Belk Center Executive Director Audrey Jaeger Awarded Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award, Inducted into Research Leadership Academy

Audrey Jaeger, Ph.D., executive director of the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research and an Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor of Higher Education in the NC State College of Education, has been awarded NC State’s 2020 Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award.

Jaeger is one of six NC State faculty members to be recognized with this award.

“My scholarship crosses research, teaching and extension and outreach as do the Alumni Association Awards. To now be recognized at NC State in all three of these areas is a tremendous honor,” Jaeger said.

Jaeger’s research through the Belk Center focuses on understanding how community college presidents make decisions related to completion and transfer, equity, labor market outcomes and teaching and learning to impact student success. She is part of a team that works closely with community college leaders to provide them with professional development as well as data, information and resources to help them improve institutional effectivenesses at their community colleges.

As a winner of the Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award, Jaeger will be inducted into the Research Leadership Academy (RLA), a group comprised of NC State’s most outstanding researchers and mentors across various fields. Faculty inducted into the Research Leadership Academy are chosen based on their active engagement and record of research and mentoring of faculty.

As a member of the RLA, Jaeger will play an active role in promoting research enterprise across campus for at least three years.

“As part of NC State’s Research Leadership Academy, I can support other researchers who find value in connecting their teaching, research and engagement. I will highlight how our work in the College of Education serves as a bridge between research and community,” she said. “In my role as executive director of the Belk Center, I have identified meaningful collaborations across NC State within the research committee. This Academy allows for additional opportunities to build research collaborations across NC State.”