Bartlett, McGuigan, & Miller Join ELPS this Fall as New Faculty Members
Bartlett, McGuigan, & Miller Join ELPS this Fall as New Faculty Members
The Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies is excited to announce that three faculty members joined our department this Fall! Dr. Caroline Bartlett, Dr. Allie McGuigan, and Dr. Ryan Miller each joined the ELPS team following successful faculty searches earlier this year.
First, Dr. Caroline Bartlett joined ELPS as an Assistant Professor! Her research uses quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods to understand how education policies enhance or constrain educational opportunities for historically underserved groups of students, with a particular focus on multilingual students classified as English learners (ELs). Feel free to check out her CV here!
Her research has been supported by a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship. She holds a Ph.D. in Education Policy and K-12 Educational Leadership from Michigan State University and an M.P.A. with a focus in Education Policy Analysis from Texas A&M University. She teaches education policy and politics. Before her Ph.D., Caroline worked as an English as a Second Language and English teacher!
“I’m excited to begin my faculty career here as an Assistant Professor in ELPS. It has been a pleasure to get to know the department’s outstanding scholars, staff, and EdD students,” said Dr. Bartlett. “I look forward to continuing my research in education policy, law, and finance, while teaching in the EdD program and working and learning alongside EdD students who are engaged with pressing policy issues across the country.”
Next, Dr. Allie McGuigan joined ELPS as an Associate Professor of Practice and the Coordinator of our Higher Education Administration Master’s Program! She obtained her doctorate and graduate certificate in institutional research through Penn State, and her master’s in postsecondary educational leadership and student affairs from San Diego State University. Her research, which focuses on online education, examines relationship building, engagement, and connection for online learners. Dr. McGuigan’s CV can be found here!
Allie’s professional interests span numerous student affairs offices, and she has had experiences in residence life, new student orientation, summer bridge programs, academic advising, student life and leadership, and more. She also served on the Board of Trustees for The Pennsylvania State University which developed her interest in university governance and administration. Allie enjoys teaching courses related to college student development, governance, higher education law, and more – and working with online students to help them integrate into their online campuses.
“I am thrilled to join the faculty at UTK and to coordinate the online master’s in higher education administration program. From my very first conversations with students and colleagues, it is clear that this is a fantastic department and program to work in and learn from,” said Dr. McGuigan. “I’ve worked in online program coordination for nearly a decade, and I am eager to use my experience to help continue to grow this program alongside such talented colleagues. I especially look forward to forming meaningful relationships with students and being a small part of their academic and professional journeys within higher education.”
Lastly, Dr. Ryan Miller joined ELPS as a Professor of Higher Education and the Coordinator of our Higher Education Administration Ph.D. Program! Informed by his background as a student affairs practitioner and first-generation college graduate, Ryan’s scholarship focuses on the experiences of minoritized social groups in higher education (primarily LGBTQ+ and disabled students). He has produced more than 70 publications on these topics in outlets including AERA Open, Journal of Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, The Review of Higher Education, and Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. He teaches courses on student affairs administration, college student development, and research design. Dr. Miller’s Google Scholar can be viewed here!
Nationally, Ryan serves as vice chair for the Council for the Advancement of Higher Education Programs and associate editor (and former editor) of the College Student Affairs Journal. He was named an Emerging Scholar for ACPA College Student Educators International and is a former Fellow of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. Ryan’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, John M. Belk Endowment, ACPA, and NASPA.
Prior to joining the University of Tennessee, Ryan was a tenured faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and an administrator at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of North Florida. He holds graduate degrees in higher education administration including his Ph.D. from UT-Austin and master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Ryan received the Melvene D. Hardee Dissertation of the Year award from NASPA; the Outstanding Publication Award from the NASPA Faculty Assembly; and was named the Bonnie E. Cone Early Career Professor in Teaching at UNC Charlotte.
“I’m excited to continue my faculty career at the University of Tennessee and to work with outstanding graduate students, faculty, and staff,” said Dr. Miller. “The higher education administration Ph.D. program has a rich history and strong reputation nationwide, and I’m looking forward to building on the success of the program while I also continue my research agenda at UTK. I’m teaching first-year doctoral students this semester and have found them to be enthusiastic, intellectually curious, and interested in shaping the future of the field.”
The Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies is excited to welcome three new faculty members to the department as we continue our work to enrich the knowledge, skills, and values requisite to effective leadership, teaching, and research in educational settings. ELPS prepares administrators for schools and colleges, faculty for colleges and universities, and policy scholars for service in state, regional and national agencies associated with educational and human service enterprises. For more information on our programs, please visit this page!