The Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Annual Conference theme this year is “Freedom to Learn”. ASHE President Anna Neumann asks us to consider access to learning, the types of learning that are privileged in higher education, and the kinds of learning that are happening in higher education. OCCRL Staff and UIUC faculty and students will significantly contribute to conversations around freedom and learning at the 2012 Annual Conference in Las Vegas.

The full conference program is available at the ASHE website, and below is a list of OCCRL and UIUC presentations. Are you going to ASHE? We invite you to talk with us at our sessions. Afterward, tell us what you’ve learned and what you’re wondering about. What are some of your key takeaways? We look forward to seeing you in Vegas and working together to better understand issues issues of freedom and learning in today’s universities.

OCCRL Participants

Jason L. Taylor; Debra Bragg; Lorenzo Baber (Co-Presenters): Towards A Conceptual Model for a College Readiness Program

Jason L. Taylor (Presenter): Accessing opportunity: Describing community college dual credit and estimating the influence of participation on college enrollment

Lorenzo Baber; Royel M. Johnson; Brandon Common; Terrance Range (Co-Presenters): Black masculinity in the academy

Julia Panke Makela (Presenter): Influences of college career services on students’ career decision-making self-efficacy

Anjalé Welton (Presenter): “The epitome of privilege and exclusivity”: How assistant professors of color draw upon various forms of capital to navigate the academy

Jennifer A. Delaney (Session Chair): The end of the degree

Jennifer A. Delaney (Presenter): The Role of Tuition Fees in the Spread of Higher Education around the Globe

Jennifer Delaney (Chair): Public Policy Pre-Conference Forum

Jennifer Delaney (Presidential Session Presenter): Promoting College Affordability

Gloria Shenoy (Presenter): “Go directly to the school”: How international students sort gathered information about community college

Royel M. Johnson; Brandon Common (Co-Presenters): My brother’s keeper: African American male mentor relationships in doctoral programs

Blanca Rincon; Casey George-Jackson (Co-Presenters): Examining Departmental Climate for Women in Engineering

Erin L. Castro (alum, Presenter): Social science derived from deficit models: Race, equity, and a critique of David Conley’s college readiness framework