Faun Rockcliffe is an interdisciplinary social science researcher and program evaluator. She earned a B.A. in Psychology of Learning from the City University of New York Interdisciplinary BA Program (Host Institution: Medgar Evers College) and recently attained her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Howard University. Her research interests include the interrelationships of students’ achievement motivation, academic/career identity, faculty instructional practice, institutional climate, and student learning and persistence in higher education. She is also interested in ways in which aspects of the educational environment promote or hinder STEM student learning and career outcomes in general, with attention to how these factors operate for students from traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM. Her dissertation research examined the interrelationships of Black undergraduate women in engineering’s achievement motivation, engineering identity beliefs, experiences with racial and gender microaggressions within the engineering departmental, and intentions to persist in the major.

During her time at Howard University she was a Frederick Douglass Doctoral Fellow and engaged in several research assistantships in offices across the university, including the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) project at the Excellence and Motivation in Education Research Group (EMERG) and STEM Education Research with the Howard University Science, Engineering, and Mathematics (HUSEM) Educational Research Center. Dr. Rockcliffe enjoys engaging in evaluation/assessment to inform continuous improvement in teaching and learning and other educational program outcomes. She developed these career interests while engaging in multi-method research and program evaluation/assessment activities as a member of the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (GHUCCTS) Evaluation and Continuous Improvement and Howard University Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (IRA) teams.

As the Assistant Director of Assessment at CASTLE, Dr. Rockcliffe’s roles include the development of assessment instruments for the evaluation of STEM courses, educational programs, and initiatives; coordination of data collection, analyses, report and publication writing; providing grant writing support, and working with grant program directors to develop, maintain, and conduct assessment activities and plans to allow for effective program evaluation.