Congratulations to our 2023 Educational Studies Student Recognition Awards Recipients! | Office of Student Services and Graduate Studies in the Department of Educational Studies

On April 10, 2023, we hosted the Educational Studies Student Recognition Awards. During the event, we recognized many of our outstanding students for their many achievements throughout the year and their entire time in our department. The awards were hosted by department chair Dr. Lori Patton Davis and associate chair Dr. Marc Guerrero. Thank you to all of the faculty who nominated students to be recognized and congratulations to all of our award recipients! See the full list of awards recipients below as well as pictures from the event. See all of our pictures from the event here.

Outstanding Graduate Student Leadership Award

This award honors one graduate student in Educational Studies in recognition of their outstanding service-based leadership to the college, university, and/or greater community. Recipient must have a demonstrated record of leadership that has been an impetus for positive change and/or have a significant impact on the college, university, or community.

Recipient: Danya Contractor (Counselor Education)

Graduate Teaching Award

This award recognizes the valuable contributions of a graduate student to teaching and pedagogy. Recipients must have a demonstrated record of excellence in course development and instruction.

Recipient: Rebecca Cepeda (Higher Education and Student Affairs)

Chair’s Award for Outstanding First Year Master’s/Specialist Student

This award recognizes a Master’s/Specialist student in their first year of study who exemplifies our department mission, vision, and values through their work in and out of the classroom.

Recipient: Gabriel Schepergerdes (Educational Administration)

Chair’s Award for Outstanding First Year Doctoral Student

This award recognizes a Doctoral student in their first year of study who exemplifies our department mission, vision, and values through their work in and out of the classroom.

In lieu of a video, Dr. Ana-Paula Correia submitted comments to recognize Mimi:

“It’s my pleasure to present Mimi Adjei the Chair’s Award for Outstanding First-Year Student. Mimi is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Learning Technologies program. During her first year in the program, she has accomplished much, as reported here. As a former Math teacher, Mimi volunteers to tutor Math for students from underrepresented groups. She is also engaged in advocacy work with the Diverse Design Collective; a group focused on participatory educational initiatives for underrepresented communities.

Mimi presented at the EHE Research Forum in February 2023 on the topic of Learning Analytics. She serves as a co-investigator on a research project that looks at teacher presence in online education. She is about to complete the data collection for this project and will spend part of her summer writing an article with her team. Mimi wants to conduct research that crosses the traditional boundaries of Learning Technologies. As a result, she has been recently admitted to the Usability and User Experience in Health Care certificate program that she will be working on in parallel with her Ph.D.

We, as the Educational Studies department, are extremely happy to have Mimi with us, and we wish her the best as she continues her studies. Congratulations, Mimi Adjei!”

Recipient: Mimi Adjei (Learning Technologies)

Chair’s Award for Commitment to Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice

This award recognizes a student who exemplifies the department’s commitment to promoting equity, inclusion, and social justice through their research, teaching, and service. Nominated students should embody the department’s values of collaboration and respectful dialogue about social equity issues and practicing leadership to address systemic issues of educational equity.

Recipient: Debbie Jones (Educational Policy)

Student Service Awards

These awards recognize students who exemplify a spirit of service to the department through their contributions outside the classroom. These students demonstrated their care for supporting all students in the department through their efforts.

Creating Connections Student Service Award: DeQuindre Hughes

Creating Connections Student Service Award: Debbie Jones

Creating Connections Student Service Award: Sangeun Lee

Creating Connections Student Service Award: Alan Sells

Graduate Studies Committee Student Service Award: Huy Nguyen

Program Awards

These awards recognize students in each of our academic programs for their tremendous academic accomplishments. Through their academics, scholarship, research, and other accomplishments, these students exemplify the mission, vision, and values of our department.