Meet the AANAPISI Grant Team

The Office of DEI is excited to welcome Dr. Mei Lan Frame as the AANAPISI grant coordinator. Dr. Frame will be working with Dr. Yuemin He and Dr. Carolyn Hurley on the $1.3 million for AANAPI-serving institutions awarded to NOVA last year by the U.S. Department of Education.

Much of this work will involve culturally responsive pedagogy, whose implementation includes collaboration among college groups and various study and training activities, as well as demonstrating institutional commitment to the ANNAPISI community, faculty responsiveness to the intricacies of the cultural background of our students, and curriculum construction that reflects practices and strategies associated with expanded college ability to support students.

The team is also launching AAPI Connect, a paid peer mentoring program intended to enrich AAPI students’ college experience by fostering interpersonal, social, and community connections. This program will focus on the Annandale Campus with the hope of expanding to more campuses in 2023. Students are currently being recruited to participate in the 2022-23 cohort as Peer Mentors and Mentees:

• Peer Mentors are returning NOVA students who have successfully navigated their first year at NOVA, have strong interpersonal skills, and are open and eager to helping new students. The Peer Mentor application is open through May 9, 2022.
• Mentees are students who are seeking additional connection and support, due to academic difficulties, unsuccessful completion of gateway ENG or MTH courses, uncertainty of major, or are new to NOVA. The Mentee registration form is open through August 31, 2022.

This grant also allows for the establishment of the new AANAPISI Intercultural Learning Center, which will be located at Founders Hall (CFH-206). This new center opens in the fall and will house the peer mentorship program, incorporate innovative community partnerships, and provide opportunities for staff, faculty, and students to learn more about the AANAPI community and cultures.

To learn more about the AANAPISI team, read their bios below.

Dr. Mei Lan Frame comes to NOVA after twenty years of working in education as a college teacher, teacher trainer and education consultant in the US and globally, particularly in East Asia and South Asia. In her work and research, she has engaged with issues that include place-based learning in K-5 rural education in India and China, student-centered teacher training for public school teachers in Beijing, and teaching professional ESOL courses to newly immigrated health care workers for the American Civil Liberties Union. She holds a PhD in International Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, an MA in Asian Religion from the University of Hawaii, and a joint MA in International Relations/Sociology from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Dr. Frame has published in the Comparative Education Review, The International Journal of Educational Reform, and the Times Higher Education.

Dr. Yuemin He has worked in higher education for more than three decades. She was a recipient of a National Endowment of Humanities Fellowship, a Japan Study Association Fellowship, a Loser-Savkar Fellowship, and other college awards. She has written on composition pedagogy, Asian American literature, Buddhist American literature, and East Asian literature and visual art. Dr. He holds a PhD in English language and literature from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and earned her BA and MA in English from Sichuan University.

Dr. Carolyn Hurley completed her PhD in Communications at the University of Buffalo. Over her career, Dr. Hurley has been involved with academic research, national security, and training and teaching individuals at all levels and ages. She spent four years as a Lecturer in Asia and is published in the field of intercultural expression of emotion. Dr. Hurley joined NOVA five years ago as an Associate Professor of Communication on the Loudoun Campus. Since then, her teaching style has emphasized encouraging intercultural dialogue, and service learning in the community.

Submitted by:
Ed Aymar, DEI Communications Coord., EAymar@nvcc.edu