About me

I am an assistant professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Hartford,

in West Hartford, CT. For two decades I have breathed, learned about, and worked in

higher education. Prior professional experience include a postdoctoral year as an

internal evaluator for an NSF ADVANCE grant at the University of Virginia. The project,

called UVA CHARGE, aimed to increase the recruitment, retention, and success of female

and URM faculty in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and social,

behavioral, and economic (SBE) sciences. Before that, I worked for ten years as an

academic administrator at Saint Paul School of Theology, a graduate-level school in

Kansas City, MO.

I completed my Ph.D. in higher education at Pennsylvania State University, my master’s

in higher education at the University of Kansas, and my bachelor’s degree, also in

higher education, at the University of Colima, México.

My academic training in higher education has prepared me to teach an array of higher

education topics. At the University of Hartford, I have taught courses that fall

within three main areas of competence: college teaching and learning, faculty and

students’ experiences in colleges and universities, and educational research methods.

I also guide and supervise doctoral dissertations.

My research comprises three interwoven areas that investigate how the social

identities of students and faculty shape and are shaped by their experiences

in higher education environments to then inform decision making that leads to

more inclusive colleges and universities. The first area is located in the

classroom, and seeks to contribute to making teaching and learning more inclusive

for all learners. The second area examines the experiences of underrepresented

students and faculty members in academic settings. The third area questions how

assessment and research approaches can contribute to supportive environments

and decisions.