Odorico San Nicolas (he/him/his)
Ph.D. in Education
Odorico San Nicolas (he/him/his) is a Chamorro and Filipino doctoral student whose roots hail from the island of Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands. His research focuses on amplifying the voices and experiences of minoritized students navigating the higher education landscape.
With a particular interest in Pacific Islander communities, Odorico aims to examine institutional behaviors and educational support mechanisms for AANHPI and other minoritized students to better understand the role of organizations in facilitating student success. Topical areas of interest include, but are not limited to: higher education access & equity, minority-serving institutions, first-generation college students, minoritized student experiences, and higher education policy advocacy and development.
In addition, Odorico has extensive experience in higher education academic affairs, specifically as a institutional research analyst. He also has experience in orientation, residential life, and program evaluation.
Degree Program
Expected Graduation Year
Interests
- Advanced Qualitative Methods
- Higher Education
- Organizational Change
- Program Evaluation
- Race and Ethnic Studies
Faculty Advisor
Education
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M.Ed., University of California, Riverside, 2022
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B.A., University of California, Irvine, 2020
Awards, Honors, and Fellowships
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Gates Millennium Graduate Fellowship, 2023
Select Presentations
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Lee, U.-S., San Nicolas, O., Wu, T., Nguyen, M. H., Ngo, F., Hong, C., Wan, A., Park, A., & Munshi, S. (2025, April). Learning to serve: Building a research-practice partnership to improve higher education for Asian American and Pacific Islander students. [Roundtable discussion]. American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
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San Nicolas, O., Wu, T., Nguyen, M.H., Lee, US., Ngo, F., Hong, C., Wan, A., Park A. (2024, April). Research practice partnerships: AANAPISIs and lessons learned from an NSF-funded project. Panel discussion presentation at the annual meeting of the Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education (APAHE) in Oakland, CA.
Select Publications
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Nguyen, M.H., San Nicolas, O., Honda, M., & Underwood, R. (2024). The letter of the law or the spirit of the law?: Exploring how federal funding for minority-serving institutions is operationalized through policy reforms. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 56(6).
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Nguyen, M.H., Spencer, G., San Nicolas, O., Lewallen, L., Melidona, D., & Okahana, H. (2025). Pathways to opportunity: Examining students’ academic and economic outcomes at HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs. American Council on Education.