2017 Clark Scholars seminar
2017 Clark Scholars
A Review of the 2017 David L. Clark National Graduate Student Research Seminar in Educational Administration
by Bryan A. VanGronigen
UCEA Graduate Assistant
University of Virginia
This past April, 42 graduate students and 14 mentor faculty members descended upon the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, to participate in the 38th annual David L. Clark National Graduate Student Research Seminar in Educational Administration. During the two-day seminar, Clark Scholars heard from an array of panelists about life as a faculty member, presented their research during poster sessions, and participated in small-group discussions.
The small group sessions—the core of the Clark Seminar—organized students by dissertation topic and research methodology and paired a group of six students with two or three distinguished faculty members in educational leadership and policy. The faculty mentors, who were selected by the Clark Seminar Planning Committee, read and commented upon executive summaries of students’ work before arriving in San Antonio, and during the seminar, asked students to lead a conversation about their dissertations within their small groups. Faculty members then offered targeted feedback and invited other students to comment upon each student’s work. Clark Scholars’ research presentations ranged from studying superintendent trustworthiness and the conceptualization of principal support of teacher psychological needs to exploring the narratives of Black teacher commitments and online learning as a remedy for course failure.
To qualify for one of the seminar’s 42 slots, aspiring Clark Scholars were required to submit a brief summary of their dissertation research along with a letter of recommendation from a faculty member. This year, the seminar received over 90 applications, which were carefully evaluated by a committee of faculty members in educational leadership and policy. Mentor faculty members were selected by the Clark Seminar Planning Committee, which consists of one representative from AERA Division A, one representative from AERA Division L, the UCEA executive director, a UCEA graduate assistant, and the UCEA project and events coordinator.
This year’s Clark Scholars included Da’vid Aguayo of University of Missouri, Michelle Amiot of University of Utah, Gwendolyn Baxley of University of Wisconsin-Madison, Justin Benna of University of New Hampshire, Marvin Boomer of North Carolina State University, David Casalaspi of Michigan State University, Elise Castillo of University of California Berkeley, Andrene Castro of University of Texas at Austin, Davis Clement of College of William & Mary, Amanda Cordova of University of Texas at San Antonio, Julie Dallavis of University of Notre Dame, Craig De Voto of University of Illinois at Chicago, Emily K. Donaldson of University of Washington, Carla Evans of University of New Hampshire, Stephanie Hall of University of Maryland, Renata Horvatek of Pennsylvania State University, Julie Kallio of University of Wisconsin-Madison, René Kissell of University of California Berkeley, Michael Kucera of University of Illinois, Courtney Lemon-Tate of Temple University, Rachel Levy of Virginia Commonwealth University, Katherine Lewis of Texas State University, Tanya Long of Texas State University, Abby Mahone of Lehigh University, Bradley Marianno of University of Southern California, Neoma Mullens of University of Georgia, Anh-Thy Nguyen of George Washington University, Jentre Olsen of University of Oklahoma, Aditi Rajendran of University of Washington, Luis Rodriguez of Vanderbilt University, Samantha Shewchuk of Queen's University, Phillip A. Smith of Teachers College Columbia University, Darrius Stanley of Michigan State University, Kendra Taylor of Pennsylvania State University, Claudia Vela of University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Samantha Viano of Vanderbilt University, Jeff Walls of University of Minnesota, Mark Weber of Rutgers University, Bryan Wilkinson of Florida State University, Aaron Wisman of University of Louisville, Cathy Woods of Washington State University, and Sijia Zhang of University of Alabama.
This year’s Clark Seminar faculty mentors included Enrique Alemán, Jr. of University of Texas at San Antonio, Floyd D. Beachum of Lehigh University, Alex Bowers of Teachers College Columbia University, Michael Dantley of Miami University, Sara Dexter of University of Virginia, Sonya Douglass Horsford of Teachers College Columbia University, Elizabeth Farley-Ripple of University of Delaware, James Koschoreck of Northern Kentucky University, Colleen Larson of New York University, Melissa Martinez of Texas State University, Morgan Polikoff of University of Southern California, Stacey Rutledge of Florida State University, Terah Venzant Chambers of Michigan State University, Noelle Witherspoon Arnold of Ohio State University, Irene Yoon of University of Utah, and Michelle Young of UCEA/University of Virginia.
The seminar is held each year before the start of the AERA Annual Meeting and is coordinated by AERA Division A, AERA Division L, and the University Council for Educational Administration. Named in honor of the late Professor David L. Clark, the seminar seeks to bring together emerging scholars and accomplished faculty members to better hone research projects and prepare the future of the educational leadership and policy professoriate. The Call for Nominations for the 2018 Clark Seminar—which will take place Wednesday, April 11 and Thursday, April 12, 2018 in New York City, New York—will be released in early September 2017.
For more information about the Clark Seminar and how to apply to become a Clark Scholar, visit: http://clarkseminar.ucea.org. Faculty members interested in being considered for one of the 12 mentor faculty slots should email Bryan A. VanGronigen at bav9wb@virginia.edu.