Current Students & Alumni Information

Students in UConn’s Higher Education and Student Affairs Master’s Program Receive National Recognition

Each year, the American College Personnel Association’s Commission on Professional Preparation recognizes the outstanding scholarship of graduate students in higher education and student affairs programs through the presentation of research and writing awards. This year, students from the University of Connecticut’s Higher Education and Student Affairs Master’s Program (HESA) were awarded two of the four highly competitive national awards.

Margaret Bertram, a first year HESA student, was awarded the Roberta Christie Essay Award. This award is given to a graduate student for an essay that best captures the theme of ACPA’a annual conference. This year’s theme is "Professionalism with Purpose: Advancing Inclusion and Expertise." Ms. Bertram’s winning essay presents a discussion of the responsibilities student affairs professionals have to create caring communities that support students with mental health issues, and the need for student affairs professionals to empower students to create their own organic support networks on campuses.

The Gerald Saddlemire Masters Research Award was presented to a research project conducted by Kevin Lobdell, Chelsea Rayome, Rita Bottoni, and Kate Daniel. The award recognizes original, journal-quality research that provides insight into the learning and development of students or the organization and administration of student affairs practice. The winning research analyzes intentional communication with parents and its affect on student success in college. The findings provide valuable insight into parental attitudes toward such communication and the dynamics of subsequent communications between parents and students. The research has the potential to help guide student affairs practice regarding how and why to communicate with parents.

The Higher Education and Student Affairs Master’s Program is a joint effort between the Department of Educational Leadership in the Neag School of Education and the Division of Student Affairs. The receipt of these awards illustrates the quality of students the HESA program attracts and the strength and success of the unique partnership between the Neag School of Education and the Division of Student Affairs. Dr. Sue Saunders, the HESA Coordinator and faculty member, could not be happier for both the recipients and the program. Both of the winning entries originated from classroom projects, and according to Dr. Saunders, this speaks volumes about the HESA program. “The program values creativity and strives to provide learning environments that give the master’s students opportunities to find their own voice with respect to solving real-world problems.”

Dr. Saunders’ enthusiasm is mirrored in the comments of the master’s students. As Ms. Bertram shared, “I knew ACPA reserved the right to not give the award at all ... this award is an amazing honor.” And for those whose efforts resulted in the award-winning research project, the impact of the awards and the HESA program is apparent. Mr. Lobdell described the award as a testament to the strength of the year-long HESA assessment course sequence, while Ms. Daniel noted that the award is a reflection on the entire research group as current University of Connecticut HESA students and future student affairs administrators.