Rachel, Diandra, Letitia, and Claire, Graduation Day May 2015
Dear prospective student,
I am excited that you are interested in applying to work with me at The Ohio State University and are considering pursing a Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science (HDFS)! Learn more about Ohio State’s HDFS graduate program here.
I strongly believe that the ideal setting for graduate training in developmental, relationship, and family science is in an interdisciplinary setting that exposes students to a variety of perspectives from across disciplines. I have three degrees in Human Development and Family Studies from Ohio State’s fellow Big Ten universities, The University of Illinois and the Pennsylvania State University. Thus, I have been trained across disciplines, and I strive to give my graduate students a broad, interdisciplinary perspective on intimate relationships and developmental science. This perspective draws on the psychological, sociological, and economic literatures, and uses statistical methods from clinical and social psychology, sociology, demography, and econometrics. I hope you find this prospect exciting! I have found that excellent, cutting edge scholarship grows out of applying interdisciplinary perspectives to data including both secondary and primary data, as well as self-report, observational, and time-diary data.
I take mentoring my graduate students very seriously. My personal goal is to help my graduate students achieve their dreams after graduation. For most of my graduate students, their goal has been to become a tenure-track faculty member at a college or university. I believe they will be successful because of the synergistic advisor-advisee relationships I have with them. I push them to succeed at their highest level of potential, and they work really hard to do so. This blogpost specifically discusses my expectations for graduate students. My students have significant achievements, including a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Award, first-authored, peer reviewed publications, co-authored, peer reviewed publications, paper and poster presentations at national conferences, and scholarships. They also land jobs – one of my former graduate students is currently on postdoctoral fellowships at one of the top population research centers in the US, and another is a tenure-track assistant professor. I was honored with the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2019, and as part of this award, I was specifically recognized for my skills related to mentoring my undergraduate and graduate students.
I am committed to diversity, inclusion, and equity. You can read more about my thoughts on these topics here.
I hope you will consider that graduate study in HDFS at Ohio State may be the next step in achieving your personal goals for success.
Graduate Student Accomplishments
Publications and Fellowships
- 28 peer-reviewed publications with graduate student lead authors
- 10 peer-reviewed publications with graduate student co-authors
- 3 peer-reviewed publications with graduate student lead authors currently under review or revision
- 2 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships
- 2 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mentions
- 6 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Applications
- 1 Ohio State University Distinguished University Fellow
- 1 Ohio State University University Fellow
- 1 Ohio State University Graduate Enrichment Fellowship
- 1 Ohio State University Patrick S. Osmer SROP Fellowship
- 2 College of Education and Human Ecology Graduate Dissertation Fellowships
- Graduate students consistently funded as either Graduate Research Assistants or Graduate Teaching Assistants (funding includes tuition waiver and monthly stipend), or as Institute for Population Research Graduate Assistants
- College of Education and Human Ecology Scholarships
- Travel Awards from the College of Education and Human Ecology and the Institute for Population Research at The Ohio State University, and the International Association for Relationship Research
Sara receiving the NCFR student award, November 2015
Awards
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (Patricia Pittman, 2019; Rachel Arocho, 2014; Chanell Washington, 2015, SROP mentee)
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention (Sara Mernitz; Raul Meija, SROP mentee)
- National Council on Family Relations Student Award (Sara Mernitz 2015; Rachel Arocho 2017)
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Theory Construction and Research Methodology workshop Best Student Paper Award (Letitia E. Kotila)
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Men in Families Focus Group Best Research Article Award, National Council on Family Relations (Letitia E. Kotila)
- Graduate Student Researcher of the Year, Human Development and Family Science Program, The Ohio State University (Letitia E. Kotila)
Presentations
Miranda Berrigan presenting at the 2018 National Council on Family Relations conference.
- More than 60 presentations with graduate student lead authors at the local, national, and international conferences, including the meetings of the National Council on Family Relations, International Association for Relationship Research, Population Association of America, Society for Research in Child Development, and others
Fellowships/Funding
- 2 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Awards(Patricia Pittman; Rachel Arocho; Chanell Washington)
- 2 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mentions (Sara Sandberg-Thoma, Raul Meija)
- 7 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Applications
- 1 Ohio State University Distinguished University Fellow (Rachel Arocho)
- 1 Ohio State University University Fellow (Kyle Bartholomew)
- 1 Ohio State University Graduate Enrichment Fellowship (Patricia Pittman)
- 1 Ohio State University Patrick S. Osmer SROP Fellowship (Patricia Pittman)
- 2 College of Education and Human Ecology Graduate Dissertation Fellowships (Letitia Kotila, Sara Mernitz)
- Graduate students consistently funded as either Graduate Research Assistants or Graduate Teaching Assistants (funding includes tuition waiver and monthly stipend) or as Institute for Population Research Graduate Assistants
- College of Education and Human Ecology Scholarships
- Travel Awards, College of Education and Human Ecology, Institute for Population Research
Novel Resources Used by Kamp Dush Graduate Students
Institute for Population Research
Sara and Joy at the IPR Christmas Party
The Institute for Population Research (IPR) is a multidisciplinary center funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The center encourages, organizes, and supports research and training in the population sciences, or the statistics study of human populations. The center focuses on health and population research, and one of its signature strengths is family demography which focuses on the study of the ties that bind individuals into households and family units such as marriage, divorce, and parent-child relationships. Graduate students can become affiliates of the center, and as affiliates, they are able to apply for research space, travel funding, and graduate research assistantships, and are able to meet and interact with other demographers on campus as well as demographers from across the US who come to Ohio State as part of the IPR seminar series. Students are also able to participate in working groups and methodological workshops that IPR sponsors.
Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Quantitative Methods
The Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Quantitative Research, Evaluation, and Measurement is designed to provide advanced training in data analysis and quantitative research to students across Ohio State. A goal of the program is to expose students to “cross-disciplinary methodologies and research paradigms and complete an independent, advanced quantitative research project resulting in a paper suitable for submission for publication.” This specialization gives students cutting edge training in quantitative research methods and is an excellent addition to a curriculum vitae (the academic equivalent of a resume).
Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Demography
The Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Demography provides graduate students with both substantive and methodological demographic training. The goal of this program is to expose students to interdisciplinary training in population and health sciences, and give them expertise in the demographic tool kit. This specialization is an excellent addition to the curriculum vitae and will expand career opportunities for students interested in demography.
Rachel Arocho, winner of the 2017 NCFR student award
The Faculty/Graduate Student Writing Group
As part of my dedication to graduate student success, Drs. Kelly Purtell and Arya Ansari, my colleagues in the graduate program in Human Development and Family Science, and I lead a weekly writing group. At the beginning of the semester, each of our graduate student members, as well as Drs. Purtell, Ansari, and myself, set personal goals for the semester. We also set a group goal of how many papers we want to have submitted by the end of the semester. Each week, we update the group what we accomplished towards our goals, and any other accomplishments since the previous meeting (i.e. paper acceptances, invitations to revise a publication, a submission, passing a candidacy exam, defending a thesis, etcetera.) We then discuss one of our works in progress, such as a draft of a paper or thesis. We most often exceed our goal!
Location, Location, Location
Columbus, the 15th largest city in the US, is a great place to live. Check out these articles about visiting Cbus: