Pat Githens M.Ed. ’23 was the recipient of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors' Gayle Webb New Professional Award in recognition of his contribution and impact on the field. Githens is a master’s student in the Educational Leadership Higher Education Administration program, who also works at Sigma Phi Epsilon headquarters.
Next Move @ W&M received the School of Education Dean’s Innovation Grant and was able to continue its research program this past summer. A 10-week employment training program for 18–35-year-olds with disabilities, Next Move @ W&M offers participants job readiness and skills training at the School of Education and then on-the-job training at job sites around campus.
Over the past year, a new partnership between William & Mary and the Faison Center emerged, by a happenstance interaction with School of Education professor, Jamel K. Donnor. Due to the empowerment of Dr. Donnor, the Faison Center is now engaged in a university-wide partnership with William & Mary, spanning academic units and departments, elevating W&M’s reach in the Commonwealth, students’ experiential learning opportunities, and faculty’s research agendas.
Following a competitive application process, Jarin Eva Ph.D. ’25, a student in the Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership in Higher Education doctoral program, has been selected as one of 40 ambassadors for the American College Personnel Association (ACPA).
Connecting what students learn about theory and research in graduate classes to the field helps provide opportunities for authentic learning to occur. School of Education adjunct professor Catherine Hartman ’13, M.Ed. ’15 is teaching The Community College class this semester and arranged for a class visit to Virginia Peninsula Community College (VPCC).
During the first week of November, public policy major, Benjamin Simon, traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico to present his original research on teacher agency in dual language classrooms at the La Cosecha Dual Language Conference.
Two doctoral candidates in the Educational Policy, Planning & Leadership with a concentration in Curriculum and Learning Design Ph.D. program, Sharice Adkins '23 and Amelie Smucker '23, have received non-tenured faculty roles at universities in Virginia.
Professor Ting Huang recently published her article BuBu Fandom and Authentic Online Spaces for Chinese Fangirls in the journal, Transformative Works and Cultures.
Raven Pierce '23 displays her research on the power of spirituality and expressive arts to help Black Women navigate oppressive experiences.
Four doctoral students in the W&M School of Education join the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education’s (AACTE) Holmes Scholars Program this year.
Local Williamsburg students attended a camp this past summer at William & Mary designed to bring mathematics learning to life through the creation of an art mural, now displayed at the School of Education.
Elizabeth Talbott and Caroline Malachowsky ‘24 traveled to D.C. to advocate with members of Congress for students with disabilities in an annual summit hosted by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE).
W&M Holmes Scholars Philippa Chin, Lavare Henry, Paola Mendizabal, Aishwarya Nambiar, and Shené Owens participated in Washington Week 2022 this past June. It was an opportunity for faculty, Holmes Scholars, and state leaders to learn, collaborate, and network around the advocacy for education in our country.
Stephanie Dorais joins the faculty after completing a doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision and will serve as a clinical assistant professor in the Counseling department.
Leandra Parris' research focuses on relationships among middle and high school students within an equity-centered, trauma-informed framework. As a new academic year begins for a community that includes students going to school and being homeschooled, W&M News asked Parris to discuss ways to support K-12 students at home and at school.
Amanda Simpfenderfer joins the faculty after completing a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Vermont and will serve as an assistant professor in the Higher Education Administration program.
Jaimie Stickl Haugen joins W&M as a clinical assistant professor in the online Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. After completing training to become an elementary school teacher and pursuing a career in counseling, she completed her doctoral degree in counselor education and discovered a passion for research.
Amber Pope joins W&M as a clinical assistant professor and coordinator of the Couples, Marriage and Family Counseling program. Her research centers on culturally responsive counselor training, with a focus on improving counselor trainees’ competency in LGBTQ-affirmative therapy. She is also interested in the use of virtual reality (VR) in counselor education.
Bianca Augustine joins W&M as a clinical assistant professor in Counselor Education. Her research interests include minority stress as a form of complex trauma; destigmatization of sex/sexuality, especially in the field of counseling; and examining the intersections of sex/sexuality/sexual expression, gender identity/expression, and racial/ethnic identity, especially as it relates to self-image, resilience, self-compassion, and self-care.
An experimental summer camp developed by researchers at the William & Mary School of Education, now in its second year, is exploring innovative ways to encourage more students from underrepresented groups, primarily girls and youth of color, to pursue STEM careers. Camp EAGER, directed by Meredith Kier, associate professor of science education; Lindy Johnson, associate professor of English education; and Janise Parker, assistant professor of school psychology, aims to Elevate engineering, Advance innovation, Guide Learning, Effect change, and Remove barriers for all.
Two students in William & Mary’s Online M.Ed. in Counseling program have been selected by the Tillman Foundation as 2022 Tillman Scholars. The prestigious scholarship, founded by the family of Pat Tillman, annually recognizes military service members, veterans and spouses who demonstrate extraordinary commitment to service, scholarship, humble leadership and impact.
Tracy Cross, the Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Psychology and Gifted Education and executive director of the W&M Center for Gifted Education, will travel to Dublin, Ireland in Spring 2023 as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar.
The Journal of Educational Administration, the first international journal in educational leadership, is celebrating its 60th anniversary by reprinting the ten most-cited articles from the journal's six decades of publication. Megan Tschannen-Moran, professor of education, is highlighted as the author of both the top and fourth-most cited article.
The School of Education celebrated its 2022 graduates during a joy-filled Commencement weekend May 20-21. In all, 255 students graduated from undergraduate and graduate programs in education.
Daniel Gutierrez, the Vera W. Barkley Associate Professor of Counselor Education, along with collaborator Stephanie Dorais Ph.D. ’21, assistant professor in counselor education at Kean University, are exploring the role of contemplative practices in promoting prosociality and resilience among mental health counselors. The two-year project is being funded by a $100K PEACE Grant from the Mind & Life Institute, an organization co-founded by the Dalai Lama to bridge science and contemplative wisdom in order to foster human flourishing.
As the academic year draws to a close, the School of Education community will gather this week to recognize the extraordinary contributions of 10 faculty members who have retired over the past two years. Individually, they have served between 17 and 38 years; collectively they’ve given 239 years of service to William & Mary.
William & Mary's School-University Resource Network (SURN) responded to a field-based concern of principals missing opportunities to collaborate and learn with one another, so they took action, establishing the 4:00 Focus program. 4:00 Focus targets a timely and actionable topic to bring school leaders together with their community of peers for an interactive webinar.
The premier organization for research in school psychology has recognized Parker for her contributions to the field and has named her an Early Career Scholar for the 2022 School Psychology Research Collaboration Conference (SPRCC). During this same week, Parker received the Early Career Faculty Scholarship/Award during the Trainers of School Psychology Conference.
Lydia Suitt, a master’s student in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, has won first place in the Chi Sigma Iota (CSI) & Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) Leadership Essay Contest.
William & Mary Holmes Scholars attended the Holmes Scholars Preconference Program in New Orleans in early March as part of the 74th American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) Annual Meeting
Over Charter Day weekend, the School of Education community gathered to unveil a new installation in the school building honoring trailblazers who broke barriers at William & Mary and within the field of education and opened doors for generations of future educators. The three inaugural honorees on the Trailblazers Wall are Hulon L. Willis, Sr. M.Ed. ’56; Janet Brown Strafer ’71, M.A.Ed. ‘77, D.Sc. '18; and Jo Lynne DeMary ’68, Ed.D. ’82.
For years, research in gifted education has centered on achievement and educational practice but lacked in the psychology of giftedness. W&M faculty members Tracy Cross and Jennifer Riedl Cross are founding a new journal to make research on the psychology and well-being of individuals with gifts and talents accessible to academics, parents, professional educators and counselors.
As a school counselor, Pamela Harris Ph.D. ’16 saw firsthand the power of stories to validate and inspire young people, especially the Black students she worked with who struggled to see themselves in the books and stories they encountered. As a writer, she loves bringing authentic stories to life from her own imagination and lived experience. She’s now a published YA (young adult) novelist and a counselor educator at William & Mary, fulfilling both sides of her dream to support youth through counseling and writing.
On Saturday, December 18, 2021, students and faculty in the clinical mental health and military and veterans counseling programs participated in Wreaths Across America at Arlington National Cemetery. Organized by Elizabeth Burgin, coordinator of the military and veterans counseling program, the cohort gathered at 6:00 am and laid wreaths at service members’ headstones.
Through a new partnership with William & Mary Law School, two doctoral students from the School of Education’s Holmes Scholars program are developing and teaching an English language preparatory course for newly-arrived international students in the university’s LL.M. program.
Jamel K. Donnor, an associate professor in the School of Education, has been named a top Edu-Scholar by Education Week. The rankings aim to recognize the 200 university-based scholars who have had the biggest influence on educational practice and policy over the previous year.
