Ed.D.
Teachers College, Columbia University
2013
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Faculty
Faculty
Sosanya Jones (She/Her)
Associate Professor and Program Coordinator
Department/Office
- Educational Leadership & Policy Studies
School/College
- School of Education
Biography
Dr. Sosanya Jones teaches courses on higher education governance and administration, policy, community and board relations, and advanced qualitative research. For over 25 years, she served in a number of higher education roles including retention counselor, residence hall director, coordinator for student success programs, assistant director of ACCESS VA/GEAR-UP, and liaison for the Virginia Black Caucus during her tenure at The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). Dr. Jones' research interests are concerned with racial equity and uplift for Black people and the higher education institutions. This includes topics such as the nexus between equity policy and practice, HBCU faculty utilization of artificial intelligence, the use of social fiction and the creative arts as counter storytelling, and the adoption of mindfulness practice in the training higher education professionals. Dr. Jones' scholarship has appeared in journals such as Qualitative Inquiry, Teachers College Record, The Review of Higher Education, The American Behavioral Scientist, RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, & Interest Groups and Advocacy, among many others. She is an inaugural higher education member of The Pulitzer Center’s The 1619 Project Education Network and an inaugural Propel HBCU Faculty Fellow. Most recently, Dr. Jones received a HCAI Mid-career Re-invigoration Seed Grant sponsored by Howard University's Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence to support research on the utilization of artificial intelligence in HBCU educator preparation programs.
Education & Expertise
Education
Expertise
Higher education policy
Racial equity in higher education
Qualitative research methods
Academics
Academics
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.