RWU School of Continuing Studies Dean Receives Award from Alliance of RI Southeast Asians for Education

PROVIDENCE, R.I. ­­– Jamie E. Scurry, dean of the School of Continuing Studies at Roger Williams University, received the Success Value Award from the Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education on May 9.

ARISE prepares, promotes and empowers Rhode Island’s Southeast Asian students for educational and career success. Its core values are access, equity and success. In presenting its 2018 ARISE Values Awards, the alliance also gave Makna Men the Access Value Award, and it gave Phitsamay Uy the Equity Value Award.

The Success Value Award recognizes a person committed to working toward getting all students to realize their full potential and to gain skills and core competencies that are important to their holistic development as critical thinkers and doers.

“We at ARISE believe Jamie's unapologetic, tireless commitment and passion for educational justice embodies this award,” ARISE Founding Executive Director Chanda Womack said. “Jamie is action-oriented, strategic and intentional. Her leadership style is restorative and transformational."

“We are proud that Dean Scurry’s work to promote academic success for students who have not been well served by higher educational institutions has been honored by ARISE,” RWU Provost Andrew Workman said. “She is a widely recognized expert in educational reform whose leadership has transformed the Roger Williams University School of Continuing Studies into a national leader in the field.”

As dean, Scurry oversees the academic programs and business operations of the School of Continuing Studies, based in downtown Providence. She previously worked as director for policy and research at the New England Board of Higher Education and as a research associate for The Futures Project: Policy for Higher Education in a Changing World, based at Brown University. She received a bachelor’s degree in management from Bentley College and a master’s degree in American civilization from Brown University. She serves on the board for the Academy for Career Exploration, the Latino Policy Institute at RWU and HousingWorks RI at RWU.

The alliance presented its Access Award to Makna Men, who survived Khmer Rouge concentration camps in Cambodia and went on to become a Providence school board member, Khmer language instructor and co-author of a book titled “Determination.” The alliance presented its Equity Award for Phitsamay Uy, who was born in Laos, spent two years in a refugee camp and went on to become an associate professor and co-director of the Center for Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

For more information about ARISE, go to www.ariseducation.org.