Letter from the Guest Editor:

Mariela Rodriguez

doi:10.36851/jtlps.v8i1.2240

Mariela Rodriguez University of Texas at San Antonio

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36851/jtlps.v8i1.2240

Abstract

Thank you for your interest in this special issue of the Journal of Transformative Leadership and Policy Studies Special Issue-Mentoring Students of Color in Educational Leadership Doctoral Programs. This special issue of JTLPS explores insights into mentoring practices that effectively support doctoral students of color in attaining their degrees and in moving into positions in academia as faculty members, into K-20 leadership as practitioners. Socialization into doctoral education supports student retention and completion. Such socialization practices include mentoring relationships that provide opportunities for doctoral students of color to navigate the process of doctoral study and research.

Author Biography

Mariela Rodriguez, University of Texas at San Antonio

Mariela A. Rodríguez is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Administration from New Mexico State University as a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Fellow through the Hispanic Border Leadership Institute. Her primary area of research focuses on the supportive practices of school leaders working with culturally and linguistically diverse students. To date, she has chaired the doctoral dissertation committees of over 30 students, most of them students of color and women. At UTSA she is a Faculty Coach for first-generation college students. At the national level Dr. Rodríguez served as the 2017-18 President of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). Early in 2018 she was awarded the Distinguished University Faculty Award from the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE). In 2019 she earned the TACHE Mentorship Program Award, as part of the Professional Pair of the Year.