Bio: Abbie Broga

Abbie Broga is Assistant Dean of Students. Her doctorate is in educational organization and leadership, with an emphasis in higher education administration. Her dissertation, And Everything's the Same: Transformation Through the Eyes of an Intended Change Agent, reflects her interest in the ability of an individual of color to effect policy within a large public, predominantly white institution. Specifically, she looked at the UIUC experiences of one individual who came to UIUC in July 1968 to direct the integration of a cohort of specially recruited students of color and retired as an associate vice chancellor in October 2001.

Broga's other research interests pertain to the college student experience. She is particularly interested in the interplay of race, class and gender in higher education. Her original intent for a dissertation was to conduct a study of undergraduate persistence at UIUC. Undergraduate students who voluntarily withdraw from the University are seen at their college office and at the Office of the Dean of Students. The ODOS is currently designing a study which it hopes will inform the discussions of student persistence, with an emphasis on the collegiate experience rather than on pre-entry characteristics.