Monthly Archives: November 2018

Save the Dates, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awareness Week, January 14-19, 2019, and Request for Proposals

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The Provost’s Office is proud to announce our Third Annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awareness
Week (DEI Week), scheduled for January 14-19, 2019. Our theme this year is Critical Conversations:
Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at USC. This year’s theme challenges us to recommit to one of
USC’s key educational goals – to foster an environment that invites, engages, integrates and leverages
contributions from all quarters of our diverse community. To this end we will host a range of seminars,
training sessions, and roundtables addressing a variety of topics that will help us understand and truly
maximize the potential created by our different perspectives. We will also create opportunities for our
community to hear about the exciting scholarship and research our fellow USC colleagues have produced to
advance national conversations on diversity, inclusion, and equity. We invite interested parties to submit
session proposals to our dedicated interactive website, here. Proposals for specific sessions are being
accepted through November 14, 2018. We also ask that you save the date for the Third Annual Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion Awareness Reception, scheduled for Monday, January 14 from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM.

As in previous years, DEI events will again cover a wide array of diversity topics, including gender, race,
disability status, first-generation status, sexual orientation, immigration status, nationality, veterans’ status
and gender identity. Programming will take a variety of forms including sponsored sessions and
professional development exercises. Our focus will be on providing sessions that assist the USC
community in negotiating, orchestrating and reflecting on difficult conversations about contentious DEI
issues. We will offer specific sessions featuring exercises designed to help faculty, staff, and students find
the skills and resources they need to better recognize, celebrate, and advocate for DEI in various contexts.
These contexts include managing classroom discussions, structuring DEI innovations in recruitment and
hiring efforts, constructing transparent and inclusive governance processes, as well as cultivating
meaningful dialogue about equity in all of the various spaces that play an important role in USC’s education
mission.

This year’s DEI Coordination team is expanding to ensure that we can provide offerings specifically
directed to the distinct and different needs of faculty, staff, alumni, and students. Our team welcomes Tanya
Adolph-Moran from Alumni Relations, who will assist with questions regarding alumni-focused proposals.
Our team also welcomes Jonathan Wang and Naddia Palacios in Student Services, who will assist with
questions regarding student-focused proposals. Professors Camille Gear Rich and Renee Smith-Maddox
will continue to field faculty, administrator and staff-focused proposals. All proposal questions should
sent to DEIweek@usc.edu and will be routed to the appropriate party.

Faculty, administrators, alumni and student leaders especially likely to benefit from DEI Week
programming include:

● Persons that have served or are currently serving on search and hiring committees;
● Persons that have served or are currently serving on interview and selection panels for student
admissions, awards and scholarships;
● Persons that have served or would like to serve as a USC Diversity Liaison, or persons that would
like to serve on student, alumni or faculty development committees;
● Persons teaching classes or serving as teaching assistants in courses where diversity, equity, and
inclusion are subject matter topics;
● Persons that would like to update or enhance course offerings to better address and explore DEI
issues as they arise in the classroom and/or office environment;
● Persons that provide services to highly diverse student populations;
● Persons interested in exploring new strategies and best practices to increase diversity in enrollment
and hiring;
● Persons that have received criticism about potential bias or insensitivity to others;
● Persons planning new educational initiatives, business innovations, or research projects and want to
explore whether these new ventures are properly responsive to potential DEI issues.

Proposals for specific sessions are being accepted through November 14, 2018. Interested parties
should access the DEI web link provided here, via our interactive platform. The submission form will also
be available via our website, here. Please have the following information ready for your submission:

1. Session title and fifty-word abstract outlining the subject matter and objectives of your session.
2. Session type: live vs. online session, and expected number of participants
3. Technology requirements
4. Release permitting USC to record the event and post to our on-line training library
5. Presenters’ exact titles and institutional affiliations, and a summary specifying any relevant special
qualifications of the presenters.

Financial support is available on a limited basis for artistic performances, installations, and other special
programming. Lunch funding will be provided upon request for sessions with 10 participants or more and
hosted during the lunchtime hour.

Preference in the selection process will be given to sessions that offer the following:

1. Adopt a how-to approach outlining a specific practice, strategy, or model
2. Engage participants with evidence of “what works”
3. Facilitate reflection and foster engagement that helps translate abstract ideas into practice
4. Advance the DEI initiatives in a particular school, unit or course
5. Foster discovery and problem solving through idea sharing and community building, and encourage
immediate short term as well as long term dialogue

For further questions, feel free to email the organizers at DEIweek@usc.edu.

Message from President Austin regarding the CA fires

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Dear USC community,

 

The terribly destructive fires that have ravaged California this past week have directly and profoundly affected the USC community.

Some members of our community live in areas that have been evacuated, or have sustained tremendous damage, while many more have been feeling significant stress and worry about family members, loved ones, and friends who reside in these areas, and who now may be facing difficult recoveries.  We understand and share your concern and want to help however we can.

 

We are monitoring the developments closely, and are in the process of contacting those whom we know have been directly affected.  If you have not been contacted, and are in need of assistance or support, I encourage you to consider these resources:

 

  • Faculty, students, and staff in need of assistance, including crisis support, can contact USC Support and Advocacy at (213) 821-4710.
  • Students who would like counseling services can contact (213) 740-9355 (WELL).
  • Faculty and staff who are seeking support can contact the Center for Work and Family Life at (213) 821-0800.
  • If you are concerned about a fellow Trojan who may be struggling with personal difficulties, you can anonymously and privately contact Trojans Care for Trojans (TC4T) at: https://studentaffairs.usc.edu/trojans-care-for-trojans-tc4t/.

 

We often say that Trojans care for Trojans, and this is especially true in times of crisis.  We are here for each other, and come together as a community as we face adversity.  I am continually heartened to see the compassion of our Trojan Family, and the healing power of its bonds.

 

Sincerely,

 

Wanda M. Austin

Interim President

The future of education (Rossier Update)

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NOVEMBER 2018
Insight flows from many sources: from momentous personal and familial histories, from deep commitments to communities and ideals, from decades of professional research and service. At our best, we draw these sources together into a collective vision for the future of education. In this special Centennial Issue of USC Rossier Magazine, we have asked scholars from our school and organizations across the country to reflect on what that future could look like, and what steps we can take to make it real.
Over its long history, USC Rossier has experienced triumphs as well as trials; great expansion as well as contraction; and spurts of bold innovation as well as struggles to adapt amid dramatic social and cultural changes in the communities beyond the university’s gates.
Download the newest issue of USC Rossier Magazine. Read it now.
EQUITY AND ACCESS
Underrepresentation in STEM subjects is higher education’s shame, John Slaughter writes.
Also:
TEACHING AND LEARNING
First: We have to understand how relationships matter, says Mary Helen Immordino-Yang.
Also:
ORGANIZATION AND ACTION
To maintain academic freedom in higher education, we need to preserve our core value, William G. Tierney argues.
Also:
DONOR PROFILE
The endowment for the Joan J. Michael and William B. Michael Chair of Measurement, Evaluation and Accountability doubles.

Read more.

SAVE THE DATE for a candidate job talk: Adrian Huerta

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Please join us on Tuesday, December 4th for a job talk.

All faculty, staff and students are invited to attend from
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. in Dauterive LL 101 

Refreshments will be served.

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Adrian Huerta, Ph.D.

Provost’s Post-Doctoral Scholar, USC Rossier School of Education

 

cid:image001.png@01D47A7B.A5CE3DF0

 

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Gangs and college knowledge: An examination of Latino male students in urban schools

 

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Biography

 

Adrian Huerta is a Provost Postdoctoral Scholar in the USC Pullias Center for Higher Education. At Pullias, he works on projects related to college access for males of color in high schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges and universities. His work appears in Teachers College Record, Journal of College Student Development, Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, and other practitioner monographs.

 

Huerta was selected as a Poverty Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Washington, West Coast Poverty Center. He earned his doctorate and master’s in higher education and organizational change at University of California, Los Angeles, a master’s in educational policy and leadership at The Ohio State University, and a bachelor’s degree in human services counseling from University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Rossier Research News, NOVEMBER, 2018

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NOVEMBER 2018
UPCOMING EVENTS & THINGS TO NOTE
Stella Flores will present her work as part of the USC Rossier Scholars of Color Lecture Series on Thursday, December 6th, at 3:00 pm in WPH 403.
Adrian Huerta will give a job talk on Tuesday, December 4th, at 12:30 pm in Dauterive LL 101. His talk is titled “Gangs and college knowledge: An examination of Latino male students in urban schools.
Internal Research Grants are still available. Please contact Deb Karpman, Assistant Dean for Research, at dkarpman@rossier.usc.edufor more information.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Estela Bensimon (CUE) was awarded the 2018 Leadership Award by the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE).
Erika Patall and Gale Sinatra were identified as top-producing female authors in educational psychology from 2009-2016 in an assessmentpublished in Educational Psychology Review.
Darline Robles (CEPEG) received the 2018 Service to Education Award from the Friends of the Montebello Unified School District Foundation.
William G. Tierney (Pullias) was awarded the Howard R. Bowen Distinguished Career Award for 2018 by the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE).

James Dean Ward (Pullias) received the 40 For 40 Fellowship from the Associate for Public Policy Analysis and Management, which includes funding to attend the APPAM Conference.
GRANTS AWARDED
Darnell Cole and Shafiqa Ahmadi (Rossier Justice) received a $50,000
Small Research Grant from the Spencer Foundation for their project
“Understanding Muslim College Student Experiences and Sense of Belonging at Historically Black Colleges & Universities.”
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Bensimon, E. M. (2018) Reclaiming racial justice in equity, Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 50(3-4), 95-98.

Bensimon, E. M. (2018). The Remaking of my Research Practice. In Kezar, A. J., Drivalas, Y., & Kitchen, J. (Eds). Envisioning public scholarship for our time: Models for higher education researchers.Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
Hough, H., Byun, E., & Mulfinger, L. (2018). Using Data for Improvement: Learning from the CORE Data Collaborative. Getting Down to Facts II Technical Report. Policy Analysis for California Education.
Kezar, A. (2018). A new vision for the professoriate. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning. 50(3-4), 84-87.
Kezar, A., Fries-Britt, S., Kurban, E., McGuire, D., & Wheaton, M.M. (2018). Speaking truth and acting with integrity: Confronting challenges of campus racial climate. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.
PRESENTATIONS, INVITED TALKS, AND MEDIA
Estela Bensimon (CUE) spoke on a panel at the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities’ Annual Meeting hosted by USC on strategies to diversify faculty.
Estela Bensimon (CUE) was invited to speak on racial equity at the Mellon Foundation’s 30th Anniversary of Grant support in South Africa held in Durban, South Africa.
Estela Bensimon (CUE) presented on CUE’s Colorado Equity in Mathematics Project featured at the annual meeting of the Grantmakers in Education in San Diego.
Estela Bensimon (CUE) gave a keynote address on equity in dual enrollment at the University of Texas Vertex Conference.
Estela Bensimon (CUE) gave a keynote address at a convening of the Tennessee Board of Regents
Estela Bensimon (CUE) initiated day two of Tennessee Higher Education Commission’s biennial conference We All Rise with a plenary session, “Imperative for Equity-Minded Practitioners.”
Estela Bensimon (CUE) gave the convocation keynote address at San Diego City College.
Estela Bensimon (CUE) spoke on a panel about equity and programs for students experiencing food and housing insecurity held at the Real College Conference held by the Hope Lab at Temple University.
Adrianna Kezar (Pullias) served on a panel about changes in faculty at the TIAA Institute Fellows Symposium in New York City.
Adrianna Kezar (Pullias) was quoted in Inside Higher Ed about the growing numbers of non-tenure-track faculty at colleges and universities
Julie Marsh (CEPEG) was interviewed by the New York Times about the race for California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction.


Tatiana Melguizo (Pullias) gave a talk titled “Why do I have to repeat algebra in college? The equity costs of college readiness standards misalignment” at the Opportunity Institute’s event The Mathematics of Opportunity in Berkeley, CA.
Aireale Rodgers’s (Pullias) book review of Eve L. Ewing’s ‘Ghosts in the Schoolyard’ appeared in The TRiiBE.

 
Sy Stokes (USC Race & Equity) gave a keynote speech about revisionist history and ahistoricism in K-12 curriculum  for the City Year Los Angeles Learning Summit.
Sy Stokes (USC Race & Equity) gave a keynote speech for Dr. G. W. Carver Middle School’s College Awareness Week.
Sy Stokes (USC Race & Equity) gave a keynote speech for the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Educational Opportunity Program event, “Speak Up, Stand Out.”
Sy Stokes (USC Race & Equity) gave a keynote speech for the Student Life Cultural Centers at California State Polytechnic University’s event, “Palabra.”
Sy Stokes’ poem, “Dear White Counselor,” has been implemented into Edwin Markham Middle School and Dr. G. W. Carver Middle School’s school-wide curriculum. The poem is being utilized to teach students about social justice, racism in education, and to promote self-empowerment for students of color.
William G. Tierney (Pullias) gave a lecture titled “The Role of the University in Creating and Maintaining a Civil Society” to the Faculty at Hong Kong University.
William G. Tierney (Pullias) gave the opening address, titled “Creating an Organizational Climate for Innovation in Higher Education,” to the Bay Area Education Policy Institute for Social Development in Guangzhou University.
William G. Tierney (Pullias) gave a lecture titled “The Civic Importance of Universities to Society” to the faculty at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
The USC Office of Research is accepting applications for the followingInstitutionally Limited Submission: the NSF-18-532: Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM (CCE STEM). The program accepts proposals for innovative research projects that both foster and substantially contribute to understanding what it takes to foster ethical STEM research in all of the fields of science and engineering that NSF supports, including within interdisciplinary, inter-institutional and international contexts. CCE STEM awardees must share their findings with others via the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science (Award #1355547) and at the biennial PI meetings held at NSF.
Proposed research should seek to provide answers to the following: ‘What constitutes ethical STEM research and practice? Which cultural and institutional contexts promote ethical STEM research and practice and why?’ Factors one might consider include: honor codes, professional ethics codes and licensing requirements, an ethic of service and/or service learning, life-long learning requirements, curricula or membership in organizations (e.g. Engineers without Borders) that stress responsible conduct for research, institutions that serve under-represented groups, institutions where academic and research integrity are cultivated at multiple levels, institutions that cultivate ethics across the curriculum, or programs that promote group work, or do not grade. Do certain labs have a ‘culture of academic integrity’? What practices contribute to the establishment and maintenance of ethical cultures and how can these practices be transferred, extended to, or integrated into other research and learning settings? PIs must submit their application here.
Amount: Varies
Internal Deadline: December 7, 2018
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James H. Zumberge Individual Research Award helps newer faculty launch their research careers, and supports research in areas with limited external funding opportunities.

Amount: $30,000
Deadline: January 7, 2019
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The National Science Foundation is requesting proposals for theCyberlearning for Work at the Human-Technology Frontierprogram. The purpose of the program is to fund exploratory and synergistic research in learning technologies to prepare learners to excel in work at the human-technology frontier. This program responds to the pressing societal need to educate and re-educate learners of all ages (students, teachers and workers) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content areas to ultimately function in highly technological environments, including in collaboration with intelligent systems. Innovative technologies can reshape learning processes, which in turn can influence new technology design. Learning technology research in this program should be informed by the convergence of multiple disciplines: education and learning sciences, computer and information science and engineering, and cognitive, behavioral and social sciences. This program funds learning technology research in STEM and other foundational areas that enable STEM learning.
Amount: up to $750,000
Deadline: January 8, 2019

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James H. Zumberge Diversity and Inclusion in Research Award is a special solicitation aimed at supporting research and scholarship that addresses critical gaps in knowledge on equity, diversity, and inclusion, or which benefits diverse communities.   To be considered for this award, applications must (a) plan to apply for an externally-funded grant on an eligible topic, (b) provide a realistic plan for sustained funding or support beyond the end of the award, and (c) demonstrate that a Zumberge award will make a difference in attracting further external research support. The concept of diversity includes, but is not limited to, characteristics such as national origin, language, race, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, age religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, veteran status, educational background, and family structures.

Amount: up to $30,000
Deadline: January 14, 2019
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The USC Office of Research is requesting proposals for a limited submission opportunity for the federal solicitation PAR-17-221, Enhancing Science, Technology, EnginEering, and Math Educational Diversity (ESTEEMED) Research Education Experiences (R25). The over-arching goal of this National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) R25 program is to support educational activities that enhance the diversity of the biomedical research workforce through early preparation for undergraduate students in STEM fields. Participants should be from diverse backgrounds and interested in ultimately pursuing a Ph.D. or M.D./Ph. D. degree and a biomedical research career in academia or industry. The program activities will take place starting in the summer before the freshman year and ending in the summer following the sophomore year.  At that time, participants will be expected to enter an Advanced Honors Program for juniors and seniors which aims to prepare high-achieving, underrepresented students for doctoral programs in biomedical research fields. Therefore, only institutions with a diversity honors program, such as a MARC U-STAR (T34) program or an institutional program with similar goals, active at the time of application, are eligible to apply.
Amount: Varies
Anticipated INTERNAL deadline: January, 2019
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The National Science Foundation is soliciting proposals for the Science of Learning program. The goals of the Science of Learning Program are to develop basic theoretical insights and fundamental knowledge about learning principles, processes and constraints. Projects that are integrative and/or interdisciplinary may be especially valuable in moving basic understanding of learning forward but research with a single discipline or methodology is also appropriate if it addresses basic scientific questions in learning. The program will support  research addressing learning in a wide range of domains at one or more levels of analysis including: molecular/cellular mechanisms; brain systems; cognitive affective, and behavioral processes; and social/cultural influences. The program supports a variety of methods including: experiments, field studies, surveys, secondary-data analyses, and modeling.
 
Amount: Varies
Deadline: January 16, 2019
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The National Science Foundation’s EHR Core Research program (ECR) invites proposals for fundamental research (basic research or use-inspired basic research) that advances knowledge in one or more of the three Research Tracks: Research on STEM Learning and Learning Environments, Research on Broadening Participation in STEM fields, and Research on STEM Workforce Development.

Amount: Varies

Deadline: January 24, 2019
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James H. Zumberge Multi-School Interdisciplinary Research Award Interdisciplinary awards of up to $85,000 foster collaborative efforts among faculty from different schools and disciplines that lead to sustained interdisciplinary research programs and projects.
Amount: up to $85,000
Deadline: February 11, 2019
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The National Science Foundation’s Computer Science for All program invites proposals. This program aims to provide all U.S. students the opportunity to participate in computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) education in their schools at the preK-12 levels. With this solicitation, the National Science Foundation (NSF) focuses on researcher-practitioner partnerships (RPPs) that foster the research and development needed to bring CS and CT to all schools. Specifically, this solicitation aims to provide high school teachers with the preparation, professional development (PD) and ongoing support that they need to teach rigorous computer science courses; preK-8 teachers with the instructional materials and preparation they need to integrate CS and CT into their teaching; and schools and districts the resources needed to define and evaluate multi-grade pathways in CS and CT.
Amount: Varies
Deadline: February 12, 2019
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The USC Office of Research requests proposals for the Research Collaboration Fund is requesting proposals for collaborative work among faculty and students working on interdisciplinary research topics, such as water, neuroscience, genomics, digital humanities, or climate change.

Amount: up to $30,000/year for three years
Deadline: February 19, 2019
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The USC Office of Research is accepting applications for the following institutionally limited submission: National Institutes of Health’s PAR-19-036: Medical Scientist Training Program (T32). Diversity at all levels-from the kinds of science to the regions in which it is conducted to the backgrounds of the people conducting it- contributes to excellence in research training environments and strengthens the research enterprise. This program is intended to support outstanding research training programs that will enhance diversity at all levels.
Amount: Varies
Internal Deadline: February 22, 2019
CONTACT US
Have something you’d like to feature in the next edition? Contact communications@rossier.usc.edu or
Susan McKibben at smckibbe@rossier.usc.edu.

L.A. Compact Position Opening for Manager of Foster Youth Initiatives

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The L.A. Compact is currently recruiting to find qualified candidates for a Foster Youth Manager position. Under the direction of the L.A. Compact Director, the Foster Youth Manager will lead the advancement of systemic strategies related to transition-age foster youth college access and success (75% time), and employment (25% time) in L.A. County. This is a full-time exempt level position with the primary responsibilities as listed in the Description.

Interested applicants should email cover letter & resume to unitela@lachamber.com with subject line “L.A. Compact Foster Youth Manager.”