STUDENT SPOTLIGHT — HEGSA STEWARDS, KATHERINE AQUINO AND RYAN HUDES
The Higher Education Graduate Student Association was founded on the notion that a supportive, academic, and social environment is necessary for graduate student success. With great satisfaction we celebrate the dedication that Katherine Aquino and Ryan Hudes have had in serving fellow students in their time with HEGSA, and excitement as they transition to their role as Contributors-At-Large.
Having the opportunity to serve as your steward for nearly three years has been, in short, incredible. During my time with HEGSA, I hope I served my College, faculty, and colleagues effectively, attempting to increase the sense of community amongst students and improve communication and participation through The Insider monthly newsletter, symposiums, and research colloquiums. Thank you for welcoming HEGSA into your lives.
I am so proud to be a part of this doctoral program and I am confident that the skills developed from the coursework and through research experiences with the ELMP faculty provided a strong foundation for my professional growth. As I soon approach the completion of my dissertation, I am excited for what lay ahead.
During my time at Seton Hall, I have focused the majority of my research projects on student disability and I would like to use this as a place to better explain why. One of my first cousins was born with Down syndrome and, from a very young age, I was taught that possessing a disability should not be seen as a limitation, but a positive and embraced component of who you are. Following graduation, I hope to continue to research on how students with disabilities are perceived and identified within the higher education environment. I believe that there is much work needed on this topic and I hope to be a part of the burgeoning conversation. This program allowed me to explore research ideas that I was impassioned by, and I know that our ELMP community can inspire you to find yours. – Katie
Having the opportunity to be part of the HEGSA revitalization since Fall 2013 has been a tremendously rewarding opportunity. I’ve enjoyed collaborating with my fellow stewards, including recent PhD graduate Lucien Costley, to initially conceptualize The Insider, but also develop and craft each subsequent month’s issue. I believe The Insider has helped establish a sense of community among my fellow Higher Education students as well serving as a vehicle to inform faculty, administration, and alumni of recent programmatic developments and noteworthy student-level accomplishments.
In addition to the monthly publication, I’ve enjoyed working together with my fellow stewards, faculty, administration, and the student community to help organize enriching events, such as the recent Higher Education Graduate Student Symposium. When I began the program and as I progressively completed advanced coursework, I gained a better appreciation for the power of collaboration – particularly as it relates to research projects. From this, I believe there is an untapped potential among the student population as it relates to research methods, study design, data analysis, data visualization/presentation, and more. I believe student-focused symposiums centered around these areas are a future opportunity where the HEGSA can help increase collaboration, while also serving as a source of out of class peer-support throughout the dissertation process.
Looking ahead and under the direction of Dr. Rong Chen, I plan to defend my dissertation related to student academic match and bachelor’s degree completion during the Fall 2016 semester. I’m currently working on my data analysis and learning more about using a national dataset. In addition to my dissertation research, I’m engaged in some collaborative research projects with peers that I hope to submit for review this summer.
Professionally, I look forward to continuing to work in Enrollment Management within the University’s newly-formed College of Communication and the Arts. – Ryan