Center for the Study of Higher Education

 

 

The Pennsylvania State University’s Center for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) is one of the nation’s first research centers established specifically to study postsecondary education policy issues. Since the founding of CSHE in 1969, faculty members have engaged in research that has informed policy and decision-making at the institutional, state, and national level. In 2022, CSHE restructured to become an interdisciplinary center with a mission to conduct anti-oppressive research and partnerships that offer insight into and solutions for complex racial, social, economic, political, and legal issues in postsecondary education. CSHE faculty research associates and graduate assistants are especially concerned with dismantling the global, intersecting systems of oppression that contribute to racial inequality in postsecondary education.

Leveraging our research, we catalyze effective outreach, training, and partnerships with institutional leaders, policymakers, students, and other constituents to remediate and dismantle oppressive logics, policies, and practices.

Our vision is to radically transform the ways in which college and universities operate in service of racial and social equity.

PROGRAMS

Academy for Anti-Racist Leadership

Across the United States, many colleges and universities have issued statements pledging to take a stand against racism in all its forms. The Academy for Equity-Minded, Anti-Racist Leadership is designed for academic administrators who have joined the growing movement for racial justice.

Academic Leadership Academy

Since its first cohort in 2010, the Academic Leadership Academy has endeavored to enhance the ability of academic administrators to provide leadership within their respective institutions. 

Holistic Reimagining of Faculty Academy

This academy provides time with faculty, experts, and peers to gain perspective on recruitment, mentoring, and retention practices that both do and do not create community and meaningful engagement for faculty of color.

Equity Pedagogy Network

Embracing Diversity by Institutionalizing Equity Pedagogy and Culturally Sustaining Curricula

Law and Governance in Higher Education Mentoring Roundtables

Law, legal issues, finance, and governance in higher education are the topics of these intensive seminars for small groups of pre-tenured faculty members who write and teach in these areas of study.

PSU Higher Education Department

Learn more about Penn State’s Higher Education Program and meet its highly-respected faculty swho share their expertise in numerous research arenas.

CSHE NEWS

Roderick Lee Appointed to The PhD Project’s New Advisory Council

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Roderick Lee, associate professor of information systems in the Penn State Harrisburg...

Marinda Harrell-Levy Quoted in Article, “How Penn State Abandoned a Big Pledge on Racial Justice.”

By Nick Anderson After the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, Eric J. Barron joined higher education...

Ashley Patterson featured in article, “How the Fate of a ‘Racial-Justice Center’ Ensnarled Penn State’s New President in Controversy”

By  Oyin Adedoyin During her first few months as president of Pennsylvania State University, Neeli Bendapudi...

Nate Brown featured in spotlight article: “Eisenhower Teaching Award: Nate Brown and the ‘math person’ myth”

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Nate Brown is something of a myth buster in addition to being a professor of...

LaWanda Ward quoted in article: “As Race-Conscious Admissions Policies Go Before the Supreme Court, Here’s What 6 Experts Are Listening For”

By  Nell Gluckman and Eric Hoover For my dissertation I used Critical Race Theory to guide a critical...

Kevin Kinser quoted in article: “International Students ‘Less Satisfied’ in Branch Campuses”

By: Wagdy Sawahel Professor Kevin Kinser, head of the department of education policy studies and senior...

HIGHLIGHTS

Dr. LaWanda Ward gives talk on Valparaiso University during MLK Celebration

On January 16, 2023, Dr. Ward, along with contributor, José Padilla J.D., President of Valparaiso University, discussed Affirmative Action during the “Celebrating The Value of Humanity” event in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. More information can be found here.

CSHE Co-Host Reception at The 47th Annual ASHE Conference in Las Vegas

On Thursday, November 17th, 2022, the Center, along with Penn State’s HIED program, co-hosted a reception for graduate and doctoral students as well as faculty members of universities across the country at the Association for The Study of Higher Education annual conference. This year’s conference aimed to humanize higher education through collective discussion and deep thinking on past, present, and future research, as well as scholarship, and practice. More information on the conference can be found here.

Dr. Wilson Okello Among 2022 ASHE Award Recipients

Dr. Okello, who is committed to a work of consequence that ultimately affects the material lives of Black people, was awarded the Council on Ethnic Participation (CEP) Mildred García Award for Exemplary Scholarship as a Junior Scholar. The Mildred García Award for Exemplary Scholarship recognizes seminal, exemplary scholarship that focuses on research and issues specifically related to underrepresented populations of color.

Dr. Ashley Patterson Speaks on Dignity in The Community

On Global Dignity Day 2022, Dr. Patterson, along with President Neeli Bendapudi, Dr. Michael Wade Smith, Dr. Beth Seymour and Kevin Kassab held a talk to speak on the importance of treating everyone with dignity. Information on Penn State’s Global Dignity Day events and registering your own dignity pledge can be found here.

Leticia Oseguera and Gilberto Conchas guest edit a special issue of The Journal of Leadership, Equity, and Research

Current discourses around race, coupled with rising price tags of postsecondary education have presented new challenges to Latina/o/x students pursuing higher education. Co-authored with Marco Murillo, the section examines advancing opportunities to expand Latina/o/x postsecondary education success.

Read the full issue here.

FOLLOW US

Director

Alicia C. Dowd

dowd@psu.edu

(814)-865-9739

Associate Director

LaWanda W.M. Ward

lzw297@psu.edu

(814)-863-3774