Femi Vance

Ph.D. Student
Department of Education

Email: fvance@uci.edu

Biography

Originally from sunny San Diego, I pursued my undergraduate degree at the University of San Diego where I majored in psychology. Shortly after graduation, I accepted a position as a Youth Program Specialist for the Air Force and relocated to the east coast. During my time with the Air Force, I learned every aspect of running a military based youth program, from budgeting to maintaining staff ratios. My most rewarding experience was converting an off base community center into a new youth center.

The time I spent organizing and coordinating the front line of youth services, made me realize that I wanted to be in position where I could reach a broader range of children. This desire eventually led to my enrollment in the Masters in Public Policy program at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies. The program afforded me the unique opportunity to deepen my knowledge of youth policy and work on my nonprofit management skills. While I set out to satisfy my thirst for knowledge I found that my appetite for youth and education policy grew exponentially!

My specific research interests include the program quality of after-school programs, training for youth development professionals, the attendance of adolescents in community-based youth programs and use of the positive youth development approach in educational settings. While at UCI, I have taken advantage of various opportunities to get involved in the active after-school community. I have had the honor of serving as a grant reader for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant Program, sharing my research at the Best in Out-of-School Time (BOOST) conference, serving as a consultant for a center-based youth program, and training youth workers as part of the California School-Age Consortium (CalSAC) Training Program.

Publications

Vance, F. (Under Review). An emerging model of knowledge for youth development professionals. Journal of Youth Development – Bridging Research and Practice.

Vance, F. (2010). A comparative analysis of competency frameworks for youth development professionals. Child and Youth Care Forum. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s10566-010-9116-4.

Unpublished Reports

Vance, F. (2010). TraxSolutions Attendance Procedure Manual. Report to the Tiger Woods Foundation. 

Vance, F. & Vandell, D. (2010). Using Data to Inform Program Planning and Improvement. Report to the Tiger Woods Foundation.

Vance, F. (2008). Foster Care Workgroup: Technical Assistance to the Breaking the Cycle Initiative. Report to The Finance Project.

Carrillo, N., Pincus, B., & Vance, F. (2007). A qualitative assessment of the Academy for College and Career Exploration’s Internship Program. A report to Baltimore City: Mayor’s Office of Employment and Development.

Presentations

Vance, F., & O’Cadiz, P. (2010). Emerging Model of Knowledge for Youth Development Professionals. Paper discussion, American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting.

O’Cadiz, P., Pineda, C., Vance, F., & Deegan, A. (2010). The Creativity Pay-Off. Workshop Best in Out-of-School Time (BOOST) Annual Conference.

Vance, F. (2010). Adolescent Participation Patterns in Youth Development Programs. Paper presentation, Southwest Educational Research Association Annual Conference.

Vance, F. (2009) Mirror Images: Models of Knowledge for Teachers and Youth Development Professionals. Paper accepted for presentation California Association of Freirian Educators Annual Conference.

Vance, F. (2009). A Comparative Analysis of Competency Frameworks for Youth Workers in the Out-of-School Time Field. Paper discussion, American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting.

Invited Presentations

Vance, F. (2009, 16 November). Features of High-Quality After School Programs in Elementary and Middle Schools. Invited poster presentation for the UCI Foundation Trustees Meeting, School Crisis in California: How can we reshape our children’s future?

Vance, F. (2009, 29 October). Positive Youth Development and After School Programs. Invited lecture for the University of Irvine at California course ED 124: Multicultural Education.

Vance, F. (2010, 19 May). Applying Positive Youth Development to Classroom Settings. Gerald P. Carr Intermediate School.

Vance, F. (2010, 5 April). Applying Positive Youth Development to Classroom Settings. Invited lecture for the University of California Teach Program, Irvine Chapter.

Service

• Membership Director, Out-of-School Time Special Interest Group, American Educational Research Association, (2011 – 2012).
• Treasurer, California School Age Consortium, Orange County Chapter (2011 – 2012).
• Trainer, California School-Age Consortium (2010 - present).
• Volunteer, Think Together After-School Program (February 2009 – June 2009).
• Grant Reviewer, 21st Century Community Learning Center Grants (2008; 2009).

Awards

• UC/ACCORD Dissertation Fellowship (2011–2012)
• Education Pioneers Summer Fellowship (2011)
• Edmund A. Stanley Jr. Research Grant (2011)