Wisconsin’s Equity & Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) Research Associate Walter P. Parrish III will serve as graduate research associate at the American Council on Education, Center for Policy Research and Strategy beginning in May. Parrish will work on various ongoing projects that relate to post-traditional learners, minority-serving institutions, affirmative action, and institutional capacity.
The Center for Policy Research and Strategy (CPRS) conducts research that informs and advises policymakers and college leaders on solutions to systematic and long-term questions. Parrish will work with the center on on-going efforts, which will offer policy recommendations and inform multimillion-dollar grant proposals. Please visit CPRS projects for a listing of select on-going work, which includes the American College President Survey, Minority-Serving Institutions Issue and Policy Brief Series, and Military-connected Students in American Higher Education.
Parrish is one of two candidates selected out of a highly-competitive pool of over 70 applicants. As a graduate research associate at CPRS, Parrish says he is particularly excited to be involved in the American College President Study, the oldest and most exhaustive study on the pipeline into and profile of the college president.
“It is affirming and inspiring to know that diversity-related research is influencing policy and programmatic efforts at the national level…”
“I am ecstatic to contribute to the great work of this team and continue to grow as a higher education professional and scholar.
“I have been interested in ACE for the past year. I’ve always wanted to explore policy work, but I did not think there was a space for my research interests in those spaces. It is affirming and inspiring to know that diversity-related research is influencing policy and programmatic efforts at the national level for students and higher education leaders,” Parrish said.
Parrish is a second year doctoral student at the UW-Madison School of Education, in the department of Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis. His work primarily explores the nexus between organizational behavior, workforce diversity, and workplace issues and their effects on marginalized faculty and administrators in higher education. In addition, Parrish is a graduate assistant for assessment at UW-Madison’s Multicultural Student Center where he evaluates learning outcomes of social justice trainings and initiatives.