KU News Release

Two KU graduate students win case study prize at Kansas Student Affairs conference

LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas graduate students in the School of Education won the Case Study Competition at the Kansas Student Affairs Conference in October in Manhattan.

The competition focused on crisis management for universities and required students to create a fictitious university and establish a task force to evaluate the crisis management procedures for that campus.

B. Tyler Blair, Hingham, Mass., and Stefani Gerson, Overland Park, are both graduate students in higher education administration and work as interns in KU’s Student Involvement and Leadership Center.

In presenting their case for “Sasnak University,” Blair and Gerson focused on the timeliness of crisis management on university campuses, provided a profile of Sasnak U and discussed how they organized a task force with work groups for prevention, management and response. The KU students included a timeline for planning and implementing the task force’s procedures.

Blair completed his bachelor’s degree in sociology/anthropology with a certification in organizational studies at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.

Gerson received a bachelor’s degree in communication studies in 2006 at KU. She is the daughter of Steve and Sharon Gerson of Overland Park and is a Blue Valley Northwest High School graduate.

The Kansas Student Affairs conference included representatives from colleges and universities throughout the state and focused on today’s college students and their pathways to success.

KU staff members making presentations were: Laura Burrows, assistant director for residence life; Robert N. Page Jr., director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs; Lori Reesor, associate vice provost for Student Success; and Diana Robertson, director of the Department of Student Housing.

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