Dr. Sarah J. Zuckerman – Associate Professor of Educational Administration
Dr. Zuckerman serves as the primary investigator of NECARES. Her research focuses on collective action in rural schools and communities to improve the lives of children and families.
1) Why are you so passionate about partnering and collaboration?
As a teacher, I saw that students and families had needs beyond the school day and what the school could provide. I also saw that teachers and others could better serve kids working together. This inspired me to focus on partnerships as part of my Ph.D., including coursework in the School of Social Welfare, and to complete my school leadership internship in a community school. I was also able to travel to Cincinnati to learn about the Strive Together work and New York City to learn about the Children’s Aid Society community schools. These experiences, along with my own research, have convinced me that we are unlikely to move the needle on educational equity without activating community members and working with children and family-serving organizations.
2) What excites you about the HUB? How do you see it changing the way our communities work alongside faculty?
I really see NECARES as a new organizational feature that can help faculty connect with communities, help support network development, and help facilitate learning across organizational boundaries to accelerate learning about what works for whom and under what conditions.
3) Are there some untapped areas of expertise among our team or other UNL faculty, which you think communities might use better, or differently?
I think a lot of faculty members want to be of service and are frustrated by the current model that incentivizes academic publishing above all else. We don’t want to admire problems from an Ivory Tower, we want to be part of solving them. We want to get our hands dirty.
4) How does your identity as a Nebraskan impact your work and the meaning you find in partnering with other organizations?
Although I’m not a Nebraskan, being of service has been the motivating factor in my career. I chose a public university because I believe in the mission of access to education and the democratization of knowledge.