By Anvi Goyal
SACSCOC Workforce Communications Intern

This summer, The Commission on Colleges and Universities welcomed three new interns in the Communications and Research and Data Analysis departments. The interns are supporting the Commission’s work on its Lumina Foundation-supported Regional Workforce Initiative.  

Nazaninsada Eftekhar, is a second-year PhD student in Sociology at Georgia State University. She is from Tehran, Iran, and completed her B.Sc. and M.A. in Sociology from Shahid Beheshti University and Alzahra University in Iran. Her research interests include gender and body politics. She currently works as a Research Assistant with the Center for Neighborhoods and Communities at GSU, where she contributes as a news reporter and helps foster dialogue around community and inclusion. 

At The Commission, Nazanin brings her research skills to her role as a research and data analyst intern for higher education and accreditation projects. Currently, Nazanin analyzes survey data and state policies for comparative research on graduate students’ impact on the workforce. Nazanin’s work contributes to the larger project seeking to answer the question about why graduate students find trouble entering the workforce, despite having the preferred skills and degree for the position.  

Milton “B.J.” Lewis is a higher education enrollment leader and PhD student in Education Leadership and Policy at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia. B.J. is from Dry Branch, Georgia.  He currently serves as Senior Associate Director of Graduate and Online Admissions at Clark Atlanta University, where he supports graduate enrollment strategy, recruitment, and institutional efforts to expand access to higher education. As a doctoral student, his research interests focus on educational access, institutional outcomes, and the transition from higher education into the workforce, particularly for historically underserved students. 

As a Workforce Data and Policy Analysis Intern with The Commission on Colleges and Universities, B.J. conducts research related to higher education and workforce alignment. His work includes examining institutional approaches to workforce development, short term credentials, employer engagement, and the use of data to better understand how colleges and universities are responding to changing workforce needs. 

Anvi Goyal is a second-year master’s student in History and Sociology of Science and Technology at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Anvi is from Pune, India, and has completed her B.A. in Liberal Arts with a focus on Literature and Anthropology. As a social science researcher, she is interested in looking at ideas of labor migration and race in global tech work in the United States. Her interest in qualitative research and writing helps her reach a wider audience as a communication intern.  

Anvi produces weekly blog posts and social media communication material about higher education and workforce initiatives by The Commission. She also works with individuals in the wider workforce and university networks to understand the opportunities and roadblocks that higher education institutes face.