Educator honored for contributions to field

Patricia Somers, an associate professor in the College of Education’s Department of Educational Administration, has been awarded the American College Personnel Association’s (ACPA) Research and Scholarship Award. The award honors female ACPA members whose research and scholarship contribute to the professional and personal development of women in higher education. Somers is a nationally recognized and internationally covered scholar on the impact of 9/11 on college students and the phenomenon of “helicopter parents.” She has studied the factors that influence college student persistence, effects of financial aid on students’ enrollment decisions, women in education, higher education law and international education.