GTF FELLOWS: COHORT 3

GTF Fellows was created for the foundation to have a role in building research and teaching capacity for Texas faculty working in areas related to the foundation’s mission and strategy. Over time, GTF Fellows will create a broad and deep network of highly talented and committed Texas researchers working to understand barriers for students and identify research-based solutions to help more Texas students access and succeed at the postsecondary level.

Following a competitive proposal process in 2015, the foundation selected four individuals for the third cohort of the GTF Faculty Fellowship Program (GTF Fellows)Each GTF Fellow receives up to $30,000 per year for a period of three years to support a proposed research agenda. Through the application process, each fellow identifies a mentor to assist them throughout the three-year fellowship. Each of the selected fellows’ home institutions committed to a partial match for the program.

Please read on to learn more about the third cohort of GTF Fellows:

Dr. Taryn Ozuna Allen
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, College of Education, The University of Texas at Arlington

  • Mentor: Dr. Maria Martinez-Cosio, Associate Professor, College of Architecture and Public Policy and Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Development, The University of Texas at Arlington
  • “The Greater Texas Foundation Fellowship offers several key benefits. It provides an opportunity for me to build upon my current research focused on college readiness and access, STEM, and Latino students’ higher education experiences. With the resources and mentorship I receive from this program, I will be able to uniquely examine Latino students’ educational experiences in STEM while in college and beyond. This study will also allow me to explore the distinct characteristics of a Hispanic Serving Institution and how these characteristics promote Latino student success. As I conduct this study I will be able to address important education issues affecting the state of Texas and to contribute to higher education research, policy, and practice in meaningful ways. Ultimately, this fellowship will serve as the foundation for future areas of study and will help me achieve my long-term career goals.” 

Dr. Amy J. Bach
Assistant Professor of Literacy and Co-Director of the Ethnography of Languages, Literacies, and Learning (EL3) Lab, College of Education, The University of Texas at El Paso

  • Mentor: Dr. Erika Mein, Associate Professor of Literacy/Biliteracy Education, College of Education, The University of Texas at El Paso
  • “This fellowship with the Greater Texas Foundation provides me with immeasurable support to examine how state accountability policies shape the educational experiences of English language learners on the U.S./Mexico border. I am proud to be included among a growing and committed network of GTF scholars who have dedicated their careers to improving educational opportunities and outcomes for historically marginalized students. Through this fellowship, I hope to discover ways to bring my academic work to bear on local, state, and federal education policy, as well as to apply my study findings in ways that will further develop UTEP’s teacher education program.”

Dr. Imani Masters Goffney
Assistant Professor, Mathematics Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Houston: College of Education

  • Mentor: Dr. Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Dean, School of Education, University of Michigan William H. Payne Collegiate Professor and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in Education, Research Professor, Institute for Social Research
  • “My work as a Greater Texas Foundation fellow will extend my current research on equitable and ambitious mathematics teaching with undergraduate students by also focusing on early career teachers.  In doing so, I will also study the effectiveness of the University of Houston EC-6 teacher preparation program and examine the impact of our program, especially in the area of career readiness for teaching equitable and ambitious mathematics to elementary students in Texas schools. In my study I will follow recent graduates from our program into their first teaching position to both evaluate their preparedness, and to provide support that is critically important during their first two years of teaching.  Participating as a GTF fellow will be very beneficial at this stage of my career by helping to extend my current research agenda, working collaboratively with amazing fellows from across the state who are also interested in serving diverse students in Texas, and providing critical support that I need for advancing to promotion and tenure.”

Dr. Huriya Jabbar
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Administration, The University of Texas at Austin

  • Mentor: Dr. Philip Uri Treisman, Professor of Mathematics and of Public Affairs, Director of Charles A. Dana Center, The University of Texas at Austin
  • “This fellowship will allow me to extend my previous work on K–12 school choice into the higher education field to study how low-income, first-generation community college students navigate and make decisions about transferring to a four-year institution. Community colleges have received a great deal of attention from policymakers and advocates who seek to increase college attendance and completion rates, particularly for low-income students, but we still know little about how students actually navigate the complex process of transferring, and what barriers and supports they encounter along the way. This is an area I have always been interested in studying, and this fellowship will give me the opportunity to extend my work in this exciting new direction, with guidance and support from my mentor, Dr. Uri Treisman, GTF staff, and my new network of GTF Fellows.”
 
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