2023 Research Workshops

Dr. David Feldon is a Professor of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the College of Education and Human Services at Utah State University. His scholarship identifies mechanisms of learning and postsecondary education that facilitate the equitable development of expertise—specifically in STEM disciplines. To understand the mechanisms that shape individual learning and professional trajectories, his work also engages the sociological factors that drive both experiences and opportunities. Dr. Feldon is the 2019 recipient of the American Educational Research Association’s Division D Award for Significant Contributions to Educational Measurement and Research.

Dr. Kaylee Litson is an Assistant Professor at the University of Houston, and their work intersects the areas of quantitative psychology, education, and health, with an emphasis on equitable outcomes. Drawing on their expertise in latent state-trait theory, Dr. Litson develops and applies constructively defined latent variable models, emphasizing how quantitative construction of latent variables impacts interpretation of results. Specifically, they are interested in quantitative approaches that capture longitudinal processes as they develop within- and between-persons. Dr. Litson has been published in top quantitative methods and education journals, including Structural Equation Modeling, Psychological Methods, and Research in Higher Education.

Dr. Leonard Taylor, Jr.’s research is focused on investigating and improving how students’ success is supported in higher education institutions. Using CDA and other qualitative methods, he works to understand and interrogate how administrators, faculty and staff members, and other post-secondary stakeholders use research, data, and promising practices to enhance post-secondary outcomes. His work has been funded through the National Science Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation, College Student Educators International (ACPA), as well as other national and local entities.

Kamia F. Slaughter, M.Ed. is a 4th year Ph.D. candidate in the Administration of Higher Education program at Auburn University. She is a Research Fellow at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and a Dissertation Fellow for the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). Her research centers college access practitioners who work in Black, rural contexts. She is attuned to discourses, socio-political phenomena, and micro-politics that affect the interstices of race, place, class, and rurality. She gleans from professional experiences in higher education, elementary education, community outreach, federal government, and non-profit arenas to inform her work.

Derek A. Houston, PhD is Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Centered at the nexus of critical theory and quantitative methods, Dr. Houston's work engages with policy questions relative to inequality and inequity across the P-20 educational pipeline, advocating for a socially-liberating future. His most recent scholarship, published in Teacher’s College Record & Kappa Delta Pi Record, takes a critical quantitative approach to understanding and making sense of special education and education degree production. He thinks deeply about the pedagogical practices of (critical) quantification and the critical engagement of the tools & processes of quantitative research.

Heather McCambly is an assistant professor of critical higher education policy at the University of Pittsburgh and a faculty affiliate at the Office of Community College Research and Leadership at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. As a critical organizational scholar, she uses multiple analytic methods to examine the role of funders, policy, and politics in shaping more (or less) racially just futures in postsecondary education.

Dr. Shanyce L. Campbell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, Organizations, and Policy at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education. Dr. Campbell’s research focuses on understanding how policies and practices influence access to rich and engaging learning opportunities for students of color. Specifically, she focuses on teachers and their educational, just curriculum, and critical quantitative methods as a liberatory tool. Dr. Campbell’s work has appeared in several journals, including American Educational Research Journal, Educational Researcher and Race, Ethnicity, and Education. She is a budding gardenista who learns what it means to do liberatory work from plants.

Roshaunda L. Breeden, PhD, (she/her), is an Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership at East Carolina University. Guided by participatory and arts-based approaches, Dr. Breeden’s work centers on creating equitable learning environments for minoritized students, leaders, and communities. Her research specifically focuses on Black women leaders in higher education, Black student assets in science degree programs, and relationships between Black communities and their surrounding Historically White Institutions. Currently, she is also part of the #FatOnCampus research team, a national study using photovoice methodology to explore the experiences of fat college students.

Amanda O. Latz, EdD (she/her) is Associate Professor of Higher Education and Community College Leadership at Ball State University, where she teaches graduate-level courses and directs the Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education MA program and Graduate Certificate in Community College Leadership. She is the author of Photovoice Research in Education and Beyond: A Practical Guide from Theory to Exhibition (2017, Routledge) and Community College Student Mental Health: Faculty Experiences and Institutional Actions (2023, Rowman & Littlefield). She has published in the Community College Journal of Research and Practice, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, and Review of Higher Education.

Robin Phelps-Ward, Ed.D. is the Associate Dean of the Graduate School and an Associate Professor of Higher Education at Ball State University. Dr. Phelps-Ward is dedicated to cultivating equitable, just, and supportive environments for People of Color across educational contexts and she commits her scholarship to developing pedagogical and institutional strategies for eliminating oppression.

Her most current research centers the experiences of graduate students from historically minoritized backgrounds using photovoice methodology and an intersectional lens. Dr. Phelps-Ward co-edited the book The Power of Names in Identity and Oppression: Narratives for Equity in Higher Education and Student Affairs (2022, Routledge).

Terah J. Stewart, PhD (he/him) is an assistant professor of higher education and student affairs at Iowa State University. His research and writings focus on people, populations, and ideas that are hypermarginalized and/or those that have stigmatized identities including college students engaged in sex work, fat students on campus, and identity-based student activism. He also does conceptual and empirical work on antiblackness in non-black communities of color. Along with a research team, he recently completed and is advancing findings from a photovoice project titled #FatOnCampus, which examines the narratives and images of fat college students and their experiences in campus environments.

Dr. Rangel Velez Zarate (he/siya/él ) is an Assistant Professor of English at San Bernardino Valley College. His research focuses on fostering a community of care on campus for racially-targeted violence-affected COVID-era Filipino/a/x American (FilAm) community college students. His biracial Filipino-Mexican identity informs his work, emphasizing identity formation within marginalized ethnic groups. As a published photographer, he uses arts-based educational research along with collaborating with FilAm students, employing documentary photography and narratives to depict their Inland Empire experiences. His work extends FilAm advocacy in higher education, amplifying their voices and validating their lived experiences.

Brian A. Burt, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis department in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Burt also serves as Director and Chief Research Scientist in the Wisconsin's Equity & Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB). He has received numerous awards recognizing his scholarship including the National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship and National Science Foundation Early CAREER Award. Dr. Burt studies the experiences of graduate students and the institutional policies and practices that influence students’ pathways. His research falls into two strands: understanding team-based research experiences and exploring the experiences of underrepresented graduate students of color in engineering. Through his work, Dr. Burt seeks to provide new ways to understand science participation and the experiences that might attract students to or turn them away from science pathways.

Dr. Keup is Executive Director of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities (USU) and Vice President of Urban Initiatives at APLU. She also is a Senior Fellow and Affiliate Scholar for the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. Keup’s research agenda focuses on two complementary areas: (a) the first-year experience and students in transition and (b) high-impact practices and institutional interventions, which lead to co-authorship of the book Developing and Sustaining Successful First-Year Programs: A Guide for Practitioners, the CAS Cross-Functional Framework for First-Year Experiences, and several articles on first-year seminars/experiences and other high-impact practices.

Kathleen J. Lehman (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Academic Researcher in UCLA’s School of Education & Information Studies and serves as Associate Director of Momentum: Accelerating Equity in Computing and Technology at UCLA. Dr. Lehman’s work centers on the experiences of women and historically minoritized students in STEM fields (particularly computer science), with an emphasis on creating additional pathways into STEM/computing majors and fields. Dr. Lehman serves as Principal Investigator or co-Principal Investigator for several Momentum projects, including the NSF-funded broadening participation literature database, as well as the team’s work with the Center for Inclusive Computing.

Lara Perez-Felkner is an Associate Professor of Higher Education and Sociology at Florida State University (FSU) and Senior Research Associate with FSU’s Center for Postsecondary Success. Her research focuses on the mechanisms shaping racial–ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic disparities in postsecondary pathways to educational attainment and scientific careers, especially in computing and engineering fields. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the WT Grant Foundation, the Student Experience Research Network, and other agencies. She has won a series of awards at FSU for excellence in teaching, advising, and mentoring.

Sarah L. Rodriguez is an Associate Professor of Engineering Education and an affiliate faculty member with the Higher Education Program at Virginia Tech. In her research, she asks urgent questions about systemic inequities such as racism, sexism, and classism that marginalized communities experience as they transition to and through their engineering and computing higher education experiences. Dr. Rodriguez has established a national reputation as a talented grant-maker and research team leader, collaborating on interdisciplinary projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Kapor Center, and the Center for the Study of Community Colleges, totaling approximately $20M collectively.

Victor B. Sáenz is the L. D. Haskew Centennial Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at University of Texas at Austin. He is also the Associate Dean for Student Success, Community Engagement, and Administration for the UT-Austin College of Education. Dr. Saenz holds courtesy faculty appointments with the LBJ School of Public Affairs, the Center for Mexican American Studies, and various other research centers. His current work advances research-informed best practices and policy solutions that improve educational outcomes for underserved students in education, with a special emphasis on boys and young men of color.

Linda J. Sax is a Professor of Higher Education in the School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA and Founding Director of Momentum: Accelerating Equity in Computing and Technology. Dr. Sax’s research focuses on gender differences in college student development, with an emphasis on women in STEM fields. An author of more than 100 publications, Dr. Sax has generated over $10 million in research funding and is currently Principal Investigator for several research studies focused on understanding diversity efforts in undergraduate computing. Her work on this topic has been funded by the National Science Foundation, AnitaB.org, the Computing Research Association, and Pivotal Ventures.

Benjamin Skinner is an assistant professor of higher education and policy with an affiliation in the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Florida. His research interests center on college access, the outcomes of college participation, and using tools of data science such as machine learning and Bayesian statistics to critically examine higher education policy questions that are difficult to answer with conventional econometric tools.

Taylor Burtch earned her PhD in Higher Education Administration & Policy from University of Florida in August 2023. Prior to her doctoral degree, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in women’s and gender studies from University of Toledo (2016) and a Master of Arts in gender, sexualities, and women’s studies research from University of Florida (2018). She also served as a legislative fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives in Fall 2022. Taylor’s research interests focus on social justice in education, with specific emphases on barriers to access and success for multiply marginalized students.

Alberto Guzman-Alvarez is a Research Data Scientist at the American Institutes for Research, specializing in quasi-experimental research design and quantitative methodology. He has an interest in the intersection of data science and causal inference. Dr. Guzman-Alvarez's applied work focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of education policies and interventions, particularly those related to college access for first-generation and historically marginalized students. He draws on his personal experiences as a first-generation student and the son of Mexican immigrants.