College welcomes 6 new faculty members

News & Notes

College welcomes 6 new faculty members

The Penn State College of Education welcomes six new faculty members this fall.

“Each individually brings expertise that will strengthen our already stellar faculty ranks. Collectively, they add a dimension that will accelerate our ability to identify and address the systemic inequities that impede many individuals from meeting their full potential in meaningful ways,” said Dean Kimberly A. Lawless.

“Together, we will build upon our college’s existing commitment to change education by educating for change. I am excited to work alongside them.”

Mildred Boveda

associate professor (special education)

Mildred Boveda joins the college from the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State, where she was assistant professor of special education and cultural and linguistic diversity. She earned her Ed.D. in exceptional student education from Florida International University, and her Ed.M. in education policy and management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

In her scholarship, Boveda uses the terms “intersectional competence” and “intersectional consciousness” to refer to educators’ understanding of diversity and how students, families and colleagues have multiple sociocultural markers that intersect in complex and nuanced ways. She designed the Intersectional Competence Measure to assess teachers’ preparedness for an increasingly diverse student population.

Learn more about Boveda at https://ed.psu.edu/ directory/dr-mildred-boveda online.

Janice Byrd

assistant professor (counselor education)

Janice Byrd joins the college from Kent State University, where she was assistant professor in the Counselor Education and Supervision program. She earned her Ph.D. in counselor education and supervision from the University of Iowa. Byrd has experience working on teams to facilitate campus and community diversity trainings and has spoken on topics related to anti-racist pedagogy, advocacy and equity in school counseling. Her scholarship seeks to situate the lived experiences of students of color within the broader ecological context to systematically examine how their personal, social, academic and career success is interrupted and/ or enhanced by school, family, community settings, relationships and policies throughout all stages of the educational pipeline.

Learn more about Byrd at https://ed.psu.edu/ directory/dr-janice-byrd online.

Aaron Campbell

assistant professor (special education)

Aaron Campbell earned her doctorate in educational psychology with an emphasis in special education from the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University. She earned her master’s degree from North Carolina Central University. Campbell has focused her research on preventive and intervention strategies for children with and at risk for social, emotional and behavior problems with a specific focus on African American learners and improving academic outcomes. Her research is guided by her education, practicum and work experience in clinical psychology.

Learn more about Campbell at https://ed.psu.edu/ directory/dr-aaron-campbell online.

Paul Harris

associate professor (counselor education)

Paul Harris joins the college from the University of Virginia, where he was associate professor in the Counselor Education program and a faculty affiliate with the Center for Race and Public Education in the South. He completed his Ph.D. in counselor education from the University of Maryland, where the program’s emphasis was on promoting systemic equity, access and justice in schools through counseling.

Harris’ research focuses on investigating the college and career readiness needs and promise of underserved students; analyzing the identity development process of Black male student-athletes, and specifically the role of school counselors in facilitating their multidimensional sense of self; and examining the pre- and in-service school counselor training to ensure implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs that promote equity, access and justice.

Learn more about Harris at https://ed.psu.edu/ directory/dr-paul-harris online.