Mile Higher Ed Podcast

Administration, Practice, and Scholarship in Medicine with Dr. Sylk Sotto

In this episode of Mile Higher Ed, Sarah and Caitlyn speak with EdD program alumna Dr. Sylk Sotto, Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Development and Inclusive Excellence and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. We discuss the importance of inclusive learning environments in academic medicine, Dr. Sotto’s pathway to administration and leadership, and why it is important to consider professional schools in higher education scholarship and practice. 
About our guest: Dr. Sylk Sotto is an internationally recognized scholar and leader. Currently, she serves as the inaugural Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Development at University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences, where she is also an Associate Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine. Dr. Sotto’s scholarship foundation is in inclusive excellence and includes the areas of faculty affairs and professional development; the medical education continuum, organizational structures and leadership; and the intersection of health equity, community engagement, and research ethics. Dr. Sotto is an Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society Faculty Inductee, and has received national and institutional awards for her service, as an educator, faculty developer, equity scholar, leader and mentor. 
 
Some links to things we talk about: 
IU School of Medicine Sees Steep Drop in Students Underrepresented in Medicine article in the Indianapolis Star 
#HerAcademicVoice hashtag campaign 
 
Thanks for listening to this episode of Mile Higher Ed. Mile Higher Ed is produced within the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver by Dr. Sarah Hurtado and Caitlyn Potter Glaser.  Our theme music is “Summer” by Liborio Conti.  
Are you interested in a degree in Higher Education? Come join us! Learn more about our master’s and doctoral programs here. 
Follow us on Instagram: @milehigheredpodcast 
Follow MCE on Instagram: @mceatdu  
 

Pathway to Conocimiento with Dr. Lauren Contreras

Welcome to Season 2 of Mile Higher Ed. In this season premiere episode, Sarah and Caitlyn talk with Dr. Lauren Contreras, who is assistant professor of education leadership at Northern Arizona University and an alumna of DU’s higher ed Ph.D. program. We discuss her recently published article “Latina Undergraduates on the Path to Becoming Exitosas on Their Own Terms” in the Journal of College Student Development, conocimiento as a framework for understanding Latina students’ experiences, and the process of turning a dissertation into scholarly journal publications. 
About our guest: Dr. Lauren Contreras is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership with a focus on Community College Higher Education at Northern Arizona University. She has published on the topic of students’ transition to college and inclusive pedagogy and programming. She also has experience as a higher education practitioner as an academic advisor and program coordinator. Dr. Contreras has a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Denver, where her dissertation focused on how Latina undergraduates define success in higher education. 
 
Some links to things we talk about: 
Light in the Dark/Luz en lo Oscuro by Gloria Anzaldúa 
Telling to Live: Latina Feminist Testimonios by the Latina Feminist Group 
 
Thanks for listening to this episode of Mile Higher Ed. Mile Higher Ed is produced within the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver by Dr. Sarah Hurtado and Caitlyn Potter Glaser.  Our theme music is “Summer” by Liborio Conti.  
Are you interested in a degree in Higher Education? Come join us! Learn more about our master’s and doctoral programs here. 

Special Episode- Applying Critical Race Theory to Civic Engagement with Dr. Darin Stewart

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we are rereleasing an episode from season 1. Dr. Darin Stewart joins Sarah and Caitlyn to talk about his new article Civic Engagement and Resisting ‘Docile Bodies’ in Postsecondary Education published in Teachers College Report. We discuss the importance of civic engagement in racially minoritized communities, why a critically-oriented curriculum is necessary in higher education, and how we must go beyond voting to increase engagement with, and participation in, our democracy. 
 
A few of the things we talk about: 
Racial Capitalism, coined by Dr. Cedric J. Robinson in his book Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition. 
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point moved to eliminate a number of liberal arts programs in 2018, but reversed the decision in 2019 
What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada 
 
About our guest: Dr. Darin Stewart is Professor and Chair of the Higher Education Department in the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver. His scholarship has focused most intently on the history and philosophy of diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education, as well as the institutional systems and structures that affect the experiences, growth, development, and success of racially minoritized and queer and trans* students in settler colonial historically white postsecondary institutions. 
 
 
Thanks for listening to this episode of Mile Higher Ed. Mile Higher Ed is produced within the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver by Dr. Sarah Hurtado and Caitlyn Potter Glaser.  Our theme music is “Summer” by Liborio Conti.  
 
Are you interested in a degree in Higher Education? Come join us! Learn more about our master’s and doctoral programs here. 

Season 1 Finale and Recap

In this season finale of Mile Higher Ed, Sarah and Caitlyn discuss the topics we covered this season and our takeaways.
 
Are you an alum of DU’s Higher Ed program, or know an alum of DU’s Higher Ed program, who is doing amazing work in the higher education space? Would you like to be featured on Season 2 of Mile Higher Ed? Contact Dr. Sarah Hurtado to learn more.
 
 
Mile Higher Ed is a production of the Higher Education Department at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver.
 

Rewiring Settler Colonialism with Dr. Chris Nelson

In this episode of Mile Higher Ed, Dr. Chris Nelson joins Sarah and Caitlyn to discuss a book chapter she recently co-authored called “(Re)wiring Settler Colonial Practices in Higher Education: Creating Indigenous-Centered Futures Through Considerations of Power, the Social Place, and Space” in the Higher Education Handbook of Theory and Research.
We discuss decoloniality vs decolonization, decolonial collaborative writing practices, and how to bring a sense of yourself into your academic writing.
 
About our guest: Dr. Chris A. Nelson (she/her) is from the K’awaika (Laguna Pueblo) and Diné (Navajo) tribal communities. She is an associate professor of higher education at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver (DU) and the Native Faculty Director for DU’s Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Her research utilizes a blending of critical theory and Indigenous relationality theory to explore the purpose and function of higher education. By addressing the collective and political factors influencing college access and completion for Indigenous college students, Chris strives to uphold the educational aspirations held by Indigenous communities. Harnessing her 20 years of being a higher education professional and faculty member, she explores how higher education institutions organize and operate to better understand how institutions can live out their commitments to supporting Indigenous visibility and presence. When she isn’t sitting in front of the computer, she is a mother to Olin, a partner to talented artist, Johnny, and a cat mom to Lucky Cat & Fletcher. Chris is an avid player and spectator of soccer since she was 4 years old.
 
Mile Higher Ed is a production of the Higher Education Department at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver.
 

Dr. Stevie Lee Discussion on Her Dissertation

In this episode of Mile Higher Ed, Dr. Stevie Lee joins Sarah and Caitlyn to discuss her dissertation, for which she just won the Franz Fanon Dissertation Award Honorable Mention for the dissertation of the year through the Decolonial, Post-colonial and Anti-colonial studies in Education SIG of AERA. We discuss her use of the Chapter House Framework, decolonizing research methods, and what it was like to share her research at the AERA conference this year.
Read Dr. Lee’s dissertation here: Examining the Relational Space of Native Faculty Members in Higher Education
About our Guest: Stevie Rose Tohdacheeny Lee (Diné), PhD., is originally from Shiprock, New Mexico, located in the Navajo Nation. Currently, Dr. Lee serves as the Associate Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Native American Initiatives at the University of Denver. She works in the capacity of providing support for current Native American/Indigenous undergraduate and graduate students with the goal of academic success, retention, and graduation while helping to create a community founded upon social and cultural support. 
Dr. Lee earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education from University of Denver and a proud member of the Indigenous Affinity Alumni Group. Her personal interests are being outdoors and an avid marathon runner (55+).
Mile Higher Ed is a production of the Higher Education Department at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver.

Open Education Resources with Dr. Liliana Diaz and Casey McCoy-Simmons

In this episode of Mile Higher Ed, Dr. Liliana Diaz and Ph.D. candidate Casey McCoy-Simmons join Sarah and Caitlyn to talk about Open Education and Open Education Resources (OER). We discuss the benefits of OER, why Open Education is an equity issue, and the current OER policy landscape.
Here are some links to the things we talk about:
Webinar Recording: “A Not-Boring Tour of State OER Policies” https://openoregon.org/archived-webinar-a-not-boring-tour-of-state-oer-policies/
SPARC OER State Policy Tracker: https://sparcopen.org/our-work/state-policy-tracking/
Casey’s article about OER and equity: https://journals.uwyo.edu/index.php/joerhe/article/view/7183
About our guests:
Liliana Diaz Solodukhin, policy analyst with WICHE, works on a diverse range of activities including conducting and communicating policy research on a wide array of higher education-related topics, developing and sustaining relationships with external stakeholders, and conceptualizing and executing short- and long-term collaborative projects with states. Diaz received her B.S. in journalism and mass communication, B.A. in film studies, and a certificate in Technology, Arts, and Media from the University of Colorado at Boulder, earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in higher education administration from the University of Denver.
Casey McCoy-Simmons is a Ph.D. candidate in higher education at the University of Denver and an independent research consultant whose work spans a variety of topics including state policy discourse, open educational resources (OER), and increasing equitable access to postsecondary education. Prior to Casey's career in higher education, she worked for five years in public libraries leading community engagement and digital literacy efforts. Casey earned her B.S. in media and cinema studies and a M.S. in library and information sciences, with a certificate in community informatics, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Mile Higher Ed is a production of the Higher Education Department at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver.

Keeping Malawian Girls in School with Alice Kanyama

In this episode of Mile Higher Ed, Sarah and Caitlyn interview Ph.D. student Alice Kanyama about her recent work in Malawi, where she provided menstruation products to girls and young women through a grant from DU’s Center for Community Engagement to Advance Scholarship and Learning. We talk about the educational landscape in Malawi, how reusable sanitary pads improve education outcomes, and why secondary schooling is a critical foundation for university access.
 
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
 
Seeds of Promise, a non-profit organization committed to supporting Malawian youth.
Seeds of Promise’s Facebook post with photos from the day the pads were distributed.
Alice’s extended interview with 21st Century Generation, a broadcast from Zodiak Malawi.
 
About our guest: Alice Kanyama is a Higher Education PhD Student at University of Denver expected to graduate in 2027. She has 17 years of work experience in Higher Education Management gained in Malawi. She also has over ten years of experience as an instructor and lecturer in the Mass Communication Department at Africa Bible College, Malawi.  She has been a Board Member for Seeds of Promise Ministry since 2017.
 
 
Mile Higher Ed is a production of the Higher Education Department at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver.

Supporting Transfer Students with Caitlyn Potter Glaser

In this episode of Mile Higher Ed, Sarah interviews Caitlyn about her recent work with the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students. We discuss the gap between transfer aspiration and bachelor’s degree attainment, challenges for community college students, and how practitioners can work together to understand and support students in the transfer process.
 
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
 
The National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students- www.nists.org
Transfer Nation- www.transfernation.com
“Tracking Transfer” report from the Aspen Institute and Community College Research Center
 
About our guest: Caitlyn Potter Glaser is a Ph.D. student and Graduate Research Assistant in the Higher Education Department at the University of Denver. Her research interests include college access and equity for those on a less traditional path, including transfer students, post-traditional/adult students, and international students. Before coming to DU Caitlyn worked in Enrollment Management at a four-year university where she supported transfer students in the admissions process, as well as Articulation Specialist developing transfer pathways with partner community colleges.
 
Caitlyn holds a Master of Education in Adult Education and Development from Strayer University, a graduate certificate in Transfer Leadership and Practice from the University of North Georgia, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
 
Mile Higher Ed is a production of the Higher Education Department at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver.

Report on the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges with Anna Dodson

About our guest: Anna Dodson was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and attended her undergraduate education at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, graduating with a BA in Psychology. She moved to Denver in 2019, volunteering with AmeriCorps through City Year in a Kindergarten classroom and learning valuable knowledge about the K-12 education system in Denver. She has continued to study education through the higher education lens in 2022, choosing the University of Denver to complete her MA in Higher Education because of their strong graduate assistantship program and interest in the higher education faculty’s areas of study. In the program, she has specifically enjoyed learning and researching about higher education policy and organizational change. She will graduate in June 2024.