State Funding for Broad Access Institutions with Katie Kleinhesselink and Essa Njie

In this episode, Sarah and Caitlyn talk with Katie Kleinhesselink, a PhD candidate in Higher Education, and Essa Njie, a second year PhD student in Higher Education at DU. We discuss their recent research project examining state funding models for Broad Access Institutions, which they presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) 2024 conference. We also talk about what it was like to conduct this research and present as doctoral students. 

About our guests:  

A third-generation Montanan and proud miner's daughter, Katie Kleinhesselink is a passionate advocate for higher education's role in meeting community-identified needs across the Rocky Mountain West. Katie currently serves as the Program Director for Strategic Initiatives for the University of Colorado Boulder’s Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship. Her research interests include higher education’s role in democracy and rural higher education with a focus on regional public universities. Katie holds a master's degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in women's studies from the University of Montana and is a PhD candidate in Higher Education at the University of Denver. 

Essa Njie is from The Gambia and obtained a BSc in Political Science from the University of The Gambia. Essa holds a master’s degree in Human Rights and Democratization in Africa from the University of Pretoria, and another master’s degree in Security, Leadership, and Society from King’s College London. He has previously lectured courses in International Relations, International Law, Diplomacy and Foreign Policy, Good Governance, Human Rights, and Democracy, as well as Politics of Developing Societies at the University of The Gambia. Essa is a PhD student in Higher Education at the Morgridge College of Education, University of Denver, with research interest in the intersection of politics and higher education in transitional democracies- the role of higher education in a healthy and functioning democracy. He is also passionate about international and comparative higher education as well as policy issues around higher education funding.  

 

Some links to things we talk about: 

The ASHE 2025 Conference will be in Denver! Proposals will be accepted until April 30, 2025.  

Information about WICHE: the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education 

 

 

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. 

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