The Public Engagement Faculty Fellows Program is open to all full-time faculty (tenure-track, specialized, etc.) with their primary appointment in the College of Education. A maximum of four faculty fellows will be selected for the upcoming academic year. Faculty at the assistant professor level are especially encouraged to apply.

Congratulations to Idalia Nuñez, assistant professor of Curriculum & Instruction, who is the 2023 recipient of the Early Career Award from the AERA Language and Social Processes special interest group (SIG).

Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Special Education, Erica Mason, and a team of scholars from the College of Education: Emily Stone (lead coordinator), James Harden, Victor Perez, Gloriana González Rivera, and Dean Chrystalla Mouza! They have been selected for an Engaged Unit Program Award through the Office of the Chancellor. In their project, they will develop a strategic plan that improves the quantity, quality, and sustainability of the college’s community-engaged research and teaching partnerships, with the aim of centering the community partners in developing a college-wide strategic action plan for public engagement. The college’s leadership will collaborate closely with twelve community partners to host invited feedback sessions with the broader community. The strategic work will be supported by rotating members of the college’s recently established Public Engagement Faculty Fellows program.

We are deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of our colleague and friend Dr. Stafford L. Hood on Sunday, January 15, 2023, at the age of 70.

Funeral services have been arranged, as follows:

Visitation
Wednesday evening, January 25 (Location TBA)

Funeral Mass
Thursday, January 26, 11 a.m. – noon
St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church
3450 W. Ray Road, Chandler, AZ 85226
(480) 899-1990

Burial Service
Thursday, January 26, 12:30 – 1 p.m.
Queen of Heaven Cemetery
1562 E. Baseline Road, Mesa, AZ 85204
(480) 892-3729

Falconer Funeral Home
251 W. Juniper Avenue, Gilbert, AZ 85233
(480) 545-5207

The Hood family has indicated that additional information will be forthcoming. At this time, condolences may be sent to the College of Education c/o Dean’s Office, Suite 38, 1310 S. Sixth Street, Champaign, IL 61820.

Hood was the Sheila M. Miller Professor Emeritus of Education and Founding Director Emeritus of the Center for Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment in the College of Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. During his tenure at Illinois, Hood held faculty appointments as professor of Curriculum & Instruction and Educational Psychology. He also served as the College’s associate dean for research and research education and department head of Curriculum and Instruction. Previous to Illinois, Hood served as professor of psychology in education and associate dean for research in the College of Education at Arizona State University.

Hood had more than three decades of experience as a university professor, researcher, scholar, and practitioner in program evaluation and assessment with a specific focus in culture and cultural context, along with a focus on contributions of African American evaluators during the Pre-Brown v. Board of Education (1930-1954) era. His work significantly influenced the development of culturally responsive evaluation (CRE) as a form of evaluative inquiry and practice by prioritizing the centrality of culture as well as cultural context. Hood received extensive federal and private funding for his work in this area particularly as an external evaluator for federally funded projects focusing on broadening participation in STEM. He served as a program evaluation assessment consultant to the federal government, state governments, local school districts, universities, private foundations, and internationally.

Hood was a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (2016), received the American Evaluation Association’s 2015 Paul F. Lazarsfeld Evaluation Theory Award, was conferred an honorary appointment as Adjunct Professor in the School of Education Studies at Dublin City University (Dublin, Ireland) in 2014, and was a Fellow of the American Council on Education (2001-2002).

At Uni Primary, children are valued as competent, curious citizens, engaged in creative, challenging, and meaningful project studies and curriculum.