Publications
Since 1995, the Pullias Center has engaged in action-oriented projects and research to improve college access and student success, promote equity and diversity, and enhance the performance of postsecondary institutions. The Pullias Center publishes a range of reports, guides, briefs, tool kits and more informed by this higher education research. We have created more than 150 publications and all are free to download here.
For journal articles and book chapters authored by our faculty, please visit their individual pages.
Toolkit — Capacity Building for Shared Equity Leadership: Approaches and Considerations for the Work
Elizabeth Holcombe, Jordan Harper, Natsumi Ueda, Adrianna Kezar, Jude Paul Matias Dizon, Darsella Vigil
Pullias Center for Higher Education (2025)
This Toolkit accompanies the report “Capacity Building for Shared Equity Leadership: Approaches and Considerations for the Work.” It contains a five-step action planning guide to…
Toolkit — Shared Responsibility Means Shared Accountability
Adrianna Kezar, Elizabeth Holcombe, Darsella Vigil
Pullias Center for Higher Education (2025)
This Toolkit accompanies the report “Shared Responsibility Means Shared Accountability: Rethinking Accountability within Shared Equity Leadership.” It provides questions for leaders to reflect on current…
Reflective Guide — Organizing Shared Equity Leadership: Four Approaches to Structuring the Work
Elizabeth Holcombe, Adrianna Kezar, Jude Paul Matias Dizon, Darsella Vigil, Natsumi Ueda
Pullias Center for Higher Education (2025)
This Reflective Guide accompanies the report “Organizing Shared Equity Leadership: Four Approaches to Structuring the Work.” It offers a set of questions to help leaders…
Reflective Guide — Leading for Equity from Where You Are: How Leaders in Different Roles Engage in Shared Equity Leadership
Elizabeth Holcombe, Adrianna Kezar, Jordan Harper, Darsella Vigil, Natsumi Ueda, Jude Paul Matias Dizon
Pullias Center for Higher Education (2025)
This Reflective Guide accompanies the report “Leading for Equity from Where You Are: How Leaders in Different Roles Engage in Shared Equity Leadership.” It contains…
Sustained Professional Development for VITAL Faculty: Engagement and Benefits
KC Culver, Benjamin Selznick & Adrianna Kezar
Pullias Center for Higher Education (2025)
This report provides insights into VITAL faculty members’ engagement in sustained professional development (SPD) programs, such as faculty learning communities. Throughout the report, we examine…
Challenges to Implementing Shared Equity Leadership
Elizabeth Holcombe and Adrianna Kezar
TIAA Institute (2024)
SEL is predicated on the idea that effective DEI leadership requires a collaborative approach rather than one that is siloed or isolated to a single…
Considerations and Challenges of Implementing Shared Equity Leadership
Elizabeth Holcombe and Adrianna Kezar
TIAA Institute (2024)
College and university campuses need new and creative strategies for continuing to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals amidst today’s challenging cultural and political…
Connecting Students, Advisors and Research Groups — A Resource Guide for Students and Departments
Ben Zwicki & Mike Verostek
Pullias Center for Higher Education (2024)
This guide was developed from recently conducted research on the importance of structured support in STEM PhD programs. The project, led by Drs. Ben Zwickl…
Charting Pathways of Intellectual Leadership for VITAL Faculty at Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters
Barielnen Vita and KC Culver
Delphi Award Winner, 2024
At Michigan State University (MSU), a public research institution and a member of the Big Ten Academic Alliance and AAU, the College of Arts &…
The University of Massachusetts Amherst Model: A Comprehensive Strategy for Enhancing VITAL Faculty Work Environments and Student Outcomes
Natsumi Ueda and Adrianna Kezar
Delphi Award Winner, 2024
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMA), a public research university, has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to improving working conditions for VITAL faculty with a 20-year…
Toolkit — Capacity Building for Shared Equity Leadership: Approaches and Considerations for the Work
Elizabeth Holcombe, Jordan Harper, Natsumi Ueda, Adrianna Kezar, Jude Paul Matias Dizon, Darsella Vigil
Pullias Center for Higher Education (2025)
This Toolkit accompanies the report “Capacity Building for Shared Equity Leadership: Approaches and Considerations for the Work.” It contains a five-step action planning guide to help leaders create a plan to build capacity for Shared Equity Leadership on their campus.…
Toolkit — Shared Responsibility Means Shared Accountability
Adrianna Kezar, Elizabeth Holcombe, Darsella Vigil
Pullias Center for Higher Education (2025)
This Toolkit accompanies the report “Shared Responsibility Means Shared Accountability: Rethinking Accountability within Shared Equity Leadership.” It provides questions for leaders to reflect on current equity accountability systems and think through how those systems might change when responsibility for equity…
Reflective Guide — Organizing Shared Equity Leadership: Four Approaches to Structuring the Work
Elizabeth Holcombe, Adrianna Kezar, Jude Paul Matias Dizon, Darsella Vigil, Natsumi Ueda
Pullias Center for Higher Education (2025)
This Reflective Guide accompanies the report “Organizing Shared Equity Leadership: Four Approaches to Structuring the Work.” It offers a set of questions to help leaders reflect on the current organizational structures that support equity work on their campus. This guide…
Reflective Guide — Leading for Equity from Where You Are: How Leaders in Different Roles Engage in Shared Equity Leadership
Elizabeth Holcombe, Adrianna Kezar, Jordan Harper, Darsella Vigil, Natsumi Ueda, Jude Paul Matias Dizon
Pullias Center for Higher Education (2025)
This Reflective Guide accompanies the report “Leading for Equity from Where You Are: How Leaders in Different Roles Engage in Shared Equity Leadership.” It contains several questions to help leaders reflect on their roles — both functional and positional. Leaders…
Sustained Professional Development for VITAL Faculty: Engagement and Benefits
KC Culver, Benjamin Selznick & Adrianna Kezar
Pullias Center for Higher Education (2025)
This report provides insights into VITAL faculty members’ engagement in sustained professional development (SPD) programs, such as faculty learning communities. Throughout the report, we examine how differences in VITAL faculty’s career characteristics (e.g., full-time or part-time, promotion opportunities and contract…
Challenges to Implementing Shared Equity Leadership
Elizabeth Holcombe and Adrianna Kezar
TIAA Institute (2024)
SEL is predicated on the idea that effective DEI leadership requires a collaborative approach rather than one that is siloed or isolated to a single leader or office. In this practice brief, we highlight some of the common challenges we…
Considerations and Challenges of Implementing Shared Equity Leadership
Elizabeth Holcombe and Adrianna Kezar
TIAA Institute (2024)
College and university campuses need new and creative strategies for continuing to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals amidst today’s challenging cultural and political landscape. One such strategy is shared equity leadership (SEL), which broadly distributes responsibility for DEI…
Connecting Students, Advisors and Research Groups — A Resource Guide for Students and Departments
Ben Zwicki & Mike Verostek
Pullias Center for Higher Education (2024)
This guide was developed from recently conducted research on the importance of structured support in STEM PhD programs. The project, led by Drs. Ben Zwickl & Mike Verostek, highlights the challenges students face — whether they are exploring their research…
Charting Pathways of Intellectual Leadership for VITAL Faculty at Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters
Barielnen Vita and KC Culver
Delphi Award Winner, 2024
At Michigan State University (MSU), a public research institution and a member of the Big Ten Academic Alliance and AAU, the College of Arts & Letters has been working since 2016 to improve the academic environment for VITAL faculty and…
The University of Massachusetts Amherst Model: A Comprehensive Strategy for Enhancing VITAL Faculty Work Environments and Student Outcomes
Natsumi Ueda and Adrianna Kezar
Delphi Award Winner, 2024
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMA), a public research university, has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to improving working conditions for VITAL faculty with a 20-year track record of progressive policies to improve the support for them. This commitment is manifested…
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Phone: 213-740-7218
Email: pullias@usc.edu
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