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Professor Pedro Garcia

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Dear USC Rossier community,

It is with sadness that I report of the passing this weekend of one of our recent faculty members, Pedro Garcia.

The son of educators, Dr. Garcia immigrated to the United States from Cuba when he was 15, one of 14,000 Cuban children relocated through the Catholic Welfare Bureau’s Operation Peter Pan.

He earned his EdD as a Trojan in 1983, and would go on to lead multiple school districts, including Carpinteria, Corona-Norco and, from 2001-08, Nashville schools, where his efforts to improve equity for the city’s Black students often met fierce resistance. Dr. Garcia joined USC Rossier as a professor of clinical education in 2008.

He was often sought out for additional leadership opportunities. In 2003, then-President George W. Bush appointed him to the Presidential Commission on Service and Community Participation. At USC, he served on the Academic Leadership Development Committee, and he was inducted into the Dean’s Superintendents Advisory Group Hall of Fame in 2015.

Dr. Garcia was a mentor and friend to many, and will be missed. More than a consistent presence at the Coliseum, he was a huge football fan having travelled to Los Angeles from Nashville for every home game during his tenure as superintendent.  A 2012 article noted that he had not missed a home game since 1977, which at the time was a 35-year streak!  Dr. Garcia was fiercely proud of our university and I know he would tell us today to Fight On.

Sincerest regards,

Karen Symms Gallagher, Ph.D.

Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean

USC Rossier School of Education

Waite Phillips Hall

Los Angeles, CA  90089-0031

Asst: hardison@usc.edu

213.740.5756 (office)

213.821.2158 (fax)

The Latest News from Dean Karen Symms Gallagher

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The past year has been unlike any other in the long history of USC. We have been beset by controversies, will soon welcome a new president, Carol Folt, and say goodbye to many of the university’s top administrators. We celebrated 100 years of USC Rossier, shared new insights about our school’s proud record of innovation and commitment to improving public education, and prepared more than 800 new graduates for careers of impact.

To these momentous events, I add one more.

After months of careful consideration, I decided not to seek a fifth term as Dean and will transition back to faculty next June when I complete my 20th year as the Emory Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean.

It was a difficult decision, but it’s the right one.

It is customary for a USC dean to signal their intent to continue in the job one year before the end of a five-year term. For me, that moment came in January, when I sat down with USC Provost Michael Quick to discuss my future.

I spent the next several months consulting close friends, colleagues and my family. I weighed my accomplishments and the immense satisfactions of my demanding job.

Ultimately, I decided the time was right to open a new chapter for myself and the school I love. With our university on the cusp of its own transformation and Rossier beginning its second century, I believe it makes sense for USC Rossier to begin a search for new leadership.

My last day as dean will be June 30, 2020. After a leave, I will return as a senior research faculty member and pursue some exciting research opportunities.

Early this fall the university will launch the process to find my successor. A member of the provost’s office and a USC dean will assemble a search advisory committee from Rossier’s faculty. An outside search firm will also assist in the search.

I won’t be part of the process, but I will do all I can to support a smooth transition when the next dean is named.

You have my promise, too, that in my remaining time as dean, and in my future role as a professor, I will continue to drive for excellence and equity as the cornerstones of USC Rossier. I’m not done making a difference in education.

Dr. Michelle King

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Dear USC Rossier Students,
It is with profound sadness that I share with you the passing of Dr. Michelle King EdD ’17, whose death from cancer was announced this past weekend.As many of you know, Dr. King became a member of the Trojan family when she earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership at our school in 2017. She never missed a class, even though she had been named superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District a year earlier, in January of 2016. She had been on the job for only two years when she stepped down to undergo medical treatment.

The first African American woman — and 11th Trojan — to lead the nation’s second-largest school system, she embraced its challenges and set goals that some people thought were impossibly high, such as a 100 percent high school graduation rate. In her all-too-brief administration, she managed to move the needle on that issue and others. She advanced STEM and bilingual education and oversaw the launch of two all-girls schools, with an emphasis on math and science at one and athletic leadership at the other.

Those of us who were lucky enough to know her understand with an ache in our hearts what we have lost.

“She just exuded leadership, and not from a forceful standpoint but from a standpoint of collaboration,” said Dr. Michael Escalante EdD ’02, who chaired Dr. King’s dissertation committee. He recruited her for our EdD program’s first executive cohort, which was made up of 16 superintendents and assistant superintendents. Their studies took them to Ireland to collect data on school science fairs. In her thesis Dr. King examined the influence of globalization on STEM teaching in the Irish educational system.

Dr. King was a native of Los Angeles, who attended LAUSD schools from kindergarten through 12th grade; she graduated from Palisades High School during the years of court-ordered busing to reduce segregation. After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UCLA and Pepperdine, respectively, she returned to L.A. Unified to teach middle school science.
In 1997 she began her ascent through the district’s ranks, serving as an assistant principal, principal, administrator of secondary instruction, regional superintendent and senior deputy superintendent. After a national search, she won the Board of Education’s unanimous support as superintendent, stirring excitement throughout the district and the communities it serves because of her long history in Los Angeles. After a series of superintendents who had come from somewhere else, she was the first LAUSD veteran in a decade to reach the No. 1 job.

After accepting the superintendency, she said: “I want to ensure that the enthusiasm for teaching and learning that I experienced in LAUSD … is the reality for all of our students.”

“She could never see herself anywhere other than L.A. Unified,” said Dr. Maria Ott, PhD ’94, a former senior deputy superintendent in the district. “She had a lot of innovative ideas. She just didn’t have enough time.”
I know you join me in extending USC Rossier’s deepest condolences to her family. She would want us all to Fight On.

Sincerely,
Karen Symms Gallagher,
PhDEmery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean
USC Rossier School of Education

Purchase Official USC Doctoral Regalia!

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Instructions to Purchase Official USC Doctoral Regalia
*Now through December 31, 2018 11:59pm EST order the full official USC doctoral regalia and
receive $100 off the price of the gown. You must order the gown, hood, tam w/ tassel in a single
transaction to qualify. Use Promo code USCDR100.
Official USC Doctoral Regalia pricing:
USC Custom Doctoral Gown- $659.00
USC Custom Doctoral Hood- $169.00
USC Rouge Tam- $99.00
Gold Bullion Tassel – $50.00
Gold Silk Tassel- $30.00
To purchase Official USC Doctoral Regalia visit:
https://academicregalia.herffjones.com/School/index
On this website:
 Choose CA as the State, select Los Angeles as the City, and choose University of Southern
California as the School.
 Click Continue.
 Select Doctoral Regalia and proceed with your order.
 Select Traditional Gown and input measurement information (instructions regarding
measurements are indicated in the individual sections). Input your initials (up to 3) for them to be
embroidered on the gown’s interior tag.
 Select Doctoral Hood and select velvet color (Velvet color represents your major)
 Select 8 Sided Doctoral Tam, following the Cap Measurement Guide in the How To Measure
section to determine your Cap Size.
 Select one of the tassel options. (Gold silk tassel is most common, Gold bullion is a metallic
version of the gold silk tassel).
 After completing these steps, including any Suggested Items you may choose to add to your
purchase, select Add to Cart at the bottom of the screen.
 Enter Promo code USCDR100 near the bottom of the screen
 The Shopping Cart will show your selected items. Verify the quantities and click Proceed to
Checkout at the bottom of the screen.
 You can either check out as a guest or create an account.
 At the next screen enter your Billing Information, Shipping Information, any Expedited
Manufacturing Option required and select Shipping Options before finalizing your order.
o Please note that normal manufacturing time for custom made apparel is approximately 6
weeks. Shipping option times are in addition to the manufacturing time.
 Standard 6 weeks manufacturing time: No extra charge
 Expedited 4 weeks manufacturing time: $45.00
 Expedited 3 weeks manufacturing time: $65.00
 Standard Shipping adds 1-4 business days: $19.95
 2nd Day Air adds 2 business days: $45.00
 Overnight adds 1 business day: $65.00
 Click Continue to continue checkout.
 At the School Affiliation screen, choose Non-Faculty Member.
 Complete checkout by filling in the Credit Card Information and click Complete Order.
For additional questions and inquiries after completing checkout, please contact Herff Jones Customer
Service at 1-800-552-3228.

Mark your calendars for Spring 2019 registration!

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Greetings EdL students,

 

We hope you are enjoying the semester so far!

 

This is a reminder that EdL course registration for the spring 2019 semester will open on Monday, November 5 at 9:00am PST. You will not be able to register for next semester’s courses until this date/time.

 

We expect to have registration memos sent out to all students by Monday, October 24. Your registration memo will include the courses you should plan to enroll in for the spring 2019 semester, as well as additional relavent information and key dates for the spring 2019 semester. This detailed memo will hopefully answer most of the questions you have regarding registration.

 

We wish you continued success as you progress through the semester, and please let you your Academic Advisor know if you have any questions.

 

Best,

EdD Programs Office

Farewell to the EdD Office

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Good Afternoon Trojans,

I wanted to take this time, to let all of you know that I will be leaving the EdD Program’s Office on Wednesday October 10th.  I have recently accepted a Student Advisor II position with Rossier’s PHD office.  I want to personally thank all of the students I have encountered in my two years within the EdD office.  You all have made my time within the office worthwhile.  I’m glad to have been granted the opportunity to meet many of you personally and learn your stories.  I was fortunate enough to witness many of the students from the cohort of 2015 graduate this past Spring Semester.  You all will always hold a special place in my heart, as you were the first students I began advising when I came into the office two years ago.  All students who have questions and concerns should continue to contact me over the next week and a half.  I will update Terri and Jordan regarding any pending academic cases.  After October 10th, students may directly contact Jordan Brown, Terri Thomas, or the EdD office’s account at rsoeedd@rossier.usc.edu with any questions.  Continue to make meaningful and impactful work in the field of education and as always….

 

Fight On!

 

 

Evan Williams, M.Ed.

Academic Advisor, EdD Program

University of Southern California
USC Rossier School of Education

Waite Phillips Hall 404D

 

Can you help me recruit HS science teachers?

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Hi everyone who took Motivation with me recently,

Hope you’re semester is off to a great start. I really miss seeing you all regularly! Lucky for me, I have run into some of you once in a while in the halls or around campus. I look forward to running into more of you!

Anyway, I’m emailing to ask a favor that some of you might be able to help with.

I’ve got a new intervention I’m developing focused on enhancing physical science students agentic engagement in the high school classroom. The big idea I’m working on here is that if we can put students in a mindset to realize that their motivation as under their own control and they can use a few behavioral strategies/tricks to enhance it, they will assert their autonomy and engage more during class. In turn, their behaviors should elicit more support from their teachers (because teachers like engaged students!) and help them actually feel more interested, perform better, and persist in science.

You guys probably know or could guess that recruiting teachers in LA to participate in research is close to impossible. It’s especially tough when you don’t know a lot of people yet (that’s me!). So, I’m reaching out to those of you who are science teachers, work at high schools, have science teacher friends, or can otherwise connect me with a principals and teachers that might want to be involved in this research to give me any leads. I actually have permission from LAUSD and Montebello USD, and a positive, but tentative commitment from Compton USD and Green Dot schools to conduct this research in their schools. So connections within those districts/organizations are going to be particularly helpful. But, let me know of any ideas you might have as I try to find physical science teachers to be involved in this work.

We’re starting out small this year. I’m just trying to recruit 12 physical science teachers (e.g., physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science) and about 100 students to participate in focus groups to further refine the intervention, which I originally tested out on college students (FYI, it works). Next year we’ll actually test out this high school version of the intervention, but no need to worry about that yet.

Let me know if you’ve got any good connections or ideas for me!

 

Best wishes,

Erika

——

ERIKA A. PATALL, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Education and Psychology
USC Rossier School of Education

3470 Trousdale Parkway

Waite Phillips Hall

Los Angeles, CA 90089-4036

Office: Waite Phillips Hall (WPH) 600H
Office Phone: 213.740.2371

Cell: 512.590.1974

Email: patall@rossier.usc.edu

Website: http://motivationlab.wordpress.com/

USC Mentorship Opportunity

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The Pullias Center’s I AM program embodies the mission of the Rossier School of Education. Consider joining us and serving as a mentor to students from low-income and minoritized backgrounds as they work on their college applications and transition to college. If you’re a graduate student, this is a great opportunity to fulfill fieldwork hours! Please see the attached flyer. Email Christine Rocha (rochac@usc.edu) for an application to become a mentor!

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You’re invited to Student Conversations at the University Park Campus

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August 27, 2018

 

Dear USC Students,

Welcome to the University of Southern California.  Whether this is your first year at USC or you are returning, we are delighted to count you among the Trojan Family.

The purpose of this letter is to invite USC students to attend one of our “Student Conversations”. Please join me and my colleagues in Student Health Services and the Division of Student Affairs for a town hall-style forum. The forum is intended for students and administrators to share important updates, discuss concerns, and ask questions on a broad range of topics important to students.

Student Conversations at the University Park Campus

  • Thursday, August 30th from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM in Tutor Campus Center room 227
  • Wednesday, September 5th from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM in Tutor Campus Center room 227
  • Tuesday, September 11th from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM in Tutor Campus Center Ballroom A

 

Student Conversations at the Health Sciences Campus

  • Tuesday, September 4th from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM Mayer Auditorium

 

Your feedback is important to us. I hope you can join us. These discussions are intended for USC students only.

 

Sincerely,

 

Ainsley Carry, Ed. D., MBA

Vice President for Student Affairs

Welcome from Graduate Student Government (GSG)!

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Dear all new and returning Graduate Students ~

Graduate Student Government (GSG) would like to welcome you home to USC and to the new academic year! We hope that you have had a successful first week of classes for this fall semester.

GSG is a student-run organization that works everyday to improve the USC experience for all graduate students. Please find attached our semesterly newsletter, which provides an overview of GSG, the programs we run, our advocacy initiatives for the year, and a few upcoming social events. We also provide contact information and important links, including how to sign up for our weekly newsletter so that you can stay up-to-date on events, policies, and services throughout the year.

Regarding the series of instances of sexual violence and poor management culture at USC revealed within the past year and the University’s plan to identify a new president this semester, the GSG Executive Board has repeatedly and persistently requested that there be student representation within decision-making bodies — particularly a spot in the Presidential Search Advisory Committee — as well as a permanent position among the Board of Trustees. However, the Board has denied us a seat at the table, even though students have been impacted the most by the recent scandals, and peer institutions, including Stanford, Princeton, Duke, Northwestern, Dartmouth, and NYU, have recently involved students on their own committees.

In short, the Board of Trustees has voted to exclude students and staff on the Presidential Search Advisory Committee this fall.

GSG and Undergraduate Student Government (USG) will continue to push for a more significant student voice in the governance and management of USC to ensure that we have a meaningful say in the direction of our University and the moral and ethical values of the Trojan Family. Any student with questions, comments, or concerns regarding the lack of student representation may directly contact Chairman Rick Caruso at rick.caruso@usc.edu.

Feel free to contact us if you would like to learn more about GSG and the many services that we provide! We hope you have a wonderful semester, and as always, Fight On!!

Joycelyn

_ _

 

Joycelyn Yip

President | Graduate Student Government

PhD Student | Biomedical Engineering

University of Southern California

Office Hours: M 2:00-6:30pm & by appointment.

SKS 410 | 213.740.5649 | gsg.usc.edu

Pronouns: she/her/hers