Faculty Spotlight: Sheila Banuelos

Dr. Sheila Banuelos is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the USC Rossier School of Education, where she has taught in the Educational Counseling and PASA programs for the past three years. Her courses include EDHP 500 Foundations, EDHP 587 Fieldwork, EDUC 500 The Counseling Process, and EDHP 593AB Master’s Seminar.

Dr. Banuelos earned BA in Mass Communications from the University of California, Berkeley, an ME in Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs, and an EdD in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Higher Education Administration from the USC Rossier School of Education.

Dr. Banuelos has over ten years of experience advising students from middle school through graduate school at both public and private institutions. Prior to teaching, Dr. Banuelos worked in the Rossier Master’s Programs Office for five years, where she started as a Graduate Assistant, and earned several promotions before becoming Assistant Director. Dr. Banuelos also has advising experiences with the USC Educational Talent Search Program (TRiO Programs) at USC and UC Berkeley, where she advised over 600 middle and high school students from low-income backgrounds. She began her interest in the field of student services when she served as a Resident Assistant in her sophomore year at UC Berkeley.

Beyond her professional experiences, Dr. Banuelos’s research experience includes serving as a Research Assistant with Dr. Kristan Venegas on a research project studying Black and Latino males in the postsecondary pipeline. Dr. Banuelos has presented at several research and professional conferences, including Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE), and NASPA. She has also published her work on Latino males in both the Journal of Latino-Latin American Studies and Metropolitan Universities Journal.

Within Rossier, Dr. Banuelos served on the Rossier Adjunct Faculty Working Committee for the 2015-2016 academic year, and will serve as the Part-time faculty representative on the Rossier Master’s Governance Committee for the 2016-2017 academic year. Dr. Banuelos has also coordinated the annual EC Culminating Event and Academic Symposium.

Dr. Banuelos greatly enjoys teaching within the Rossier Master’s Programs. Based on her student course evaluations, her strengths include approachability and accessibility. This is fitting, since she takes pride in being a resource to her students, and making connections for future professional development.