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Mark Moralez is originally from Milwaukee, WI, and received his BS in Political Science/Public Administration from UW-La Crosse. He received his Master of Public Affairs (MPA) from UW-Madison’s La Follette School in May ’23, and his Master of Science in Higher Education in May ’24. Mark developed a passion for higher education and students throughout his various extracurricular roles, appointment as a Political Science TA, and three-year appointment as the D&I Project Assistant for UW-Madison’s Graduate School. Mark recently served as a TA for Dr. Brian Burt, and now works as a Posse Program Mentor, Wisconsin Equity and Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) research associate, and Health Policy Research Scholar Fellow. As a doctoral student in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (ELPA), Mark studies the experiences of underrepresented graduate students, policies/interventions that foster their success and belongingness, and addiction and substance use in college student populations.

Presentations & Publications

“Facilitating Faculty Career Clarity: The Role of a Graduate STEM Intervention Program” (Burt et al. 2026) -2nd Author.

“Expectations versus Lived Realities: Black Men Graduate Students and Their Evolving Epistemologies Toward Collaboration” (Burt et al. 2026) 3rd Author.

“Adjusting to Graduate School: Black Male Students Experience Racial Isolation, Negotiate Intra-Group Connections, and Balance Belonging” (Burt et al. 2025) 6th Author.

Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) – 11/12/23 – 11/15/23.

Teaching

Posse Seminar (2 hours weekly for first-year undergrad students) – Fall 2025/Spring 2026

TA: ELPA 810 (Doctoral Inquiry) Fall 2024

TA: ELPA 824 (Qualitative Field Methods in Educational Research) Spring 2025

Service & Committees

Dean of Graduate School Student Advisory Board

Awards

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – Health Policy Research Scholars: Granted $30,000/year.