2008-09 Paul P. Fidler Research Grant

The 2008-2009 grant cycle is now complete. See the announcement below for more information on this year’s grant recipient. For general information about the Fidler Research Grant, please visit www.sc.edu/fye/research/grant/index.html. Please check back this spring for information about future grant opportunities.

National Resource Center announces 2008-2009 Fidler Grant Recipient Columbia, SC - During the 15th National Conference on Students in Transition, the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition announced that Maryellen Mills, PhD candidate at the University of Texas at Austin, is the recipient of the 2008-2009 Paul P. Fidler Research Grant. The grant, designed to encourage and enable scholarly research on issues related to college student transitions, includes a financial stipend and travel to two national conferences. The abstract of Mills’ winning proposal appears below.

Student Success Course Participation and Engagement among Part-time and Full-Time Community College Students

About 64% of two-year college students attend part time, and they succeed at rates well below full-time students. Research on student success courses indicates they contribute to successful college transitions for four-year students. However, diverse demographics and enrollment patterns among two-year students suggest that success courses may not influence all students similarly. This mixed methods study examines the nature of success course influence by comparing survey and focus group assessments of engagement among course-takers and non-takers, and among part-time and full-time community college students.

In its fourth year, the Paul P. Fidler Research Grant has become a well-respected and highly competitive grant program. The Center received proposals from researchers and practitioners throughout the United States as well as from several international institutions. The two other outstanding research projects selected as finalists were:

• Dr. Ani Yazedjian and Dr. Michelle Toews of Texas State University-San Marcos for her study entitled What's Love Got To Do With It?, Examining the Influence of Romantic Relationships on the Success of College Students

• Dr. Reynol Junco of Lockhaven University of Pennsylvania, for his study entitled Examining Whether Facebook can Enhance First-Year and Transfer Student Engagement

Jennifer Keup, Director of the National Resource Center, Grants and Assessment at the National Resource Center, led the Paul P. Fidler Research Grant selection process. Keup expects Mills’ research to have a national impact on student success initiatives.

“Maryellen’s research examines a critically under-examined area in the field of higher education,” Keup said. “The results of her study should provide important new information on the impact of student success courses in community colleges and the diversity of the community college experience.”

Past Recipients:

2007-2008 - Dr. Eunyoung Kim of Seton Hall University for her study entitled Acculturation Experiences and College Transitions of Minority Immigrant Students

2006-2007 - Dr. Barbara Hofer of Middlebury College for her study entitled The Electronic Tether: Parental Regulation, Self-Regulation, and the Role of Technology in College Transitions

2005-2006 - Christine and Michael Kirk-Kuwaye of the University of Hawai’i at Manoa for their study entitled  A Study of Engagement Patterns of Lateral and Vertical Transfer Students During their First Semester at a Public Research University