Research News

A new report by Rob Toutkoushian, "Education Funding and Teacher Compensation In Indiana: Evaluation and Recommendations," shows funding for public education and teacher compensation for the state of Indiana will need significant investment to catch up regionally and nationally.

IHE faculty and students will be attending the 44th Annual AEFP Conference in Kansas City, MO on March 21-22, 2019.

Ph.D. candidate Hee Jung Gong will present a paper with Rob Toutkoushian on “The Impact of the TRIO Program on the College Choice Process.”

Rob Toutkoushian, Jennifer May-Trifiletti & Ashley Clayton (LSU)- Poster session From “First to Finish”: Does College Graduation Vary by How First-generation College Status is Defined?

Noble Jones’ (PhD, 2018) dissertation is one of two selected to receive the 2019 Outstanding Dissertation Award given by the American Education Research Association (AERA), Division J. One of the leading research societies, AERA - Division J, is part of a community of postsecondary education researchers who promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good.

Kelly Rosinger (PhD, 2015), Andrew Belasco (PhD, 2014) & James Hearn examine the relationship between adoption of universal and targeted no-loan policies and the economic diversity at elite colleges. Their paper, “A Boost for the Middle Class: An Evaluation of No-Loan Policies and Elite Private College Enrollment,” appears in The Journal of Higher Education, 90:1, 27-55.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2018.1484222

"From 'First in Family' to 'First to Finish': Does College Graduation Vary by How First-Generation College Status Is Defined?" is a newly-published research article by Robert K. Toutkoushian, Jennifer A. May-Trifiletti, Ashley B. Clayton (former IHE postdoctoral associate).

IHE postdoctoral associate Meredith Billings and doctoral student Melissa Whatley were selected as fellows for the 2019 NCES Data Institute: Using Federal Datasets to Support Research on Postsecondary Education. The institute provides an intensive introduction to NCES datasets and research methodologies using large-scale national data sources.

Ph.D. student Melissa Whatley is published in the graduate student research-in-progress section of the winter 2019 issue of the Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education. Her brief, "Who Studies Abroad at US Community Colleges?" attempts to identify key characteristics that make some students more like to participate in these programs.

Four doctoral students in the Institute of Higher Education received awards at a luncheon hosted by IHE on September 24th.

Gregory Wolniak receives a $350,000 grant through the Prisoner Reentry Institute (PRI).

Associate Professor Gregory Wolniak has received a $350,000 grant through the Prisoner Reentry Institute (PRI) at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice to conduct a process and outcomes evaluation of its College Initiative (CI) program. CI promotes access to higher education opportunities for people who have been incarcerated and provides guidance and practical assistance for them to enroll and succeed in college. The program has enrolled more than 1,400 students since 2002.

The Association for Institutional Research is pleased to announce Dr. Karen Webber as the recipient of the 2018 Sidney Suslow Scholar Award.

The Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia will welcome two new faculty members in the fall.

Karen Webber, associate professor in the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia, has edited a new book from Springer Press titled Building Capacity in Institutional Research and Decision Support in Higher Education. Available as an eBook and in a hardcover print edition, the book examines the relevant roles, skills and knowledge needed to build the institutional research capacity across the higher education sector globally.

Joshua Patterson, a doctoral candidate in the Institute of Higher Education, along with two University of Georgia colleagues, is a recipient of a national research award supporting innovative, interdisciplinary scholarship based on IDEALS data.

Dominique Quarles, a Ph.D. student in the Institute of Higher Education, wrote Georgia Southern University’s successful grant proposal for the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, a U.S. Department of Education Federal TRIO Program.

With a perfect score of 110/110, he secured $1.1 million in funding over the next five years for first-generation and low-income undergraduate students at Georgia Southern University who wish to pursue a Ph.D.

Three doctoral students in the Institute of Higher Education were honored at a special awards luncheon hosted by IHE on October 6, 2017.

Melissa Whatley and Karley Riffe were the recipients of awards honoring the memories of IHE faculty members Thomas G. Dyer and J. Douglas Toma. Lori Hagood was named the 12th recipient of the Zell and Shirley Miller Fellowship, established in 2005 to honor the former Georgia governor and his wife.

David Tanner and Karen Webber have been selected to receive an award through the President’s Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program.

IHE alumna Lucia Brajkovic has received Honorable Mention in the 2017 Best Dissertation Award competition established by the Comparative and International Education Society’s Higher Education Special Interest Group.

She was presented with the award in March at the CIES HESIG business meeting in Atlanta. CIES is a scholarly association dedicated to increasing the understanding of educational issues, trends and policies through comparative, cross-cultural and international perspectives.  

A paper co-authored by IHE faculty members Karen Webber and Manuel González Canché has been selected by the board of the Southern Association for Institutional Research (SAIR) as the Best Paper winner for 2016.

The paper, entitled “Is There a Gendered Path to Tenure?: Examining the Academic Trajectories of US Doctoral Recipients,” is automatically accepted for presentation at the 2017 Association for Institutional Research Forum to be held May 30-June 2 in Washington, D.C.  The co-authors will receive travel grants to assist with costs of traveling to the forum.

Assistant Professor Manuel González Canché was named the recipient of the 2016 Promising Scholar/Early Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education. He was honored at an awards luncheon on Nov. 11 during the 2016 national ASHE conference in Columbus, Ohio.

Manuel González Canché, an assistant professor in the University of Georgia’s Institute of Higher Education, has been named the recipient of the 2016 Promising Scholar/Early Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education.

IHE doctoral student Emmanuel Little receives grant for Call Me MISTER program from the Betty and David Fitzgerald Foundation.

Emmanuel Little, director of Georgia College and State University’s Call Me MISTER program, was instrumental in the receipt of a $75,000 grant award from the Betty and David Fitzgerald Foundation for the program. Call Me MISTER (Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role models), founded at Clemson University in 2000, strives to increase the pool of available teachers from diverse backgrounds, particularly for low-performing elementary schools.

Ashley Clayton joined the IHE in August after earning her Ph.D. in educational research and policy analysis at North Carolina State University, where she gained research and teaching experience, in addition to rigorous methodological training.

We are pleased to announce that the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement’s issue 20(2), June 2016, has been published. This is the first issue in the journal's 20th anniversary year and can be viewed online.

Two students who recently earned degrees from the Ph.D. program in the Institute of Higher Education are moving on to faculty positions.

Denisa Gándara and Jarrett Warshaw, who participated in the Graduate Commencement ceremony held May 13 in Stegeman Coliseum, are now headed to Southern Methodist University and Florida Atlantic University, respectively.

IHE doctoral student Kelly Slaton was selected as a fellow for the 2016 NCES/NSF Summer Data Institute.

The institute, to be held June 20-22 in Washington, D.C., is an intensive short-term study with NCES datasets and research methodologies using large-scale national data sources. Competitive application to be selected is announced on the website of the American Institutes for Research each fall. Slaton is the most recent in a long line of IHE members who have attended the Data Institute.