I am interested in understanding how higher education contributes to a healthy, functioning democracy and advances racial and economic equity.
Specialization(s)
Public Policy and Finance, Organizational Governance and Academic Administration, Regional Public Universities, Rural Serving Postsecondary Institutions, Civic Engagement, Neoliberal Theory and the Privatization of Higher Education
Professional Biography
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 has been funded by the Spencer Foundation, the Ascendium Education Group, and the Joyce Foundation. She has been quoted by CBS, The Chronicle for Higher Education, InsideHigherEd, Open Campus, and Newsy, among other media outlets. From 2006-2011, she directed the 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, a regional public university in Oregon. Simply put, attending these institutions changed the trajectory of her life and she believes in the power of access institutions to promote racial and economic justice and democracy. 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.
Degree(s)
Certificate, Hybrid 3D Workshop, University of Denver, 2016
Ph.D., Higher Education , University of Pennsylvania, 2015
BA, Political Science, Portland State University, 2006
Dr. Orphan's research agenda broadly interrogates the following question: What are higher education's purposes in a democratic society? Dr. Orphan’s research is comprised of two strands that examine this question: 1) the societal purposes, equity contributions, institutional functioning, governance, and administrative strategies of regional public (comprehensive) universities and rural serving postsecondary institutions; and 2) how policy discourses and agendas for higher education shape the system's equity and public purposes.
Areas of Research
Public Policy and Finance
Organizational Governance and Academic Administration
Regional Public Universities
Rural Serving Postsecondary Institutions
Civic Engagement
Neoliberal Theory and the Privatization of Higher Education
Key Projects
Ending Data Invisibility: Identifying and Defining Regional Public Universities
Federal Support for Broadly Accessible Rural-Serving Institutions in Response to COVID-19
What It Means To Be A Rural-Serving Postsecondary Institution
Orphan, C. M. (1970). Unlocking opportunity through broadly accessible institutions. (G. Crisp, K. McClure, & C. M. Orphan, Eds.). Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group.
Gasman, M., Spencer, D., & Orphan, C. M. (2015). “Building bridges, not fences”: A history of civic engagement at private Black colleges and universities. Higher Education Quarterly.
Gildersleeve, R. E., Orphan, C. M., & Laderman, S. (2019). A Critical Analysis of Intermediary Public Policy Organizations: Influencing the U.S. Higher Education Policy Agenda. AERA. Toronto, CA: AERA.
Supplee, L., & Orphan, C. M. (2017). “The people’s universities” as legitimacy-seeking anchor institutions: Tracing the history and evolution of regional comprehensive universities from 1970-2000. Annual Conference. Houston, TX: Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Orphan, C. M. (2018). Improving Educational Justice through University-Community Partnerships. Association for the Study of Higher Education. Tampa, Florida: ASHE.
Orphan, C. M. (2019). Rural Students and College Choice. ASHE Annual Conference. Portland, Oregon: Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Awards
Graduate Career Faculty Champion, Career & Professional Development
Finalist for Spencer Doctoral Fellowship , National Association of Education