Career Advice from the Nation’s Education Leaders
At left, Rudy Crew delivered the keynote at the conference, which included several breakout sessions. At right, Myrna Morales and Pedro Garcia participated on a panel for site administrators.
Nearly 200 Rossier alumni, students, and education leaders, nearly double last year’s roster, attended the 2nd annual USC Rossier K-12/Higher Education Leadership Conference on July 26 to network and hear from the nation’s top education leaders about the state of the profession today. The conference, which includes breakout panel discussions focused on career pathways for leaders of schools and districts, featured a special panel for higher education leaders for the first time. “One thing that’s unique about USC is the connections you maintain after you get your degree,” Greg Franklin BA ’83, EdD ’97, superintendent of Tustin Unified School District, told the crowd, which included a significant showing of EdD alumni and students. “No other group in the world looks after their own like USC does.” Co-sponsored by the Dean’s Superintendents Advisory Group (DSAG), which Franklin chairs, the conference was attended by members of the Rossier Board of Councilors, including Mark Rocha PhD ’88, superintendent/president of Pasadena City College; Don Leisey EdD ’73, former superintendent and educational entrepreneur; and Carol Fox MS ’62, USC Trustee and Board of Councilors Chair. Rossier Professor Rudy Crew, who was recently appointed as Oregon’s Chief Education Officer, delivered a rousing keynote on leadership in the K-12 education system, and the critical issues that future leaders must address in order to truly transform their school districts for the better. “How you frame the discussion means everything,” Crew said. “How you enter the human heart is everything, because this is just as much about the heart as it is the mind.” Later, attendees broke into four targeted panel discussion sessions according to their careers of interest, featuring insights and advice from a host of Rossier alumni with experience in the field. Rossier Professor Pedro Garcia EdD ‘83, former superintendent of Nashville Public Schools, moderated a panel for site administrators, which featured Erik Elward EdD ‘11, founding principal of Alliance Health Services Academy High School; Myrna Morales EdD ’05, assistant superintendent of human resources for Paramount Unified School District; and Andrew Pulver EdD ‘11, assistant superintendent of human resources for the Los Alamitos Unified School District. Franklin led a panel for district officers, with panelists Derrick Chau PhD ‘02, instructional director at LAUSD; Helen Morgan BS ‘82, EdD ‘10, superintendent of Hawthorne School District; and Jim Elsasser EdD ‘11, superintendent of Claremont Unified School District. Rossier Executive in Residence Mike Escalante EdD ‘02, former superintendent of Glendale Unified School District, moderated the superintendents panel, featuring Rossier Professor Rudy Castruita EdD ’82, former superintendent of schools for San Diego County, and Peggy Lynch, former superintendent for San Dieguito Union High School District. Rocha moderated the conference’s higher education panel, which included Felicito Cajayon EdD ’12, vice chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District’s Economic & Workforce Development Department; Sonja G. Daniels EdD ‘10, associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Cal State Dominguez Hills; Felicia Hunt ME ’96, EdD ‘04, associate dean of graduate studies at Cal Tech; and USC Professor John Brooks Slaughter, former president of Occidental College. n
USC Rossier School of Education
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