Image: Jason C. Lee, a graduate student and research assistant in the Institute of Higher Education, has been named the 2016 recipient of the Zell and Shirley Miller Fellowship, awarded annually to an IHE doctoral student of high promise. “The Miller Fellowship was established to support doctoral study of significant issues in the field of higher education,” said IHE Director Libby Morris. “The Miller Fellow is chosen by the Institute’s faculty, taking into account the scholarly potential of the candidates together with an assessment of their academic record and professional achievement. Jason excels on all counts.” Lee has served as a research assistant to Robert Toutkoushian since enrolling in the Institute’s Ph.D. program in August 2013, and has been a teaching assistant to Manuel Gonzalez Canche this year for the Quantitative Methods I and Statistical Social Network Analysis courses. He expects to graduate in May 2017. Lee’s research interests include college student financial literacy, higher education finance, and the tripartite factors that affect postsecondary access and persistence: financial circumstances, academic preparation, and social-cultural influences. He is meeting with his dissertation committee this month to finalize his dissertation topic, but said it will likely be about the roles that financial aid and student borrowing play in collegiate and post-collegiate outcomes. Lee gave two presentation related to that topic at the recent annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education in Denver. Earlier this year, Lee and fellow IHE graduate student Erin Ciarimboli gave a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Chicago. “Since deciding to enroll in the Institute, I've been nothing but impressed by the people who work here,” said Lee. “The staff, faculty, and students are all incredibly supportive and collegial. Knowing and talking to students from other higher education programs, I'm confident that the opportunities afforded to us through course offerings, mentorship, professional development, and peer interactions are unparalleled.” Before coming to the IHE, Lee worked as a resident director at the University of Pittsburgh and as a high school English teacher in both Pennsylvania and Nevada. He earned a Bachelor of Science in secondary education from Slippery Rock University in 2005 and a Master of Arts in student affairs in higher education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2010. During his time at IUP, Lee worked in a variety of student service areas including career services, academic advising and support, financial aid and residence life. Lee and his master’s thesis advisor, John Mueller, co-authored a manuscript entitled “Student loan debt literacy: A comparison of first-generation and continuing-generation college students,” which was published by the Journal of College Student Development in 2014. For the work on his master’s thesis, Lee received the Outstanding Graduate School Research Award from IUP’s Graduate School. The Miller Fellowship was established in 2005 to honor former Georgia Governor Zell Miller and his wife, Shirley. Lee is the tenth recipient of the award. Type of News/Audience: Research
