Graduate Student Profiles

Educational Leadership & PolicyMy research interests include Latin@ student success in post-secondary education after completing early college and dual credit programs.

Educational Leadership & PolicySocial Reproduction, Race, Equity, Diversity, Higher Education

Educational Leadership & PolicyPriscilla Aquino Garza is a doctoral student in the Policy and Planning in the Department of Education Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas College of Education. Her research interests include teacher preparation, selection, placement, teacher labor markets, diversification of teacher workforce, culturally responsive pedagogy, and various school-based programs that support success in low-income Latinx and African-American students in public schools. She is currently a member of a research team led by Dr. Jennifer...

Educational Leadership & PolicyElizabeth Aritonang is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning Program at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include education finance, school climate, state level education policies and governance. Proudly from Queens, New York, she obtained a BA in English and MS in Education Administration and Policy Studies from SUNY Albany. Elizabeth is a product of the Educational Opportunities Program, a college access program serving economic and historically disadvantaged...

Educational Leadership & PolicyIdentifying the challenges faced by students while navigating their college journey and the impact it has on their career development, specifically for first-generation college learners and students of color. Savneet wishes to formulate learning strategies to reduce attrition and increase graduation rates, thereby leading to a student-centric pedagogy.

Educational Leadership & PolicyBethany Bell (she/her) is a doctoral student interested in research that focuses on strategic enrollment management (SEM) practices and organizational structure, examining student barriers to degree pathways, and the registrar’s role across the higher education landscape. She earned her bachelor’s in criminal justice with a minor in psychology from Sam Houston State University and her Master of Public Administration from Texas State University. Bethany has worked in higher education for over fifteen years in...

Educational Leadership & PolicyRachel Boggs is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning Program at The University of Texas at Austin. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and M.Ed. in Elementary Education from The University of Notre Dame. Experiences as an elementary school teacher informed her perspective on the challenges communities face when addressing educational inequity and increasing opportunities for all children. Rachel is interested in how social contexts influence education and how policy can...

Educational Leadership & Policy| Social politics of college access | race-consciousness educational equity | organizational change in higher education | admissions and enrollment management

Educational Leadership & PolicyShawntal Brown is a part-time doctoral student in the Higher Education in Leadership Program at UT Austin. She anticipates that her research will focus on analyzing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at universities and colleges. She is interested in the conceptual framework of diversity dishonesty as she inquires if universities are adequately supporting DEI initiatives. Currently, she is a senior outreach coordinator for Inclusive Campus Support in the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. In...

Educational Leadership & Policy
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and Policy, expected 2025Christina Bui is a first-year Master's student in the Program for Higher Education Leadership at UT Austin. She is also a full-time employee on campus, serving as the Program Coordinator for PACE, an award-winning co-enrollment and first-year success program. In her work, she teaches multiple seminars a year, plans large programmatic events, leads a team of peer mentors, and advises. Christina is interested in first-year student engagement, low-income and first-generation student experiences, curriculum development, and...

Educational Leadership & PolicyAvani Chhaya is a Master’s student in Educational Leadership and Policy. Her research interests center around issues of equity, particularly with low-income and second-generation student populations. In the fall of 2017, Avani was selected as a Policy Fellow with Leadership for Educational Equity. Avani brings a background teaching English Language Arts to fifth and sixth graders in New Orleans. She attended The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she obtained her English and secondary education...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Policy, expected 2024Her research interests revolve around educational equity and policy, racial equity with school leadership experiences, and the historical and sociocultural contexts of educational opportunities for Black and Brown students.

Educational Leadership & PolicySarah Simi Cohen is a first-generation, low-income, queer doctoral student in Higher Education Leadership and Policy. Originally from Boston, MA, they graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology from Suffolk University. Sarah continued their studies at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, receiving an M.S.Ed in Education, Culture, and Society and a certificate in Women and Gender Studies. While obtaining their master’s, they became an integral founder of multiple emerging student...

Educational Leadership & PolicyA Masters student in the Education Policy and Planning program, Amanda is originally from Pennsylvania, where she earned her B.A. in Environmental Writing and Visual Arts: Studio Art from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA. Prior to relocating to Austin, Amanda spent four years in New York City working in retail, public gardening, and global grassroots LGBTQI advocacy. Building on her experience attending a women's college, Amanda is passionate about how identity, diversity, and inclusion factor into...

Educational Leadership & PolicyKarly Conroy is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning program. Her research interests focus on special education policy. More specifically, her interests gear towards the process through which children are identified as having a need for special education services, appropriate placement, and the impact of parent participation for students who are identified as having an emotional disturbance, i.e. anxiety, depression, or withdrawal. Currently, she is working as a Graduate Research Assistant on...

Educational Leadership & PolicyNatosha's research interests are rooted in collective grassroots organizing and Black parent movements that shift power structures in the education system. Additionally, she is interested in the intersection of capitalism and racial equity in public education.

Educational Leadership & PolicyWill Davies earned a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from Boston University and a M. Ed. in Education Policy and Planning (EPP) from the University of Texas at Austin. Following four years teaching English as a foreign language in South America, Will spent five years working as a (Spanish/English) bilingual elementary classroom teacher and three more as a campus literacy specialist in Central Texas public schools. Since 2018 he has worked with Breakthrough Central...

Educational Leadership & PolicyResearch interests include neoliberal education reform, K-12 school organizational conditions, accountability, school choice, teacher working conditions, community-driven school improvement

Educational Leadership & PolicyRacial disparities in student loan debt at the graduate-school level and its impact on the socioeconomic futures of Black students

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy, expected 2024Her research interests include students from migrant farmworker backgrounds, students from the borderland region of the Rio Grande Valley, and Latina/o/x student success.

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2025Anthony Fowlkes is a Ph.D. student in the Program in Higher Education Leadership at UT Austin. He also works in a full-time capacity as the Moody College of Communication's first Senior Data Analyst. Anthony's primary research interests are related to students who work while learning. Particularly, Anthony is interested in understanding how working affects students' learning and relates to their post-collegiate outcomes. Prior to his time at UT Austin, Anthony worked as an Assessment Analyst for...

Educational Leadership & PolicyDanielle Geraci Thoma is the director of graduate recruitment and student support initiatives in the Graduate School at the University of Texas at Austin. In her role, she oversees university-wide graduate student recruitment, orientation and convocation. Danielle earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware and received her master’s in education in educational leadership and policy in 2020 from UT Austin. Danielle has worked in higher education for over 18 years with expertise in...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Policy, expected 2024Jennifer Gonzalez is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning (EPP) program at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include critical approaches to bilingual education, the implementation of special education programs for English learner students, dyslexia instruction, and culturally responsive pedagogy.

Educational Leadership & Policy
M.Ed. in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2019Tiffany’s research interest focuses on the experiences of Afro-Latinxs students in higher education.

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy - Program in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2023Mike earned both a B.A. in Psychology in 2013 and an M.Ed. in College and University Student Personnel Administration (CUSPA) in 2015 from the University of Texas at Austin. His professional career started in the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin as an associate academic advisor with the Texas Interdisciplinary Scholars office where he advised students from across Texas many who were first-generation, students of color and part of the...

Educational Leadership & PolicyEric Hale is a masters student in the Educational Policy and Planning program at the University of Texas at Austin. He received a B.A in Elementary Education from Elon University and a certification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from Via Lingua in Florence, Italy. He has spent 10 years teaching in schools all over the world.

Educational Leadership & PolicyHigh-stakes testing, public school funding, economic policy, state funding and accountability policies

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy, expected 2025Community Cultural Wealth, Equity & Access for Latino/a/x College Students, Latino/a/x Student Success, Asset Based Approaches to Latino/a/x Experiences in Higher Education

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy, expected 2025My research interests include but are not limited to factors impacting the African American experience in higher education - specifically related to career outcomes, workforce readiness, alumni engagement, and giving/philanthropy.

Educational Leadership & PolicyJeremy Horne is a doctoral candidate at the University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Education Policy and Planning. His research examines the intersection of (anti-)blackness and the racial politics of education. Jeremy particularly situates his education research within the liminal space of black studies, from which he explores how the politics of being (i.e., onto-politics) maintain racially stratified notions of humanity in schools. Placing this human antagonism at the center of his...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2023Tiffany’s research and professional interests include elevating the narratives of students on the margins and examining individual and institutional practices that cultivate diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments for underrepresented and minoritized populations at institutions of higher education, especially institutions of medical education. She is keenly interested in the qualitative exploration of the experiences of minoritized students and the practices that help them foster academic and career success and those that help to sustain students’ mental...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy, expected 2022His research examines the role of principals, K-12 educational leadership preparation, and school improvement.

Educational Leadership & PolicyJustin's research interest is on student staff selection processes and applicant experiences across aspects of identities.

Educational Leadership & PolicyCecelia Jordan is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning Program at the University of Texas at Austin. With over a decade of experience integrating culturally sustaining pedagogy and restorative justice practices with students of all ages, Jordan merges circle, song, writing, and oral storytelling to create transformative experiences amongst Black and Indigenous organizers and leaders of color who are on the frontlines of today’s fights for justice. Jordan's work as a researcher,...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2026Noor Khalayleh is a doctoral student in the Program of Higher Education and Leadership within the Educational Leadership and Policy department at the University of Texas at Austin. She currently works as a Graduate Research Assistant under the leadership of Dr. Liliana Garces. Noor has a B.A. in Psychology from Youngstown State University and a M.A. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from The Ohio State University. As a Muslim Arab-American, Noor's research interests largely...

Educational Leadership & PolicyMax is a second year student in the Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. His research is focused on discovering ways to enhance career readiness for students in higher education with a focus on public and private partnerships in order provide students lifelong career fulfillment, while providing employers more career ready talent. He currently works for Amazon Web Services as a Partner Development Manager, where he works...

Educational Leadership & PolicyRobert Leary currently serves as the Assistant Director for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity in the Office of the Dean of Students, where he manages residence life and Title IX case referrals. In this role, Robert provides educational and reflective opportunities to students going through the student conduct process. Robert’s prior professional experience includes working in residence life at The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York University Abu Dhabi, an international branch...

Educational Leadership & PolicyMallory Lineberger is currently a doctoral student in Educational Policy and Planning at The University of Texas at Austin, where she leverages research in creation of policies that center educational equity and justice for systematically marginalized groups. Her research interests focus on the race and gender power dynamics of policy making around school censorship and decolonizing curriculum. Mallory’s interest in K-12 education policy is rooted in her fourteen years of experience as an educator. After spending...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2025Community colleges, transfer students, Latino males, male students of color, student support services, advising, access programs, fem/mentoring, postsecondary education programs in correctional facilities

Educational Leadership & PolicyLizeth's research interests focus on issues of educational equity and opportunity for culturally and linguistically diverse students in K-12. She is particularly interested in Latinx family access, collaboration, and advocacy within the special education system. In addition, she is interested in developing decolonial curriculum in partnership with local school district teachers.

Educational Leadership & PolicyLatinx education, education reform, gentrification of schools, dual language education, policy evaluation, immigrant rights.

Educational Leadership & PolicyErin Long is a doctoral student in the Higher Education Leadership program. Her research interests include effective learning strategies in the residential halls, how different types of structures effect the student experience, and residential curricular approach. She has earned multiple degrees including a B.A. from Winthrop University in history and political science, a M.P.A. from the University of Delaware with a concentration in non-profit administration, and a M.A. from the University of North Carolina at...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2024Jennifer is interested in policy and process design and change management processes within higher education environments. Jennifer's research interests include student financial policies, mentorship, and stranded credits.

Educational Leadership & PolicyTrae's primary research interests include students’ experiences of schooling and the nature of family decision-making within the school choice process. He is particularly interested in understanding the ways students and families experience and make meaning of marketized and market-influenced educational spaces. Trae is also interested in the history of and alternatives to high-stakes testing, such as the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exam. His approach to research centers disproportionate negative impacts of...

Educational Leadership & PolicyLauren is a doctoral student at the University of Texas in the Educational Leadership and Policy Department. Her research interest exists in the intersection of education and family policy. She seeks to critically examine school choice in early childhood education through an equity lens, cross-racial parent-teacher relationships, and how parents’ experiences shape their perceptions of school. She is currently exploring how families navigate kindergarten school entry and how their experiences are shaped by their sociocultural...

Educational Leadership & Policy
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and Policy, expected 2023Born in Acapulco, Mexico and raised in South East LA in the city of Bell, California. Julio is an alumnus of Cerritos College. He transferred to UCLA where he majored in Anthropology and minored in Chicana/o/x and Central American Studies. Julio is a first-year Master’s student in the Education Policy and Planning Program at The University of Texas at Austin. His past experiences as a McNair Research Scholar and AAP Peer Counselor inform his role...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy, expected 2022Hadiza Mohammed is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning Program at the University of Texas at Austin. She has a B.A. in History from Brown University and a Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences degree, focusing in History from The University of Chicago. During her time at The University of Chicago, she worked as a Teacher’s Assistant in the Chicago Public Schools. Her time as a Teacher's Assistant inspired her...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Policy, expected 2022The various factors in the p-16 system that impact the access to higher education for Latinx students. The educational experiences and policies regarding undocumented students.

Educational Leadership & PolicyHer research interests seek to understand how undergraduate and graduate Latinx students experience racialization, identity formation, and sense of belonging. She also seeks to understand how Latinx students resist structural oppressions and challenge institutional inequities. Additionally, she is interested in how systemic inequities impact historically underrepresented groups’ access and persistence throughout the educational pipeline.

Educational Leadership & PolicyDillon Muhly-Alexander is a doctoral student in the Educational Policy and Planning program at the University of Texas at Austin. Dillon’s research interests are situated at the intersection between education and economic development in rural and natural resource extractive economies. Born and raised in West Virginia, Dillon graduated summa cum laude from West Virginia University with a B.A. in International Studies in 2017. As a Fulbright Scholar in Timor-Leste, Dillon taught at the secondary and...

Educational Leadership & PolicyNicole Ngaosi is a doctoral student in the Program in Higher Education Leadership at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin. She is a Graduate Research Assistant under the supervision of Dr. Liliana Garces and is an inaugural recipient of the College of Education Graduate Student Equity Fellowship. Ngaosi’s research interests focus on understanding the role of institutional partnerships to yield long-term social justice priorities at universities. Through case studies, she utilizes a combination of...

Educational Leadership & PolicyMonica Obregon is a Master's student in the Education Policy and Planning program. Monica currently works as a Graduate Research Assistant for the Center for Teaching and Learning. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Texas- San Antonio in May 2021. Her interests include school finance, Texas legislation budgets as it pertains to the education system, and longterm impacts of inequitable funding in school districts across the state.

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Policy, expected 2024As Kait continues to define her specific research interest, she is currently interested in how organizations as racialized structures influence how BIPOC leaders leverage agency in regards to systemic equity work.

Educational Leadership & PolicyImpacts of postsecondary educational policies on student access and outcomes; community college pathways; socioeconomic and class inequities; quantitative methodologies

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2026Alex is a first-generation, gay, Latino doctoral student in the Program in Higher Education Leadership (PHEL). After serving with Advise TX (an AmeriCorps program), Alex knew he needed to be on the higher-education side to retain and graduate students. As a graduate student at Texas State University, Alex received the Graduate Assistant of the Year Award. He currently works as the Senior Program Coordinator for UT for Me – Powered by Dell Scholars, a program...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy, expected 2024Racial Equity across the P-20 pipeline, Institutionalization of Diversity Initiatives, Student Activism, University Counterspaces, Campus Cultural/Identity Centers, Oral History, Participatory Action Research

Educational Leadership & PolicyMichaela is a doctoral student in the Educational Policy and Planning (EPP) program whose primary research interest is attaining greater educational equity in PK-12 public schools. She plans to examine whether policies and programs promoting inclusive classrooms, school choice, and extracurricular engagement can improve the outcomes of historically disadvantaged students or those with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Michaela has a BA in Political Science and English from Santa Clara University and a Master of Public...

Educational Leadership & PolicyEquity in EC-12 literacy practices and policy, educator professional development for equity and racial literacy, teacher retention, education finance, advocacy

Educational Leadership & PolicyCatherine Ramirez is a doctoral student and research assistant in the Program in Higher Education Leadership at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include educational access and equity for former foster care youth in higher education, campus support programs for former foster care youth, and issues of graduate student labor. Catherine earned her MA in English from Kansas State University where she specialized in cultural studies. Before coming to UT, Catherine was a...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2026Coming from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Javier Ramirez (Javi; he/him) is a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin in the Program in Higher Education Leadership (PHEL) and a graduate research assistant with Project MALES. His research broadly examines how state and federal policy impacts the educational experiences for low-wealth and first-generation college students. He also examines LGBTQ+, masculinity, and socioeconomic issues within Fraternity and Sorority Life. His research incorporates critical paradigms such as queer...

Educational Leadership & Policy1) English Learner and Immigrant Student Populations 2) First Generation College Students 3) Students with Disabilities 4) College Readiness and Transition to Postsecondary Education 5) Equity in K-12 Education Policy and Practices

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning, expected 2025Examines federal and state education policy implementation and politics with an emphasis on systems change and equity and K-12 public education as a public good in a post-COVID-19 world.

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Education Policy and Planning, expected 2026Lesley Rivas López is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning program in the Department of Education Leadership and Policy. Her research interests include ethnic studies, the educational access and attainment of Latinx students across the K-20 pipeline, and educational equity for underserved students through policy reform and the building of culturally-responsive support models. Lesley currently serves as a Graduate Research Assistant for Project MALES (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Educational Success), a research-based...

Educational Leadership & PolicyEd.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy expected December 2022.

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2024Gabriel Rodríguez Lemus, Jr. (he/él) research area focuses on three main areas:(1) Latinx/o Boys & Men, specifically Queer & Trans* Latinx/o Students, (2) Latinx/a/o Doctoral Students, and (3) Qualitative Research Methods, specifically Visual & Arts-Based Methodologies.

Educational Leadership & PolicyHilary is a part-time master's student in the Program in Higher Education Leadership. She also works full-time as the custom program manager at University Extension at TEXAS Extended Campus, where she collaborates with over 25 different on-campus units to provide unique programming to diverse populations of students. She has been at the university since August 2014 and TEXAS Extended Campus since December 2015. Before joining UT, Hilary worked at a trilingual language school in Austin,...

Educational Leadership & PolicyLauren Shook is a Ph.D. student in Education Policy and Planning at the University of Texas Austin. Her research interests center on how educational systems provide access and preserve advantage for students differently based on race, gender, and socioeconomic status. She is particularly interested in examining college access and success through a critical lens and exploring how institutional affirmation of identity affects student outcomes. She hopes to contribute to scholarship, teaching, and service which makes...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning (EPP), expected 2024Technology, Quantitative methods, Qualitative methods, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, K-12, Public Schools, Race, Ethics, Equity, Algorithmic harm

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2026Gerard E. Smithwrick is a New Jersey native and currently, a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy pursuing his Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership at The University of Texas at Austin. He earned his Bachelor's degree in History from Kean University, followed by earning his Master's degree (M.S.) in Higher Education Administration from Barry University. Scholastically, Gerard is interested in researching the development of leadership and involvement in Black students at...

Educational Leadership & PolicyGerard E. Smithwrick (he/him/his) is a New Jersey native and a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy’s Ph.D. Program in Higher Education Leadership at The University of Texas at Austin. He earned his Bachelor's degree in History from Kean University, and his Master's degree (M.S.) in Higher Education Administration from Barry University. Scholastically, Gerard is interested in researching the development of leadership and involvement in Black students at predominantly white institutions...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy, expected 2023Arab student experiences, sense of belonging, academic advising, equitable policy making, social justice, and critical theories.

Educational Leadership & PolicyNatalie Spitzer is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning program at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests center around the intersection of climate change and education, examining the effects of natural disasters on under-resourced school and systems, increasing the knowledge exchange between researchers and school administrators in order to advance and support practice, and school-community resiliency in the face of disaster. Natalie's career in education started as an early childhood...

Educational Leadership & PolicyTasneem is a doctoral student in the Program in Higher Education Leadership at UT Austin. Her research examines how life events and policy changes affect student outcomes, and their implications for intergenerational mobility. Her experience as a lecturer at a University in Bangladesh served as an eye opening experience of the wide preparation gap among students despite having equivalent degrees. Consequently, she aspires to work in the higher education sector with a goal of making...