Graduate Research Assistants
Graduate Research Assistants
Rachel Frick Cardelle is a doctoral student in the Higher Education Program. She received her B.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder and her Masters in International Economics, and Social Change and Development from SAIS at Johns Hopkins. She worked for a number of years in the field of grassroots community development for Latin America at Oxfam America, Aesculapius International Medicine, and the InterAmerican Foundation, an independent U.S. government agency. This work included spending two years in Central America training indigenous female health promoters for a small non-profit organization. Domestically she ran a policy research and advocacy program for homeless with HIV/AIDS in Miami, Florida, and there published a paper entitled "Service-System Gaps for People with HIV/AIDS and Additional Health Challenges" in AIDS & Public Policy Journal. For the last five years, Ms. Frick Cardelle has been working at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, PA as the Grants Specialist. Her research interests are focused on community colleges and access, retention and success issues, particularly for underrepresented groups and women.
Frank Fernandez graduated from Imperial Valley College, the University of San Diego, and Stanford University. He is interested in community colleges, proprietary education, non-traditional students, student veterans, transfer student issues, and the politics of higher education policy.
Charles E. Gibson, III is a Ph.D. candidate and second-year student in the Higher Education program. Gibson works with Dr. Leticia Oseguera as a Research Assistant at the Center for the Study of Higher Education. Gibson's research interests include institutional research, postsecondary educational access and equity, college student success, community colleges, and traditionally underrepresented populations in higher education. Gibson received the B.A. degree from Wake Forest University where he studied music and English, and completed the M.A. and Ed.S. degrees in Higher Education at Appalachian State University. Gibson serves as Vice President of the Higher Education Student Association (2012-2013), a member of the Higher Education in Review editorial board (2012-2013), and an appointed member of the Pennsylvania State University Presidential Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity (2012-2016).
Claire Gilbert is a Ph.D. student in the Penn State Higher Education Program. Prior to coming to Penn State, Claire received her B.A. in Communication Studies from Northwestern University with a second major in Political Science. Claire spent the past year as a human capital practitioner at Deloitte Consulting working in Human Resource Transformation.
Kaitlin Gurganus is a Ph.D. student in the Higher Education Program. Kaitlin received her B.A. in Political Science from Penn State and her M.S. in Higher Education Administration from Marywood University. Kaitlin's research interests include the intersection of law and higher education and college student success. Kaitlin also works as an academic mentor for student-athletes at Penn State.
Sarah Hoffman is a third year doctoral candidate in the Higher Education Program and a research assistant in the Center. Sarah currently works as a managing editor for the Comparative Education Review, the official peer-reviewed journal of the Comparative and International Education Society. Prior to coming to Penn State, Sarah received her B.A. in Linguistics and Spanish at the University of Colorado, Boulder and her M.A. in International Studies at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Sarah served as an education volunteer with Peace Corps in Gramsh, Albania and worked as a faculty data research analyst at the University of Denver.
Her research interests include academic governance, academic unionization, organizational theory, social network analysis, policy analysis, and international political economy..
Rodney Hughes is a Ph.D. student in Higher Education at Penn State. Rodney has a B.S. and M.A. in Economics, both from Penn State. Rodney's research interests center on the economics of education, especially with respect to tuition pricing, financial aid, and administrative effeciciency at the institutional level and the relationship between education and economic growth at the state, national, and international levels. Rodney also has interests in classroom pedagogy, and the has taught courses in microeconomics and international trade. Only July 1, 2008, Rodney began a three-year appointment to Penn State's Board of Trustees, and he served as Chair of the board's Committee on Campus Environment for 2010-2011.
At the Center for the Study of Higher Education, Rodney works as a research assistant for Dr. John Cheslock.
Andrew Koricich is a Ph.D. student in Higher Education. He works with Dr. John Cheslock as a graduate assistant in support of Penn State's certificate program in Institutional Research. Originally from Edinboro, Pennsylvania, Andrew holds a B.S. in Information Sciences and Technology from Penn State and an M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins University. His higher education interests include education policy and understanding how college access and completion rates vary across rural communities. Andrew also provides academic skills tutoring for student-athletes and served as Vice President of the Higher Education Student Association (HESA) for the 2010-11 academic year.
Prior to joining the Higher Education Program at Penn State, Andrew lived in Washington, DC for five years and worked for GEICO managing systems analysis and software development teams. In addition to higher education, Andrew's interests include traveling, college football, discovering new music, and spending time with his dog.
Karla Loya is a doctoral candidate in the Higher Education Program. Born in Mexico, she received her B.S. in Higher Education with a focus on gender studies from the University of Colima, Mexico, and her Masters in Higher Education from the University of Kansas. She has worked for more than ten years in higher education administration, and her last position was Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at a graduate-level seminary school in Kansas City, MO.
While Karla has worked, and is involved, with several aspects of higher education, her research interest is on gender studies and assessment at all levels and both quantitative and qualitative types. Her interest in assessment led her to be a co-coordinator for the institution's self-study at her previous job, and she is currently an AQIP Peer Reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association.
She is a graduate assistant and a Bunton-Waller Fellow in the Center, where she works with Dr. Leticia Oseguera on projects related to college access, gender, and under-represented students..
Michael F. Minutello is a Ph.D. student in the Higher Education Program. Prior to enrolling at Penn State, Michael earned a B.A. degree in Religious Studies from the College of the Holy Cross and a graduate degree in Theological Studies from Vanderbilt Divinity School. In addition to completing his B.A. and M.T.S. degrees, Michael has worked in a variety of capacities related to secondary education.
Michael is currently the research assistant for the Access theme in the Center for the Study of Higher Education.
Seung Wan Nam is a Ph.D. candidate in the Higher Education Program. He earned both B.A. and M.A. in Education from Seoul National University (SNU) in Korea. Prior to coming to Penn State, Seung Wan worked in the Faculty of Liberal Education, which takes the responsibility for general education at SNU, and participated in the project of the establishment of College of Liberal Studies at SNU. Seung Wan is currently a research assistant for the international HIgher Education theme in the Center for the Study of Higher Education.
Justin Ortagus is a Ph.D. candidate in the Higher Education Program. He received his B.A. in English and M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from the University of Florida. Justin's research interests include issues related to the proliferation of online education, faculty productivity, and education finance. He currently works with Drs. John Cheslock and Fred Loomis as a graduate assistant for Penn State's online graduate certificate program in Institutional Research. Justin serves as a consulting editor for Higher Education in Review and as treasurer of the Higher Education Student Association (HESA).
Shi Pu is a Ph.D. student in the Education Theory and Policy Program. Shi received his B.A. in Computer Science from National University in Singapore with a minor in Mathematics, and completed the M.A. in Mathematics of Finance at Columbia University. In 2012, he spent the summer as an intern in MyCos working on the enrollment consulting project. This project is to enhance China's HEI's enrollment quality and quantity by using sound marketing techniques found through data mining.
Shi's research interests include comparative education, private education in China, and financing and policy issues.
Jared Rodrigues is a Ph.D. candidate in the Higher Education Program. He has a B.A. in English from the University of the South (Sewanee), and an M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology from Temple University. Prior to coming to Penn State, Jared worked in higher education in alcohol and wellness education and first-year programs.
Mark Umbricht is a doctoral student in the Higher Education Program. He received his B.A. in psychology from Eastern Illinois University and his Masters in Educational Organization and Leadership, with a concentration in Higher Education, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At the University of Illinois, he was involved in the Higher Education Student Association as the treasurer his first year and president in the second year. For the past two years he worked for the Office of Community College Research and Leadership on the Pathways to Results (PTR) Project.
Mark's research interests include transition, retention and completion issues, particularly for first-generation students. His master's thesis examined factors affecting time-to-degree in first-generation students.
Erik Wessel is an ABD doctoral candidate in the Higher Education Program. Erik earned his M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Erik currently serves as a graduate assistant with Dr. Robert Hendrickson in support of the Penn State Academic Leadership Academy. Erik's previous professional experience includes various positions in student affairs. He served as a residence hall director and coordinator of student leadership programs at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Immediately following, Erik served as a residence life coordinator, managed multiple living-learning communities and coordinated various research and assessment initiatives for the department of residence life at Penn State University.
Erik's research interests include residential living and learning, student personal and career counseling, and legal issues in higher education. Erik's current research focuses on the provision of personal counseling services for students learning at a distance. Erik's other interests include experiential learning opportunities through outdoor pursuits, photography, and music.
Travis York is an advanced doctoral student in the Higher Education Program (Ph.D.) and a research assistant for the Center for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE). Travis received his B.A. and Masters in Higher Education from Geneva College where he also worked full-time for three years as a student affairs professional and as an adjunct instructor. While starting his Ph.D., Travis worked for two years in Penn State's Residence Life. Travis' assistantship is assigned to Penn State's Alumni Association where he works to help facilitate the legislative education and advocacy efforts of over 35,000 alumni and students for Penn State's Grassroots Network. Travis also works for Penn State's Residence Life as an assessment specialist focusing on the longitudinal assessment of an innovative peer-to-peer ecologic sustainability program.
Travis has served as an active member and Vice President (11-12) of the Higher Education Student Association (HESA), and currently is the editor for Higher Education in Review (a student-run, peer reviewed, academic journal). Travis' research interests include college student learning and development, especially within the areas of academic success, service learning, sustainability, and moral development. Travis also works with Dr. Sue Rankin on a research team investigating college student success.
