne DeFelippo (graduate of 2014) presented research from Anne’s disser tation at a

conference in Fall 2014. Their research, entitled “Mid-career faculty and high levels of community engagement: Inten-

tional reshaping of more meaningful careers” has been accepted for publication by the International Journal for Re-

search on Service-Learning and Community Engagement. In Fall 2014, Dwight co-taught HIGHED 622 Community

Engagement in Higher Education with an aspiring scholar and activist, Margaret Brower, from Tufts. In June, he co-

taught HIGHED 601 with advanced graduate student, Liza Talusan (cohort 2011). Dwight had not taught this course for

over ten years, so it was wonderful to teach the first course again and to watch cohort 2015 go through its formation in

their first three weeks of the program.

On May 28, 2015, at Graduate Convocation, Dwight received the 2015 Joan H. Liem Award for Distinguished Mentor-

ing of doctoral students. This was not only the highlight of his year, but also of his teaching and advising career. Profes-

sor Jay Dee nominated Dwight and the nominating package contained letters from seven current and former students

whom Dwight had mentored as dissertation chair, along with three letters from faculty colleagues in the program. Be-

cause one of the key reasons he came to UMass Boston was to work with doctoral students, receiving the award was

both special and gratifying for Dwight. A special part of the award was the program celebration on June 18, where Co-

hort 2011 announced that they had made a donation of $800.00 to the Sandra Kanter Fund in Dwight’s honor for receiv-

ing the Mentoring award.

One of the highlights of associate professor Tara Parker’s year was that she had the opportunity to teach the Critical

Race Theory in Higher Education course. The course met during the January intersession and had student representation

from five cohorts. Tara also completed work on the ASHE monograph, Racism and racial equity in higher education

(with Sam Museus and Maria Ledesma). This monograph (December, 2015) aims to help higher education scholars, pol-

icymakers, and practitioners, among others, recognize and understand how racism continues to permeate postsecondary

education. In addition, Tara was invited by Teachers College Record to review the book, Opportunities and Challenges

at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, edited by Marybeth Gasman and Felecia Commodore. In December

2014, her first book was published, The state of developmental education: Higher education and public policy priorities

(with Michelle Sterk Barrett 2015 graduate and cohort 2009 and Leticia Bustillos). (cont. on p. 14)

Faculty Updates continued

Liza Talusan (cohor t 2011) recently transitioned from her position at Stonehill College as Director of Intercul-

tural Affairs to become the inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at The Park School in Brookline.

While it is a shift from higher education, Liza is thrilled to explore the broader connections between K-12 and higher

education related to institutional and organizational strategic planning, change, and implementation for diversity, equi-

ty, and inclusion. Liza is also fortunate that her three children are enrolled at the school, so she can spend much more

time with them. This is especially important as Liza continues to work with Prof. Kati Szelényi on exploring the inte-

gration of scholar/parent identities. In addition, the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Research on

the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans Special Interest Group’s Fall 2015 newsletter featured an article by Liza,

entitled “Being a mom and doctoral student.” Since the last newsletter, Liza recently was given the responsibility of co-

chairing the awards process for ASHE’s Council on Ethnic Participation (CEP) and was asked to serve as the Graduate

Student Representative for the AERA special interest group, Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Ameri-

cans (REAPA). Liza also serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student

Affairs.

Elaine Ward (graduate of 2010) is cur rently Assistant Professor in the Graduate Higher Education Program in

the School of Education and Social Policy, where she teaches classes on Higher Education Law and Policy, Higher Ed-

ucation Leadership Theory and Practice, Advising and Counseling and Student Retention and Success. She is also a

Senior Research Associate with the Center for Engaged Democracy. In her research endeavors, she is working on an

Impact Study for the Department of Higher Education on their College Access Challenge Grant and has been a visiting

fellow with NERCHE, having just launched an international pilot of the Carnegie Classification for Community En-

gagement. She is also the Coordinator for the national Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement for Early Ca-

reer Faculty and will co-chair this year's Lynton Colloquium. In addition, Elaine has received funding to study the con-

nections between faith-based institutional mission and students’ civic engagement.

Announcement of Dissertation Grants in 2014-2015

During the 2014-2015 academic year, LaDonna Bridges (cohort 2011) and Liza Talusan (cohort 2011) were the recipi-

ents of the Department of Leadership in Educatiton’s Alumni Award for Dissertation Research and Asabe Poloma

(cohort 2011) received the Higher Education Program’s Gamson Award.

Student and Alumni Updates continued

Page 13

Left: John Drew (cohort 2012) married Michael Panarelli in October of 2014; Kelly

(Treseler) Golden married David Golden last summer

Below: Rhonda Gabovitch presented a poster at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the

American Association of Community Colleges

Tara gave a number of presentations throughout the year locally and nationally, including a paper presentation with

Kathy Neville at ASHE. She was also invited to speak to U.S. congressional staff about her research on developmental

education policy and apply it specifically to minority-serving institutions. In other exciting news, she was invited, in

summer 2015, to teach a course at Shaanxi Normal University in the city of Xi’an in China. She taught qualitative re-

search methods to graduate students from multiple disciplines throughout the university. She was also able to see some

of the sights around the city including the Terracotta Warriors, the Muslim Quarter, and the city wall of Xi’an. Finally,

in May 2015, Tara was elected to become chair of the department of Leadership in Education (effective September 1,

2015). She is looking forward to serving our faculty and students in this new role. And on a personal note, Tara’s

daughter, Nikki, started middle school!

John Saltmarsh, professor , had the honor to write a book chapter with Professor Mary Walshok of the Universi-

ty of California, San Diego, entitled “Knowledge without boundaries revisited: Beyond the walls of academia, the role

of engagement” (forthcoming in Robert H. Bruininks, Robert J. Jones, Kateryna Kent, and Andrew Furco, eds., Re-

Envisioning the 21st Century Public Research University, University of Minnesota Press). Mary Walshok’s book,

Knowledge without boundaries, published in 1995, had a significant influence on the civic engagement movement as it

argued for shifts in epistemology and new institutional structures to support community engagement. John was also

honored to work together with colleagues across UMass Boston in writing about the process and outcomes of a two-

year working group study and report with recommendations of community engagement at the university (Saltmarsh, J.,

Warren, M.R., Krueger-Henney, P., Rivera, L., Fleming, R.K., Haig Friedman, D., and Uriarte, M. (2015) Creating an

Academic Culture that Supports Community-Engaged Scholarship, Diversity and Democracy, Winter, Vol.18, No.1).

Another pieces of especially rewarding scholarship was John’s collaboration with a group of colleagues from other

campuses on a book project regarding “Next generation engagement” (M. Post, E. Ward, N. Longo, & J. Saltmarsh

(Eds.), (forthcoming, 2016) Publically engaged scholars: Next generation engagement and the future of higher educa-

tion, Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.) In this forthcoming book, John was able to team up again with Matthew Hartley,

his colleague at the University of Pennsylvania, in writing two chapters framing the history of the civic engagement

movement creating the context for the current generation of publicly engaged scholars (Saltmarsh, J., and Hartley, M.

Chapter 2, The Inheritance of Next Generation Engagement Scholars, and Chapter 3, A Brief History of the Civic En-

gagement Movement). Finally, John’s work on civic engagement in higher education took an international turn. He was

pleased to be asked to write the introduction to a book on community engagement coming out in Australia (Saltmarsh,

J., Chapter 1: Trends and Directions in Community Engagement, Judyth Sachs, Lindie Clark, eds. (forthcoming, 2016),

Learning Through Community Engagement - Vision and Practice in Higher Education, Springer). John also received a

research grant from the Office of Global Programs at UMass Boston for a project, entitled “A pilot study in Ireland of

Cont. p. 16

Faculty Updates continued

Page 14 Currents

Dwight E. Giles accepting the 2015 Joan

H. Liem Award for Distinguished Mentor-

ing (also pictured are Laura Hayman, Asso-

ciate Vice Provost for Research and Gradu-

ate Studies and Winston Langley, Provost

and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs)

From Mike Walker and Lance Eaton

The members of the 2012 cohort of the higher education doctoral program came together to discuss how their research

has progressed since they started the program three years ago. They reflected on how they selected their research top-

ics and described how their interests have developed into dissertation proposals. They discussed their academic, pro-

fessional, and personal influences, why they believe their research is meaningful, and the challenges of narrowing re-

search interests to a researchable problem. The table below lists the 2012 cohort members who were able to attend the

focus group, and their research topics.

Most cohort members indicated that the develop-

ment of their research interests has been heavily

influenced by their coursework, particularly dur-

ing the first year of the higher education program.

Readings, course assignments, and class discus-

sions in the History of Higher Education; Impact

of College on Students; and Teaching, Learning,

and Curriculum in Urban Contexts classes were

cited specifically. The history class helped Cate

and Anne see the relevance of their interests in

history to important higher education issues, ser-

vice learning and access and equity, respectively.

The teaching and learning class helped Melissa

understand the relationship between how

knowledge is presented and constructed in insti-

tutions and the social justice and civic engage-

ment goals that are important to her. The college

impact class helped Mike identify critical thinking as a meaningful research topic.

Several cohort members mentioned the Qualitative Analysis course as key to their identifying a researchable problem

from their research topics. The course gave students an opportunity to conduct research related to their interests. Alt-

hough these projects were of limited scope, Erin, John, and Mike indicated that doing some preliminary research

helped them to focus their interests. That course also helped several students think about their world view, and the im-

plications of that perspective for their research.

One-on-one conversations with faculty members had a significant and positive influence on the direction of students’

research. These conversations ranged from several hours in a coffee shop to five minutes on a shuttle bus, but were

often quite impactful. Several cohort members indicated that these meetings led to a-ha moments that helped them bet-

ter conceptualize the issue they wanted to address, identify scholarship that would inform their proposals, and narrow

their research to elements that were most meaningful to them.

This last point – learning how to focus their research – was seen by cohort members as a particularly challenging as-

pect of their development as scholars. Several mentioned struggling to narrow the scope of their proposals without

giving up elements of it that they found most interesting and significant. “Sometimes I think it’s trying to figure out

where you can draw the line and still feel like you are going to do your study and your research justice…. I’ve wrestled

with how we go from broad and we get narrow, and do we get so narrow that it loses what you had really intended to

be looking at and studying along the way,” said John. Melissa found that identifying perspectives in the literature simi-

lar to her own helped her to turn her varied interests into a researchable problem.

Professional and personal relationships external to the program also seemed to be important for both topic selection and

refinement. Cohort members found it helpful to discuss their research with colleagues and friends, both because that

dialogue added to their ability to communicate their research clearly and because it reminded them of their commit-

ment to the practitioner side of their developing scholar-practitioner identities. Erin said, “I was talking with a friend

who is not involved in the program and not pursuing a further degree and was just going back and forth with her and

(cont. on p. 18)

Cohort 2012 Research Topics

Anne Perkins The experiences of the first class of wom-

en at Yale

Cate Kaluzny History of service learning at community

colleges from 1992-2012

Melissa Quashie Global citizenship education at community

engaged institutions

Erin Kelley The experiences of women student-

athletes who identify on the LGBQ spec-

trum

John Drew Four-year college access programs and

community colleges as alternative path-

ways to bachelor degrees

Mike Walker Critical thinking development and class-

room discourse

Choosing a Dissertation Topic: Perspectives from One Cohort

Page 15

the Carnegie Foundation’s Elective Community Engagement Classification,” and with additional funding from a varie-

ty of sources, a research study (Saltmarsh, J., Ward. E. McIllrath, L. Understanding the relationship between the na-

tional higher education policy context has on establishing community engagement as a core institutional commitment

and identity).

In spring 2015, Kati Szelényi, associate professor, had the opportunity to teach a group independent study on women in

higher education. She is currently developing the syllabus for a class to be offered as an elective/cognate for students in

the program, possibly with a broader focus on gender in higher education. Kati also published an article, entitled

“STEM doctoral student socialization, logics, and the national economic agenda: Alignment or disconnect between

science and entrepreneurship” in the journal, Minerva and revised a manuscript, entitled “Who am I versus who can I

become: Exploring women’s science identities in STEM Ph.D. programs” that has since been accepted for publication

by the Review of Higher Education. Both papers are in collaboration with Kate Bresonis (cohort 2009) and Matthew

Mars, a colleague from the University of Arizona. Kati is also very excited about her research with several students in

our program and is continuing her focus on the work-life balance experiences of faculty members with a particular fo-

cus on female and male faculty of color, as well as issues of sexual violence in higher education.

For much of the 2014-2015 academic year, Kati served as Chair of the ASHE Council for International Higher Educa-

tion (CIHE), a role that included organizing the first CIHE mentoring program, planning the CIHE pre-conference pro-

gram in 2014, and starting International Connections, the CIHE newsletter with Professor Gerardo Blanco Ramírez.

Faculty updates continued

Page 16 Currents

NERCHE News

The New England Resource Center for Higher Education (NERCHE) is committed to collaborative change processes in

higher education to address social justice in a diverse democracy. As a center for inquiry, research, and policy,

NERCHE supports administrators, faculty, and staff across the region in becoming more effective practitioners and

leaders as they navigate the complexities of institutional innovation and change.

Read more about NERCHE’s mission >>

Project Updates:

Ernest A. Lynton Award

The annual Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement for Early Career Faculty recognizes a faculty

member who is pre-tenure at tenure-granting campuses and early career (i.e., within the first six years) at campuses

with long-term contracts and who connects his or her teaching, research, and service to community engagement.

NERCHE announces recipient of the 2015 Lynton Award

NERCHE is pleased to present the 2015 Lynton Award to Dr. Eric DeMeulenaere, Assistant Professor of Ur-

ban Schooling in the Department of Education at Clark University.

Read more about Dr. DeMeulenaere >>

NERCHE and the Center for Engaged Democracy host the Fourth Annual Lynton Colloquium on the Scholar-

ship of Engagement Held on November 14, 2015, at UMass Boston, the Annual Lynton Colloquium was attended by nearly 100

faculty, administrators, and students who spent the day engaged in collective and collaborative inquiry honor-

ing the pioneering work of Ernest A. Lynton and the legacy of his contributions to publicly engaged scholar-

Page 17

ship. The event featured a keynote presentation by the 2015 Lynton Award recipient, as well as research

presentations by the 2015 Advancing Current Critical Issues in Community Engagement Research grant recip-

ients. Colloquium participants had an opportunity to openly and collaboratively discuss the "critical issues in

the field" for 2016 and beyond.

Read more >>

Project Inclusion

With generous support from the Lloyd G. Balfour Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee, and in partnership

with Campus Compact for New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Inclusive Excellence Advisory Board, and UMass

Boston, NERCHE launched Project Inclusion: Institutionalization of Inclusive Excellence and Student Success in New

Hampshire's Colleges and Universities, a pilot initiative designed to encourage a statewide assessment of the institu-

tional structures, policies, and practices around diversity, equity, and inclusiveness in New Hampshire's colleges and

universities. In May 2015, NERCHE invited all public and private two- and four-year institutions of higher education

in New Hampshire to submit proposals for serving as one of four Project Inclusion pilot sites for the first year of the

initiative. In late July, the following institutions were selected to participate: Antioch University New England,

Keene State College, Rivier University, and the University of New Hampshire. Pilot sites were chosen based on their

current efforts to assess the extent of their respective cultural engagement and their willingness and readiness to under-

go broad-based, structural change in order to sustain and expand these efforts beyond the grant period.

Read more >>

College Board AP with We365 Service Program

In April 2015, NERCHE was invited by the College Board to serve as an independent evaluator of a pilot program

beginning in the fall of 2016 incorporating We365 Service into Advanced Placement high school courses. NERCHE

has assembled an evaluation team that brings key expertise in evaluation and civic engagement to the project, with ex-

perience in both secondary and post-secondary education. Using an exploratory and participatory approach,

NERCHE’s evaluation methods will enable on-going learning with the College Board as well as create a participatory

framework for developing outcome measures that would be most useful to strategic decision making about AP cours-

es.

Carnegie Community Engagement Classification

NERCHE continues to serve as the Carnegie Foundation’s administrative partner for the purpose of managing and ad-

ministering the Community Engagement Classification, which the Foundation established in 2006, and issued again

in 2008 and 2010.

In January 2015, the Carnegie Foundation selected 240 U.S. colleges and universities to receive the 2015 Community

Engagement Classification. Of this number, 83 institutions received the classification for the first time, while 157 were

re-classified, after being classified originally in 2006 or 2008. These 240 institutions join the 121 institutions that

earned the classification during the 2010 selection process. Currently, a total of 361 campuses have the Community

Engagement Classification.

Learn more >>

Carnegie Community Engagement Assessment Pilot in Ireland

NERCHE has partnered with the Community Knowledge Initiative at the NUI Galway, the Talloires Network at Tufts University, and the University of Massachusetts Boston in a pilot project focusing on community and civic engagement within higher education in Ireland. The Carnegie Community Engagement Assessment Pilot in Ireland is part of a con-tinued national process to find appropriate tools to build an evidence-base of Ireland institutions’ contribution to civic

NERCHE News continued

NERCHE News continued

and community engagement that aligns with the national higher education policy context. It is anticipated that this pro-cess might continue to drive commitment, momentum, and practice on the importance and centrality of community and civic engagement within higher education in Ireland. Learn more >>

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Other Updates:

NERCHE welcomes new Visiting Scholars for 2015-2016

Each year NERCHE invites faculty or administrators to become Visiting Scholars. These individuals bring a range of experience and perspectives on issues facing institutions of higher education. For the 2015-2015 academic year, NERCHE is pleased to welcome (or welcome back) the following Visiting Scholars: Glenn Gabbard, Lorlene Hoyt, Maria Maisto, Anne Perkins, Margaret Post, Alane Shanks, Linda Silka, and Elaine Ward. Learn more about NERCHE’s 2015-2016 Visiting Scholars >>

her saying ‘this is what you seem to like and this seems to be important to you’. So I just think not being afraid to get

some other perspectives, even outside of the program was helpful for me.”

Each cohort member felt that their research has evolved without sacrificing its meaningfulness, either in terms of its

social importance or its personal resonance. Anne noted, “for so many of us our topic is entwined with our personal

identity…. There is this personal history tie to many of our topics. Perhaps that’s the source of the passion.” In addi-

tion to that personal connection, each person also believes her research will help students whose voices have been

marginalized tell their stories, or respond to an important access or equity issue, or both.

Choosing a Dissertation Topic continued

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