Educational Administration and Policy Program Names Recipients of Mullen Scholarship, Ray E. Bruce Support Awards

The College of Education’s educational administration and policy program named four doctoral students as recipients of scholarships at their recent annual award luncheon on May 6.

Karla Lairsey Swafford was named the 2005 recipient of the David J. Mullen Scholarship. This award provides a $1,000 scholarship to a doctoral candidate preparing for a public school position in the Program in Educational Administration and Policy.

Swafford, of Oakwood, has served for the past four years as assistant principal at North Hall Middle School in Gainesville. She was a language arts teacher at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee for seven years before that. She also has served as a professional development instructor for both Hall County and Gwinnett County public schools.

Three students pursuing their doctorates in educational leadership – Kelly Nagle Causey, Brenda Croom Schulz, and Judith B. Vinson – were named recipients of the 2005 Ray E. Bruce Academic Support Award. The $500 annual scholarship provides support for students who are practitioner-scholars studying the theory and application of supervision in schools and school systems.

Causey, of Macon, is a member of the UGA/Fort Valley State University collaborative doctoral cohort. She is currently working on her dissertation about performance coaching from a school administrator’s perspective and how it relates to supervision. Causey is principal of Sonny Carter Elementary School in Macon and taught third and fourth grade at the school for eight years prior to joining its administration.

Schulz, of Conyers, is researching teachers’ perspectives of high-stakes testing and plans to interview National Board Certified teachers to assess their perspective of how high-stakes testing impacts their instructional decisions and sense of professionalism. Schulz works with the Forsyth County School System as a coordinator in the Teaching and Learning Department. Her primary responsibility is working with the K-12 language arts curriculum; however, she also acts as the director of the Title I and gifted programs.

Vinson, of Fort Valley, is another member of the UGA/ Fort Valley State University doctoral cohort. Her proposed dissertation is titled, “How Central Office Personnel Provide Ongoing Professional Development as Mandated in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.” She is the director of human resources for the Peach County School System.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Writer: Katherine Dodd, 706/542-5889, katdodd@uga.edu
Contact: Sally Zepeda, 706/542-0408, szepeda@uga.edu