HIGHER EDUCATION Happenings SPRING 2015
Brian Pusser gave an invited address in August 2014 on the role of the civil society in the future of higher education to the Seminario de Educación Superior de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, in Mexico City. Karen Inkelas was a keynote speaker in December 2014 on the topic of “Living-Learning Communities as a High-Impact Practice” for the International Conference on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at the National University of Singapore. She also presented last year in Japan and Sweden. Christian Steinmetz continues her work with Brian Pusser on an assessment with The Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty. She presented with master’s student Elizabeth Scott at the NASPA national conference in New Orleans in March. Justin Thompson has worked with higher education leaders from many Chinese universities this academic year and has been invited by the Chinese Ministry of Education to travel to Beijing, China, in July to give a keynote presentation for the International Symposium on Human Resources. HIGHER ED HAPPENINGS is edited by Professor Brian Pusser and produced by Lynn Bell, Director of Alumni Relations, Curry School of Education, P.O. Box 400268, Charlottesville, VA 22904. Email: lynnbell@virginia.edu curry.virginia.edu/higher-ed-happenings
P H OTO S B Y TO M CO G I L L
Faculty Updates
Photo Left: Jay Chronister, Professor Emeritus, poses with Mr. and Mrs. Freddie Nicholas at the dediction of the Freddie Nicholas Conference Room on the second floor of the newly renovated Ruffner Hall. Photo Right: Clementine Pollok (Ph.D. ‘79) shares a memory during the dedication ceremony, while onlookers include Barry Dorsey (Ed.D. ‘80). See inside for more Higher Ed namings of Ruffner rooms.
Higher Ed International B Y B R I A N P U S S E R , A S S O C I AT E P R O F E S S O R
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s spring turns to summer, another academic year has come to a successful conclusion. Our congratulations go to all of the students who completed their degrees in the Higher Education program this year. Congratulations also go to those in earlier cohorts who have graduated and gone on to serve in many ways, in various sectors of higher education. In this issue of Higher Education Happenings, we focus on some of those graduates and program faculty members who are making a difference both on Grounds and far beyond Grounds, working on issues of international higher education through a variety of programs and in different national contexts. Our faculty and graduates who conduct research, contribute to university administration, and support student success around the world are at once preserving and extending a long tradition in the Higher Education program of leadership, scholarship and service. As one example, in November our faculty and graduate students collaborated in hosting a gathering of higher education scholars who discussed a variety of issues under the theme of Academic Capitalism and the Humanities in Global Perspective. With support from the Buckner W. Clay Endowment and the Curry School of Education, a series of panel sessions on Grounds incorporated scholars from Finland, Australia, Russia, Mexico and South Africa, who were joined by faculty from the Higher Education program and colleagues from on Grounds and across the United States. (Read more about it at curry.virginia.edu/higher-ed-happenings.) Wherever you are reading this, please do keep in touch with our program and with the Curry School. We look forward to hearing from you and sharing your experiences with others in the years to come. HIGHER ED HAPPENINGS • SPRING 2015
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