St. Edward’s Offers Free “Staying Well in a Global Pandemic” Course
Off
AUSTIN, Texas — St. Edward’s University is launching a free, online course for the community: “Staying Well in a Global Pandemic.”
In this three-part, three-hour course, academic experts lead an examination of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic through the lens of history, art and psychology. The course is aimed at helping individuals process the pandemic and its implications, and learn ways to better care for themselves and their communities during this challenging time.
Innovative faculty members at St. Edward’s originally designed the course for entering freshmen last summer. After seeing it resonate with students, the university has made the course available on YouTube so that people near and far can benefit.
The course is ideal for educators who are teaching similar topics in their classroom, college-bound students and adult learners. We encourage everyone to dive into the course, sharpen your critical thinking skills and learn how to stay well during this global pandemic.
To start the self-guided course, visit the St. Edward’s YouTube channel:
More about the course:
Part 1: People and Power: Plagues as Disrupters
Instructors: Mity Myhr and Christie Wilson, professors of History
Time: 45 minutes
Description: This class session will investigate how plagues over time have disrupted society and even brought fundamental changes to societies impacted by their devastation. We will examine how they highlight social, political and economic inequalities, how they have the ability to tear down, build up or reinforce existing structures, and how such changes could endure. We will consider how similar forces might be at work in our own era of pandemic, questions that will be explored in depth over the rest of this course.
Part 2: Healing Power of the Arts: Coping, Community-Building and Re-Emergence
Instructors: Kathryn Eader, associate professor of Theater Design, and Michelle Polgar, managing director of Mary Moody Northen Theatre
Time: 60 minutes
Description: This class session will examine the healing power of art, taking an in-depth look at how communities have relied on art to help connect and cope during pandemics in the past and how our modern community has harnessed that power during Covid-19. Additionally, it will explore how the arts can help us emerge from our current environment.
Part 3: Living with Unpredictability: Stress, Coping and Resilience during Covid-19
Instructors: Katy Goldey, associate professor of Behavioral Neuroscience and Dr. Kadie Rackley, assistant professor of Psychology
Time: 60 minutes
Description: This session examines the impact of Covid-19 on psychological wellbeing. Right now, many people are grappling with anxiety caused by Covid-19 itself, the mental health implications of lost employment or disruption to routines, and loneliness. The term “quarantine fatigue” is becoming a popular way to describe feelings of physical and emotional exhaustion stemming from social distancing. This session will discuss why the pandemic is a unique stressor and the impact of stress on the body and brain. It will also discuss what we can do about it — concrete strategies based in social and behavioral science for students seeking to maintain social connections, mental health and academic performance during a global pandemic.
*View suggested reading and resources for each class here.
*If you are an educator and would like to access the complete six-part course, please email the Munday Library at archivist@stedwards.edu.
New Game-Changing Policy for Transfer Students Explained
Off
AUSTIN, Texas — Glenda Ballard, associate vice president of Graduate and Professional Studies, is passionate about transfer students and the great things they can achieve when given the opportunity.
Ballard’s own career stands as a role model for transfer student success.
The East Texas native began her academic career at a community college before transferring to a four-year institution where she attained a teaching degree and then a master’s degree in Counseling. She went on to receive her doctorate from Virginia Tech in Adult and Continuing Education. Ballard also worked as an educator in community colleges and public institutions before landing at St. Edward’s.
Her own personal start at a community college and experience in education is one reason why she set out a few years ago to lead the development of St. Edward’s University’s new Core Complete policy, which provides a seamless pathway for transfer students to St. Edward’s, ensuring that credits they’ve taken count toward their degree without a need for repeating courses.
“I have been a generalist in my career, but the one constant has been my passion for pathways for first-generation college students and, specifically, how the community college can facilitate that success in everyone’s journey,” Ballard said in an interview with The Higher Ed Geek Podcast.
Ballard was recently featured on The Higher Ed Geek Podcast discussing transfer policy, and she’s written an op-ed on the subject, both are highlighted on this page.
Transfer Students Now Have a Seamless Path to a Private University
By Glenda Ballard,
Associate Vice President of Graduate and Professional Studies
St. Edward’s University
When Emmett Mushock decided to transfer from Austin Community College to St. Edward’s University to pursue a major in communications, he worried that he might have to retake basic courses.
But, beginning this fall, transfer students who matriculate into St. Edward’s University as “core complete” under the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Texas Core Curriculum will not be expected to take any additional lower division coursework to satisfy the general education of the university. Instead, students may focus on completing the four-year degree by taking degree-required courses for their majors only. This enables them to complete a St. Edward’s degree in a timely manner.
“As a third-year transfer student from ACC, I think that St. Edward's is acting in the best interest of students like myself by accepting the core complete general education courses, without the need for a repeat,” Mushock said. “Now, I get to study what I’m most passionate about.”
To our knowledge, St. Edward’s is the first private university in Texas to adopt a full ‘transfer-friendly’ policy. When students transfer schools, they often lose credits and as a result, take longer to complete their degrees. Many don’t end up graduating at all. With this move, we are embracing the belief that Texas community college students bring two years of college credit toward their degrees in any given year.
Much of this decision emanates from the change in the traditional college freshman. In the past, a student graduated from high school, moved to a college of their choosing, and embraced that school’s curriculum for a four-year degree. More and more, recruiters from private institutions are hearing, “How many of my college hours will you accept?” Or, “If I graduate with a two-year associate’s degree from my local community college, can I be sure that I will only have to take coursework toward my major to graduate?”
For students who would excel at a small, private institution but felt restricted because of cost or time, this decision provides a way for them to maximize their investment.
“Hats off to this decision to accept Texas community college students who complete the core curriculum as having completed the university’s general education requirements,” said Charles M. Cook, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs at Austin Community College District. “This has the potential to motivate more students to complete a baccalaureate degree. It’s a win-win for students and the state.”
According to a Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s 2019 update, only 35% of students who start at a Texas community college transfer to a university within six years. THECB also reports that those students who do transfer complete their degrees at a rate that is 17 percentage points lower than the students who start at the same institution in their cohort.
That’s where private universities come in. Private liberal arts colleges offer support services, small class size and mission-based curriculum — all things that research shows can make a difference in whether a student is successful and graduates from college. Because of this new core complete policy, students can now access the private university model in a way they potentially couldn’t before.
The Higher Ed Geek Podcast
Glenda Ballard, associate vice president of Graduate and Professional Studies, chatted with The Higher Ed Geek Podcast's Dustin Ramsdell about St. Edward's new transfer policy and what it means for transfer students in the podcast's BONUS Episode #108: Dr. Glenda Ballard on Seamless Transfer Policies.
Commentary: Abbott, board hurting LGBTQ+ youth in Texas
Off
By Adam McCormick
Assistant professor of Social Work
In a unanimous vote, the Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners recently changed a section of its code of conduct and will now allow social workers to turn away clients based on disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.
This change, made at the recommendation of Gov. Greg Abbott and without public input from social work professionals, has been met with criticism from social workers across the state. Social workers have argued these changes are in direct violation of the profession’s code of ethics.
Perhaps there is no youth population in our state in greater need of the services of social workers than LGBTQ+ youth, who experience nearly every form of child maltreatment at disproportionately higher rates than non-LGBTQ+ youth.
Given the overwhelming rates of trauma, abuse and discrimination, it is no surprise LGBTQ+ youth are much more likely to need the services of social workers. One in every 3 teens who dies by suicide each year have LGBTQ+ identities. LGBTQ+ youth are nearly three times as likely to be placed in foster care and nearly four times as likely to experience homelessness than non-LGBTQ+ youth. Having an LGBTQ+ identity is the single greatest risk factor for child sex trafficking.
Many LGBTQ+ youth need social workers. It is disheartening to think the governor’s office and the state Board of Social Work Examiners would allow for state-sanctioned discrimination against a population already facing so much adversity. It is equally disheartening they did so when they could have instead engaged in efforts to better equip the social workers across Texas who are working every day to address the safety and mental health needs of our most vulnerable youth.
LGBTQ+ youth who are served by social workers are often experiencing crises rooted in issues related to the rejection and marginalization they experience from their families and peers. LGBTQ+ youth who experience rejection are nearly eight times as likely to attempt suicide and nearly six times as likely to be depressed than those who had experiences of acceptance. Given these experiences of rejection, the idea of a social worker denying services for reasons related to a youth’s identity can be especially harmful.
Some would argue that a social worker who denies services based on a youth’s sexual orientation or gender identity could simply refer the youth to another social worker willing to uphold the profession’s code of ethics. Doing so, however, only serves to further reinforce the experiences of family rejection and marginalization from the very people who are supposed to protect and advocate for their clients’ safety and affirm who they are.
Instead of seeking measures that further embolden a tiny fraction of people who would take advantage of these protections, leaders should work to create safer schools for LGBTQ+ youth, work with families to foster acceptance and affirmation, and fund homeless youth and foster care programs that provide affirming and accepting services. Social workers have an ethical obligation to challenge injustice on behalf of our state’s most vulnerable and oppressed populations.
For the overwhelming majority of social workers, it is this unapologetic commitment to social justice that attracted them to social work, and it’s the profession’s commitment to fighting for those on the margins that make them proud to call themselves social workers. These are the very reasons that most social workers are disheartened and incensed by this decision.
This commentary was originally published in the San Antonio Express-News.
St. Edward’s University Partners with Austin Coding Academy on Flexible Software Development Program
Off
AUSTIN, Texas — St. Edward’s University is partnering with Austin Coding Academy, one of the largest coding bootcamps in the state of Texas and a leader in technology education, to launch a Software Developer program aimed at providing practical and accessible technical training.
The Software Development program by Austin Coding Academy at St. Edward’s University is a 10-month, part-time, in-person program led by professional developers. Austin Coding Academy’s certified instructors will deliver proven curriculum, and career services specialists will provide support throughout the program.
St. Edward’s University selected Austin Coding Academy because of its experience in partnering with higher education institutions. With a shared belief in equity in education, St. Edward’s University and Austin Coding Academy have designed a program that will prepare individuals of diverse backgrounds to become professional software developers.
The program, which will launch its first cohort in January 2021, offers a flexible schedule for working professionals, unlimited tutoring, affordable tuition and job assistance.
Over the next decade, employment of software developers is projected to grow 22%, much faster than the average for all occupations. In Austin, there are a number of fast-growing tech companies. The average salary for a software developer is $107,510.
Enrollees in the Software Developer program will receive practical, project-based curriculum. The program is a Full Stack Web Development track consisting of five courses, including Intro to Web, Language Basics, Back-End JavaScript, Front-End JavaScript and Job Assistance.
As part of the Software Developer program, students will hone their skills in a capstone project, building real-world applications. They will also receive training in the latest industry tools, including Facebook’s React and Redux development tools. Before graduating, students will take a four-week, job-assistance course, which includes portfolio support, résumé building, networking opportunities and job-finding strategies.
More on the Austin Coding Academy classroom experience:
• Classes utilize the “flipped classroom” approach.
• Each class is taught by an experienced, full-time web developer.
• Software Development program students have access to unlimited tutoring outside of class hours.
Apply to the Software Developer Program by Austin Coding Academy at St. Edward’s University,
About St. Edward’s University:
St. Edward’s University is a private, liberal arts university in the Catholic, Holy Cross tradition with approximately 4,000 students. Located in Austin, Texas, it is one of the top universities in Texas and offers more than 50 undergraduate and 10 graduate programs. With a network of partner universities around the world, St. Edward’s delivers a premier, highly personalized education that helps students explore their own transformational pathways to knowledge, experience, understanding and success. St. Edward’s has been recognized for 18 consecutive years as one of “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report and holds the #8 spot among Best Regional Universities in the West in the U.S. News 2020 and 2021 rankings. For more information on St. Edward’s, visit stedwards.edu/about.
About Austin Coding Academy:
Austin Coding Academy is Austin’s source for innovative tech talent and education. Our mission is to make careers in technology accessible to everyone through practical and equitable technical training and to provide innovative solutions and training to tech companies. Learn more about ACA.
Commentary: The Texas State Board of Education is Failing LGBTQ+ Students
Off
By Katherine Goldey
Associate professor of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience
Last week, the Texas State Board of Education gave preliminary approval to its first revision to sex education standards since 1997. The revised standards take an "abstinence plus" approach with expanded information on contraception. However, the board rejected sets of proposals to: 1) teach middle and high schoolers the definitions of sexual orientation and gender identity, and 2) teach that everyone deserves dignity and respect regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. The SBOE is expected to take a final vote on the standards in November.
The SBOE has missed a vital opportunity to support the well-being of Texas’ youth.
By failing to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity in the curriculum, the SBOE has missed a vital opportunity to support the well-being of Texas' youth. Non-inclusive sex education is associated with negative mental health outcomes, like anxiety and depression, for LGBTQ+ individuals, perhaps because the absence of this information in the curriculum contributes to a school climate that is unsupportive of sexual minority youth. Additionally, cues from the school climate influence whether LGBTQ+ teens feel comfortable coming out, or disclosing their sexual orientation/gender identity to others, versus whether they conceal their identity to avoid ostracism and bullying. Identity concealment is a taxing process associated with a range of negative health and well-being outcomes, including depressive symptoms and low self-esteem. Moreover, research shows that sexual minority and heterosexual youth report better mental health outcomes, including a lower likelihood of suicidal thoughts, in states with LGBTQ+ inclusive sex education, such that inclusive school environments may benefit youth regardless of sexual identity.
SBOE members who voted against the proposals argued that decisions about content related to sexual orientation and gender identity should be left to local school districts. For example, Austin ISD and Fort Worth ISD include content on sexual orientation and gender identity tailored to students' grade levels. But LGBTQ+ students don't just live in Austin and Fort Worth. They live in Amarillo, in Conroe, in Lufkin, in Irving. Sexual and gender minority teens in smaller towns are perhaps most in need of inclusive school sex education, given that these students may have less access to sexual health education outside of school.
In our own recent research, my colleagues and I found that more comprehensive school sex education during adolescence predicted higher sexual satisfaction during young adulthood for heterosexual students but not for LGB+ students. This disparity may occur because even comprehensive sex education methods can fall short at being truly LGB+ inclusive – and indeed, LGB+ students in our study reported that their sex education was less relevant to their sexual experiences than heterosexual students did. But, there was some positive news: Receiving more comprehensive information about sexuality from family members predicted higher satisfaction with sexual communication – regardless of sexual orientation. While sexual satisfaction may seem like a narrow outcome, it is closely linked with overall mental and physical well-being, as well as with avoidance of sexual risk. This underscores the importance of parents talking with their teens about the right for everyone to be treated with dignity, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, especially if this information will be absent from schools.
SBOE's move to leave LGBTQ+ identities out of the revised curriculum standards misses a key opportunity to improve well-being for teens in our state, especially those living outside of major cities. But, if SBOE fails to reconsider the proposals before November, it will be up to local school districts to take action to include information inclusive of LGBTQ+ students in their health curricula. And families have the opportunity to help compensate for omissions in their middle and high schoolers' health education by emphasizing the importance of respect for LGBTQ+ peers at home.
This commentary first appeared in the Austin Chronicle.