UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1146

Research Mentor Information
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Primary Research Mentor Name: Katherine (Katie) Gipalo
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns: she/her
When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific?: Ms.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): kgipalo@fsu.edu
Position Title: FSU Staff/Campus Partner
FSU College (if applicable): N/A
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation: Office of Institutional Research
Headshot (optional): https://cre.fsu.edu/system/files/webform/urop_project_proposal_portal/20326/snippeted.PNG

Additional Research Mentor(s)
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Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above): Sarah Sikes
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Pronouns: she/her
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific?: Ms.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): ssikes@fsu.edu
Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable): {Empty}
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns: {Empty}
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific?: {Empty}
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated): {Empty}

Overall Project Details
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Title of the Project: Transfer Student Success: Time-to-Degree, Major Change, and the 2+2 Program
Project Keywords: Transfer students, student success, graduation, higher education
Are you currently looking for research assistants?: No
Number of Research Assistants Needed : 1
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s):
Statistics

Project Location:: On FSU Main Campus
If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation?: {Empty}
Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s):: Partially Remote
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work?: 5
Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work?: Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Overall Research Project Description:
	In this project, the Office of Institutional Research wishes to investigate Time-to-Degree and Stop-Out outcomes for prior FCS AA Transfer students. The state of Florida has a recent interest in the outcomes of these students more broadly, but have focused in on the feasibility of 2+2 programs - where a student completes their AA at an FCS institution in 2 years, transfers to a state university, and completes the remainder of their Bachelor's in the subsequent 2 years. We want to know the following:
		○ What does the Time-to-Degree distribution of our FCS AA Transfer students look like historically?
		○ How many FCS AA Transfer students stopout, ie stop enrolling for more than 3 semesters, historically?
		○ What does the major change behavior look like for FCS AA Transfer students?
		○ How many students would be eligible to fit into the 2+2 framework, upon arrival to FSU (ie, how many students completed their AA at their FCS institution in 2 years or less)?
		○ What does the relationship between major change and Time-to-Degree look like? 
		○ What does the relationship between major change and stopout look like?
	These are the questions that our UROP student will be working with us to contribute to.

Research Tasks:
The undergraduate researcher will support data cleaning and validation efforts, as well as the conducting of inferential statistical tests. She will work with the mentors listed above to derive meaning and insights from these results that can inform policy and practice within the institution.


Skills that research assistant(s) may need::
	Required: strong communication skills, willingness to learn, ability to work collaboratively, familiarity with Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, familiarity with beginner-level inferential statistical methods
	Recommended: beginner level understanding of SAS programming language, interest in higher education administration/improvement
	Nice to have: interest in transfer student success

Mentoring Philosophy:
		○ Importance of balance between mentor engagement and allowing mentees to make mistakes
		○ Support with mentees developing their professional boundaries
		○ Facilitate dialogue that allows for feedback and questions in a way that works for the mentee
		○ Provide clear, direct instruction both verbally and written
		○ Assist mentees in developing transferable skills that support their broader academic, research, and career goals
		○ Value communication, organization, and willingness to learn in a mentee
		○ Desire to support community and connection building between my mentees
		○ Desire to provide mentorship support to my mentees both during and after the formal time frame of our relationship 


Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable):: ir.fsu.edu
Please add any additional information here (if applicable)::
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Are you interested in participating in the UROP Research Mentor Roundtable?: No
Roundtable times and Zoom links:
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UROP Program Elements
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Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication: Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation: Yes
Materials Grant: Yes
UROP Poster Presentation: Yes

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Year: 2025
update url: https://cre.fsu.edu/urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?element_parents=elements/research_mentor_information/headshot_optional_&ajax_form=1&_wrapper_format=drupal_ajax&token=32cgSo6M7v_P9qh_fE7w75qhnsIlU8wH6Rw8sK9fHn4