By Maury Pearl & Deborah Harrington, Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD)

Tatiana began a rich and rewarding partnership with LACCD’s Offices of Institutional Effectiveness and of Student Success more than 17 years ago. Realizing the need to study equitable practices and outcomes in the community colleges and the opportunity for working with the largest community college district in California, Tatiana’s vision was to develop a mutually beneficial, collaborative relationship between USC Rossier and LACCD. 

Under her leadership, this vision was implemented through development of data-sharing arrangements, joint research projects, and policy research focusing on statewide and LACCD policy initiatives. These included implementation of the landmark AB705 legislation, the Los Angeles College Promise, and the impacts of COVID on enrollment and student success — leading to the development of numerous grant-funded research initiatives. 

The Research Practitioner Partnership (RPP) that Tatiana initiated brought LACCD staff and faculty into a close collaboration that fostered mutual learning and understanding. The collaboration has been a model relationship — providing LACCD with access to high-quality research resources to address the important student success and policy issues facing LACCD. What’s more, it also allowed USC Pullias Center researchers access to LACCD faculty, staff and students and the ability to research one of the largest, most diverse, and complex educational institutions in the country.  

We will sorely miss Tatiana’s intellect, energy and spirit, and seeing her in our regular RPP meetings and in the annual convening events which brought together LACCD and USC communities. We are grateful for the warm relationship that we developed and maintained, both personally and professionally. 

More than anything else, Tatiana’s unwavering and deeply-felt commitment to students shone through every collaboration. She brought students and their needs to the center of our work, reminding us to always see things in light of the student communities we serve and to look for new ways to meet students where they are and support them with rigor and humanity. Our heartfelt condolences go out to her family and the USC community on her untimely and unexpected loss. 

May her memory forever be a blessing.