September 2021

Georgina Rosenbrock, a doctoral student in the school psychology program, has been selected as a LoneStar Leadership Education in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities fellow through the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. This training program is designed to develop leaders in the field of autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. Rosenbrock’s research includes partnering with and empowering parents raising children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Norma Olvera, a professor in the Department of Psychological, Health, & Learning Sciences, was elected chair of the Nutrition Education Beyond Weight Division of the Society of Nutrition Education and Behavior. She will serve a one-year term, which began Aug. 28, 2021.

Elizabeth Guzmán, a doctoral student in the professional leadership — K-12 program, has been appointed the 504/dyslexia coordinator for Clear Creek ISD to support students with disabilities. She previously was an assistant principal in Pearland ISD.

Several faculty members were selected for the 2021-22 UH Cougar Chairs Leadership Academy, a professional development opportunity to develop leadership skills to promote student success: Conra Gist and Susie Gronseth from the Department of Curriculum & Instruction; Bradley Davis and Kristen Hassett from the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies; and Toya Conston and Virmarie Correa-Fernández from the Department of Psychological, Health, & Learning Sciences.

Kristi Santi, an associate professor in the special population program, has received The President’s Volunteer Service award from AmeriCorps. This award honors individuals whose service positively impacts communities across the nation. Santi received the award for her work leading conferences, research and teams whose focus is on bettering the educational outcomes of students with disabilities.

August 2021

Jessica Tovar-Hilbert, who earned an M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction – reading and language arts in 2010 and an Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction – reading and language arts in 2017, was recently promoted to program coordinator for professional learning at Klein ISD. Tovar-Hilbert previously taught second grade at Krahn Elementary School in the district.

Tiffany Galloway, a doctoral student in the higher education program, has joined the UH Women and Gender Resource Center as the gender equity program manager. Galloway is currently researching support systems for Black women and trans and nonbinary students within higher education.

Taewon Kim, a doctoral student in the counseling psychology program, received the 2021 Graduate Student Research Award from the American Psychological Association’s Society of Vocational Psychology. She earned the award based on her development of a measurement tool to reflect underemployed Korean workers’ experiences influenced by cultural contexts and insecure job markets. Her article about her research was published in the Journal of Career Assessment in 2020.

Neha Anand, a doctoral student in the curriculum and instruction — science education program, recently published an article in School Science and Mathematics about elementary students and their parents’ perceptions of informal STEM learning environments.

Keith Butcher, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, has been appointed to the UH Office of Faculty Engagement and Development’s Faculty Advisory Board. The board is an advocate for enhancing student success and serves a constituency concerned with teaching and learning, research, service, and maintaining a culture of faculty excellence. Sara McNeil, an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction, and April Peters-Hawkins, an associate professor and associate chair of the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, also serve on the advisory board.

July 2021

Katrina Cushenberry, who earned an Ed.D. in professional leadership — mathematics education in 2020, is the new mathematics director for secondary curriculum and development at Houston ISD. She previously worked as a secondary mathematics curriculum specialist in the district.

Mycah Ayala and Mariana Vázquez, doctoral students in the school psychology program, have been awarded blue ribbons for their research posters by the American Psychological Association’s Committee on School Psychology. Ayala’s poster (“Primary Care Providers’ Special Education Discussions with Families of Children with Autism”) and Vázquez’s poster (“Teachers’ Characteristics as Predictors of Parent Perceptions of Invitations for Involvement”) fell within the top third of ratings across relevancy to the field, contribution to the research literature, research design and overall quality of the submission.