Karen Miksch
Assistant professor of higher education and law
 

Karen Miksch received her Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 1989. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Minnesota, she was a civil rights attorney for six years and lectured nationally about access policy. Her research focuses on the law of higher education. Specifically, she is interested in access to higher education from a legal and policy perspective. Her work looks at the transition to college and the legal gatekeepers that make access and retention difficult for students who traditionally have not had access to higher education in the U.S.

Selected publications

(In Press). Widening the river: Challenging unequal schools in order to contest Proposition 209, UCLA Chicana/o Latina/o Law Review, 27.

(2007). Stand your ground: Legal and policy justifications for race-conscious programming. In Orfield, G., P. Marin, S.M. Flores, & L. Garces (Eds.) Victory under Challenge: The Aftermath of Grutter (Ch. 3, pp. 1-21) Cambridge, MA: Civil Rights Project, Harvard University.

(2006). Widening the river: Contesting Proposition 209. In Equal Opportunity in Higher Education: The past, present, and future of Proposition 209 Berkeley, CA: Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity.

Miksch, K.L. & Mendez, J.P. (In Press). A review of the transition to college literature in law. In Social Science Research Council (Ed.) Transitions to College. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

(2005). Unequal access to college preparatory classes: A critical civil rights issue. In Brown v. Board of Education: Its Impact on Public Education 1954-2004 (pp. 227-248) New York, NY: Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.

(2005). Legal issues in developmental education: Immigrant students and the DREAM Act. Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 22 (1), 59-65.

(2004). Legal issues in developmental education: Merit-based versus need-based financial aid. Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 21 (1), 78-84.

Moore, R., & Miksch, K. L. (2003). Evolution, creationism, and the courts: 20 questions. The Science Education Review, 2, 15.1-15.12.

(2003). Legal issues in developmental education: The impact of high-stakes testing. Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 19 (2), 53-59.

(2002). Education law and student access: Why isn't education a fundamental right? In J.L. Higbee, D.B. Lundell & I.M. Duranczyk (Eds.), Developmental Education: Policy and Practice (pp. 65-76) Auburn, CA: National Association of Developmental Education. Available on line at:

Multicultural Awareness Project for Institutional Transformation (MAP IT) publications

Miksch, K.L., Higbee, J.L., Jehangir, R.R., Lundell, D.B., Bruch, P.L., Siaka, K., Dotson, M.V. (2003). Multicultural Awareness Project for Institutional Transformation (MAP IT). Minneapolis, MN: Multicultural Concerns Committee and Center for Research on Developmental Education and Urban Literacy (CRDEUL).

Miksch, K.L., Bruch, P.L., Higbee, J.L., Jehangir, R.R., & Lundell, D.B. (2003). The centrality of multicultural education to developmental education. In Lundell, D.B., & J.L. Higbee (Eds.). Multiculturalism in Developmental Education (pp. 5-13) Minneapolis, MN: Center for Research on Developmental Education and Urban Literacy.

Higbee, J. L., Miksch, K. L., Jiang, F., Jehangir, R. R., Lundell, D. B., & Bruch, P. L. (2004). Assessing our commitment to providing a multicultural learning experience. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 34 (2), 61-74.

Bruch, P. L., Jehangir, R. R., Lundell, D. B., Higbee, J. L., & Miksch, K. L. (2005). Communicating across differences: Toward a multicultural approach to institutional transformation. Innovative Higher Education, 29 (3) 195-208.

Awards

• 2007 Rising Star Award, given for leadership on access issues, presented by the Women’s Philanthropic Leadership Circle.
• 2004 University of Minnesota, Faculty Summer Research Award for “Access to Higher Education Case Studies.”
• 2002-2003 University of Minnesota Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry and Scholarship Program for “Access to Higher Education Case Studies.”

July 2007