May 2022: Embedding Wellness for Students, Proactive Advising Update, STEM Education....and more

Guest Editor Zoë Corwin, Pullias Center Research Professor

Dear Colleagues,

This is the last Pullias Center newsletter for the academic year and it is likely hitting your inbox at a time when you are ready to take a well-deserved break.

After the isolation of the pandemic, this year has presented its unique challenges to university stakeholders. College student mental health garnered serious reflection, with eight out of ten college and university presidents indicating on the Healthy Minds study that students’ mental health concerns have become a larger priority for their institutions in the last three years. And then there was Kevin McClure and Alisa Hicklin Fryar’s piece in The Chronicle on faculty disengagement that generated considerable discussion. These two pieces resonated deeply with my own professional journey this past year as I sought to re-engage on USC’s physical campus – and as I attempted to support students, colleagues and self in navigating a changed mental health and wellness landscape.

Funnily enough, two of the projects I’ve appreciated most over the past year relate to the aforementioned articles as they have entailed robust faculty engagement – in partnership with postdoctoral scholars, students, staff and community partners – and are committed to learning from and better serving the wellness needs of young people from historically marginalized communities. One, the Promoting At-promise Student Success (PASS) project, involves a multi-faceted, longitudinal study at the University of Nebraska; the other, Mattering in the Margins, involves a super-creative interdisciplinary collaboration with faculty from six USC schools, a colleague from UNLV…and a group of skateboarders (yes, you read that correctly).

I am deeply grateful to my colleagues for journeying with me during this unconventional year. And I wish all Pullias Center newsletter readers time this summer to rejuvenate – and meaningful engagement with colleagues and projects when you return in the fall.

Warmly,

Zoë Corwin

Research Professor, Pullias Center and Rossier School of Education

Proactive Advising Practice Guide and Video Now Available

In the Pullias Center’s January newsletter, Dr. Joseph Kitchen highlighted the role proactive advising strategies can play in improving support to at-promise students (PASS) as they navigate their postsecondary trajectories.

Now, there are two additional resources that we hope will be helpful to the field:

1) a practice guide, and

2) a brief animated video

Both of these resources provide guidance to practitioners on implementing proactive advising.

These materials were developed in response to findings from our longitudinal mixed methods research study – and made possible due to a strong collaboration with a stellar group of practitioners from the University of Nebraska and support from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation.

From Mattering to Mobilizing: On the Evolution of Our Skate Study Research

By Zoë Corwin

A year ago, I wrote about a new participatory action research study (PAR) we had just launched through the Pullias Center called Mattering in the Margins: Skateboarders’ Stories of Mental Health Challenges and Opportunities. The study expanded on findings from a prior national study intended to better understand the experiences of youth who skateboard called Beyond the Board. The PAR project, run during the isolated days of the pandemic, brought together a team of faculty and graduate students from six USC schools, a professor from UNLV’s Department of Psychology and Higher Education, and 20 Los Angeles skateboarders (ages 18-30) to learn about how skateboarding affects mental health and community. Twelve months later, I marvel at the lessons I continue to learn from the skate community – and the applicability of those lessons to broader efforts to meet the needs of young people who have been racialized, gendered and marginalized by educational institutions – and society at large.

As with any PAR study, our team has thought deeply about how to share research findings with diverse audiences. Most recently, Stefani Relles, Jordan Harper and I had the pleasure of sharing a paper at AERA about our research methods – likely the first time skateboarding had appeared in the AERA program. Our Annenberg colleague, Neftalie Williams, recently shared findings at the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and will do so again at the International Communication Association annual meeting. To bring our skate collaborators’ voices into these spaces has been a deeply gratifying experience.

SPOTLIGHT

Delphi Award Applications Due July 1

$15,000 Given to Institutions that Support Non-Tenure-Track Faculty with Innovative Programs

The annual Delphi Award, now in its fifth year, presents a $15,000 cash award to two universities that support non-tenure-track, contingent and/or adjunct faculty. Past Delphi Award winners have developed and implemented inspiring programs that support non-tenure-track faculty at their institutions with a variety of measures, including pathways to tenure, inclusion in university governance, monetary compensation and more. Learn more about past institutions' winning applications by reading the case studies, here. The Delphi Award is presented by the USC Pullias Center for Higher Education, in partnership with AAC&U.

If you, your organization, or university have worked to support non-tenure-track, contingent and/or adjunct faculty, apply today! The July 1 application deadline is fast approaching.

The Pullias Center is grateful to the TIAA Institute for their funding of this year's The Delphi Project's Delphi Award. For questions about the Award or your application, please contact the Pullias Center.

Learn More About the Delphi Award

Opinion

STEM Education Needs a Dose of Humanity

By Dr. John Brooks Slaughter

USC Dean's Professor of Education & Engineering

STEM education. The very mention evokes visions of young people learning coding or the latest tech software, engineering rocket ships to send to Mars or performing high-level math that will be used to build a better cell phone. All of these are admittedly, good things. However, I argue that much of current STEM education has.....Read More

Meet the Pullias Center Doctoral Graduates

This May, five Pullias Center doctoral candidates will graduate from the USC Rossier School of Education. We would like to offer our sincerest congratulations to Steve Desir, Jude Paul Matias Dizon, Theresa E. Hernandez, Aireale J. Rodgers and Deborah E. Southern and as they continue their professional careers.....Read More

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS

Men of Color Programs: Roadmap to Guide Program Development

Adrian H. Huerta, Maria Romero-Morales, Jude Paul Matias Dizon, Julie Vu Nguyen

Pullias Center for Higher Education (2021). Download the Roadmap Here.

MORE NEWS

At The National Conference on Diversity, Race & Learning Conference hosted at The Ohio State University, Adrian H. Huerta presented “Promoting College Pathways & Opportunities for Young Men of Color: Lessons Learned from 10-Years of Research & Practice," and Joseph Kitchen and Ralitsa Todorova presented "Increased Belonging and Success through Validating Relationships with Diverse Low-income College Students."

Ángel González presented at the 4th Annual LGBTQ+ Summit for California Community Colleges on Queering HSIs: Levering Policy Unapologetically to Advance Racial Equity for LGBTQ+ Community College Students.

Jordan Harper was invited to host a live briefing (webinar) for NASPA titled “When This World Is Not Enough: On Leadership, Liberation, and Im/Possibilities in Higher Education.”

Julie Posselt gave a plenary address for the American Geophysical Union LANDiNG program fellows on April 28. The talk was titled, “Designing for equity-minded changes in the geosciences: Attention to culture and systems.”

Julie Posselt spoke at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation on May 4 in a seminar for their staff, who are applying her framework of equity-minded holistic review for the grant review process.

Julie Posselt spoke to a group of leaders in Astronomy via the Columbia University Osterbrook Leadership Program on April 20. The talk was titled “Leadership for systemic change in astronomy and academia.”

Royel M. Johnson was the opening keynote speaker for the National Summit for Educational Equity hosted by the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity. His talk was titled, “Structural Belonging: An Imperative for Equitable Education Outcomes.”

Royel M. Johnson spoke at Northwestern University as part of their “Let’s Talk Diversity” lecture series on April 20th. His talk, “Fostering Belonging Through Equity-Minded, Anti-Racist Course Design,” was hosted by the Graduate School’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.