International Education Week

Take part in a world of opportunities! This November 16-20, 2009, look no further than Penn State’s planned activities for International Education Week.

International Education Week (IEW) is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, which aims to highlight the benefits of international education and exchange throughout the world. International Education Week began in 2000 and is celebrated in November each year during the week before Thanksgiving. This important week is observed all across the United States and in more than 100 countries overseas. For more information about International Education Week go to: http://iew.state.gov.

The Pennsylvania State University will be celebrating this year’s International Education Week with a full schedule of exciting events:

Details

Kimberly Griffin to Receive Emerging Scholars Award!

Kimberly Griffin will receive the Emerging Scholars Award from the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) this spring. ACPA is the primary scholarly national organization in student affairs. It publishes the Journal of College Student Development and About Campus magazine, as well as books and monographs for the field. The Emerging Scholars designation is awarded through a competitive process run by ACPA’s Senior Scholars to recognize early career achievement and potential for excellence. Kimberly will join a group of 4 other Emerging Scholars for a day of mentoring with Senior Scholars prior to the conference in March and will have opportunities for collaboration throughout the next year. She will also receive recognition at the Awards Luncheon during the conference.

Congratulations, Kimberly!  Thanks for being a great representative for the Penn State Higher Education Program!

Featured Higher Ed Member of the Week: Kadian McIntosh

This week’s Featured Higher Ed Member is Kadian McIntosh.

Kadian was raised in South Florida (North Miami Beach and Miramar).  When she finished her Master’s at Florida International University, Kadian searched for jobs in Residential Life. She thought that Penn State would give her a very different Student Affairs experience than she had in Miami. Kadian signed up, and it delivered.  While here, she was encouraged by senior staff members and past professors to apply to graduate school.  Knowing the program had faculty with similar interests and enjoying a few courses already, Kadian thought, “This program might be worth staying for.”   So, she signed up, and it too delivered.

Kadian’s research interests include student learning outcomes, stratification issues and the policies that influence them, and underrepresented student experiences and outcomes.  She is an active member of HESA as Professional Development Co-Chair, serves as Director of Marketing for HER Online, in involved with FastStart, and is also a mentor.

Outside of higher ed, Kadian attends plays, concerts, and art exhibits. She is attempting to learn a winter sport while in the Northeast-currently it’s snowboarding, though Kadian says, “We’ll see how that goes.”  She also likes to travel and learn about other places through their museums, parks, and mass transportation.

Two Successful Friday Night Happy Hours

Friday night’s November HESA Happies drew a large crowd of graduate students and faculty members to Whiskers at the Nittany Lion Inn.  Friends and socializing were certainly welcomed after grinding through another week in Rackley.  Thanks as always to the HESA social committee for organizing the event!

Following the HESA Happy, several graduate students trekked to the Ed Policy Studies Student Association happy hour downtown.  This marked the first occasion that many HIED first year cohort members mingled with fellow graduate students in the Department from the non-HIED programs.  Fun was had by all, and events sponsored by EPSSA will be publicized more often.  Special thanks to Annie Holmes for making the connection with EPSSA!

Remember, don’t forget to mark your calendars now for the HESA Holiday Party: December 10!

Higher Ed Halfbacks Shock the World with Playoff Victory!

And then they woke up from their dreams.  In fact, the team failed to qualify for this season’s flag football post-season.

The next co-ed intramural opportunity is volleyball during the winter.  If you’re interested, shoot David Knight an email at davidknight@psu.edu.

 

HESA All Member Meeting: This Wednesday

Don’t forget the November HESA all-member meeting this Wednesday.  Hope to see many of you at 11:30 in 113 Keller!

Hall of Famer Returns to Flag Football Team

* Collaborative reporting by various members of the Higher Ed Halfbacks

The Higher Ed Halfbacks began their final game of the season with an 8 on 6 numbers advantage, jumping to a 6-0 early lead on the Dumpster Scroungers.  Similar to a season for the Cleveland Indians, this team showed signs of hope for next season, as late season pick-up Jen Grossman-Leopard scored the long touchdown run with her shake-n-bake moves.

It looked like the season finale would be a walk in the park for the crew from Rackley, but then the rest of the opposing team arrived, including league all-star “Gray Shorts” – that’s when things started turning ugly.  Soon after their arrival, one of the Scroungers’ female players collided with Higher Ed buff-man Rodney Hughes, suffering a broken nose and ending her season early.  But, Halfback Becky Ferguson later added insult (and injury) to injury by spraining her forearm in a collision with Gray Shorts.  Not even Becky’s black and white striped lucky shorts could save her from the power of Gray.  Showing true grit and devotion to the team, Becky stayed in the game and “celebrated” with the team at Damon’s before retreating to the emergency room.

In the last legs of his career, future flag football hall of famer Phil Blackman tried his best to place the team on his back. Team captain David Knight, fearing that the “Old Man” would not get the proper farewell, deferred to him all game. Reminiscent of what Lightning McQueen did for “The King” in the movie Cars, David designed a defense that allowed Phil ample opportunities to shine.  Phil of course answered the call, not just once but three times. Unfortunately, unlike the young superstar last week who was able to turn the interceptions into touchdowns, Phil only made it halfway down the field before the old carburetor broke down. Typical of his showboat career, Phil of course took all the glory, forgetting the great pressure that the New England duo had placed on the opposing quarterback. When asked to comment about his teammate, the good Doctor Yin shaking his head said, “he don’t run like a Deere no more.”  Phil’s description of the game summed it up: “I had an absolutely EPIC game.”  When asked for comment, Captain David Knight quipped, “There is no I in team.” Halfbacks lose 20-6.

Brownbag Thursday: Liang Zhang

HESA/SASO Brownbag Presents:

Dr. Liang Zhang

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Assistant Professor of Education Policy Studies & Research Associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education

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Thursday, November 12th

11:30am- 12:30pm

403 Rackley

Please join us as Dr. Zhang discusses his research on the effects of college education, contingent faculty employment, & higher education finance and policy.

About Dr. Zhang

Liang Zhang is a research associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education and an assistant professor of Education Policy Studies at Penn State. He also teaches in the Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations. Prior to coming to Penn State in 2009, he taught at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Vanderbilt University. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Arizona.

Dr. Zhang’s research focuses on economics and finance of higher education, particularly on the role of governments and institutions in affecting institutional performances and student outcomes. His recent studies include the return of college education and quality, and public funding and institutional performances. Currently, he is interested in issues on academic labor market, especially the increasing usage of contingent faculty at colleges and universities. His work has appeared in The Review of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, Journal of Human Resources, Economics of Education Review, Educational Policy, and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research.

Conference Get-Togethers

HEPAC is striving to keep their web presence up to date and relevant for alumni. They have recently begun posting information regarding PSU gatherings at various conferences (e.g., ASHE and NEAIR). If you are attending a conference and would like to announce a gathering of HE program members, alumni, and friends, please let Betty Harper know, and she’ll be happy to post the information.

https://www.ed.psu.edu/educ/alumni-friends/hepac/alumni

How to Get Money for Travel

Going to a conference this spring? Want travel and conference funding? Any student going to a conference this spring should contact Wil del Pilar (wzd107@psu.edu) no less than two months prior to the date of departure. If you already know that you’re attending AERA, ACPA, CIES, or any other conference, please e-mail Wil now so you can get FREE MONEY to help cover your costs of attending! Also, to apply for CSHE funds, students should see Tina Vancas (tqs5@psu.edu).