Symposium

Information

<p style="margin-left:0in;"><span style="color:#151515;">Cecilia Orphan, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Higher Education at the University of Denver and Director of Partnerships for the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges. Dr. Orphan's research agenda explores higher education's purposes in a democratic society, rural higher education, and regional public universities. Dr. Orphan’s research has been funded by the Spencer Foundation, the Ascendium Education Group, and the Joyce Foundation. She has been quoted by <i>CBS</i>, <i>The Chronicle for Higher Education</i>, <i>InsideHigherEd</i>, <i>Open Campus</i>, and <i>Newsy</i>, among other media outlets. In 2022, she gave a TEDxMileHigh Talk titled “What makes a good college – and why it matters” that has received over 1.3 million views. From 2006-2011, she directed the&nbsp;American Democracy Project, a national civic engagement initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Dr. Orphan's research agenda is informed by her experiences as a working class, first-generation college student who received maximum Pell grants to attend college. She is personally familiar with the transformative nature of access institutions having attended Linn Benton Community College and Portland State University, an RPU in Oregon. Dr. Orphan holds a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Portland State University.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>