Former state legislator Kelvin Roldan will be starting a new job as deputy education commissioner in Rhode Island – focusing on reforming the troubled public schools in Providence.

Effective talent-development programs train teachers to work as talent scouts, spotting children who may not have the motivation or support they need to excel academically in traditional classrooms, said Del Siegle, the director of the National Center for Research on Gifted Education at the University of Connecticut.

This past fall, students in the Neag School’s Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) graduate program have been publishing op-eds in the Hartford Courant on topics related to higher education administration.

Rebecca Campbell-Montalvo, postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, is co-principal investigator on a new $500,000 federal research grant funded by the National Science Foundation.

“The expansion of college campuses into urban areas contributes to the issue of gentrification, as colleges and universities have the ability to impact the socio-cultural landscapes of the communities they choose to inhabit,” says Santana Mowbray, a graduate student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program.

Every year just before Thanksgiving, UConn Baseball Head Coach Jim Penders leads a run up the steep hill at New Storrs Cemetery on the northern side of campus. The destination is the Storrs family grave, which sits on top of the hill – always with a clear view of Storrs Congregational Church, as stipulated by the Storrs brothers’ will.

“In order to reach the goal of a more diverse student population that is equitably served, it’s not enough to offer admission to a more diverse range of students — they must also be provided a network of programs and resources that supports their needs,” says Kailee Himes.