Revisiting Rural-Serving Institutions with Dr. Cecilia Orphan
Sarah and Caitlyn are still hard at work on Season 3 of the podcast. In the meantime, we’re revisiting this season 1 episode with Dr. Cecilia Orphan, Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of Denver, and Director of Partnerships for the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC). We talked about Regional Public Universities and Rural-Serving Institutions and why these sectors of higher education are important.
About our guest: Dr. Cecilia M. Orphan is a working class, first-generation college graduate who received maximum Pell grants to attend college. As a child, she experienced homelessness and was a welfare recipient. She is personally familiar with the transformative nature of need based financial aid and colleges designed to expand access after attending Linn Benton Community College, a Rural-Serving Institution (RSI), and Portland State University, a Regional Public University (RPU). Simply put, attending these colleges changed her life. She has devoted my career to expanding understanding of and appreciation for RPUs and RSIs so that other students might enjoy the same opportunities she had, and so that higher education’s contributions to equity and democracy are strengthened. Dr. Orphan is committed to bringing broader exposure and understanding to RPUs and RSIs and improve research, funding, policy, and media coverage of these sectors.
--
Thanks for listening to this episode of Mile Higher Ed. Mile Higher Ed is produced within the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver by Dr. Sarah Hurtado and Caitlyn Potter Glaser. Our theme music is “Summer” by Liborio Conti.
Are you interested in a master’s or doctoral degree in higher education? You could start as early as January 2026. Ready to start the conversation? Use this link to request information. Ready to apply? Complete the admissions application here.
Follow our podcast on Instagram at milehigheredpodcast. Follow Morgridge College of Education at MorgridgeatDU.
Keep up the good work everyone. See you next time!
--------
38:41
--------
38:41
Revisiting our Conversation on Rewiring Settler Colonial Practices with Dr. Chris Nelson
This week we are revisiting our season 1 episode where we talked to Dr. Chris Nelson, Associate Professor and now Chair of the Higher Education Department at the University of Denver. She kindly joined us while on her sabbatical to talk with us about her co-authored piece called “(Re)wiring Settler Colonial Practices in Higher Education: Creating Indigenous-Centered Futures Through Considerations of Power, the Social Place, and Space” in the Higher Education Handbook of Theory and Research.
About our guest: Dr. Chris A. Nelson is from the K’awaika (Laguna Pueblo) and Diné (Navajo) tribal communities. She is an associate professor and department chair for the Higher Education Department. Her scholarship utilizes a blending of critical theory and Indigenous relationality theory to explore the purpose and function of higher education. Harnessing her 20+ years of being a higher education professional and faculty member, she explores how the system of US higher education organizes and operates to better understand how institutions can live out their commitments to supporting Indigenous visibility and presence.
--
Thanks for listening to this episode of Mile Higher Ed. Mile Higher Ed is produced within the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver by Dr. Sarah Hurtado and Caitlyn Potter Glaser. Our theme music is “Summer” by Liborio Conti.
Are you interested in a master’s or doctoral degree in higher education? You could start as early as January 2026. Ready to start the conversation? Use this link to request information. Ready to apply? Complete the admissions application here.
Follow our podcast on Instagram at milehigheredpodcast. Follow Morgridge College of Education at MorgridgeatDU.
Keep up the good work, everyone. See you next time!
--------
35:43
--------
35:43
Revisiting Teaching and Professional Faculty with Dr. Laura Sponsler
While Sarah and Caitlyn work on Season 3 of the podcast, we are revisiting this season 1 episode where we talked to Dr. Laura Sponsler, Clinical Associate Professor of Higher Education and now Director of Faculty Development for the Office of Faculty Affairs. We talked about Teaching & Professional Faculty, also called Non-Tenure-Track Faculty, based on an article Dr. Sponsler had recently published.
About our guest:
Dr. Laura Sponsler is a Clinical Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of Denver, as well as the Director of Faculty Development for the Office of Faculty Affairs. Her work broadly examines the democratic purposes of higher education, in particular how institutions provide space for voice, participation, and inclusive practices, and how these ideals are institutionalized. Dr. Sponsler’s research agenda focuses on the following areas: civic engagement; inclusive teaching, learning, and assessment; organizational change, organizational learning, and faculty development; and the experiences of non-tenure track faculty and their participation in higher education.
--
Thanks for listening to this episode of Mile Higher Ed. Mile Higher Ed is produced within the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver by Dr. Sarah Hurtado and Caitlyn Potter Glaser. Our theme music is “Summer” by Liborio Conti.
Are you interested in a master’s or doctoral degree in higher education? You could start as early as January 2026. Ready to start the conversation? Use this link to request information. Ready to apply? Complete the admissions application here.
Follow our podcast on Instagram at milehigheredpodcast. Follow Morgridge College of Education at MorgridgeatDU.
Keep up the good work everyone. See you next time!
--------
20:15
--------
20:15
Season 3 Trailer
Would you like to contribute to the Professor William E. Cross Jr, PhD Memorial Scholarship? Click here.
Want more information about the University of Denver’s master’s and doctoral programs? Click here.
Mile Higher Ed is produced within the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver by Dr. Sarah Hurtado and Caitlyn Potter Glaser. Our theme music is “Summer” by Liborio Conti.
Follow us on Instagram: @milehigheredpodcast
Follow MCE on Instagram: @morgridgeatdu
Thanks for listening to Mile Higher Ed. Mile Higher Ed is produced within the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver by Dr. Sarah Hurtado and Caitlyn Potter Glaser. Our theme music is “Summer” by Liborio Conti.
See you next time!
--------
1:29
--------
1:29
Bonus Episode: Applying to the Higher Ed Program with Megan Jarrad
In this special bonus episode of Mile Higher Ed, Sarah and Caitlyn talk to Megan Jarrad from the Morgridge College of Education’s Office of Admissions. She answers questions about how to apply for a higher ed degree program, how to approach financial aid, and what prospective higher ed students need to know.
Are you interested in a master’s or doctoral degree in higher education? You could start as early as January 2026.
Ready to start the conversation? Use this link to request information.
Ready to apply? Complete the admissions application here.
--
Thanks for listening to this episode of Mile Higher Ed. Mile Higher Ed is produced within the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver by Dr. Sarah Hurtado and Caitlyn Potter Glaser. Our theme music is “Summer” by Liborio Conti.
Are you interested in a master’s or doctoral degree in higher education? You could start as early as January 2026.
Ready to start the conversation? Use this link to request information.
Ready to apply? Complete the admissions application here.
Follow our podcast on Instagram at milehigheredpodcast.
Follow Morgridge College of Education at MorgridgeatDU.
Keep up the good work everyone. See you next time!
Higher education today faces challenges. We are reckoning with a legacy of discrimination and exclusion, moving through a global health pandemic, adapting to technological advancements in teaching and learning, and grappling with questions about the cost and even the value, of a college degree. Here at the Higher Education Department in the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver, our faculty, students, and alumni are working to address these challenges head on.
In Mile Higher Ed, we will shine the spotlight on the work DU higher ed faculty and alumni are doing to advance higher education. We will bring you the latest stories from our department--from compelling research findings to innovative practices to leadership in the field. Whether you are a DU higher ed alum or prospective student, or a higher ed researcher or practitioner, we invite you to learn from our community as we work to make higher education more effective and equitable.
Mile Higher Ed is a production of the Higher Education Department at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver.
Follow MCE on Instagram: @morgridgeatdu
Ireland