Selected Opinion Pieces
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Mississippi Free Press: State Auditor’s ‘Fatherlessness’ Report Rife With Misinformation, Misdirection
Co-authored with Kaitlyn Barton. The latest “report” from the Mississippi State Auditor’s office is not a well-researched policy memo with thought-out ideas for improving the state—it’s a poorly written piece of propaganda.
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The Tennessean: Roe v. Wade's Future Looks Bleak. What Does This Mean for Tennesseans?
May 23, 2022
Tennessee's trigger law would ban abortion in virtually all circumstances, including rape and incest, except in cases where it was necessary to save the patient’s life.
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Ms. Magazine: Teachers Are Heading for the Door—And They’re Not Coming Back
April 29, 2022
Co-authored with Kaitlyn Barton. Without significant change—like pay raises, increased number of support staff, and strategies to reduce burnout—the U.S. faces a massive teacher shortage that will cripple democracy for years to come.
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The Tennessean: Navigating college admissions during COVID-19 can be daunting for parents. Stay optimistic with these helpful tips
November 30, 2021
Co-authored with Dr. Kelly Slay. As higher education researchers, we’ve heard from family and friends who are seeking advice as their children plan their post-high school path. Here’s some tips we’ve offered.
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Clarion Ledger: State auditor's decision to target Ole Miss prof for Scholar Strike participation outrageous
September 19, 2020
Last year, it seemed to be the influence of the “good ol’ boys” network that landed Glenn Boyce, a paid member of the search committee, as the chancellor of the UM. Now, it’s time for State Auditor Shad White — a fellow UM alum — to throw red meat to the Republicans.
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Clarion Ledger: 'Ashamed and disgusted:' Trent Lott, Ole Miss and 'good ol' boy' politicians
October 8, 2019
That hope was short-lived, however, as we learned last week that the IHL board abruptly ended the process and chose Glenn Boyce as the next UM Chancellor — a man who was being paid an undisclosed amount of money at the time to assist in the search process. In other words, he hired himself.
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Devex: 4 reasons why development professionals can't be social media skeptics
March 4, 2019
But a closer look at the ways leading global development organizations have tapped into social media to advance their causes shows that ignoring social media may mean missing out on having a greater impact. Here’s why.
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Institute for Policy Studies: Three Necessary Reforms to Reduce Gun Violence in America
August 6, 2015
Refusing to take action to strengthen our gun laws is costing thousands of American lives every year.
Academic & Government Publications
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The Journal of College Student Retention: Creating and Institutionalizing a College Food Pantry: Activism, Partnerships, and Volunteer Labor
June 13, 2023
Coauthored with Cara DeLoach. While campus food pantries are growing increasingly popular as an intervention aimed at improving student retention, little work has examined what it takes to start and maintain these resources on the ground. We leverage data from 17 interviews with pantry leaders, and social media posts and internal documents, to describe the creation and institutionalization of the Grove Grocery at the University of Mississippi.
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The Journal of Higher Education: Delivering on the Promise: The Role of Supplemental Promise Programs in Reducing Barriers to College Success
April 25, 2023
Coauthored with Heinrich, C. & Smith, M. As college promise programs proliferate across the country, supplemental promise programs are emerging to fill gaps in services and resources critical for student success, particularly for students with greater economic needs. This mixed-methods study examines the implementation and efficacy of two such programs in Tennessee, Nashville GRAD and Knox Promise, which are distinct in their approaches to providing financial and advising supports to community college students.
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Oxford Bibliographies: Historical Evolution of Higher Education in the United States
August 26, 2020
Coauthored with Loss, C., Hinz, S., Ryan, C. The US higher education system, existing as it does at the intersection of state/society relations, is a fascinating site to study American history. The citations included in this article are intended to provide a point of embarkation for further inquiry. They have been selected because they offer a thematic overview of the history of American higher education intended to provoke additional reading and investigation.
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Acta Cogitata: America's Schools: Separate and Unequal
February 28. 2017
This paper explores how various philosophers contribute to the discussion of the racial integration of public schools.
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GAO Report: Sales Taxes: States Could Gain Revenue from Expanded Authority, but Businesses are Likely to Experience Compliance Costs
November 2017
Contributor. Report on the estimated 2017 revenue gains to state and local governments based on actual and estimated sales data for remote sellers.
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2016 White House Holiday Tour Book
December 2016.
Contributor. Used for all holiday tours and events during the 2016 holiday season at the White House.
Academic Presentations
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Racialized Labor in Enrollment Management: Tensions at the Intersection of Race and Professional Identity
Paper presented at the 2023 annual meeting of the Sociology of Education Association conference in Pacific Grove, California.
Co-presenters: Dr. Kelly Slay & Amanda Addison
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Exploring the Work of College Admissions Professionals: Administrative Burden and (In)Equity in the Era of COVID-19
Paper presented at the 2022 annual meeting of the Association for Education Finance and Policy in Denver, Colorado.
Co-presenters: Dr. Kelly Slay & Amanda Addison
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COVID-19 and Black Students’ College Choice: Race, Class, and Social Context During a Pandemic
Roundtable session presented at the 2021 annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Co-presenters: Drs. Kelly Slay and Tangela Blakely-Reavis
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Closing the Gap for Underserved College Students: An Evaluation of Pilot Supplemental Promise Programs
Roundtable session presented at the 2021 annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Co-presenters: Dr. Carolyn Heinrich and Mary Smith
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Mandating Our Way Out of the Counselor Crisis? The Effects of State Mandates on Student-to-Counselor Ratios
Paper presented at the 2021 annual meeting of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (remote).
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Food Bank Creation and Institutionalization at the University of Mississippi
Paper presented at the 2021 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (remote).
Co-presenter: Cara DeLoach
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How GEAR UP Participation Affects Postsecondary Attainment: Evidence from the High School Longitudinal Study
Paper presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (remote).
Websites
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She Pivots
Built website for She Pivots in 2022
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Black College Choice Study
Built website for the Black College Choice Study in 2021.
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ConsiliumBots
Built original website for ConsiliumBots in 2019.
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Global Digital Health Index
Built website for GDHI in 2019.
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Business for Health Solutions
Built website for Business for Health Solutions in 2019.
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Collaborative for Frontier Finance
Built website for the Collaborative for Frontier Finance in 2019.