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K-State Today

Division of Communications and Marketing
Kansas State University
128 Dole Hall
1525 Mid-Campus Drive North
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-2535
vpcm@k-state.edu

March 2, 2023

Tuan Nguyen and Tara Marintzer recognized as Professor and Professional Staff of the Week

Submitted by Candace LaBerge

Professional Staff and Professor of the Week

Tuan Nguyen, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction in the College of Education, and Tara Marintzer, senior graphic designer for K-State Libraries, were recognized as Professor and Professional Staff of the Week at the March 1 men's home basketball game.

Faculty Senate, the Office of the President, K-State Athletics and the Division of Communications and Marketing wish to recognize their contributions to K-State.

After teaching mathematics for seven years and graduating from Vanderbilt University, Nguyen joined the College of Education in 2018. His work focuses on two major strands of education research: the teacher labor market and teacher policies. 

His work also informs and is informed by his teaching, service and policy outreach. He has incorporated his research findings and methodological approaches in his classes and actively encourages his students to conduct and publish research. His work has been used in state reports and court litigations for public discourse, policy discussion and implementations. For instance, the New Jersey teacher workforce report referenced his work on teacher merit pay, and there have been at least two instances where this work on teacher merit pay was used to provide evidence in court arguments.

Similarly, his meta-analysis on the effects of grant aid has been used in Washington and Oregon policy reports and legislature. His conceptual framework and systematic review of the factors of teacher turnover have also provided crucial findings for state and nonprofit policy reports and policymaking such as the Economic Policy Institute and in some states — for example, Kansas and Pennsylvania. Recently, his work on the issue of teacher vacancy and underqualification has provided much needed nuances and steered the public discourse on the teacher staffing challenges in the United States, with more than 30 local and national coverage instances, including Education Week, NBC Today Show, The Economist and NPR.

Marintzer helped launch a new and improved Libraries' website. With the reopening of Hale Library, she has also worked hard to create wayfinding, maps, messaging and more related to this massive space. Marintzer treats every single project with the utmost importance, making sure that anything that represents the Libraries is top-notch. From signs to handouts to the website, she has the ability to make the Libraries look its absolute best.