June 2021
Learning
Community
Newsletter
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Welcome!
We are pleased to welcome the following faculty, staff, and students to their LC Teams for the 2021-2022 school year.
We will add more team members throughout the summer and will continue to share new additions in future Newsletters.
Saran Stewart Essential Headshot
Dr. Saran Stewart
Incoming Global House Director
Saran Stewart, PhD is an Associate Professor and Program Director of Higher Education and Student Affairs, and Director of Global Education at the Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut in the US. She was formerly a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Dean at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. Dr. Stewart’s research examines issues in comparative education, decolonizing methodologies, critical/inclusive pedagogy and access and equity issues in higher education. She has delivered close to 50 national and international conference presentations just under 33 invited keynote and special presentations, including training workshops, centered on critical and inclusive pedagogy. She is a Salzburg Global Fellow and the recipient of multiple awards including the 2019 Vice Chancellor Award for Excellence from the University of the West Indies and the 2018 African Diaspora Emerging Scholar award by the Comparative and International Education Society. She is editor of Decolonizing Qualitative Methodologies for and by the Caribbean (Information Age Publishing) and co-editor of, Race, Equity and the Learning Environment: The Global Relevance of Critical and Inclusive Pedagogies in Higher Education (Stylus).
Leslie A. Williams Headshot
Dr. Leslie Williams
First Year Programs & Learning Communities Program Administrator
Incoming ScHOLA²RS House Director
Leslie A. Williams, Ed.D., is the First Year Programs & Learning Communities Program Administrator and incoming ScHOLA²RS House Director. He recently served as the Racial Equity and Inclusion Research Fellow in the Office for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Connecticut. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program at the Neag School of Education. Leslie’s career in education has spanned more than 25 years as a practitioner and scholar, and include roles as a middle and high school history teacher, an assistant dean for multicultural affairs, a program and research consultant at a philanthropic foundation, and visiting assistant professor of educational leadership. Through all these roles his work has always focused on improving the educational experiences and outcomes of all students, particularly those from historically excluded communities. 

Leslie’s research focuses on the access, inclusion and success of underrepresented minoritized racial/ethnic, low-socioeconomic status and first-generation groups in higher education in the United States at three levels: 1) national and state policy such as affirmative action and financial aid; 2) institutional and organizational programmatic efforts such as diversity initiatives, cultural centers and college access programs; and 3) individual practices and experiences such as teaching and learning. His publications include: Trumpocalypse and the historical limits of higher education policy: Making the case for study/struggle; Beyond college enrollment: Exploring the relationship between historically underrepresented students’ prior participation in college access programs and undergraduate success, Pursuing equity through diversity: Perspectives and propositions for teaching and learning in higher education, and Building an equity and opportunity agenda: The economic imperative for college completion, a report on the National Urban League and USA Funds National Higher Education Summit. Leslie has also presented at numerous national and international refereed research conferences and served as invited keynote speaker at several colleges and universities in the United States.
Brenna Fitzmaurice
Public Health House Graduate Assistant

Tyler Havens
Innovation House Graduate Assistant

Owen Konrad
Public Health House Graduate Assistant

Thank you!
The following LC Directors and Graduate Assistants are moving on from their roles, and we want to thank them for everything they've done for the LC program over their years of involvement. Your enthusiasm and valuable contributions have meant so much to us!
Michael Bradford
ScHOLA²RS House Director
Sercan Canbolat
Global House Director
Graduate Assistants:

Daniel Barry
Innovation House

Rebecca Colby
WiMSE House

Katie Connolly
Public Health House

Meghan O'Connor
Humanities House

Michael Reid, Jr.
ScHOLA²RS House

Emily Winter
Public Health House
My First Year Story was recently named UConn's Program of the Year!
We'll be dropping bonus content starting in mid-June.
Special episodes will be released throughout the summer: Don't miss it!
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