The HESA community wishes the 2018 graduates the best of luck as they take this exciting step in their lives. We’re proud of who you were as UConn HESA students, and we can’t wait to see where you can’t wait to see what you do as alumni.
HESA Class of 2018:
Julia Anderson
McHenold Aurelien
Danielle Berkman
April Cano
Cristina Carpentier
Jennifer Cheng
Alyssa Clift
Ricardo Destinvil
Alexandra Dutro-Maeda
Gabrielle Erestain
Lisa Famularo
Emily Fiagbedzi
Moriah Hernandez
Rilwan Ilumoka
Daphnee Laguerre
Garland Mann-Lamb
Michelle Meek
Morgan Sutton
Alex Vann
Congratulations to the HESA Class of 2018! HESA celebrated commencement on May 4th in the Student Union Ballroom, and the full photo album can be accessed here.
Congratulations to Lexy Parrill (‘17) who recently received the Chester A. Berry Scholar Award at the Association of College Unions (ACUI) National Conference. The award is given annually to the author of an outstanding work of writing in the field of college unions and student activities. We caught up with Lexy to find out more about her research:
LP: My involvement in this work stems from an independent project I conducted as an undergraduate at Indiana University. The project focused on memorial unions and, like any great research project, it led me to a series of unanswered questions. Ever since, I’ve been obsessed with the Union Idea and the notion that college unions (and campus centers) are more than just facilities: they are part of an educational philosophy that brings together the community using programming and physical space.
Lexy Parrill (’17)
I received this award alongside my mentor and research partner Mara Dahlgren. Mara was my advisor when I was a student at Indiana University. We have a shared appreciation for the college union idea, and we both understand the powerful role history plays in shaping our perceptions, attitudes, and–in this case–buildings. Mara is the Assistant Director of Activities and Events at the Indiana Memorial Union at Indiana University.
I received my bachelor’s degree in History, and I strongly believe that it is important to understand the context and background of an institution–in this case, the college union– in order to produce useful knowledge. When Mara and I began looking into this phenomenon, we realized there was no central database that contained basic information about college union construction, naming practices, memorialization, services, funding, missions, student involvement, etc. We decided to develop this tool, and so far we have collected 750 unique data points (and counting!) from institutions across the world.
This data has allowed us to reframe the college union story and provide data to support (and rebuke) anecdotal stories. We plan to continue to collect information from additional institutions and set up systems to maintain our existing database. We hope this tool provides a jumping point for researchers and practitioners in the field of college unions and student activities.
The HESA community wishes Lexy the best of luck as she continues to examine higher education policies and systems as part of her exciting and important research.
We love to hear from HESA Alumni, so if you have a story to share click here to get in touch!
The HESA program is excited to welcome two new full-time faculty members to the HESA program! Dr. Gerardo Blanco and Dr. H. Kenny Nienhusser will join the HESA team beginning in fall 2018. Learn more about each of them below:
Dr. Gerardo Blanco (he/him/his pronouns) is currently an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He was born in Mexico and is, very proudly, a first-generation college graduate. He holds graduate degrees (M.Ed., 2007; Ed.D., 2013) from The University of Maine and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Gerardo’s research interests focus on international higher education, assessment practices, and quality improvement in higher education. He has authored or co-authored articles that document the complexities of higher education leadership and internationalization in different countries, including China, Mexico, and the Philippines. Gerardo’s teaching focuses on international higher education, research methods, and leadership and management in higher education. His experience as a student affairs professional focused on residential education, multicultural student services, and advisement of LGBTQ learning communities.
Dr. H. Kenny Nienhusser currently works as an Assistant Professor in the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership in the College of Education, Nursing, and Health Professions at the University of Hartford. He holds an EdD in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. He also holds a MSW and a BA in Economics, both from Stony Brook University. As a first-generation Latino college student who grew up in a working-class household of immigrant parents, diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the core of his work as a researcher, teacher, and scholar-citizen. His research interests include higher education access of underserved adolescents and the majority of his research has examined the educational policy environment for undocumented and DACAmented students in relation to their postsecondary education access. Kenny has more than 15 years of professional experience—in Student and Academic Affairs—in several types of higher education institutions.
HESA extends a special thank-you to the members of the search committee:
Dr. Richard Schwab (Search Committee Chair, Raymond Neag Endowed Professor of Educational Leadership)
Dr. Laura Burton (Associate Professor of Sport Management, Department of Educational Leadership)
Dr. Milagros Castillo-Montoya (Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs, Department of Educational Leadership)
Stacey Murdock (Assistant to the Vice President for Administrative Services)
On April 26th, HESA hosted its annual Assessment Day, the summation of a two-semester course series (EDLR 5102 and 5103) that gives first-year HESA students the opportunity to develop and hone important skills by conducting group assessment projects in service to the UConn community. The series constitutes a fundamental element of HESA’s unique core curriculum and commitment to scholarship in practice. This year, students split into four groups and tackled four distinct assessment projects (see table). We spoke with Dr. Christine Wilson, the course instructor, to learn more:
The point of the course is to help the students learn about assessment, evaluation, and research by engaging in a yearlong group assessment project that serves a department or program on campus. The first semester is dedicated to learning about foundations of assessment and research while completing a literature review for the projects, defining assessment questions, creating methodology, and completing IRB paperwork to assure that research with student participants is conducted legally and ethically. During the second semester, the students collect and analyze data, present their results and findings during an open presentation day, and complete an assessment paper.
Assessment Day, which takes place at the end of the semester, is a great way for the community to see the work that the students have completed, as well as the contributions of knowledge that they are making to the departments they have served with their projects. In addition, the students have a chance to present their projects in a formal setting. I have taught this course series three times, and Assessment Day is the highlight of the year.
Congratulations to the students of EDLR 5103 for their successful assessment projects, and the completion of their first year in the UConn HESA program.
