Elizabeth Holcombe successfully defends dissertation

Congratulations to Elizabeth Holcombe, research assistant at the USC Pullias Center for Higher Education, who successfully defended her PhD dissertation on August 9, 2018!

Titled “Assessment and Teaching Improvement in Higher Education: Investigating an Unproven Link,” Holcombe’s dissertation studies whether research universities’ efforts to assess the knowledge and abilities students gain through their college experiences shapes teaching and learning environments. While assessment activity on campuses has increased dramatically in the last 30 years, using that assessment to improve teaching requires additional efforts from multiple stakeholder groups in the institutions, Holcombe found.

Holcombe’s dissertation committee included Adrianna Kezar, co-director of the Pullias Center and a professor of higher education at the USC Rossier School of Education. Estela Bensimon, professor of higher education at USC Rossier, and Gene Bickers, professor of physics and astronomy at USC Dornsife, also served on her committee.

“My experiences in Pullias working for Dr. Kezar have exposed me to every part of the research process, from study design to data collection and analysis, to writing and interpreting results for multiple audiences of scholars and practitioners,” Holcombe said. “I’ve worked on projects large and small and been able to collaborate with some of the most influential higher education policy and advocacy organizations to write and present on our research. I’ve built skills, knowledge, and a network of colleagues and friends throughout my time at the Pullias Center. ”

Holcombe has accepted a position at Indiana University as visiting research associate at the Center for Postsecondary Research and managing director  of the VALUE Institute, a partnership with the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) to help institutions of higher education document, report, and use learning outcomes assessment to improve student success in college.

Holcombe will also continue to consult, write, and speak on shared leadership, organizational change, student success, assessment, and teaching in higher education.