Tanisha Jenkins, PhD student in Higher Education Administration at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, is featured as one of Knoxville News Sentinel’s “Top 40 under 40”. Her goal is to promote academic success, leadership development and equality for all students at UT. She is the Director of the Office of Multicultural Student Life and the Frieson Black Cultural Center.
Photo from Knox News Sentinel
Janice Branch Hall, PhD student in Higher Education Administration at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, is featured as one of Knoxville News Sentinel’s “Top 40 under 40” for her work with students, faculty and staff to create a more diverse and inclusive culture. She is the assistant director for academic success and partnership at the UT’s Haslam College of Business.
Photo from Knox News Sentinel
Congratulations to Chandra Harris-McCray, PhD student in Higher Education Administration, who is the recipient of the 2018 Women’s Philanthropy Institute Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. This fellowship will help Chandra complete her dissertation at the University of Tennessee Knoxville on African American alumnae philanthropy to institutions of higher education.
Chandra’s argument, informed by research as well as a decade of personal and professional experience, has led her to the premise that Women of Color, and in particular African America women, are often ignored and overlooked for their philanthropic potential. The implications for her findings go beyond identifying a new donor source, speaking more specifically to influence. Philanthropy and giving lends voice and authority which in turn can ignite change. As Chandra’s proposal demonstrated, diverse voices are missing from the perspectives of many organizations and agencies. Chandra’s study, framed in cogent theory, has the transformative potential to facilitate change.
Jacob Kamer, a PhD student in the Higher Education Administration program, will join the Tennessee Higher Education Commission as an intern in the Planning and Research Bureau during the summer semester. During the academic year, Jacob serves as a graduate research assistant in the Center for Educational Leadership. Good luck in Nashville this summer, Jacob!
Patrick Biddix will join Joseph Levy and Rishi Sriram in teaching an online course hosted by The NASPA Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Knowledge Community. The course titled, “Assessment versus Research. What is the Difference? Why Does It Matter?”, will help students to establish and clarify the language used for assessment and research, expectations of practitioners at multiple levels, and trends in the field.
As a result of attending the course, students will:
The course will take place on March 26, 2018 at 1:00pm est. It is free for members of the Assessment, Evaluation, and Research KC and $99 for non-members.
Jimmy Cheek, Chancellor Emeritus and Distinguished Professor, will be taking on another new role for the year; the 2018 United Way Campaign Chair in addition to his role within our college. He will replace Ken Lowe, who over the course of 2017, raised almost fourteen million dollars for the organization. The United Way helps people by raising funds and supporting programs that provide opportunity and create lasting change in the community. His efforts will help ensure a good life for all by funding essential programs.
In Fall 2017, Cheek joined the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences (CEHHS) in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. In addition to teaching graduate classes, Cheek has established and oversees the Postsecondary Education Research Center (PERC). This center identifies, conducts and coordinates research on initiatives and ideas designed to enhance higher education at the institutional, state, and national levels to enhance policy and practice. Through this center, partnerships with organizations such as the Tennessee Board of Regents and the university system as well as several postsecondary institutions across the state will focus on improving higher education in Tennessee.
We congratulate you on this new appointment and wish you every success.
Story and photo compliments of CEHHS
Gresham Collom, a graduate research assistant for PERC, receives his first grant with Faculty member Dorian McCoy from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This Student/Faculty Research Award will help support student research and foster the mentor relationship between faculty and graduate students.
The project titled. “Stories to be Told: Life-Course Narratives of Previously Incarcerated Persons” will identify the need here at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville to support previously incarcerated individuals and also work towards breaking barriers to their enrollment through recruitment initiatives. Collom states. “By gathering rich, qualitative narratives from previously incarcerated person who have attended or wish to attend UTK, we hope to bring to light important stories which do no often get told.”
As a first year PhD student Collom is grateful for this opportunity and hopes everyone keeps an eye out for the results.
