Research Focus Propels U of A Graduate to the Ivy League

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Roman Ruiz plans to research college access at the University of Pennsylvania.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Roman Ruiz used to be the student he hopes to help someday.

He went from a boy with no family history of higher education to a young man who received offers to pursue a doctoral degree at any of seven prestigious higher-education institutions, including Harvard University.

Ruiz has already helped students who are the first in their families to go to college, having worked for a pre-college program at the University of Arkansas, but this fall he will begin a doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania so that he can conduct research into college access and affordability.

“I would like to work for an education policy group, conducting research and advising policymakers on how to improve college access for low-income students across all demographic groups,” he said. “I want to research college-access issues and having been that student gives me insight.”

A Mexican-American from California, Ruiz moved as a child with his two older brothers to Springdale. The boys were raised by their maternal grandmother. She raised them alone and supported them the best she could. She didn’t always have the time and money to help him with school activities, but teachers in the Springdale School District recognized his musical talent and academic potential.

Once he got going, there seemed to be no stopping him.

“Coming from Southern California in the third grade, I was dropped into Northwest Arkansas and I was fortunate to land here,” Ruiz said. “My teachers took an interest in me, and I realized school was something I excelled at and enjoyed. In high school, I took Advanced Placement classes from exceptional teachers in their disciplines.”

Before graduating first in his high school class of more than 550 students, Ruiz auditioned for band at Arkansas Tech University. Pat Ellison, Springdale’s legendary band director who has since retired, took him to the audition. After graduation, a friend’s mother drove him to Russellville to start school at Arkansas Tech. A clarinetist, Ruiz earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from Tech and then went on to Arizona State University, where he earned a master of music degree in performance. He also studied music in Belgium and Canada and performed with regional orchestras.

Ruiz earned a master’s degree in higher education in May 2013 from the College of Education and Health Professions at the U of A and was named outstanding master’s student in the program. Ruiz has worked on campus as an academic advisor in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences for one year and as an academic advisor with the U of A’s Educational Talent Search program for three years. The federally funded program provides academic outreach to underserved students at Northwest Arkansas high schools. Ruiz didn’t realize until he began that position how the students he was helping were similar to him in the economic and social hardships he faced. He provided college preparation counseling to guide hundreds of low-income and first-generation students into postsecondary education.

Studying higher education and working with the college-access program gave him the vocabulary he needed to describe what he had experienced, Ruiz said. Many of these students don’t have anyone at home to explain the importance of taking college-entrance exams or filling out financial assistance forms, he said.

“Kids like me may not have financial resources but we have minds,” he said. “It was very neat to go back to Springdale High School and work with students just like me. And, it’s not just about the high-achieving students. Access means reaching all students who are interested in college, not just the top academic achievers. There’s an inequity that must be addressed. The system works differently for low-income students.”

Even during his second master’s degree program, Ruiz continued to find faculty members who opened his eyes to possibilities and helped him excel.

“I feel indebted to the University of Arkansas,” he said. “It’s a very special place. It has given me professional experience and a master’s degree that prepared me for the Ivy League. I have a network and contacts; it’s the best foundation I could have had. Now, I’m ready to move on. I think I can affect change on a larger scale.”

Ruiz said one person he will emulate is Kate Mamiseishvili, an associate professor of higher education.

“She is super-prepared, smart, caring and articulate,” he said. “She showed me a whole wide world of what I could do. I want to be like her, a true professional.”

Taking a doctoral-level research class with Mamiseishvili gave Ruiz the confidence to write a sample dissertation prospectus and made him realize he could handle a doctoral program, he said.

“Roman is the kind of student who inspires us and reminds us why we became professors,” Mamiseishvili said. “He has a really bright future ahead of him, and all of us in the higher education program are happy that we got to be part of his story and contributed to his success.”

Mamiseishvili and Michael Hevel, an assistant professor of higher education, encouraged Ruiz to apply to several doctoral programs and helped him figure out what to look for to find one that would be a good fit for him. Hevel reviewed drafts of his application materials and made him a stronger writer throughout the process, Ruiz said.

“Roman is set to work with the preeminent scholar of college access in the nation,” Hevel said. “It has been an honor to have Roman in class and help him apply to doctoral programs. Far too few people with Roman’s background graduate from college, much less earn two master’s degrees and admission to a doctoral program at an Ivy League university. By merging his experiences and academic abilities with the resources available at Penn, I have no doubt that Roman will help change that over the course of his career.”

Ruiz was offered full financial support from all seven institutions to which he applied: Pennsylvania State University, the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Georgia, the University of Iowa, the University of Maryland, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard. Harvard and Penn are both private, Ivy League research universities.

“It seemed absurd to apply to seven schools, but I didn’t know what my options were,” he said. “People asked me how can you say no to Harvard. And, I visited Harvard twice, but Pennsylvania was the best fit.”

Ruiz understood that the most important aspect of a doctoral program was its focus as far as research in which he wanted to participate, and Pennsylvania’s faculty members are experts in college access and diversity issues in higher education. He will work as a graduate research assistant with Laura W. Perna at the Penn Graduate School of Education, where she founded the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy. Ruiz will explore issues of college access, particularly how federal and state educational policies can improve college opportunity for low-income, racial- and ethnic-minority, and first-generation college students.

Eighty-six students applied to the higher education Ph.D. program at Penn, six were invited to campus for interviews and three were offered admission and financial support.

“They keep the program very small by design,” Ruiz explained. “It’s an apprenticeship model. Each advisor has only a couple of Ph.D. students so there is a lot more one-on-one interaction and hands-on training. I want that kind of mentor relationship.”

One other thing about Penn helped seal the deal for him, Ruiz said.

“They were the only one (of the seven programs) with a free application,” he said. “To me, that spoke to Penn’s commitment to access and diversity. More people can apply if it’s free.”