Biography

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW 

Dr. Richard Andalon teaches undergraduate courses with the UCLA Department of Sociology and other UCLA academic departments, including psychology, education, labor studies, and Chicana/Chicano and Central American Studies. He was at the University of Southern California (USC) prior to returning to UCLA at the start of 2018.  Upon completing his doctoral studies at UCLA, he was recruited by USC, where he had the opportunity to enhance his career through various teaching, research, and administrative experiences. At USC, he taught under the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary Department of American Studies & Ethnicity and managed programs under the university’s campuswide Division of Undergraduate Education and Division of Graduate Education. Through this departmental instructor role and this university-wide administrator role managing undergraduate and graduate programs, he had the opportunity to collaborate with USC faculty from a variety of academic fields, including departments from the social sciences, life sciences, physical sciences, and health sciences. These collaborations revolved around facilitating faculty mentor and student mentee relationships resulting from faculty nominations for students who were selected for supplemental academic development programs and research funding awards. While at USC, he was provided a sabbatical opportunity to study at Harvard University, where he earned a variety of professional certificates aimed at enhancing his teaching, research, and administrative competencies.

Dr. Andalon’s research focuses on investigating the sociocultural and psychosocial experiences of students as they navigate through two critical junctures of the educational pipeline: from high school to college and from college to the workforce. He studies students’ socio-personal traits, socio-environmental influences, and social peer networks. He looks for the manifestations in students’ lives relating to individual agency, identity development, community affiliations, and cultural capital. He investigates how such manifestations cultivate a sense of the social self and facilitate psychosocial adaptations that promote achievement in academics and careers. He utilizes qualitative methods in his research, including observations, individual interviews, focus groups, and open-ended surveys. In his research, he is especially attentive to the experiences of students from first-generation college backgrounds, low socioeconomic levels, and recent immigrant statuses.

Dr. Andalon is most passionate about serving as a classroom instructor and advising and mentoring undergraduate students. Often, he advises undergraduates in out-of-class independent research pursuits that are connected to a senior thesis or capstone research project, a program or grant that provides research funding, or a symposium or conference research presentation. He also dedicates time out-of-class to advise undergraduates on how to engage in job searches, develop a long-term career, and prepare for graduate school.   

In addition to teaching and engaging in research, Dr. Andalon has had the opportunity in communities across California and the United States to provide consultations under the areas relating to his academic scholarly interests, administrative leadership experiences, and community service pursuits. He has served in the community as an advisor with various social justice advocacy groups, as an expert consultant to government programs, and as an appointed board member with nonprofit organizations. For some of these community agencies and the universities where he has worked, he has helped identify extramural grant funding, write successful grant proposals, and manage a variety of grant-funded projects with budgets ranging from one hundred thousand dollars to multi-million dollars. Over the years, his professional work and service have been acknowledged and recognized.

Dr. Andalon earned his graduate and undergraduate degrees at UCLA. As a graduate student in education, most of his coursework and scholarly investigations focused on the sociology and psychology of education, psychosocial theories, and social research methods. As an undergraduate in the social sciences, most of his coursework and thesis research focused on areas relating to political systems, socialization processes, and educational psychology. It was also at UCLA where his early professional career began as an instructor, advisor, and administrator. As an advanced graduate student completing his degree requirements and immediately after receiving his doctoral degree, he had the opportunity to teach undergraduate courses with the UCLA Department of Education and to work as a program advisor and manager with the UCLA Office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs. This UCLA instructional and administrative role prepared him for his subsequent more advanced professional work at USC.

Dr. Andalon has lived in the State of California since birth. He was born in the City of Los Angeles and raised in this city and in neighboring communities. He attended K-12 public schools, including charter schools and magnet programs, of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). 

ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Academic Interests and Research Areas

Dr. Andalon’s broad academic interests include the sociology and psychology of education, sociocultural and psychosocial theories, social mobility and stratification, workforce development and labor studies, entrepreneurship and social enterprise studies, immigration and migration studies, and qualitative research and survey methods.  Most of the undergraduate courses he teaches and his research pursuits fall under these broad areas.

Administrative Roles and Managerial Leadership

Dr. Andalon has served as a senior advisor and director under UCLA Student Affairs with the Division of Enrollment Services and Division of Campus Life. His UCLA administrative work has included experiences with outreach, admissions, registration, financial aid, and career services.  He has served as a director and an associate dean under USC Academic Affairs with the Division of Undergraduate Education and Division of Graduate Education. At USC, among his administrative work, he was responsible for the McNair Scholars Program, an undergraduate program that provides research training, graduate school preparation, mentorships, stipends, and scholarships.  McNair is sponsored by the federal government and receives grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education and serves undergraduates at multiple universities across the country. Dr. Andalon, along with the support of other faculty and administrators, used the McNair program model to found and establish the privately funded USC Research Gateway Scholars Program, which also provided undergraduates with research training, graduate school preparation, mentorships, stipends, and scholarships. He was also an administrator of the EDGE Fellows Program, which provided graduate students with research training, fellowships, stipends, mentoring services, and career advisement. EDGE was sponsored by the federal government and received grant funding from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (NSF – SBE). This collaborative program involved USC, Stanford University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Texas A&M University. Under the special grant-funded appointment as a dean representing USC through this four-university collaborative, he designed and administered EDGE. After the federal grant support ended for this program, it continued with private funding from USC under the name of Academic Professional Development (APD). Dr. Andalon, along with the support of other faculty and administrators, organized and established the office infrastructure to administer APD.

Community Roles and Public Service Leadership

In the community, Dr. Andalon has served as a board member and chairman of Learning Enrichment and Academic Resources Network (LEARN), which is an educational equity and social services nonprofit operating in various Los Angeles County cities that collaborates with K-12 public schools to promote student achievement. He has served as a senior consultant and program specialist with the Los Angeles College Promise (LACP), which is part of the California College Promise (CCP) statewide initiative that makes possible a community college education at no cost to students and their families.  He has served as a lead advisor and coordinator of other Los Angeles area youth and college student programs, including the California Student Aid Commission Financial Aid Awareness and Outreach (FAAO) and the United Way Pathways to Colleges and Careers (PCC).  He has served as a senior counselor and manager under the University of California statewide Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP), which works with youth through college preparation programs in the City of Los Angeles. He has served as a founding program advisor, instructor, and coordinator under the UCLA Career-Based Outreach Program (CBOP), which provided academic advisement, career planning services, and mentorships to Los Angeles area high school youth and college students. He has served as senior consultant and director of registration advisement, admissions outreach, and financial aid/scholarships at Antioch University Los Angeles (AULA), which is part of a consortium of progressive U.S. universities dedicated to advancing social justice through their teaching, graduates, and community engagement.

Fundraising and Grant-Writing

Guided by entrepreneurial and social justice principles, Dr. Andalon has helped identify extramural grant funding, write successful grant proposals, and manage a variety of grant-funded projects. Some of the funding awards he has helped secure have ranged from a hundred thousand dollars to multi-million dollars. In many cases, he has been the lead liaison interfacing with a potential funder. The following are examples of governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations he has engaged with under pursuits primarily aimed at securing funding for student services programs, and, secondarily in some cases, for faculty and graduate student research projects:  the California Department of Education, California Department of Social Services, United States Department of Education, National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, California Community Colleges Office of the Chancellor, University of California Office of the President, United Way of California/United Way of Greater Los Angeles, Fidelity Foundation, and Southern California Edison Community Giving.  

Educational Background and Professional Development

Dr. Andalon received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from UCLA. His undergraduate studies in the social sciences focused on sociology, political science, and education. His graduate studies in education focused on the sociology of education, psychosocial and sociocultural development, and social research methods. In his dissertation research, guided by sociological and psychological theories, he used qualitative methods to study the K-12 university preparation and early university-level experiences of first-generation college students who beat the odds and obtained admission to highly selective universities.  His research identified the following factors and themes: parental influences, peer impacts, program involvement, places frequented, purposeful decisions, powering through, and psychosocial dynamics.  He summarized his study’s findings by referring to them as “The Seven P’s” explaining first-generation college students’ K-12 university preparation and early university experiences. Using his study’s findings, a theoretical framework was organized to guide related research projects and practical programs involving first-generation college students.

Dr. Andalon also attended Harvard University, where he acquired a series of professional certificates from the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education (HIHE). His professional studies included curriculum design and development, program assessment and evaluation, policy analysis and implementation, nonprofits and organizational development, and management and leadership. His studies at Harvard were made possible through a sabbatical opportunity when he was teaching and administering programs at the University of Southern California (USC).

Acknowledgments and Recognitions

Over the years, Dr. Andalon’s professional work, leadership, and community service have received commendations.  At UCLA, he has been acknowledged and recognized by the Office of the Chancellor and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, and at USC by the Office of the President and Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.  Out in the community, he has been acknowledged and recognized by the Los Angeles City Mayor’s Office, Los Angeles City Council, Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, Los Angeles Community College District, and Los Angeles Office of the California Parent Institute for Quality Education.