Institute hires emerging scholar in higher education policy, economics

The University of Florida’s higher education administration program has appointed a new assistant professor with more than a decade of research experience in higher education economics and policy, especially at the state level.

Dennis A. Kramer II, an acting assistant professor of higher education at the University of Virginia, will join the UF College of Education faculty in August and serve as the associate director for the college’s Institute of Higher Education. Kramer specializes in advanced quantitative research methods for studying such issues as the impact of financial aid policies on secondary and postsecondary success, and the economic influences on the college choice process. He also has a strong research interest in institutional decision-making and financial issues and trends in college athletics. 

Prior to his University of Virginia post, Kramer worked from 2010-2013 as a senior research and policy analyst for the Georgia Department of Education, where he managed Georgia’s policy development and evaluation research. He also has been an adjunct instructor at Georgia State University. 

He served as the graduate policy and research fellow for the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics from 2008-2010. His analysis of intercollegiate athletic spending and student-athlete academic success has been reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside HigherEd and numerous academic publications and news media outlets.

Kramer is due to receive his doctorate in higher education economics and policy evaluation in May from the University of Georgia Institute of Higher Education. He received his M.Ed. in postsecondary administration and educational policy in 2008 from the University of Southern California and has a bachelor’s in psychology from San Diego State University.

“This opportunity at the University of Florida will enable me to not only work with high-quality faculty and graduate students, but also to engage in scholarly research that can contribute to both state and national education policy development,” Kramer said.

Kramer currently contributes on a $500,000 research grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the impact of physical activity on academic achievement and social behaviors. He recently completed a study analyzing effective school disciplinary practices, funded by the National Association of State Boards of Education.

“Dennis Kramer is an emerging scholar in higher education research and policy analysis,” said Dale Campbell, head of UF’s higher education administration program and the Institute of Higher Education. “He will help us continue our rich tradition of scholarship and leadership development as we look to shape the future in today’s rapidly changing world of higher education.”

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CONTACTS
   SOURCE: Dennis A. Kramer II; dkramerii@gmail.com; 714-514-6442
   SOURCE: Dale Campbell, director, UF Institute of Higher Education; dfc@coe.ufl.edu; 352-273-4300
   WRITER: Larry Lansford, director, news and communications, UF College of Education; llansford@coe.ufl.edu; 352-273-4137