Claim OwnershipDemocracy's College: Research and Leadership in Educational Equity, Justice and Excellence for All
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This monthly podcast focuses on P-20 education pathways with a focus on research and leadership that promotes educational equity, justice and excellence for all students. This podcast is a product of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership, or OCCRL, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Learn more about OCCRL at occrl.illinois.edu.
73 Episodes
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Community colleges in micro-urban spaces (small cities with big-city dynamics) play a pivotal role in expanding access, strengthening workforce pathways, and advancing equity for Black learners. In this conversation, Dr. Terry Vaughan III highlights how these communities offer unique advantages, such as concentrated resources, reduced geographic barriers, and strong anchor institutions that can drive economic mobility. He explains to host Gianina Baker how the shift toward skills-based hiring reframes the value of credentials, emphasizing the competencies, experiences, and outcomes they represent. Vaughan also outlines his job duties at Workcred, where he focuses on building a national system of high-quality credentials, work-based learning, and transparent data to better align education with the needs of the labor market.
In this episode, Dr. Sheila Quirk-Bailey, the recently retired president of Illinois Central College, talks with host H.M. Kuneyl about her career journey from corporate education into community college leadership, emphasizing how her Illinois-based communication and business training, paired with a practitioner-focused doctorate from Maryland, shaped her student success-driven philosophy. Among other topics, she and Kuneyl discuss the value of working across institutional silos, knowing one's "why," and pursuing leadership roles with purpose rather than for prestige.
In this episode, OCCRL Associate Director Gianina Baker talks with Drs. Rick Rantz and Lauren Contreras about the book Developing Culturally Responsive Curriculum in Higher Education. The scholars describe the origins of the book, rooted in concerns about student retention, curriculum relevance, and the absence of higher education-specific tools for assessing cultural responsiveness. They highlight how faculty engagement, institutional context, and student demographics shaped their work, emphasizing the importance of representation, relationship-building, and action-oriented pedagogy. As the discussion expands, Drs. Tiffany Davis and Ginny Boss connect culturally responsive curriculum to broader challenges in higher education, including political pressures, DEI debates, and shifting student needs. Collectively, the speakers frame culturally responsive curriculum not as an optional add-on but as essential, holistic, and urgent, impacting teaching practices, institutional culture, student belonging, and educational equity.
In this episode, Dr. Sadya Khan discusses with H.M. Kuneyl how data can drive equity, student success, and institutional effectiveness. She emphasizes the importance of selecting the right data for the right questions, building trust and collaboration around data use, and making data accessible and meaningful for faculty, staff, and students. The conversation highlights beginner-friendly ways to engage with data, the role of culture and relationships in cultivating data-informed leadership, and practical examples of using data to improve processes across campus. Dr. Khan is the executive director of institutional research, planning and effectiveness at Moraine Valley Community College, and Kuneyl is a senior research assistant at OCCRL.
In this episode, Dr. OiYan Poon—an author, speaker, and race and education scholar—talks with Harper College President Avis Proctor about how her institution is strategically organizing campus efforts to reduce the rates of D and F grades and course withdrawals, especially in gateway courses, by engaging in actionable institutional research and data.
In this episode, Dr. OiYan Poon talks with Dr. Lonetta Oliver about how colleges can improve advising and wraparound services to more effectively support all students in their postsecondary educational journeys. This special-edition Illinois SUCCESS podcast, and several others in the series, explores how campuses can leverage data and institutional research to improve holistic advising and other programs to support students to and through college to complete a credential or degree. Bonus material: Attaining College Excellence and Equity from the U.S. Department of Education.
In this special-edition Illinois SUCCESS episode, we explore how campuses can leverage data and institutional research to improve holistic advising and other programs to support students to and through college to complete a credential or degree. Dr. OiYan Poon talks with Dr. Lindsey Back about the On-Track data system at the University of Illinois Chicago, and how this information informs her team's work to improve student success across campus.
In this episode, Dr. OiYan Poon—an author, speaker, and race and education scholar—talks with Dr. James Minor about how campuses can leverage data and institutional research to improve holistic advising and other programs to support students to and through college so they can complete a credential or degree. Dr. Minor is the chancellor of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
In this episode, Dr. OiYan Poon—an author, speaker, and race and education scholar—talks with Dr. Jay Gatrell, the president of Eastern Illinois University, about how institutional leaders can organize campus efforts to reduce the rates of D and F grades, also known as DFW rates, as well as reduce the number of course withdrawals by engaging in actionable, institutional research and data. Dr. Poon and Dr. Gatrell especially focus on gateway courses in their talk.
In this special edition of Democracy's College, OCCRL Associate Director Gianina Baker talks with Valerie Lynch and Deana Schenk about the critical roles of benefits navigators and HOUSE liaisons, two positions designed to help students access basic-needs resources such as food, housing, health care, and financial support. Lynch is the senior managing director at the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and Schenk serves as the senior director for student success at the Illinois Community College Board.
In this episode, Dr. OiYan Poon—an author, speaker, and race and education scholar—talks with Dr. Nick Branson about the different frameworks for understanding institutional data as well as creative ways that campuses can use a wealth of data to improve support systems that help all students succeed. Dr. Branson is the assistant vice president for strategic advancement at the College of Lake County.
In this episode, Dr. Gianina Baker, the associate director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership, talks with Dr. Kimberly A. Griffin about the Institutional Model for Faculty Diversity and its role in advancing STEM equity. The conversation with Dr. Griffin, who is the dean of the College of Education at the University of Maryland, explores the model's connection to the NSF ASPIRE Alliance and its practical applications in higher education.
In this episode, Hannah Kuneyl, a senior research assistant at OCCRL, talks with Dr. LaDrina Wilson about her experiences and insights working at bistate community colleges in Illinois and Iowa as both an administrator and practitioner.
In this episode, OCCRL Director Lorenzo Baber talks with Lisa Castillo Richmond, the outgoing executive director of the Partnership for College Completion, about key findings she has observed in developmental education in Illinois. Drs. Castillo Richmond and Baber also cover where the state is currently at with developmental education reform as well as the importance of placement and the building out of the model.
In this episode, OCCRL senior research assistant H.M. Kuneyl, who coordinates OCCRL's yearly Illinois Community College Leadership Institute, talks with Terry Wilkerson, the president of Rend Lake College who partook in the institute's Journey to the President panel in 2023. Kuneyl and Wilkerson discuss the challenges and benefits of working in the field of postsecondary education at a rural community college, President Wilkerson's career trajectory, the qualities that make a good leader, and other topics.
In this episode, OCCRL research assistant H.M. Kuneyl, who coordinates the yearly OCCRL Illinois Community College Leadership Institute (ICCLI), talks with two individuals who were a part of the institute's first cohort. They are Andy Hynds, dean of math, science and business and the executive dean of academics at Richland Community College; and Brianna McClay, associate dean of student services at Kennedy King College in the City Colleges of Chicago. Hynds and McClay discuss their work as community college leaders and how the ICCLI they attended in May of 2023 influenced their outlooks and careers.
In this episode, OCCRL senior research associate Stacy Bennett talks with Joe Saucedo and Lee Roe, from the Partnership for College Completion in Chicago, to discuss developmental education reform in Illinois.
In this episode, OCCRL senior research assistant Nina Owolabi talks to several guests about the use of open educational resources, also known as OER, as an equity initiative in Illinois community colleges. In addition, OCCRL research assistant Aidana Sirgebayeva relates the findings of the OER research project that has been taking place at OCCRL for the last several years. The shows guests are Dr. Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, Magnus Noble, Heather Blicher, and Dr. Lorenzo Baber.
This Democracy's College podcast episode is the fourth one in a series featuring contributors to the book Critiques for Transformation: Reimagining Colleges and Communities for Social Justice, edited by Drs. Lorenzo Baber and Heather McCambly. In this episode, Dr. McCambly talks to Drs. Erin Doran and Sergio Gonzalez about how their chapters for the book originated. The scholars also discuss the topic of ethnic studies and the subject's role in community colleges, talk about the evolution of positionality statements and more.
In this episode, OCCRL affiliate member Heather McCambly talks with Dr. Rosemary Perez and Dr. Aireale J. Rodgers about the chapters they contributed to in the volume Critiques for Transformation: Reimagining Colleges and Communities for Social Justice, a book that was co-edited by Dr. McCambly and Dr. Lorenzo Baber.
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