Two professors at The University of Southern Mississippi were recently selected as recipients of the Paul P. Fidler grant through The National Resource Center for the First Year Experience and Students in Transition.
The grant is designed to encourage those researching issues related to college student transitions and make their research possible by providing a monetary award and travel to two national conferences. Forrest Lane and Georgianna Martin’s research proposal was the only one selected out of 100 submissions.

Lane and Martin were recognized at the 20th National Conference on Students in Transition on Oct. 19-21 in Atlanta, Ga.

“We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to partner with the National Resource Center to better understand the issues related to transfer student success,” Lane said in a press release. “An increasing number of today’s college students represent non-traditional paths to degree completion.”

“As such, we believe traditional models of student success can be enhanced by better understanding the role of institutional attachment and the specific experiences that impact these relationships for transfer students,” he added.

Forrest Lane is an assistant professor of research, evaluation, statistics and assessment in the Department of Educational Studies and Research. He teaches both applied statistics courses and critical issues in student affairs and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the First Year Experience and Student in Transition. His research interests include the use of advanced quasi-experimental design and issues related to college student development.
“This grant enables us to partner with national centers such as the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research along with colleges and universities across the country to examine this important topic,” Lane said. “We hope our research can better aide college administrators, policy makers, and researchers about the specific needs of transfer students.”

Georgianna Martin is an assistant professor of higher education and student affairs in the Department of Educational Studies and Research. She is the editor of Oracle and author of more than 20 articles, that have appeared in national publications.

Her primary research interests include the college experiences of low-income students and the impact of out-of-class experiences on college student learning and development.

Lane and Martin’s study “Examining the Importance of Attachment and Engagement in Predicting GPA across Stages of Transfer Student Transition.” The completed research funded by the grant will be featured in the Journal of the First Year Experience and Students in Transition.