Dear USC Rossier Faculty, Staff and Students,

I am pleased to announce that, after a national search, we have extended an offer to Adam Kho to fill our tenure-track faculty position in K–12 Education Policy and Leadership. Adam has accepted and will begin as an assistant professor in August 2018.

Adam is currently completing his PhD in the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, with a specialty in K-12 Education Policy Studies and a minor in Quantitative Methods.

Prior to Vanderbilt, Adam received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical-Biological Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a minor in Biology. He then joined Teach for America, which returned him to his hometown in Atlanta, where he taught high school mathematics for three years and served subsequently as an instructional coach for two years. During that time, he also completed his master’s degree in Secondary Mathematics Education at Georgia State University.

Adam’s stint in a low-performing, Title I turnaround school has shaped his research interests, which include education policies and evaluation of programs serving traditionally disadvantaged students, with a focus on school reform. His current research includes an evaluation of Tennessee’s portfolio model for school turnaround, a series of studies evaluating the effects of charter schools on student achievement and on the sorting of students both academically and demographically, and the impact of the Community Eligibility Provision on various student outcomes in Tennessee.

I want to thank Associate Deans Larry Picus and Darline Robles and the members of our search committee: Tricia Burch, Mike Chung, Shira Korn (PhD student), Tatiana Melguizo, Erika Patall, Morgan Polikoff and David Quinn. They identified a very strong pool of candidates whose research interests aligned with our mission to advance educational equity.

Please join me in welcoming Adam to the USC Rossier Family!

Fight On!

Sincerely,

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 Fall 2017 issue of Class Notes has been published. This edition contains more than 125 updates from Rossier alumni, looking at what they are doing out in the world and what impact they are making.

• Read the latest Class Notes.

Dear USC Rossier Faculty, Staff and Students,

I’m happy to report that USC Rossier has formally adopted a new mission statement. Darline Robles, who chairs both the Diversity Task Force and the Urban Education Planning Committee, presented the statement at the faculty meeting today:

The mission of the USC Rossier School of Education is to prepare leaders to achieve educational equity through practice, research and policy. We work to improve learning opportunities and outcomes in urban settings and to address disparities that affect historically marginalized groups. We teach our students to value and respect the cultural context of the communities in which they work and to interrogate the systems of power that shape policies and practices. Through innovative thinking and research, we strive to solve the most intractable educational problems.

Our new mission will be made public tomorrow, although we have already started updating our literature and website.

As you all know by now, this change has been the result of a multistage process that benefitted from the input of just about everybody at USC Rossier.

It began a year ago, with the Academic Program Review of our four doctoral programs. A team of external reviewers called on USC Rossier to clarify the meaning of the words “urban education” as used in our mission: “The mission of the USC Rossier School of Education is to improve learning in urban education locally, national and globally.”

This same goal was also identified as a priority in two subsequent reports: a set of recommendations from the Diversity Task Force in December 2016 and in a climate assessment report solicited from the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Study of Race & Equity in Education in February 2017.

The Urban Education Planning Committee, under Dr. Robles’ guidance, then began the process of exploring the meaning of “urban education” by surveying faculty, staff and students and hosting a retreat in May 2017.

The outcome of this process was the recognition that we needed to reformulate our entire mission.

The Academic Program Review process helped us begin to identify what was most important to us as a school, and the subsequent efforts of our faculty, staff and students answered this call to action by drafting this essential new mission statement.

Advancing educational equity is central to everything we do — from ongoing revisions to our degree programs to the focus of our research to preparing students for roles as teachers, counselors, advisors and administrators.

While we should celebrate this milestone, our work continues. A mission statement is only as good as how well we carry it out. We will continue to address student suggestions, including changes to our curriculum, and we will continue to hold ourselves accountable.

Thank you to all for your input, and thank you also to members of the Urban Education Planning Committee, who gathered and analyzed ideas and suggestions from several hundred people: Shafiqa Ahmadi, Sonya Black‐Williams, Ross Brenneman, Darnell Cole, Joanna Drivalas, Rob Filback, Alan Green, Edna Martinez, Morgan Polikoff and Kristan Venegas.

Fight On!

Sincerely,

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)

MEMORANDUM

To:                  USC Community

From:              Michael W. Quick

Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Date:               October 2, 2017

Subject:           Today’s Events on the University Park Campus

We want to update you on the events that unfolded earlier today on our University Park Campus. Based on an unconfirmed report of an active shooter in Fertitta Hall, our Department of Public Safety issued a “police activity/shelter in place” alert shortly after noon. A search of the building quickly verified that the report was false. The university had counselors report to the area immediately to support those who experienced the unsettling event.

The Los Angeles Police Department and the university are looking into the incident, which the LAPD is stating appears to have originated erroneously from a faculty member in a classroom.

We appreciate the rapid response of our Department of Public Safety and the LAPD. We also want to praise our students, staff, and faculty who cooperated fully with the instructions provided.

In the aftermath of the tragic events in Las Vegas on Sunday, we understand this a time of stress and anxiety. We want to remind you of the counseling resources we have available. For students in the USC community who are in need of assistance, please contact Student Counseling Services at (213) 740-7711 or the Eric Cohen Student Health Center at (323) 442-5631. For faculty and staff assistance, please contact the Center for Work & Family Life at (213) 821-0800.

As members of the Trojan Family, we also should be mindful of the needs of others.  If you observe a fellow student, faculty, or staff member who may be in need of support, you can reach out confidentially through Trojans Care for Trojans, an initiative within the Office of Campus Wellness and Crisis Intervention: https://studentaffairs.usc.edu/trojans-care-for-trojans-tc4t/

We also urge you to learn more about how to best respond to emergencies on our USC Safety website at safety.usc.edu.  Meanwhile, today’s events provided important lessons to help all of us at the university improve our response.

MEMORANDUM

To:                  USC Community

From:              Michael W. Quick

Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Date:               October 2, 2017

Subject:           Tragedy in Las Vegas

We are deeply saddened by the horrific events in Las Vegas. The images from the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history are difficult to view, and it’s even more difficult to imagine the pain and anguish being experienced by the families and loved ones of the victims. Our thoughts and prayers go out to them.

As members of our university community, we care for each other in times of tragedy. Our Office of Religious Life is holding an interfaith candlelight vigil at 7:00 p.m. this evening in the courtyard of the University Religious Center to allow us to come together to honor the victims and survivors of the tragedy. We are reaching out to our students who are from Las Vegas and who might have family or friends affected by this event.

For students in the USC community who are in need of support, please contact Student Counseling Services at (213) 740-7711 or the Eric Cohen Student Health Center at (323) 442-5631. For faculty and staff assistance, please contact the Center for Work & Family Life at (213) 821-0800. If any students are impacted directly, please contact the USC Support and Advocacy team at (213) 821-4710.

To:  All students, staff, and faculty members

From: USC Department of Public Safety

Subject:  Safety and Emergency Information

The university is constantly working to update and improve our safety and emergency capabilities to ensure the safest possible environment for our campus community. Our safety departments would like to make you aware of new resources, and remind you to make note of the existing resources that are in place.

New Safety Education Resources

USC Emergency Procedures are outlined in a new 9-minute video that provides basic information on what to do during emergencies, including best responses for earthquake, fire, and disaster recovery scenarios. Segments may be viewed incrementally, and reviewed by topic. Please set aside a few minutes to view this important video at usc.edu/emergencyvideos.

The university now has in place a web page with important information and videos about what to do in case of an active shooter incident.  In the event of such an incident, the generally acknowledged safety procedure is to:

Run—escape the area of danger;

Hide—lock the door, turn out lights, close blinds, silence mobile phones;

and as a last option if you have no other alternative,

Fight—if cornered, band together to attack and immobilize the attacker.

Important Reminders

Text alerts:All staff, students, and faculty members are enrolled automatically  in TrojansAlert to receive rapid notification of incidents by text message when an emergency occurs. During an emergency, authorized USC senders will notify you with real-time updates, instructions on where to go, what to do (or what not to do), whom to contact and other important information.  If you are not receiving alerts, you should check in TrojansAlert to ensure that the database contains the correct cell phone number.

Mobile App: Additionally, the USC mobile safety app (powered by LiveSafe) is a free digital tool for initiating contact with emergency responders, easily reporting suspicious activity or crimes in progress, and using location services to notify friends of your route through campus.

Earthquake Drill on October 19 at 10:19 a.m.: The Great ShakeOut is an annual earthquake drill involving millions of people across California, designed to remind all members of the campus community of the basic earthquake safety procedure—Drop • Cover • Hold On.

Our number one priority is to ensure the safety of all students, staff, and faculty members at USC, and as safety programs evolve we will continue to keep all members of the campus community informed.

USC Deaprtment of Public Safey

Emergency Contact Information

UPC: (213) 740-4321

HSC: (323) 442-1000

Non-Emergency Contact Information

UPC: (213) 740-6000

HSC: (323) 442-1200