Dietz receives doctorate

After working towards her goal for five years, Director of Learning Resources Pam Dietz can now be called Doctor Dietz.
 
Dietz received her Ed. D Adult Occupational and Continuing Education degree on Nov. 8 through the Department of Educational Leadership at Kansas State University. 
 
She said she chose KSU because they had an extension program in Wichita for master completion and doctorate programs, which allowed her to drive and back and forth for classes.
 
As Dietz started taking classes she found that she was interested in adult education and at the time her job had her dealing with that a lot as well. Both of these factors helped Dietz decide her area of study.
 
Dietz wrote her dissertation on factors that impact achievement and persistence of students in developmental courses receiving Pell Grants at the rural community college.
 
“I saw a lot of developmental student who didn’t persist and I couldn’t get a handle on why,” Dietz said. “As I looked at these students I found that a high number of them were receiving Pell Grants.”
 
Dietz said that as she looked into the problem further she found that many of them were first generation students who didn’t have the support at home to guide them through the college experience.