Name: Elise Cole 
Hometown: Boston, MA
Program: Urban Education Policy (UEP)
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Gordon College, Social Work
 

What drew you to the UEP program at Brown? 

Last year I was an operations manager at a charter public school in Boston, and I was thinking about other ways to grow and be more versatile. My goal is to work in public school administration, and I knew I needed to get a master's degree. I was looking into different programs that had to do with education but had to do more with what shapes education. As a result, I researched educational policy programs that focused on how to evaluate policies and how to make changes in schools that are sustainable. Brown was the only program I found in the country with an urban focus. Being in a classroom with people who weren’t thinking about urban issues wasn’t an interesting idea to me. Instead, I was interested in being in classrooms with thought partners to think about the specific issues that shape the lives of students in an urban context. So I applied to the Urban Educational Policy program and got in. I visited Providence, and I fell in love with it as well. 

What has been your favorite UEP class and why?

So far, Dr. Wong’s governance and policy class has been my jam. If I could take the course all year, I would do it because it gave me a great understanding of how policy at the federal, district and city levels affects the students we work with. It was a very eye-opening class and gave me a sense of how I can be a part of the change. In his class, we worked on two projects, and they were impactful. In the first project, I researched immigration policies impacting undocumented students' access to federal aid. Each state in the United States has different approaches that give undocumented students access and restrict access to higher education. For example, I live in Massachusetts, and they only provide federal aid to DACA recipients, excluding undocumented students ineligible for DACA. I funded my master's program off of federal aid, whereas an undocumented person wouldn’t be able to do that at all. And my second project with RIDE looked at how the district supported charter and traditional public schools in collaboration. It can be challenging, but it was fascinating to see how the state was intervening in their partnership and how they’re trying to work towards making that better.

Where is your internship placement and what are you working on?

My internship placement is with Providence Promise. It is a small non-profit located in the Providence area that focuses on funding higher education for students within the Providence districts, public or charter schools, to start college saving accounts. I am working closely with their family engagement coordinator to understand how to assess and implement family empowerment programs. The goal is for parents to continuously be the organization's forerunners and engage them more profoundly. I am also working on the operational side to understand how non-profits operate regarding fundraising, budgeting, and how their board makes decisions. 


What do you hope to accomplish through the UEP program?

My main goal is to open doors for myself. To be an administrator in a public school, you need to have a master's degree. It is interesting to learn how different policies affect different kinds of schools, how the state is involved, and how the city is engaged in policies concerning education. I am getting a greater understanding of how all three of those work together, including nonprofits. 

How did your undergraduate education and any previous work experience lead or motivate you to pursue a master's in urban education policy?

My undergrad was in Social Work, and my minor was in Theater. I was also a part of a scholarship program called Clarendon Scholars, specifically for emerging urban leaders. The program’s mission was to develop us to be able to change the urban context. As a result, I was around people all the time who were thinking about urban issues, and we were learning ways to bring back the work to our cities. So it's always been in my mind, how do I use my work in the city? I didn’t exactly know the answer to that question after graduation. After coming back from Guatemala I applied for a job at a charter school. I was unsure of my qualifications, but I applied to the position after I was encouraged by a friend at church. It was a super chaotic environment, it felt similar to a startup company. We had to make lots of decisions quickly. There were evolving processes and complications because the children’s lives are not simple. The children need different support systems and sometimes we weren’t able to fulfill their needs. There were different hurdles that we ran into because we didn’t have the best communication with the district or the district’s rollout. Like specifically during COVID, having to navigate all of the district's policies, it was extremely challenging to communicate and make sense of the policies to parents. Many things kept changing throughout COVID, and it propelled me to want to learn more about how to create a liaison between the district and the school to make communication smoother rather than having staff work more hours, they already work insane hours. 

What is your favorite part about living in Providence and being at Brown?

I am obsessed with Providence. I love Brown and want my children to come here one day. I love the river and walking around it, and the fact that it’s close to the ocean. I love running around the city. My favorite run is down to India Point Park, then over the Providence River and back up Waterman Street. Providence is cute and small; there are many restaurants I like to explore. I love KowKow ice cream and Tizzy K’s cereal ice cream. Aleppo Sweets is super delicious. There are also entertaining places to try fun cocktails. There are many small events –a flea market, an oyster festival, a food truck festival, and live music. And there are so many cute events, and it's a very manageable small city for anyone.

What are you hoping to do after graduation?

I think about that all the time. I will hopefully stay in Providence, I will probably work for either a Providence public school, in operations, or working for a charter network in governance or policy. I would also be interested in working for the city. I think one of those would be great, something fast-paced and chaotic.

What is one way you center yourself or work on your mental health while being a graduate student with many other responsibilities?

I have a very steady morning routine. Every single morning I get up at 5:45 am. My boyfriend and I go to the gym and spend some time there, and then I get back home and write in my prayer journal. After that, I read the bible and a devotional book, which is a reflection on a verse, and then I pray. My morning routine puts me in a good headspace; if God and I are good, then I am good.