The Equity in Graduate Education Consortium is pleased to announce Annie Wofford and Sara Xayarath Hernández as its new Co-Directors, marking a new chapter in the Consortium’s effort to build capacity for improving graduate education nationwide.
Founded in 2018 by Julie Posselt, Professor of Education and Associate Dean of the USC Graduate School, the EGE Consortium is a learning community of scholars and practitioners committed to advancing equity in graduate education through evidence-based practices, tools, and change management strategies. The membership-based networked improvement community has grown from six universities to 27 current and alumni universities and more than 200 graduate programs. The Consortium is supported by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and its member institutions, and is headquartered at the USC Pullias Center for Higher Education.
As part of a planned leadership transition underway over the last six months, Wofford and Hernández are being elevated this summer to Co-Directors after stewarding various roles with the Consortium and its steering committee since its inception. Wofford is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at Florida State University, and Hernández is Associate Dean for Inclusion and Student & Faculty Engagement for the Graduate School at Cornell University. They bring deep experience in driving rigorous research and institutional change, respectively, reflecting the Consortium’s core as a research-practice partnership.
In addition, Yasmin Kadir is being promoted to Managing Director, and Steve Desir, USC Assistant Research Professor, will continue as Director of Professional Learning. Posselt will remain actively involved in the Consortium’s future as Steering Committee Chair and Senior Advisor.
“Since the day that the idea for this consortium was born, the Consortium has been anchored on a simple, ambitious goal: to help change-ready institutions translate research into policy and practice that reduce inequalities and improve graduate education for everyone,” said Posselt. “I am proud of what our community has built together and am excited to see the new leadership team guide us into our next chapter.”
The Consortium’s goals include making the social science of graduate education accessible and actionable, building a supportive community of change-makers, and helping partners create sustainable, equitable infrastructure for selecting and serving students.
Annie M. Wofford is an Assistant Professor in the Higher Education program in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and a Senior Research Associate with FSU’s Center for Postsecondary Success. Broadly, her research examines how institutional structures of higher education maintain disparities across students’ access and success in postsecondary education. Much of Wofford's work addresses the relational (e.g., mentoring) and organizational structures that shape students’ pathways to graduate education and their development as graduate students.
Sara Xayarath Hernández serves as the Associate Dean for Inclusion and Student & Faculty Engagement for the Graduate School at Cornell University, Hernández provides strategic leadership to advance institutional goals related to access, equal opportunity, and inclusion in graduate education for the benefit of all students. She champions mission-driven, systemic change with a focus on advancing holistic graduate admissions, effective mentoring practices and structures, and positive academic environments.