News · W&M News · Staff stories · Ambler honored

As William and Mary’s assistant vice president for student affairs, Ginger Ambler has a passion for students. And so, when she began working toward her doctorate about eight years ago, she focused her research on learning more about college students and what factors are related to their thriving on campus. Now her passion and hard work are being rewarded with national recognition.

Ambler recently was named the winner of the Melvene D. Hardee Dissertation of the Year award by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. NASPA is the largest professional association for student affairs administrators, faculty and graduate students, with more than 11,000 members in 29 countries.

“This is such a well-deserved reward, for many reasons,” said Sam Sadler, vice president for student affairs. “It is a stunning piece of research that deepens our understanding of what contributes to student success in college. That she could produce a dissertation of such significance while working full time and doing all of the other things she does is a reflection of Ginger's extraordinary talent and of the high standards with she approaches everything she does. She richly deserves the recognition this award gives to her work. We in student affairs are very proud of her.”

Ambler received her doctorate in educational policy, planning and leadership from William and Mary in 2006, and she was awarded the College’s Thatcher Prize for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Study at commencement. Her dissertation, entitled “Who Flourishes in College? Using Positive Psychology and Student Involvement Theory to Explore Mental Health Among Traditionally Aged Undergraduates,” explores the relationship between students’ subjective sense of well-being and their level of engagement in the educational experience, both in and out of class.

“The most exciting part about doing this dissertation for me was that I was studying college students,” she said. “They’re the reason I do what I do. I have a passion for working with college students, and I was intensely interested in what I was going to learn about them through my research.”

Ambler grew interested in the topic when a vibrant and highly involved William and Mary student she had befriended became mysteriously ill. Despite the student's serious illness, the undergraduate and her family decided that it would be best to keep her near the College and as involved in classes and activities as possible.

“It made me wonder what it was about being in this environment that led her and her family to believe that it was important to her well-being,” said Ambler.

Ambler looked at five variables that could contribute to an undergraduate student’s overall social, emotional and psychological well-being: level of academic challenge, active/collaborative learning, student/faculty interaction, enriching educational experiences and supportive campus environment.

She found that students’ mental health was significantly related to all five of the engagement variables, with a supportive campus environment being the most predictive of optimal mental health.

“It reinforced for me what I always hoped was the case—that relationships are really important,” said Ambler. “The work that we do in student affairs is very much about creating a campus environment that will be supportive of students in their learning and in their personal growth. In that sense, the results of my study reaffirmed the value of what my colleagues and I do in student affairs, and what faculty and others throughout the university do to meaningfully engage students in their educational experience.”

Working full time at the College and as a wife and mother of three, Ambler earned her degree over more than seven years. She said that feat was only possible through the support and understanding of her family, colleagues and professors.

“The fact that I was able to do this is a testament to the fact that I had incredible support structures in all aspects of my life,” said Ambler.

Ambler presented the findings of her dissertation at the Virginia Student Services Conference in the fall and more recently at the Virginia Council of Graduate Schools’ 2nd annual Graduate Student Research Forum. As the Hardee award winner, she will present her findings at NASPA’s national conference in Orlando, Fla. in April, and she was recently invited to author a chapter for the Positive Psychology Perspective Series on the topic of human flourishing.

“Her dissertation research was elegantly conceived, insightfully designed, carefully conducted and responsibly interpreted,” said David Leslie, William and Mary’s Chancellor Professor of Education and chair of Ambler’s dissertation committee. “Ginger handled this the same way she handles herself in all situations: elegantly, insightfully, carefully and responsibly. She is a consummate professional, and I can think of no one who more richly deserves this once-in-a-lifetime honor.”

Despite the national recognition, it is the everyday interaction with students that Ambler finds most rewarding.

“I have known so many amazing and inspirational students throughout my years at William and Mary, and they teach us as much as we teach them,” she said. “I just feel so honored to be working here with them.”

Ambler’s dissertation can be viewed online at www.wm.edu/studentaffairs/amblerdissertation/FINAL.pdf.