Rossier students chosen as Innovation Scholars
Eighteen students from the Rossier School of Education were selected as Innovation Scholars to take part in the ASU+GSV Summit, taking place in Scottsdale, Arizona, from April 6 through April 8. Selected students will listen to various keynote speakers discuss their experiences in the workforce.
The selected students represent multiple programs ranging from masters to doctorate degrees in various education fields.
To apply, students had to submit an “elevator pitch” regarding issues of education and change. The students were selected from 80 entries.
Noodle, the company sponsoring the Innovation Scholar program, is providing the winners with complimentary registration, travel and lodging for the summit.
The goal of the summit is to celebrate education innovation including the innovators and entrepreneurs in the education system.
Among the keynote speakers attending the event are founder of the Virgin Group Sir Richard Branson, Chairman, and CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz and U.S Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Andrea Kittelson, a USC student completing her doctorate in education, is one of the Innovation Scholars who will be attending the event. The proposal she submitted to earn admittance to the program related to child-parent education programs.
“Several studies show that a school has much less of an impact upon the academic success of a child than a child’s own parents,” Kittelson said. “My proposal is that K-12 schools educate parents and their children side-by-side in classes that are part of an extended day.”
Aside from USC, only four other universities were invited to take part in the offer. USC students will join Innovation Scholars from Harvard, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania and Arizona State University.
USC Rossier faculty Alan Arkatov, Ken Yates and Doug Lynch will join the USC students at the conference.
Doctoral candidate Vance Nichols of the Rossier School discussed Rossier’s participation in the summit.
“I think that Rossier being at this summit speaks volumes. It demonstrates how forward-thinking USC is about education and about meeting the needs of all students, regardless of their backgrounds. That commitment to focusing on all students, not just with equity but with adequacy … that’s the kind of thing that USC Rossier is about, and that’s what you see here.”
Currently in his 32nd year in the education field, Nichols serves as commissioner of the ACSI Regional Accreditation Commission and as chief academic officer of Riverside Christian Schools.
“To join colleagues and other instructors here at the summit is a tremendous honor and a great opportunity to mix with other educators and other innovators to really try to take education to the next level,” he said.