Dr. Clare Papay, Assistant Professor of Education, was the runner-up recipient of the Pat Sitlington Emerging Researcher Award at the 2011 Council for Exceptional Children Division on Career Development and Transition International Conference in Kansas City, Mo., on Oct. 14.

The award is given for exemplary graduate research in the field of transition education for individuals with disabilities. Papay was recognized for research in her doctoral dissertation, “Best Practices in Transition to Adult Life for Youth with Intellectual Disabilities: A National Perspective Using the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2.”

The Division on Career Development and Transition promotes national and international efforts to improve the quality of and access to career and vocational and transition services, to increase the participation of education in career development and transition goals, and to influence policies affecting career development and transition services for persons with disabilities.

Papay teaches Special Education doctoral and graduate courses on quantitative research methods, transition to adult life, positive behavioral approaches, and special education law. Her dissertation research focused on an analysis of a national data set on the experiences of youth with intellectual disabilities in school and in the early post-school years.

“Clare is one of several wonderful new faculty members in the Education Department,” notes Dr. Leif Gustavson, Associate Professor and Chair of the Education Department. “Her national caliber research is establishing her as a forward-thinker in special education and transition scholarship. We are pleased that her work has been recognized with the Sitlington Award.”