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Doctoral student awarded ASHE/Lumina Dissertation Fellowship

Aug. 1, 2008

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University doctoral student DeAnna R. Burt has been awarded a $14,000 fellowship to assist with her study of college retention for African-American students beyond the first year at school.

Her dissertation, "African American Student Persistence: A Study of the Effects of an Intrusive Advising Intervention at a Career College," looks at why some students do not complete their degrees, whether a specific kind of intervention can make them more successful in their goals, and the policy implications of the research.

The award, a 2008-09 Association for the Study of Higher Education/Lumina Dissertation Fellowship, is one of only nine given nationally this year and supports the development of new research questions, methodologies and frameworks for the study of topics related to college choice, financial aid and student retention.

Fellows are assigned an established scholar as a mentor in the program, participate in an online community of scholars and come together twice during the fellowship year--in November and at the end of the fellowship year.

ASHE, a scholarly society with about 1,900 members dedicated to higher education as a field of study, is headquartered at Michigan State University. The Lumina Foundation for Education is an Indianapolis-based, private, independent foundation.

Burt has worked at Baker College in Muskegon, Mich., for nine years, most recently as dean of technology since 2003. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from WMU, both in business.

Media contact: Deanne Molinari, (269) 387-8400, deanne.molinari@wmich.edu

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