Wendy Erisman

Background

About Wendy Erisman

Wendy Erisman, Ph.D, owner of Strix Research LLC, specializes in assessing the effectiveness of programs and policies designed to support underserved students in higher education. Dr. Erisman has training and experience in research and evaluation design, strong skills in qualitative research methods, and a solid grounding in the literature on college access and success for low-income, first-generation, and non-traditional students.Recent Strix Research evaluation projects include: • The FAFSA Completion Challenge grant program, funded by the Kresge Foundation, in which 22 cities are competing to increase FAFSA-completion rates among high school seniors.• Lumina Foundation’s Adult College Completion Initiative, which promotes large-scale efforts to increase degree completion among adults who have earned some prior college credits.• Promoting Reentry Success through Continuity of Educational Opportunities, a federal Department of Education project designed to replicate and expand a model for supporting low-skilled adults during their transition from correctional institutions into the community.Dr. Erisman formerly worked as senior research specialist with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Prior to returning to her native Texas, she served as director of research and evaluation at the Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington, DC, and as a Mellon Lecturing Fellow at Duke University.Dr. Erisman received her doctorate in cultural anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin, her master's degree in sociology from Yale University, and her bachelor's degree in sociology from Rice University.Specialties: education policy research and program evaluationcollege access and success for underserved studentscomplex organizations and organizational culturesqualitative research design and methods