* 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.

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.

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

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).

This week’s featured high ed member is first year PhD student Claire Gilbert.

Claire’s road to Penn State has been primarily determined by three factors: her background, work experience, and academic curiosity. Both of her parents work in higher education, so Claire grew up in a household that always placed a strong emphasis on the importance of higher education and the need to ensure its successful continuation. She grew up wandering the halls of Indiana University and later Ohio University, where she also became a student. Claire had the opportunity to take college courses at OU from seventh grade all the way through high school thanks to a couple of excellent Ohio programs. When she went to Northwestern for undergrad, she had the chance to translate her general love of universities and learning into the practical administrative environment of Northwestern’s Information Technology department. Claire spent four years working for them, three of which were in administration. She knew at that point that she loved academia and enjoyed working in higher education, but she wanted to further refine her leadership skills and spend some time in the “real world” before returning to graduate school.

Therefore, after graduation Claire went to work for Deloitte Consulting in Chicago as part of their human capital department. She realized pretty quickly that she preferred the higher education work and learning environment to the corporate consulting lifestyle, but her year at Deloitte was incredibly valuable from a personal and professional development perspective. Claire applied for higher education PhD programs while at Deloitte, having determined for herself that she was still primarily motivated from both an academic and professional standpoint by higher education. She decided to come to Penn State due to the quality of the faculty and the program, the welcoming and supportive environment, and of course, the beautiful location. And so, Claire is now here in State College working as Don Heller’s graduate assistant

Claire spent her first ten years in Bloomington, Indiana surrounded by chickens and ducks. When she was ten, her parents moved to Athens, Ohio so that they could have a real farm. From that point on, Claire was a shepherdess. Although her parents recently moved to Columbus and sold the farm, Claire will always consider herself an Appalachian farm girl.

Outside of higher ed, Claire enjoys all of the following:

Camping, especially in the Boundary Waters (chain of lakes between Minnesota and Canada – totally awesome)
Animal husbandry
Board games (especially the strategic variety)
Traveling, especially in Europe
Vegging out

Featured member of the week Claire Gilbert with her partner Gabe

Turkeys, Starbuck and Peaquod, from Claire's family farm

Another shot from Claire's family farm

Three students from the higher education program received awards for their dissertations.  The $600 awards are part of the Research Initiation Grants Program (RIGP) in the College of Education.  Congratulations, and well done representing the high education program!

Jordan Humphrey – Liberal Arts Colleges in the Tumultuous 1940’s: Institutional Identity and the Challenges of War and Peace

Jessie Liu – An Exploration of Multiple Patterns of Faculty Productivity

Meghan Pifer – Networks in Academic Departments: Individual Strategies and Patterns of Access

Halloween hit Rackley 403 Friday afternoon as members of the Higher Ed community came together to celebrate the holiday of trick-or-treat. Some attendees arrived in costume . . . and others soon joined them in costume. Lisa Lattuca was this year’s “winner” of the penny wars contest. She claimed the title from Professor Heller and had the privilege of “donning” the pumpkin costume for 2009. But, this year’s voting result was challenged, and recollections from Florida 2000 popped into conversations. Dr. Alex Yin added $10 in pennies to Lisa Lattuca’s amount in an effort to save his advisor from the pumpkin, but it mysteriously disappeared. Was it sabotage? Or a sign of a need to shift from qualitative to quantitative money counters? Or just one of those unexplainable Halloween events? We’ll never know!  Perhaps we can settle it with a Tom Turkey Thanksgiving Tie-breaker?  In total, the event raised $119.55 for the local public library, so thanks to all who participated. As always, thank you to the HESA Social Committee for organizing the event!

Unofficial results from the money collection were as follows:

1. Lisa: $33.18

2. Jordan: $33.03

3. David: $26.99

4. John: $11.20

5. Phil: $2.53

6. Kim: $2.46

7. India/Jim: $0.24 — really, not even a quarter?

Accompanying the first week in November is the annual Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) conference held this year in Vancouver, Canada.  Several higher ed faculty members and graduate students will be trekking to the left coast to attend the conference.  Headlines has compiled a list of must-see attractions in Vancouver – in addition to the conference, that is.  In return, please bring back fun pictures and stories to be included in the Headlines for future weeks.  Non-attendees: the party on the Rackley 4th floor will begin on Thursday at noon and continue through Sunday.  Don’t forget those passports, and safe travels to all!

Top things to see in Vancouver (courtesy tripadvisor.com)

1.  Stanley Park

2.  Lynn Canyon Park

3.  Seawall Promenade

4.  Science World

5.  Granville Island

6.  Sea to Sky Highway

7.  Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

8.  Vancouver TheatreSports League

9.  Whistler Mountaineer

10.  Queen Elizabeth Park

11.  Miraj Hammam Spa

12.  University of British Columbia Botanical Garden

13.  English Bay Beach

14.  Wild Whales Vancouver

15.  Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre

16.  Granville Public Market

17.  Cypress Mountain

18.  The Vancouver Trolley Company

19.  Van Dusen Botanical Garden

20.  Granville Island Brewing

Check out our very own Professor Don Heller:

Click for Story

You can vote for Don if you find him interesting.  At last glance, Don was leading with 73% of the vote.  Note: his graduate assistants may or may not have been instructed to vote non-stop over the weekend.

Click for poll

The Higher Ed Halfbacks went without a loss for the second consecutive week!  This was the BYE week for the squad from Rackley.  Surviving the bye is not an easy feat -  John Cheslock’s Cleveland Browns could probably find a way to snag a loss.

Wednesday’s season finale is against the Dumpster Scroungers.  If nothing else, the Higher Ed team should be cleaner and better smelling than their trash-diving foes. Team members Wil del Pilar and Jordan Humphrey have decided to avoid the stench and will be fleeing to Canada, so the team will be playing shorthanded.  We’ll see if Phil Blackman’s presence this week can make up for their absence for the Higher Ed Halfbacks to continue their non-losing ways.  Asked about the team’s prognosis for the playoffs, Team Captain David Knight said, “Playoffs!?!?  You’re talking about playoffs?  Playoffs!?!?”  Then Knight had a change of heart: “Well, I suppose even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then, so you never know.”

All are welcome to support the team at the fields by the IM Building.  The game will begin at 8:00.