Leadership Team
Dr. Aileen Reed
Dr. Aileen Reid is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Educational Research Methodology department and a Senior Fellow in the Office of Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Services (OAERS) at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She is the Co-PI for Spartans ADVANCE: Adaptations of best practices for faculty equity, diversity, and inclusion. Dr. Reid has expertise in culturally responsive, STEM and mixed methods research and evaluation, educational measurement and assessment, and organizational change. She investigates inequities in outcomes among faculty, first-generation students, students from low SES backgrounds, and in STEM education contexts. Other strands of her research and practice involve applications of research methods, evaluation, and measurement to address problems in education.
Dr. Cerise L. Glenn Manigault
Dr. Cerise L. Glenn Manigault (PhD, Howard University) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is a former director the UNCG Faculty Mentoring Program. Her research focuses on professional and social identity of underrepresented groups and mentoring diverse groups in higher education from intersectional perspectives. She also examines how African American women negotiate their identities utilizing Black feminist and womanist thought. She received The Order of Pisgah Award for Alumni Achievement, from the UNC Asheville in 2020. She was awarded the 2016 Outstanding Book Chapter of the Year for her chapter on mentoring experiences of African-American female graduate students. She was also awarded the Feminist Teacher-Mentor Award, Organization for the Study of Communication Language and Gender in 2016.
Dr. Shelly Brown-Jeffy
Dr. Shelly L. Brown-Jeffy is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She received her Ph. D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan. Her interest in racial/ethnic inequality and socioeconomic disadvantage is evident in her teaching and research. The goal of her research is to examine and understand differences in educational outcomes among racial/ethnic/socioeconomic groups. In teaching, she helps others understand that our social world structures our social reality.
Dr. Julia Mendez Smith
Julia Mendez Smith is a Professor of Psychology. She also is co-PI of the National Hispanic Research Center on Children and Families, federally funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation. She received her Ph.D. in school, community, and clinical psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests involve the study of children and families experiencing poverty, and how schools and parents support the development and resilience of young children. She has particular expertise studying home-school partnerships among low-income, African American and Latino families with children enrolled in early childhood programs, such as Head Start. She serves on several editorial boards in her field, including the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology and Adversity and Resilience Science. At UNCG, she serves as the Chancellor’s Fellow for Campus Climate, providing programs and support for equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Dr. Malcolm Schug
Dr. Malcolm Schug is an Associate Professor of Biology. His research interests are in the field of evolutionary genetics and animal behavior. He studies a variety of animals and uses genetic, behavioral, and molecular methods to test hypotheses aimed at understanding the mechanisms of natural selection in natural populations. Presently his research is focused on the effects of natural selection on molecular genetic variation in a species of fruitfly, Drosophila ananassae, from the South Pacific Islands and Asia. He is interested in the interactions between natural selection, migration, genetic drift, and chromosomal crossing-over during adaptation and speciation.
Collaborator
Dr. Ayesha Boyce
Dr. Boyce is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Research Methodology in the School of Education at UNCG. She is also the Co-Director of the UNCG Office of Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Services (OAERS). Her research focuses on attending to value stances and issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, access, cultural responsiveness, and social justice within evaluation—especially multi-site, STEM, and contexts with historically marginalized populations. She also examines teaching, mentoring, and learning in evaluation. She has evaluated over 40 programs funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), US Department of Education, National Institutes of Health, and Spencer and Teagle foundations. She is currently the external evaluator for five NSF funded projects and a Co-Principal Investigator on four NSF funded projects.