Educational Leadership and Policy Postdoctoral Associate Jackie Pedota published a new research piece in the Journal of Higher Education titled “We’re on Our Own Out Here”: Faculty Member Responses to Legislative Threats to Academic Freedom and Scholarship on Race. The multiple case study uses sociolegal frameworks and concepts to show how legal and institutional contexts shape faculty members’ responses to proposed anti-DEI legislation. Specifically, it investigates how 32 faculty members from two public universities understand and respond to proposed legislation that limits inquiry or expression on campus and particularly targets race-related scholarship and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The study was co-authored by Department of Educational Leadership and Policy professor Dr. Liliana M. Garces, who supervises Pedota, as well as Dr. Eliza Epstein and Higher Education Leadership and Policy doctoral students Nicole Ngaosi and Noor Khalayleh.
Pedota is also Co-PI with Garces and Epstein on a research project funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Trellis Foundation, which examines how legislation restricting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts shapes faculty and administrators’ implementation of racial inclusion policies and practices within higher education. Pedota’s work has been nationally recognized, and she has experience in K-12 instruction, non-profit management, educational technology, and higher education administration. Pedota’s research has appeared in a variety of journals, including the Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, the Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity, Educational Researcher, and the US Latina & Latino Oral History Journal.
The College of Education congratulates Dr. Stella Flores and Dr. Julie Schell for being named among Vevox’s Top 50 Voices in Higher Education. The national ranking aims to recognize industry experts who stand out for their innovative ideas and capacity to influence change and spark dialogue among the higher education community.
Flores is a professor in the departments of Educational Leadership and Policy and Curriculum and Instruction and serves as Director of Research and Strategy for the Education Research Center at UT-Austin. She also holds a courtesy faculty appointment at UT-Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs. Her research focuses on the effects of state and federal policies on college access and completion outcomes for low-income and underrepresented populations. Schell is an assistant professor of practice in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy and serves as UT-Austin’s Assistant Vice Provost of Academic Technology and Director of the Office of Academic Technology. Schell also has an appointment as an assistant professor of practice in College of Fine Arts. Along with her students, Schell is partnering with generative AI to prototype speculative objects and environments designed to improve teaching and learning in education settings.
The College of Education congratulates doctoral students, Alexis Richmond and Yanbing Zhou, recipients of the prestigious Harrington Graduate Fellowship.
Alexis Richmond, a Ph.D. student at The University of Texas at Austin, studies how to encourage and assist students in using effective learning strategies. She is particularly interested in understanding the situational contexts, both in and out of the formal school setting, that can promote the use of effective strategies. Alexis ultimately hopes that by reducing common barriers that students face while learning, all students will have the tools needed to maximize their potential.
Yanbing Zhou is a doctoral student in Kinesiology studying in the Cardiovascular Aging Research Laboratory. His research interest involves physical activity and health promotion, vascular aging that manifests as the stiffness of large elastic artery, and vascular endothelial dysfunction. Ultimately, the goal is to develop strategies to promote healthier aging and prevent cardiovascular diseases by maintaining or improving vascular function through lifestyle modifications.
