Graduate Student Profiles

Educational Leadership & Policy
M.Ed. in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2020I earned a B.A. in English and a Minor in Ethical Leadership from Oklahoma State University in May of 2014 I had a passion for education and its role in society upon graduation, and was accepted to join the Teach for America Corps in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I am a 2014 Greater Tulsa Corps Alumni within Teach for America, having taught high school English at McLain Senior High School of Science and Technology. Over those two...

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

Educational Leadership & PolicyWhite Hegemonic Spaces, Social and Cultural Capital, 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 & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy, expected 2020Kaitlin's research interests lie at the intersection of higher education, policy, and economics with a particular focus on state-level polices and practices. Research areas of interest include the connections between high school preparation, postsecondary education, and labor market outcomes within Texas, how characteristics of students and/or institutions affect postsecondary persistence and completion, and patterns in high school and postsecondary course consumption as it relates to Texas state policy. Dissertation - Beyond City Limits: Does Attending...

Educational Leadership & PolicyRachel Boggs is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning (EPP) program at the University of Texas at Austin. She earned a B.A. in Political Science and M. Ed. from the University of Notre Dame. She was fortunate to have had the opportunity to grow the minds and hearts of hundreds of students, families, and teachers across her five-year teaching career. Experiences in inner-city Catholic and charter schools informed her perspective on the...

Educational Leadership & PolicyJorge is a higher education scholar studying the following main areas: (a) executive leadership pathways of racially minoritized individuals, particularly college presidents and chancellors at public bachelor's degree granting universities and community colleges; (b) statewide policies and cross-sector partnerships that support the educational outcomes of Latino men. His dissertation research examined how Latino college president men ascribe meaning to their intersectional identities within the context of higher education leadership. He applied asset-based theories and intersectionality...

Educational Leadership & PolicyThe critical role of higher-education institutions as intergovernmental conveners, collaborators, and leaders on regional public-policy initiatives, such as Central Texas’ Master Community Workforce Plan and other community-development projects that seek to reduce societal inequities and increase college access.

Educational Leadership & PolicyAndrea has always been interested in the politics of education and how education policies are shaped and framed. She is particularly interested in researching how the intersection of educator identity and political identity impacts the legislative behavior of legislators who were formerly educators.

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 Program in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2022college athletics, college athletes, athletics personnel and staff, diversity

Educational Leadership & PolicyEducational equity, Bilingual Education, School Choice, Critical Pedagogy, Deficit Thinking

Educational Leadership & PolicyEducational leadership programs, school-based mental health programs, program implementation of bilingual education models, charter schools, and critical race theory.

Educational Leadership & PolicyMarisol's research interests are influenced by her experiences as a first-generation Latina college student, who started her journey at a community college, and the shared experiences of students she encountered along her path. As such, Marisol's core research interests center around Latinx community college student success. Within this context, Marisol seeks to challenge deficit discourse and identify positive, culturally relevant practices that can improve university transfer and degree attainment for Latinx community...

Educational Leadership & Policy
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership & Policy, expected 2020Danielle Geraci Thoma is the assistant director of recruitment, outreach and communication 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 will receive her master’s in education in educational leadership and policy in May from UT Austin. Danielle has worked in higher education for over 15 years with expertise in...

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 & PolicyJamie is a third year doctoral student in Education Policy and Planning. He pursued a Master's degree in Educational Leadership and Social Change following ten years experiences as a special education teacher. His research interests include the intersection of teacher persistence, high-stakes accountability, and gentrification amidst neoliberal education reform. Through integrating critical theory with cultural studies Haynes seeks to deepen understanding of the context of education through interdisciplinary and mixed methods. ...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy - Higher Education Leadership, expected 2021Sense of belonging for undecided students and experiences of underrepresented students on PWIs.

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 & PolicyOlivia's research primarily focuses on theories of care and care ethics, policy meaning-making, and the various intersections between care, education policy, and student socioeconomic stratification.

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy, expected 2020Examines diversity and inclusion practices in higher education; racialized organizational dynamics; and university-community partnerships

Educational Leadership & PolicyFederal education policy, educational policy networks, intersectionality of education/economic/housing policy and its impact on equity

Educational Leadership & PolicyA Multi-Case Study of the Perceptions of Successful Elementary Principals Previously Involved in a School District-Designed Leadership Succession Planning Program

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 & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning, expected 2022Fiza grew up in Pakistan and earned a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering. She had a chance of teaching mathematics to Afghani refugee students in her hometown of Karachi. This experience led her to pursue a career in educational policy field. She did her masters in Educational Policy and Planning from UT and continued as a PhD student in the same department after completion in May 2018. With her doctoral degree, her goal is to...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Program in Higher Education Leadership, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, expected 2021I study hidden inequities in higher education as they manifest in financial aid practices, community colleges, and gender and the student affairs profession

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 & PolicyAlicia is a San Antonio native and is a doctoral student in the Program in Higher Education Leadership. She is a graduate research assistant for Project MALES and the Longhorn Link Program (TRiO) through the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. She earned an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.F.A. in Visual Art Studies from the University of North Texas. Prior to entering the doctoral program,...

Educational Leadership & PolicyAmy Musgrave Brown has over 20 years of experience in strategy, product management, business development and sales with many companies including 3M, Dell Technologies, Polycom, and several others in Texas, New York, Singapore, and Shanghai. She has been on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters Central Texas and Austin International School and is on the advisory council of Edge Learning. Amy has her BBA in Finance and MBA from UT Austin. She is currently...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, expected 2021Mariama N. Nagbe is a proud native of Detroit, MI and Ph.D. candidate studying higher education at The University of Texas at Austin. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, and two Master’s Degrees in Social Work and Higher Education from The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. As a macro organizational behavior scholar, much of her work is anchored by a commitment to liberation as she seeks to investigate how institutional racism and other forms of...

Educational Leadership & PolicyMy current dissertation research seeks to understand and interpret how principal leadership intersects with social network theory in order to effectively enact school improvement and changes through development of culture, communication, and leadership behaviors in a network context using qualitative research methods and social network analysis of principal ego-networks. These investigations will participate in the discourse regarding the manifestations of power dynamics in school leadership, the contexts in which school reform decisions are made, and...

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 2021Isiana Rendón Escárcega is a doctoral student in the Educational Policy and Planning program at the University of Texas at Austin. After receiving a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rice University, Isiana decided to forego working in the industry to pursue a career in education. Before coming to UT, she was the Computer Science Track Leader at a Houston ISD high school. She is currently a Graduate Assistant in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Advising...

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 & Policystaff agency in PWIs related to equity and inclusion narrative's role in organizational and social change experience of marginalized staff, students and faculty in HE indigenous storytelling transformational leadership in HE

Educational Leadership & PolicyKa'rin's research and professional interests include examining and amplifying underrepresented student perspectives and experiences at PWIs and employing strategic policies and practices in admissions, student success, and enrollment management that foster diverse, equitable, and inclusive higher education environments with an emphasis on access and success for Black/African American, low-income, and other marginalized students.

Educational Leadership & PolicyEdgar Torres is a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests lie within the inequities that exist among special populations, more specifically, English learners within the public school finance context. During the 2015 legislative session, Torres worked for Texas State Representative Mary E. Gonzalez as a lead education policy fellow. He focused on school finance policy and assisted the representative in drafting multiple bills relating to ELs, standardized assessments, and...

Educational Leadership & PolicyMaria Del Carmen Unda is a first-generation Mexican-American/Xicanx student who grew up in Weedpatch, California but her roots can be traced to Puebla, Mexico. She is currently a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning program at the University of Texas at Austin and is a Gates Millennium Scholar. Currently, she works as a Fellow with the National Latino Education Research and Policy Project (NLERAPP) under the tutelage of Dr. Angela Valenzuela and is...

Educational Leadership & PolicyMario's research interests include student financial literacy, policy around Title IV funding, higher education finance, enrollment management, Title IX, masculinity and the developmental journey of college men and the current political volatility/public perception of higher education. His aspiration is to be a scholar-practitioner where he hopes his research informs policy development to allocate federal, state, and university funding to establish mandated financial wellness centers and financial planners to serve higher education students amidst the student...

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Cooperative Superintendency Program, expected 2019School Leadership’s Most Effective Uses of Title 1 Funds

Educational Leadership & Policy
Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning, expected 2020Generally, Greg's research interests include the nexus of education policy, urban policy, and community development, and Latinx/Xicanx studies. Specifically, his research focuses specifically on the effects of market-based educational reforms on public schools and a developing a narrative of poverty, struggle, and accomplishment in San Antonio, Texas. His research experience also involves the effect of economic revitalization programs on education in impoverished contexts, the sociological and educational effects of culturally relevant state school curriculum, alternative...