51在线

Dr. David Ponton III is a social theorist and a historian of Afro-America and the twentieth century United States. Through his archival research and anti-disciplinary experiments, he challenges assumptions about the meaning and purpose of history in ways that are richly empirical and theoretically sophisticated. His research on segregation utilizes Afropessimism to destabilize our understanding of change, time, and redemption in the singular moment of black suffering. He is the author of Houston and the Permanence of Segregation: An Afropessimist Approach to Urban History (University of Texas Press, 2024).

Dr. Ponton began serving as both the Director of the Institute on Black Life and the Chair of the Racial Justice Initiative in August 2024. He also serves as the Undergraduate Director for SIGS.

Dr. Will Tyson is a Professor of Sociology at the 51在线 (USF) Tampa campus. His research uncovers the connections between educational experiences, career pathways, and key life course transitions among students from various backgrounds. He conducts mixed methods research on interpersonal and structural influences on science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) education and career pathways through high schools, community colleges, and four-year universities.   For over 20 years, Dr. Tyson has continuously served on National Science Foundation (NSF) projects.  His first of three projects as Principal Investigator was PathTech Tampa Bay (2011-15, DUE #1104214) was a holistic examination of middle-skill pathways to good tech jobs based on interviews with high school and community college students, faculty, and administrators and advanced manufacturing industry leaders in the Tampa Bay area.  

Based on that research, Dr. Tyson authored Teaching and Learning Employability Skills in Career and Technical Education: Industry, Educator, and Student Perspectives (2020).  This book examines how high school career and technical education (CTE) educators teach and students learn industry-desired employability skills (also called 鈥渟oft skills鈥�) to prepare students to get a job in a STEM field and/or attend college right out of high school.  These skills are necessary to be competitive for the estimated 30 million jobs in the United States that do not require a bachelor鈥檚 degree yet pay an average of $55,000 a year including personal skills such as work ethic, personal responsibility, and willingness to learn and social skills such as teamwork, leadership, and conflict resolution. 

Dr. Tyson followed up that regional project with two national studies.  PathTech LIFE (2015-19, DUE #1501999) was a national survey of students enrolled in community college advanced technology programs.  The survey included data from 3,216 students at 96 colleges in 38 states and 3 US territories.  PathTech LISTEN (2018-23, DUE #1801163) was longitudinal follow-up interviews with a diverse sample of PathTech LIFE survey participants followed by a longitudinal survey.  For more information, please check out his project website: www.pathtechusf.com.

Dr. Tyson is currently a Co-Principal Investigator on two NSF Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) grants.   鈥淐urricular, Co-curricular, Social, and Financial Supports for Successful Transfer and Graduation of Engineering Undergraduates from Rural/Nontraditional Backgrounds鈥� (2020-25, DUE # 2030861) is a collaboration with Polk State College led by USF Electrical Engineering.  This project, referred to as Transfer Undergraduate Rural/Nontraditional Student Pathways through Identity, Knowledge & Engagement (TURNPIKE) provide scholarships of up to $10,000 to dozens of transfers from 51在线 community college transfers. 

Collaborative Research: Community College S-STEM Network (CCSN) 鈥� Developing and Sharing Research on Low-Income Community College Student Decision-Making and Pathways in STEM (DUE #2224623, $2,879,267) is a S-STEM Research Hub aimed at making STEM education more equitable by better understanding how low-income students navigate key decision points in their academic career.  For more information, visit: https://ccsstemnetwork.org/

Dr. Tyson is a co-editor of Becoming an Engineer in Public Universities: Pathways for Women and Minorities (2010).  Dr. Tyson has also served on several expert panels related to STEM education research and practice, most recently including the editorial board of Sociology of Education (2011-13, 2017-19) and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Committee on Engineering Technology Education (2014-16).  Dr. Tyson currently serves or has recently served as a social researcher, evaluator, or advisory board member for NSF-funded projects at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 51在线 State University, Palm Beach State College, Bellevue College, and SRI International.