Athens, Ga. – Diane L. Cooper, a professor in the College of Education’s department of counseling and human development services, has received a prestigious national award recognizing her scholarly achievements and leadership in the field of college student affairs.
Cooper, who is coordinator of UGA’s master’s degree program in College Student Affairs Administration, has received the Senior Scholar Award from the American College of Personnel Association (ACPA). She will serve a six-year term as one of only a dozen active senior scholars.
Cooper has received numerous awards for her teaching and scholarship including the Outstanding Contributions to Student Affairs through Teaching Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) in 2004 and the Melvene Draheim Hardee Award from the Southern Association of College Student Affairs in 2000.
She is the author or co-author of numerous books including Identity Development of Diverse Populations: Implications for Teaching and Practice in Higher Education (2004), Learning Through Supervised Practice in Student Affairs (2003) and a widely used New Directions Series monograph titled Beyond Law and Policy: Reaffirming the Role of Student Affairs and Assessment Instruments which includes the Student Developmental Task and Lifestyle Assessment (1999, written with UGA professors emeriti Theodore K. Miller and Roger B. Winston Jr.).
In addition, she has authored 15 book chapters and numerous journal articles. Her research interests are in program design and assessment, legal and ethical issues in student affairs practice and in professional issues related to underrepresented groups in higher education.
She has served on the editorial board for The Journal of College Student Development and The Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs and was editor of The College Student Affairs Journal for six years.
Before joining the UGA faculty in 1996, Cooper was a faculty member in student development at Appalachian State University for four years. Before that, she served for eight years as a student affairs practitioner at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Cooper received her Ph.D. in counselor education from the University of Iowa in 1985 with a concentration in post-secondary education and vocational development.
The ACPA will recognize Cooper and other standout professionals during its annual joint national conference in April with NASPA in Orlando, Fla.