Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.)

Higher and Postsecondary Education
Teachers College, Columbia University
2013

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Counseling Psychology
James Madison University
2000

Education Specialist (Ed.S.)

Counseling Psychology
James Madison University
2000

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

Psychology
James Madison University
1996

higher education policy and practice

DEI work

HBCU campus climates

Critical qualitative research methods

Social fiction as scholarship

Afrofuturism and Sankofa

Artificial Intelligence and Higher Education

ELPS 605: Higher Education Policy

Utilizing a student centered challenge based framework, this course provides an overview of theories of American higher education policy and how policymaking considers (and does not consider) Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). In broad strokes, this course poses a series of challenges that require students to examine and propose solutions related to the contemporary landscape of policy making including the structures, spaces, actors, and stakeholders involved in the process of policy-making.  Course readings and discussions explore traditional, critical, and decolonial theories of the public policy process and unpack how higher education policy subsystems work to incrementally, and sometimes non-incrementally, influence education policy. Students are invited to critique the ways in which Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs)—Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Institutions (AANAPIs)— are included, excluded, and impacted by policy theory and practice.   Additionally, the course highlights various challenges facing MSIs and approaches and strategies higher education leaders can use to engage in policy making arenas in order to address these challenges and advocate on behalf of their institution. 

ELPS 606: Governance and Administration in Higher Education

Utilizing both a holistic and challenge based framework, this course draws on interdisciplinary scholarship and current events, to provide an overview of governance and administration within higher education. Special attention is given to the ways in which governance operates within Minority Serving Institutions and how it is shaped by and affects administration. Course content is designed to increase knowledge about various traditional, critical, and decolonial theories and practices associated with governance in higher education. Course readings, assignments, and discussions are designed to engage students in critical reflection about the micro and macro campus environment, and how it can be improved for greater engagement, wellness, collaboration, and innovation. This requires an examination of current challenges and solutions that consider role various constituencies, movements, and politics in the governance and administration of these complex organizations, particularly at Minority Serving Institutions.

ELPS 609: Advanced Qualitative Research Methods

Utilizing a challenge based framework, this course is an advanced doctoral-level seminar designed to provide applied knowledge and experience in developing and implementing an independent qualitative research study. Building on the ELPS 524 Introduction to Qualitative Research course, this advanced course will pose a series of challenges that support and improve development in reflexivity, perspective taking, approaches, trustworthiness, conducting qualitative analysis, and communicating your analysis to a wider audience. Traditional, critical, and decolonial theoretical and practical approaches for conducting a qualitative research project are explored.

ELPS 611: Community and Board Relations

Utilizing a challenge based framework, this course provides an overview and applied learning opportunity to explore the role of higher education trustee boards, higher education trustee board members, and trustee board relationships with various constituents. Course readings and challenge exercises are designed to promote critical reflection about board engagement with the campus and the greater communities in which they are situated. Special attention is given to trustee board dynamics and engagement at Minority Serving Institutions and ways institutional leaders can engage with the board to improve communication and shared governance.

Kofi Lomotey Outstanding Reviewer Award; 2026

Awarded by Urban Education, a Sage journal at the 2026 AERA annual conference for outstanding service as a reviewer.

Faculty Scholar Coach, 2026 Junior Faculty Writing and Creative Works Summer Academy

Howard University Office of Faculty Development

Spring-Summer 2026 Faculty Mentor, HUSOE Digital Lab

Sponsored by the Bezos Foundation

B.R.I.C.K. (Building Resilient & Inclusive Communities of Knowledge) Fellow; 2025-27

The Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL), American University

Federal Regulation Change § 668.14(b)(34); 2024

White paper cited in a federal regulation change prohibiting postsecondary transcript withholding when a balance is due.

Just-Julian Fellowship Advisor

2019-2020
2020-2021
2023-2024
2025-2026

Inaugural HBCU Faculty Fellow - Propel Center; 2023-24

Sponsored by Apple; selected as member of the inaugural professional development program to support the incorporation of technology into inclusive pedagogy.

Inaugural Higher Education Member of The 1619 Project Education Network; 2023-24

Sponsored by the Pulitzer Center; The first higher education proposal accepted for the network. served as lead on "HBCUs Matter" curriculum redesign project, based on The 1619 Project. 

Course Transformation Grant; 2023-24

Sponsored by Open@WRLC; selected to transform higher education governance course to center the role of Black Americans and slavery in higher education into Open Educational Resources 
(OER) for the broader higher education community. 

AERA/Spencer Minority Meta-Analysis Fellowship; 2020-22

AERA- Spencer Foundation; Selected for competitive professional development program for enhancing skills in meta-analysis.

Early Career Scholar Award; 2017

Awarded by Southern Illinois University-Carbondale's Department of Education and Human Development. 

Fulbright Distinguished Visiting Chair, Canada; 2015-16

The Fulbright Program-Foundation for Educational Exchange Between Canada and the United States of America. Principal Investigator of a qualitative research project investigating provincial inclusive internationalization policy in higher education in Alberta. 

We’re Still Here: A Counter Ghost Story of The Hauntings at Drish Plantation

This chapter uses a fictional counter-narrative, told from the perspective of an enslaved Black laborer at Drish Plantation (Drish Mansion), to examine the plantation's ties to the University of Alabama–Tuscaloosa. Building on this account, I offer a critical social analysis of how ghost stories about Drish and similar sites romanticize plantations and their owners while erasing enslaved people's experiences. Drawing on critical institutional transformation theory, I consider how these narratives may shape UA's campus culture and climate for students of color. The chapter closes with recommendations for how the university can revise its narratives about the plantation to confront its ties to slavery and foster a more inclusive campus.

Lavonne Richardson- DEI Professional Extraordinaire- and the Use of Social Fiction as Testimony
This chapter uses social fiction to illustrate lived experiences captured through qualitative research. It introduces a composite character, Lavonne Richardson, who represents the experiences of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professionals in higher education. Drawing on prior qualitative research and critical social theories—including tempered radicals, invisible labor, and feminist killjoys—the piece gives testimony to the challenges DEI professionals face within academic institutions. The chapter closes with a practical guide for creating social fiction as a qualitative research product.

This Fragile New World: Tales of Futures Without DEI in Higher Education
Drawing on current higher education discourse, this work uses Afrofuturism and future scenario planning to craft three fictional narratives exploring the impacts, challenges, and strategies for navigating a future in which formal DEI structures in higher education no longer exist.

Renegotiating the Relationship Between HBCUs and State Higher Education Boards to Address Coloniality
This conceptual paper examines how Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their advocates engage state higher education coordinating and governing boards in policymaking to support HBCUs and their students. It explores the political-historical and socio-cultural factors shaping this relationship, alongside the challenges posed by white colonial approaches to state policymaking for HBCUs. The paper closes by identifying gaps and opportunities for research and practice, particularly for strengthening HBCU participation in state policymaking.

Critical Conversations: Black Scholarship in a White Academy
This edited book examines the historical devaluation of Black faculty and their scholarship in academia, particularly at predominantly White institutions. Grounded in anti-Blackness theory, contributors explore how White hegemony marginalizes, devalues, and hinders Black scholars' work.

Lifting the Veil: Utilizing Critical Qualitative Inquiry to Demystify the Public Policymaking Process
This article examines how critical qualitative inquiry can demystify the public policymaking process, making it more accessible to scrutiny and democratic engagement. It raises questions about which aspects of policymaking remain hidden, and shows how researchers committed to justice and empowerment for communities of color can use critical qualitative inquiry to "unveil" these components and strengthen advocacy and civic participation.

“All Students Matter”: The Place of Race in Discourse on Student Debt in a Federal Higher Education Policymaking Process

This article uses Critical Discourse Analysis to examine racial discourse in recent efforts to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, analyzing congressional markup hearings for how legislators frame student debt and its racialized dynamics. Findings reveal four discourse types — "All Students Matter," Paternalistic, Race-Evasive, and Explicit Racial — and the article closes with recommendations for research and policymaking.

Stranded Credits: A Matter of Equity
This report presents a qualitative study of students' and staff's lived experiences with institutional debt, or "stranded credits." Stranded credits disproportionately affect students of color and those from low-income backgrounds, shaping whether students stop out temporarily or drop out permanently, and also affect financial aid eligibility and students' psychological well-being.

Re-Imagining Campus Climate Assessment at HBCUs
Using a critical paradigm, this paper examines how current theoretical perspectives may inadvertently undermine HBCUs in the discourse on racial campus climate. It critiques a widely used campus climate theory for its focus on predominantly White institutions and its failure to account for HBCUs' unique histories, structures, and challenges, and offers recommendations to guide future scholarship.

The Invisible Labor of Diversity Educators in Higher Education
Diversity educators are typically hired to design, facilitate, and support DEI initiatives, signaling institutional commitment to these values. This article presents a qualitative study of diversity educators at 20 U.S. higher education institutions, revealing the significant "invisible labor" they perform beyond their formal roles — mentoring students, collaborating across departments to advance DEI, providing informal advising, and helping students access resources like financial assistance and housing.

Not By Magic: Perspectives on Creating and Facilitating Outreach Programs for Black Girls and Women
Grounded in intersectionality and program planning frameworks, this qualitative study examines the perspectives of six leaders of outreach programs supporting Black girls and women. It sheds light on the needs and challenges of creating and managing programs that improve social, academic, and health outcomes, and on the factors affecting program sustainability, concluding with implications for research and practical strategies for sustaining such programs.

Who Deserves Benefits in Higher Education? A Policy Discourse Analysis of a Process Surrounding Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act
This study examines policy discourse surrounding reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the most significant federal higher education policy, more than a decade after its last reauthorization. Guided by social construction and policy design theory, we analyze 14 hours of congressional hearing deliberations to reveal which populations policymakers focus on, how they frame groups as deserving or undeserving of benefits, how they justify the distribution of burdens and benefits, and how these portrayals vary by political party.

Reimagining HBCU Leaders as Policy Actors
This chapter offers a strengths-based framework for how HBCU presidents can enhance their advocacy skills for engagement in the policy arena. Drawing on HBCU leadership and higher education policy literature, it reimagines existing leadership skillsets to encourage active participation in policymaking and collaboration with state and federal policy actors, showing how skills like communication and collaboration position HBCU presidents as influential policy advocates, and offers recommendations for expanding strengths-based research on HBCU leadership.

From Desegregation to Today: Conceptualizing An Equitable Framework for Public Funding for HBCUs
In this presentation, we highlight existing frameworks and approaches to state funding policies for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), with an emphasis on performance-based funding models. In particular, we explore the role of State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEOs) in promoting equity, especially in light of the historical legacy of systemic disenfranchisement in funding for HBCUs. We then offer alternative frameworks and strategies that can support the sustainability of HBCUs while addressing the enduring impacts of segregation-era policies and post-OCR mandate desegregation efforts. This includes recommendations for how SHEEOs can prioritize equity in funding formulas and higher education agendas by focusing on capacity building, equitable resource allocation, and incentivizing HBCUs for their critical role in serving minoritized populations and advancing state diversity, equity, and workforce goals.

Subversion or Cooptation? Tactics for Engaging in Diversity Work in a Race-Adverse Climate
The limited awareness and understanding of the roles and contributions of diversity professionals in higher education often result in missed opportunities to enhance knowledge, training, and practices that could drive greater impact. This gap may ultimately hinder institutions' ability to fulfill their commitments to diversity and inclusion. This qualitative study explores the challenges diversity professionals encounter while promoting diversity and inclusion within higher education institutions. It also examines how they navigate these challenges and investigates whether, and how, race and racism are addressed—or overlooked—in their work. Finally, the study provides recommendations for future research and institutional practices.

Changing the Narrative: UNCF and Its Role in Policy Advocacy for Historically Black Colleges and Universities
This article employs Critical Discourse Analysis to examine the functions and strategies of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), an organization dedicated to raising funds, increasing awareness, and advocating for policies that support Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). By reviewing the literature on policy advocates and brokers and addressing the lack of organizations that intentionally and actively engage in policy advocacy for and alongside HBCUs, this article provides an overview of UNCF’s history and its evolving role in addressing these gaps. Additionally, it explores how UNCF is working to challenge deficit narratives about HBCUs and the minoritized populations they serve. Actionable steps for organizations and individuals seeking to enter the policy arena as advocates for HBCUs are provided.

Diversity Leadership Under Race-Neutral Policies in Higher Education
This paper explores the experiences of multicultural affairs administrators who oversee bridge programs designed to recruit and retain historically underrepresented students of color. Findings shed new insight into not only their experiences but also the meaning these professionals ascribe to their roles as diversity administrators. Additionally, the paper identifies the challenges these professionals encounter in striving to achieve diversity goals within the constraints of race-neutral policies.

Outcomes-Based Funding and Race in Higher Education: Can Equity be Bought?
This book explores the impact of Performance or Outcomes-Based Funding (POBF) policies on racial equity in higher education. Over the past decade, there has been a growing movement within higher education to increase accountability to stakeholders, prompting institutions to address questions about student outcomes, the value of education, instructional effectiveness, and leadership efficiency. In this context, states have implemented POBF policies, where public colleges and universities receive state funding based on student outcomes rather than solely on enrollment numbers. This book offers policymakers an overview of how racial equity has been addressed within these frameworks, examines the effects of these approaches, and provides recommendations for future progress.

This Bridge Feels Like a Tightrope: For Critical Scholars Who Engage in Policy Research
This article uses autoethnography to explore the methodological tensions I encountered as an untrained critical researcher participating in a postpositivist multicase research study. The study emphasized large datasets, quantified qualitative findings, and prioritized majority viewpoints, creating moments of conflict and doubt in my research process. Through this reflection, I advocate for increased reflexivity and transparency among qualitative researchers navigating similar challenges. The article concludes with practical recommendations for both novice and experienced educational policy researchers.

Performance Funding for Higher Education
Based on extensive interviews with government officials and college and university staff, this book provides a comprehensive examination of performance funding in higher education. It explores the policy instruments states use to implement performance funding and delves into the organizational processes colleges employ to determine their responses. The book analyzes how performance funding influences institutional policies and programs, assesses its impact on student outcomes, and identifies the challenges institutions face in meeting performance funding requirements. Additionally, it investigates the unintended consequences of performance funding, offering a nuanced understanding of its effects on higher education.