Democracy’s College: Research and Leadership in Educational Equity, Justice, and Excellence

In this episode, OCCRL senior research assistant H.M. Kuneyl, who coordinates OCCRL's yearly Illinois Community College Leadership Institute, talks with Terry Wilkerson, the president of Rend Lake College who partook in the institute's Journey to the President panel in 2023. Kuneyl and Wilkerson discuss the challenges and benefits of working in the field of postsecondary education at a rural community college, President Wilkerson's career trajectory, the qualities that make a good leader, and other topics.

In this episode, OCCRL research assistant H.M. Kuneyl, who coordinates the yearly OCCRL Illinois Community College Leadership Institute, talks with two individuals who were a part of the institute's first cohort. They are Andy Hynds, dean of math, science and business and the executive dean of academics at Richland Community College; and Brianna McClay, associate dean of student services at Kennedy King College in the City Colleges of Chicago. Hynds and McClay discuss their work as community college leaders and how the ICCLI they attended in May of 2023 influenced their outlooks and careers.

In this episode, OCCRL senior research associate Stacy Bennett talks with Joe Saucedo and Lee Roe from the Partnership for College Completion in Chicago to discuss developmental education reform in Illinois.

In this episode, OCCRL senior research assistant Nina Owolabi talks to several guests about the use of open educational resources, also known as OER, as an equity initiative in Illinois community colleges. In addition, OCCRL research assistant Aidana Sirgebayeva relates the findings of the OER research project that has been taking place at OCCRL for the last several years. The shows guests are Dr. Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, Magnus Noble, Heather Blicher, and Dr. Lorenzo Baber.

This Democracy's College podcast episode is the fourth one in a series featuring contributors to the book Critiques for Transformation: Reimagining Colleges and Communities for Social Justice, edited by Drs. Lorenzo Baber and Heather McCambly. In this episode, Dr. McCambly talks to Drs. Erin Doran and Sergio Gonzalez about how their chapters for the book originated. The scholars also discuss the topic of ethnic studies and the subject's role in community colleges, talk about the evolution of positionality statements and more.

In this episode, OCCRL affiliate member Heather McCambly talks with Dr. Rosemary Perez and Dr. Aireale J. Rodgers about the chapters they contributed to in the volume Critiques for Transformation: Reimagining Colleges and Communities for Social Justice, a book that was co-edited by Dr. McCambly and Dr. Lorenzo Baber.

In this episode, OCCRL Director Lorenzo Baber talks with Isaac Gottesman about the chapter that Dr. Gottesman contributed to the volume titled Critiques for Transformation: Reimagining Colleges and Communities for Social Justice, which was co-edited by Dr. Baber and Dr. Heather McCambly.

In this episode, Drs. Lorenzo Baber and Heather McCambly provide context on the origin and content of their book proposal and the eventually published volume, Critiques for Transformation: Reimagining Colleges and Communities for Social Justice, which they and their colleagues developed during the trying years of the pandemic. Baber and McCambly also discuss their overarching goals for the book, the pre-pandemic conversations they had on the way to getting it published, and how others might use it in their courses and in policy-development discussions.

In this episode, Chequita Brown talks with Kate Danielson of the organization Foster Progress, as well as with Anna Wandtke and Tricia Wagner of Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois. The group discusses how to cultivate a foster-friendly culture at Illinois community colleges.

In this episode, Dr. Francena Turner talks with humanities educators at community colleges in California and North Carolina about the importance of the humanities to community colleges and to community college students. The guests also share the challenges they've faced during COVID-19, as well as the challenges they've experienced in introducing students to skills learned through the humanities that contribute to student learning, mobility, and employability.

In this episode, Nathaniel Stewart talks with Mauriell Amechi, Regina Gavin Williams, and Blayne Stone Jr. about how the transitions and pathways to postsecondary education are similar and different for Black former foster care students. The scholars also discuss key elements to successfully connect foster care youth to educational resources that help advance the postsecondary education opportunities for this student population.

In this episode, José Del Real Viramontes talks with Santiago Bernal, Alfred Herrera, and Dimpal Jain about how community colleges, four-year colleges, and universities can work together to develop and enhance a transfer-receptive culture.

In this episode, Dr. Nolan L. Cabrera joins OCCRL Director Eboni Zamani-Gallaher to examine whiteness and discuss various areas of racism. Dr. Cabrera is an associate professor of educational policy studies and practice at the University of Arizona.

In this episode, OCCRL Director Eboni Zamani-Gallaher talks with Rita Ali and Jennifer Foster about implementing paths toward equity for underrepresented individuals in career and technical education and in the CTE workforce. Ali is the vice president of workforce and diversity at Illinois Central College, and Foster is the deputy executive director for the Illinois Community College Board.

In this episode, Nina Owolabi, a research assistant at OCCRL, talks with Heather Blicher about the many possibilities as well as the challenges of open educational resources for instructors and institutions. Blicher is a coordinator of librarian services for two campuses at Reynolds Community College in Richmond, Virginia.

In this episode, Heather McCambly and Lorenzo Baber talk about the intersections of racial justice, educational philanthropy, and the needs and roles of community colleges in the COVID-19 postsecondary landscape. McCambly is a doctoral candidate at Northwestern University who is studying the intersections of racial justice and educational philanthropy. Dr. Baber is an associate professor of higher education and the program chair of higher education at Loyola University.

In this episode, OCCRL Director Eboni Zamani-Gallaher talks with Dr. Ann Edwards about college readiness in math and about curricular alignment. They also discuss issues related to placement and developmental mathematics courses, guided pathways, math pathways, and student participation in STEM. Dr. Edwards is a senior research associate and the director of learning and teaching at West Ed.

In this episode, OCCRL Director Eboni Zamani-Gallaher talks with Dr. Heather Shotton about the multiple and nuanced ways that universities perpetuate settler colonial aims of eraser for Indigenous students. Dr. Shotton is an associate professor in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and the director of the Indigenous Education Initiatives at the University of Oklahoma.

In this episode, Colvin Georges Jr., a research associate at OCCRL, talks with Dr. Nidia Ruedas-Gracia about what it means to have a sense of belonging and discusses her research in this area. They also discuss how a sense of belonging affects college students from historically minoritized racial groups.

In this episode, OCCRL research assistant Chequita Brown continues the conversation about foster care youth by talking with Patricia Palmer about accessing available resources in Illinois for youth-in-care who want to pursue a secondary education.

In this episode, OCCRL research assistant Chequita Brown talks with Maddy Day about the Fostering Success Michigan initiative and the impact of campus-based support programming on foster-care collegians' postsecondary access and retention. Day is a consultant for the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

In this episode, Dr. Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, the director of OCCRL, talks with Dr. Paul Gorski about advancing racial equity work, as well as about diversity and inclusion efforts in education. Dr. Gorski is the founder of the Equity Literacy Institute and EdChange.

In this episode, Dr. Marci Rockey, a project coordinator at OCCRL, talks with Betsy Barefoot and John Gardner about their efforts to support higher education institutions in advancing equitable outcomes for students, especially as it relates to transfer.

In this episode, Krystal Andrews of OCCRL talks with Dr. Penny Pasque about implicit bias and policy practices in higher education. Dr. Pasque is a professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Ohio State University.

In this episode, Jason Keist of OCCRL talks with Dr. Stephen John Quaye about what prompted his journey into higher education. Keist and Quaye also discuss issues pertaining to student support, issues related to intergroup dialogues about race, and about civility on college campuses. Dr. Quaye is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Ohio State University.

In this episode, Colvin T. Georges Jr. of OCCRL talks with Dr. William A. Smith about racial battle fatigue. Dr. Smith is a professor and the chair of the Department of Education, Culture & Society at the University of Utah.

In this episode, Kristal Raheem interviews Dr. Muhammad Khalifa about culturally responsive school leadership. Dr. Khalifa is a professor and Beck Chair of Ideas in Education at the University of Minnesota.

In this episode, Dr. Amanda Smith talks with Dr. Heather Fox about integrating equity into program review. Smith is the dean of transitional opportunities and career education at Rock Valley College.

In this episode, HyeJin Tina Yeo, a research assistant at OCCRL, talks with Dr. Hei-hang Hayes Tang about democratizing higher education through community colleges in Hong Kong.

In this episode, Dr. Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, at OCCRL, talks with Dr. Estela Mara Bensimon about reclaiming the racial justice meaning of equity. Dr. Bensimon is a professor of higher education at the Rossier School of Education and the director of the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California.

  In this episode, HyeJin Tina Yeo at OCCRL talks with Dr. OiYan Poon about racial justice among Asian Americans and the current attacks on affirmative action. Dr. Poon is an assistant professor of Higher Education at Colorado State University.

In this episode, Marci Rockey at OCCRL talks with Dr. Claire Crawford, BRIDGE Research Fellow at the Center for Research in Race and Education at the School of Education at the University of Birmingham, about transnational whitelash in educational policy and practice.

In this episode, Chauntee Thrill at OCCRL talks with Dr. Asif Wilson, associate dean of instruction at Harold Washington College, about asset-based approaches to developmental education.

In this episode, Jason Keist at OCCRL talks with Dr. J. Luke Wood, associate vice president for faculty diversity and inclusion and Distinguished Professor of Education at San Diego State University, about engaging and supporting male students of color.

In this episode, Dr. Eboni Zamani-Gallaher talks with Dr. David Stovall, professor of African-American Studies and Education Policy Studies at University of Illinois at Chicago, about race, decolonizing practices, and community engaged education.

In this episode, Dr. Heather Fox at OCCRL talks with Dr. Elvira Abrica, assistant professor of higher education and organizational change at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, about the lived experiences of immigrant, migrant, and multicultural populations in postsecondary education.

This is the second of two episodes, where Chaddrick Gallaway from OCCRL talks with James Felton III, Chief Diversity Officer at SUNY Cortland, and Michelé Smith, Associate Provost and Special Assistant to the President of Diversity and Inclusion at William Rainey Harper College about chief diversity officers in higher education.

This is the first of two episodes where Chaddrick Gallaway from OCCRL talks with James Felton III, Chief Diversity Officer at SUNY Cortland, and Michele Smith, Associate Provost and Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Inclusion at William Rainey Harper College about Chief Diversity Officers in higher education

In this episode, Dr. Vilma Mesa, Associate Professor of Education at the University of Michigan, talks with Dr. Tatiana Melguizo, Associate Professor at the University of Southern California, about equity-minded approaches to mathematics education.

In this episode, Francena Turner from OCCRL talks with Dr. Amelia Parnell, the Vice President for Research and Policy at NASPA, about strategies that student affairs professionals can engage in to support diverse community college collegians.

In this episode, Dr. Eboni Zamani-Gallaher from OCCRL talks with Dr. Z Nicolazzo, an Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs in the Department of Counseling Adult and Higher Education at Northern Illinois University. Dr. Nicolazzo's research has centered on college student development, post-secondary access, diversity, equity, and culture. In particular, Dr. Nicolazzo is an expert on trans collegians, with particular emphasis on trans student resilience and kinship building.

In this episode, Fredrick Douglass Dixon from OCCRL talks with Dr. Mara Lazda, Professor of History, and Dr. Lisa Amowitz, Professor of Art and Music, about Bronx Community College's Democracy Project.

In this episode, Angel Velez from OCCRL talks with Dra. Aurora Chang, assistant professor at Loyola University Chicago, about undocumented students’ identity and hyperdocumentation.

In this episode, Chauntee Thrill, from OCCRL, talks with Dr. Jennifer Banks, Coordinator of Mathematics and Science at Washtenaw Intermediate School District, about responsive mathematics pedagogy.

The purpose of this episode is to bring together community colleges and other partners who are working to scale up their registered apprenticeships. This informative panel includes Matthew Feuerborn the Dean of Career Technologies Division at Kishwaukee College, Dr. Rebecca Lake the Dean of Workforce and Economic Development at William Rainey Harper College, Dr. Henry Bohleke the Dean of The School of Business and Technology at Triton College, and Joshua Seeberg the Midwest Manager of the German American Chamber of Commerce’s Skills Initiative. The panel was hosted by Dr. Anjale Welton and Devean Owens.

In this episode, Dr. Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher from OCCRL talks with Dr. George Reese, the director of the Office for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education at the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, about equity in mathematics education.

In this episode HyeJin Yeo from OCCRL talks with José Ángel N., the author of Illegal: Reflections of an Undocumented Immigrant, about the experiences of undocumented immigrants who navigate into and through higher education.

In this episode, Dr. Eboni Zamani-Gallaher from OCCRL talks with Dr. Gina A. Garcia, an assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, about the retention, success, and identity development of Latina/Latino college students and the role of Hispanic-serving institutions.

In this episode, Dr. Anjalé Welton from OCCRL talks with Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, the Director of Upskilling Policy at the National Skills Coalition, about policy trends and resources that support adult learners.

In this episode, Edmund Graham III, from OCCRL, talks to Dr. Dimitra Jackson, an assistant professor for Higher Education at Texas Tech University, about diversity in STEM.

In this episode, Marci Rockey, from OCCRL talks to Leslie Daugherty, Transfer Coordinator at Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville, about the potential reverse transfer initiatives to address inequity in higher education.