Student Honors and Awards

Dissertation of the Year Awarded to Martin

Georgianna Martin (PhD ’11) received the Burns B. Crookston Doctoral Research Award, the equivalent of the ACPA (American College Personnel Association) Dissertation of the Year, for her study, “Getting Out, Missing Out, and Surviving: The Social Class Experiences of Low-Income, First-Generation College Students.”

Martin’s dissertation research investigated how low-income, first-generation students experience and navigate their social class during college. Participants in the study became keenly aware of their social class during college largely because of frustrating and challenging interactions with their dominant middle-class to upper-class peers on campus. 

“Over the course of the study, it became clear through students’ stories that their social class influenced how they viewed themselves, the world around them, and their higher SES peers in college,” Martin said. “I anticipate this research will offer depth to educators’ understanding of college students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and perhaps challenge higher education administrators to critically examine their roles in creating inclusive and supportive campus environments for these students.”

Professor Ernest Pascarella said Martin is one of the program’s distinguished graduates.

“Her dissertation research is one of the finest applications of qualitative methods to an important issue in higher education that I have ever read,” he said. “It is most deserving of the prestigious Crookston Award and we are proud to have her as a representative of the Iowa Program.”

Martin said she is honored to be recognized by her professional home and her faculty peers in student affairs.

“The mentorship I have had in ACPA mirrors the amazing mentorship I had while studying in the College of Education at the University of Iowa,” she said.

Storlie Named Leadership Intern

The Leadership Fellows and Interns Committee selected Counselor Education and Supervision third-year doctoral student Cassandra Storlie winner of the prestigious Chi Sigma Iota Leadership Intern for 2012-13. From a pool of more than 14,000 counselors in 267 university-based training programs, the committee selected ten individuals for this opportunity, and of the 10, Storlie was selected as one of two leadership interns, which comes with a $1,200 award.

Assistant Professor Malik Henfield, who nominated her for the award, said Storlie is a well-respected educator “who embodies academic leadership excellence and achievement.”

“Given her diverse educational background in nursing, psychology, and counseling, Cassie is able to dissect the unique experiences of career counseling with undocumented students and families in a way that few can,” said Henfield. “I have no doubt that given her strong work ethic and determination, she will someday be known as one of the foremost authorities on the topic not only in the field of counselor education, but in education as a whole.”

Storlie’s research interests also include transition planning for students with Asperger’s Syndrome and ethical decision-making models. She is president of Chi Sigma Iota’s Rho Upsilon Chapter, a counseling honor society, and serves as chair of the Illinois Mental Health Counselors Association and American Counseling Association Midwest Region’s ethics committees.

Other Student Honors…

Jennifer Noyce, a master’s student in Higher Education and Student Affairs, received a scholarship to attend The Way Up conference, which strives to develop leaders to enhance Iowa higher education.