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Zoë B. Corwin is the project director for Pathfinder U. As a researcher with the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis at the University of Southern California, Corwin has conducted research on college preparation programs and access to financial aid for underserved students. She is co-editor of Preparing for College: Nine Elements of Effective Outreach with SUNY Press and has published several monographs designed for practitioners outlining effective college preparation strategies. Corwin held Haynes and Spencer Foundation dissertation fellowships while working on a qualitative study examining college access and persistence for students from foster care. Corwin holds a BA in sociology from UCLA, an MA in Spanish from Saint Louis University in Madrid and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Southern California. She is a former high school Spanish teacher and founding Board member of the New Los Angeles Charter School, a social justice themed charter middle school. |
Zoë Corwin Post Doctoral Research Associate |
Michelle Castellanos earned her bachelor's in Psychology and Social Welfare and a minor in education with honors from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a Gates Millennium scholar and has worked with underserved students from preK-16. While at Berkeley, Michelle conducted research on student transitions, school mismatch, and Latino students' first year college experience. At USC, Dr. Darnell Cole will be Michelle's faculty advisor. Her research interests include college access and equity, minority student persistence, and college experiences, with particular focus on ethnic-specific student organizations. |
Michelle Castellanos Research Assistant |
Randall Clemens received his B.A. in English from University of Maryland at College Park and his M.S. in Supervision and Administration from Johns Hopkins University. He served as a high school English teacher at Bladensburg High School, a school located near the District of Columbia. Randy currently works as research assistant with Dr. Bill Tierney, where he is writing his dissertation about African American and Latino male high school students living in a low-income neighborhood. The ethnography examines the role of cultural heterogeneity on education outcomes; in other words, how do teens interpret and use a plurality of cultural beliefs and practices present in a neighborhood, and how does their use affect academic achievement? He is a weekly contributor to www.21stcenturyscholar.org. |
Julia Duncheon received her BA in American Studies from Wellesley College in 2006. She then worked as a high school history and special education teacher at Automotive High School in Brooklyn, NY for five years. While working at Automotive, Julia earned her Masters in Teaching at Long Island University, Brooklyn through the New York City Teaching Fellows program. She now serves as a research assistant to Dr. William Tierney. Her areas of interests include college access and equity. Specifically, Julia is concerned with improving culturally relevant pedagogy and high academic standards in urban high schools to better equip students for post-secondary education. |
Monica Esqueda earned her bachelor’s degree in human development from the University of California, San Diego, and her master’s degree in higher education from the University of Washington, Seattle. While at the University of Washington, Monica worked as a research assistant to Dr. Frances Contreras and explored issues of access and the opportunity for Latino students in the state of Washington. She also conducted an exploratory study of military service veterans' college decision-making and experiences for her master's thesis. Her research interests include emerging student populations and experiences, the impact of education policy on student experiences, college access and choice. Currently, Monica is examining the impact of military service on the academic performance and outcomes of military-connected students (i.e., students with at least one family member serving in the military (e.g., a sibling, parent, grandparent)) and reform efforts supporting military-connected students in transition as part of the Building Capacity in Military-Connected Schools DoDEA partnership project. Her faculty advisor is Dr. Darnell Cole. |
Kristen Fong earned her B.A. in Economics and Psychology from Claremont McKenna College and her M.A. in Psychology from California State University, Fullerton. While obtaining her Master’s degree she worked in the Educational Psychology lab researching stress and parental support for first generation college students as they transition into college. During that time, she also worked as a research assistant at Fullerton Community College evaluating the EOPS department. Prior to entering the Ph.D. program at the Rossier School of Education, Kristen was a project specialist at USC in the Psychology department and worked on a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant researching how genetics influence normal cognitive aging. Kristen is a research assistant working with Dr. Tatiana Melguizo. Her interests include community college effectiveness, transfer and success rates, and college adjustment with a particular focus on underrepresented and first-generation students. |
Sean Gehrke earned his B.A. in psychology from Lewis & Clark College and his M.Ed. in counseling and personnel services from the University of Maryland College Park. Upon earning his Masters degree he worked as a campus administrator in residence life for Whitman College. He is a doctoral student in urban education policy at USC and works with Dr. Adrianna Kezar exploring issues of institutional decision-making and change in higher education. His research focuses on the impact of college experiences, institutional structures, and campus culture on student outcomes and his current interests include sustainability in higher education and college student spirituality. |
Randy Clemens Research Assistant |
Julia Duncheon Research Assistant |
Monica Esqueda Research Assistant |
Kristen Fong Research Assistant |
Sean Gehrke Research Assistant |
Lisa Garcia whose dissertation chronicled the experiences of undocumented students in postsecondary education, uses qualitative methods to study general issues of equity, access, and diversity specifically pertaining to first-generation college students. She has published articles focusing on postsecondary remediation and undocumented college students in American Behavioral Scientist and Teachers College Record respectively. Her postdoc allows her to continue working on projects that focus on increasing access to college for Los Angeles-area students |
Constance Iloh earned a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Communication from the University of Maryland, College Park and a Master's degree in Business Management from Wake Forest University. As an undergraduate, she was a research assistant for the Ella Baker Women's Center for Leadership and Community Activism. While pursuing her master's degree, she worked as a consultant for Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina, a non-profit agency that distributes food to impoverished communities. She has worked for pre-college and PhD preparation programs for underrepresented students such as Kids2College and the Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program. She has also served as a mentor to youth of color in high schools, colleges, and juvenile detention centers. Constance is interested in equity, access, and the experiences of students and faculty of color, as well as organizational and social structures that impact diversity and inclusion at postsecondary institutions. She is a Gates Millennium Scholar and at USC serves as a research assistant with Dr. William Tierney in the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA). |
Holly Kosiewicz earned a Bachelor's degree in Government and Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master's degree in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University. Before entering USC, she worked for two years for the Research Center at Editorial Projects in Education, home of Education Week. She has also worked with GRADE, a research institute in Lima, Peru, and CEDE at the University of Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia, where she evaluated education and development projects implemented by USAID, the World Bank, and the governments of both countries. Currently, Holly is a research assistant for Dr. Tatiana Melguizo. Her interests center on issues that relate with college access, persistence, and retention and specifically focus on low-income and minority students living in the U.S. and abroad. |
Lisa Garcia Post Doctoral Research Associate |
Connie Iloh Research Assistant |
Holly Kosiewicz Research Assistant |
Araceli Espinoza received a B.A. in American Studies with an emphasis in education from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002. She then went on to earn a Master’s of Education in Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs from USC. While pursuing her Master’s degree she worked with the Center for Engineering Diversity at USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering. Araceli is a Bill Gates Millennium Scholar and serves as a research assistant for Dr. Darnell Cole. Her research interests include the postsecondary access and retention of racial ethnic minority (REM) students, the college experience of first-generation students, and the academic success of REM students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. |
Araceli Espinoza Research Assistant |
Vanessa Monterosa received her B.A. in English Literature from Biola University and her Ed.M. in Technology, Innovation, & Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. During her time at Harvard, Vanessa developed a prototype mobile game called ‘FUNancial Aid’ aimed at increasing financial aid vocabulary comprehension and worked as a College Advisor for The Education Resource Institute (TERI) and a Social Media Coordinator at The Action Center for Educational Services and Scholarships (ACCESS) in Boston. Prior to pursuing graduate studies, she was a full-time College Advisement Specialist for 3,000 students at Santa Fe High School and spent her summers as a College Counselor at a variety of college prep camps around the nation. Vanessa is a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and serves as a research assistant for Dr. William Tierney. Her research interests include financial aid literacy, the high school to college transition, and the impact of emerging technologies (social media, mobile technology, and video games) on college access for low-income students. |
Vanessa Monterosa Research Assistant |
Stefani Relles completed her B.A. in English with a minor in Integrated Arts at Northwestern University. After earning her M.Ed. at the University of New Hampshire, she taught high school English and Creative Writing before transitioning to working with writers in the private sector. As a Vice President and Department Head of Creative Writer Development at Fox Broadcasting Company, her outreach with emerging playwrights was recognized by media sources including The Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio. Currently, she is working under the direction of Dr. William G. Tierney in the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA). She is interested in student affairs and development, postsecondary remediation and K–16 transition policies, and college writing preparation and access. She uses narrative analysis in the context of literacy and writing research. Stefani has been the director of the writing curriculum for SummerTIME, the center’s rigorous four-week writing program, blogging about technology issues for www.21stcenturyscholar.org, and co-teaching Applied Educational Ethnography, a graduate-level course. |
Ji Zhou received her BA in English and MA in Linguistics, both with honors, from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China. She worked several years as university English teacher in China. Before Rossier, Ji pursued her EdD in Educational Theory and Practice at State University of New York at Binghamton. Currently Ji serves as a research assistant for Dr. Darnell Cole. Her research interests include intergroup interaction between faculty and students, Asian American college student development, and doctoral student development with particular focus on students of color and international students. |
Stefani Relles Research Assistant |
Ji Zhou Research Assistant |
email | relles@usc.edu |
Jonathan Mathis is a Provost Fellow serving as a Research Assistant in the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis, with Dr. William Tierney. He earned his BS in Business Administration for Enterprise Management from American University. While at American, he participated in the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Scholars Program, conducting research on new teacher induction and mentoring programs for school systems in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Jonathan served as an Admissions Counselor, Coordinator of Multicultural Recruitment, and Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Counselor and Recruiter for the State University of New York (SUNY) College at Oneonta. After two years in Oneonta, Jonathan returned to Washington, DC to serve as the Transition Counselor for Maya Angelou Public Charter School-Evans Campus. He earned his Masters of Science in Administration for Educational Administration (K-12) from Trinity University of Washington, DC. His research interests include charter school design, issues of access and equal educational opportunities, as well as transferable elements of school culture and climate, from secondary to post-secondary educational institutions. |
Daniel Maxey earned a Bachelor's degree in Government from The College of William and Mary in Virginia and a Master's degree in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Arizona State University. Before beginning graduate study, he worked in various policy analysis, government affairs, and political positions in Washington, D.C. Currently, Daniel is a research assistant for Dr. Adrianna Kezar. He is interested in bringing his experience in policy analysis and public affairs to research on issues related to the public roles and responsibilities of institutions of higher learning. Specifically, he intends to pursue research examining university governance, the nature of university/community partnerships, and reform movements within higher education.. |
Sable attended Loyola Marymount University (LMU) where she earned her bachelor's degree in Television Production. She discovered her true passion for Education and went on to complete a Masters in Post-secondary Administration and Student affairs (PASA) from the University of Southern California (USC) in 2009. Now Sable, is a research assistant working with Dr. Darnell Cole. She will be continuing her work on the Muslims in Higher Education Project, began in 2009, looking at the experience of Muslim students on American college campuses. Her research interests include how diversity affects overall student success and Religious/ Spiritual diversity on college campuses. |
Jenna Sablan earned Bachelor’s degrees in Social Policy and Political Science from American University, where she was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar. At AU, she was a program assistant for the Summer Transition Enrichment Program (STEP), a summer bridge program for freshmen multicultural students. She has worked at the DC Public Schools Office of the Chancellor as well as the Multicultural Affairs office at AU, focusing on multicultural student retention and first-generation college student outreach. In addition, she worked on research teams for various projects, including a report on DC public high school students’ views on education reform in their schools and a study on education finance. Jenna is a Provost Fellow working with Dr. William Tierney at the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis and is interested in college access, K-16 policy, and high school to college transition. |
Brian Rodriguez earned a Bachelor’s degree in International Development Studies from UCLA. As an undergraduate, he participated in the UCLA BruinCorps program and the AmeriCorps Vista program. Upon graduation, he worked as Program Manager of BookEnds, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing access to books for low-income schools. He received a Master’s degree in Education Policy & Management from Harvard University. Before entering USC, he served as Program Coordinator of the UCLA Teacher Education Program (TEP). Brian is currently a research assistant at the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis, working with Dr. Tierney. His research interests include college access, K-16 policy, and student persistence among underrepresented students. |
Cecile Sam is a doctoral candidate in higher education policy. She completed her B.A. from Loyola Marymount University with a double major in Philosophy and English Literature. She also received her M.A. from Loyola Marymount, in Philosophy, and a later a second M.A. in Education. She currently works with Dr. Adrianna Kezar focusing on non-tenure track faculty in higher education. Her research interests include leadership and organization theory as applied to faculty work in higher education, with a special interest in ethics. |
Jonathan Mathis Research Assistant |
Daniel Maxey Research Assistant |
Sable Manson Research Assistant |
Jenna Sablan Research Assistant |
Brian Rodriguez Research Assistant |
Cecile Sam Research Assistant |
Ronn Hallett Assistant Professor, University of the Pacific |
email | rhallett@pacific.edu |
Ronn Hallett is an Assistant Professor in the Benerd School of Education at the University of the Pacific. His research interests include the influence of social context on educational participation and achievement. As a sociologist, his research seeks to address the social inequalities that influence marginalized student populations. His current research interests fall into three areas: (1) how mobility influences educational participation for homeless and undocumented youth; (2) the process of transitioning to higher education for underserved student groups; and, (3) how to teach writing in graduate school. |
Waite Phillips Hall, Room 701 • Phone | 213.740.7218 • Fax | 213.740.3889 |
Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis |
Alexander Jun is Professor of Higher Education at Azusa Pacific University. As a faculty member in the Department of Doctoral Programs in Higher Education, Dr. Jun’s primary area of research focuses on issues of access and equity in higher education, as well as globalization in the Pacific Rim universities. Dr. Jun is author of From Here to University: Access, Mobility, and Resilience Among Urban Latino Youth (Routledge Press, 2001), and has published extensively on issues of postsecondary equity access for historically underrepresented students in urban environments. Professor Jun teaches courses in comparative and international higher education, diversity and social justice, as well as qualitative research methods. He is currently working on a long-term ethnographic project on the academic resilience of college bound Khmer orphans in Cambodia. |
Alexander Jun Professor, Azusa Pacific University |
email | ajun@apu.edu |
Karri Holley Assistant Professor, University of Alabama |
email | kholley@bamaed.ua.edu |
Karri Holley is assistant professor of higher education at the University of Alabama. Her research interests include interdisciplinarity, graduate education, and qualitative inquiry. She has published in Educational Researcher, Higher Education, and Studies in Higher Education. Her monograph, Understanding Interdisciplinary Challenges and Opportunities in Higher Education, was recently published by Jossey-Bass (2009). Dr. Holley teaches courses in organizational theory, academic culture, and qualitative research methods. |
Margaret Sallee Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee |
Julia Colyar Assistant Professor, University at Buffalo |
Vicente Lechuga Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University |
email | msallee1@utk.edu |
Margaret Sallee is Assistant Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at The University of Tennessee. Her research interests focus on two broad areas: academic work and the student experience. With academic work, she explores the nature of faculty work and the steps that institutions take to create and sustain diverse faculties. As part of that work, she also focuses on issues of work-family balance within higher education. Her book Establishing the Family-Friendly Campus: Models for Effective Practice (Stylus Publishing, 2009, edited with Jaime Lester) provides a series of portraits of the practices of family-friendly campuses. With student experience, she brings a gender lens to the study of graduate student socialization to consider how students learn the skills and values to succeed in various disciplines. |
Mark De Fusco Senior Research Associate |
email | mbd_001@usc.edu |
email | jecolyar@buffalo.edu |
email | jecolyar@buffalo.edu |
Mark DeFusco, most recently with Berkery Noyes, a Wall Street investment bank, holds a long and varied experience in higher education management. He served as Chief Executive Officer/President at Vatterott Education Holdings, a private equity-held for-profit college with 20 campuses in nine Midwest states. In that role, Dr. DeFusco completed numerous acquisitions, launched L’Ecole Culinaire, and implemented significant technological and organizational improvements to support rapid growth. Prior to that position, Dr. DeFusco served in several management positions with the Apollo Group and opened University of Phoenix’s first campus in the Northeast United States. Dr. DeFusco serves on the boards of several educational organizations, and is a member of the executive board of the Education Industry Association. He has advised many of the most important education companies in the world, and has led transactions for both institutions and educational services. Additionally, he continues to work with both for-profit and non-profit universities diagnosing areas for improved business functions and cost savings. Mark DeFusco is a graduate of the University of Southern California where he earned both a PhD in Education and an MS in Counseling Psychology. He holds a BA from Villanova University. |
Julia Colyar is an assistant professor in the department of Educational Leadership & Policy at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. At UB, she teaches courses on cultural diversity, student affairs administration, and the impact of college on students. Her research focuses on access and transitions to college for underrepresented students; she is particularly interested in low-income students and their experiences in postsecondary settings. Using qualitative tools, her research explores how low-income students perceive the college environment, and how institutional practices shape student experiences. She also writes about qualitative research methodologies. |
Vicente M. Lechuga is Assistant Professor of Higher Education Administration in the Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development at Texas A&M University. His research focuses on faculty work and the professoriate. He has authored and co-authored several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on faculty work life at for-profit colleges and universities, academic freedom, and faculty governance issues in journals such as the Review of Higher Education, Cultural Studies-Critical Methodologies, and Thought & Action. He also has published teaching and policy-related articles in the Journal of College Student Development and the Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletics in Education. Vicente is the author of The changing landscape of the academic profession: The culture of faculty at for-profit colleges and universities (Routledge, 2006), has been interviewed by the New York Times and has appeared on National Public Radio’s news program News & Notes to discuss issues related to for-profit institutions. In 2005, he (along with William Tierney) were awarded the Excellence in the Academy award by the NEA. His most recent book, For-profit colleges and universities: Their markets, regulation, performance, and place in higher education (co-edited with Tierney and Hentschke) focuses on the role of for-profit higher education within the broader higher education landscape. |
email | jdmathis@usc.edu |
email | danielbm@usc.edu |
email | smanson@usc.edu |
email | jrsablan@usc.edu |
email | brianrod@usc.edu |
email | cecilesa@usc.edu |
email | jizhou@usc.edu |
email | rclemens@usc.edu |
email | duncheon@usc.edu |
email | mesqueda@usc.edu |
email | kristenf@usc.edu |
email | sgehrke@usc.edu |
email | zcorwin@usc.edu |
email | castellm@usc.edu |
email | aaespino@usc.edu |
email | ldgarcia@usc.edu |
email | iloh@usc.edu |
email | kosiewic@usc.edu |
email | vmontero@usc.edu |