S. Kiersten Ferguson

Clinical Associate Professor, Provost Faculty Fellow for Equity and Inclusion

S. Kiersten Ferguson, Clinical Associate Professor and Director for M.Ed. Higher Education Program

Department of Education Policy & Leadership

Education

Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin

Contact

3101 University Blvd Ste. 345
Box 750114
Dallas, TX 75275

214-768-4494
 skferguson@smu.edu

About

S. Kiersten Ferguson is a clinical associate professor in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development at Southern Methodist University. She is also a Provost Fellow for Equity and Inclusion. Her scholarly and teaching interests include diversity planning and implementation, bias response teams, campus culture, organizational change, student development theory, equity and access in higher education, and the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty and graduate students. She utilizes mixed reality/virtual reality simulations within her courses and is currently conducting research on the pedagogical use of these simulations to strengthen higher education graduate student preparation.

 

Prior to joining the faculty at SMU, Ferguson was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Campus Diversity and Strategic Initiatives in the comprehensive Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin. One of her projects included conducting and analyzing research for a pilot diversity planning process in the College of Fine Arts through a college-wide climate assessment survey, reflective inventory, statistical college profile, as well as focus groups and interviews with administrators, faculty, students, and staff members.  Ferguson also served as a Faculty Fellow for Inclusion and Equity in the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin, where she assisted the vice president and associate vice president with research on campus-wide diversity initiatives.

 

Ferguson holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in cultural anthropology and government/international relations. She received her Ph.D. in educational administration with a doctoral portfolio in women’s and gender studies and her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from The University of Texas at Austin. Her dissertation focused on the experiences of faculty mentoring undergraduate women students in engineering. She was recognized as a top five finalist in the 2010 national Paul P. Fidler Research Grant competition by the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

 

Selected Presentations and Publications:

Culver, J., Ferguson, S.K., & Strang, S.A. (November, 2022). Fictional university – Real-life

            applications: Mustang University and mixed reality in higher ed. Online Learning

            Consortium: Accelerate Virtual Conference.

 

Ferguson, S.K., & Breaux, L. (October, 2022). “Variety of strategies” Theory to practice in

            advising mixed reality simulations. National Academic Advising Association (NACADA)

            Annual Conference, Portland, OR.

 

Ferguson, S.K., Culver, J., & Strang, S.A. (April, 2022). “You’ve gotta change your strategy”:

            Applying theory to practice in mixed reality simulations. International Teaching Learning

            Cooperative (ITLC) Lilly Conference, Online.

 

Miller, R.A., Guida, T., Smith, S., Ferguson, S.K., & Medina, E. (January 10, 2019). Op-ed: Fact

vs. Fiction on Bias Response Teams - A Balancing Act for Campuses. https://education.uncc.edu/op-ed-fact-vs-fiction-bias-response-teams-balancing-act-campuses

 

Miller, R.A., Guida, T., Smith, S., Ferguson, S.K., & Medina, E. (2018). A balancing

                act: Whose interests do bias response teams serve? Review of Higher Education,

                42(1), 313-337.

 

Miller, R.A., Guida, T., Smith, S., Medina, E., & Ferguson, S.K. (2018). Free

speech tensions: Responding to bias on college and university campuses. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 55(1), 27-39.

 

Sanders, S.L., & Ferguson, S.K. (2016). Diversity planning tools for diversity and

inclusion committees. Office for Inclusion and Equity, Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, The University of Texas at Austin.

 

Ferguson, S.K., Sanders, S.L., & Smith, S.L. (2016). Inclusive retention toolkit for

faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. Office for Inclusion and Equity, Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, The University of Texas at Austin.

 

Ferguson, S.K., Sanders, S.L., & Smith, S.L. (2015). Inclusive search and recruitment