Vikash Reddy - Senior Director of Policy Research, Campaign for College Opportunity

• In Event: Division J Vice Presidential Session: Beyond Affirmative Action: Exploring Strategies for Inclusive Higher Education

Abstract

Vikash Reddy has over ten years of experience in higher education research, with particular expertise in outcomes-based funding policies and developmental education reforms. Vikash came to understand the importance of high-quality educational opportunities when his parents, both educators at Weber State University, mortgaged their house in order to send his sisters and him to the best schools they could find. He began his own career in education as a third-grade teacher in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. Frustrated by the haphazard and often inappropriate ways in which research was used by policymakers, Vikash decided to pursue a doctoral degree in education and has worked to promote evidence-based education policymaking in support of students who have traditionally been denied the types of opportunity he had enjoyed himself.

Prior to joining the Campaign, Vikash was a Policy Analyst at the California Policy Lab at UC Berkeley, where he worked with California government agencies including the California Community College Chancellor’s Office and the California Student Aid Commission to analyze administrative data and evaluate pilot programs. Vikash previously worked at the Community College Research Center and the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he co-authored books and articles on performance funding in higher education, researched reforms in developmental education, and helped to create and evaluate multiple measures placement systems at the State University of New York.

Vikash earned his PhD in Education Policy from Teachers College, Columbia University, where he was awarded a Department of Education Policy & Social Analysis Dissertation Fellowship for his dissertation, From the Schoolhouse to the Statehouse: The Role of Teach for America and Its Alumni in Education Policy. He holds a Master’s Degree in Elementary Teaching from Pace University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Government from Dartmouth College.

Vikash Reddy will serve as the panel moderator, guiding discussion on the SCOTUS decision's impact on representation and diversity at highly selective institutions. Drawing from the Campaign's Affirming Equity, Ensuring Inclusion, and Empowering Action Series of briefs, Vikash will share data-driven insights and policy recommendations from the over 20 briefs to be released by the end of 2023. His moderation will foster a comprehensive exploration of affirmative action's effects, empowering attendees to promote equity and inclusivity in admissions practices.

Author

• Vikash Reddy, CollegeReddy LLC