SRL Team

Executive Director

Since coming to Kent State University (KSU) in February 2012, Dr. Gregory Gibson is the full-time Director of the Kent State University Survey Research Laboratory. His responsibilities include responding to RFPs, budgeting projects, all phases of survey project work (including questionnaire development, cognitive testing, and protocol development), conducting interviewer training (including development of training manuals and study-specific trainings), filing and updating IRB proposals, cleaning and annotating data files. Additional directorship duties fulfilled by Dr. Gibson include recruitment, hiring, and retention of personnel, interfacing with Research and Economic Development, budgeting, internal and external billing, and mentoring of graduate students in survey research and college teaching. Dr. Gibson was presented with the Sociology Department’s Graduate Student Mentoring Award in 2015. Dr. Gibson has procured over $3.3 million in external funding to the SRL and conducted more than 155 online surveys. He currently serves as a Discipline Specific Reviewer for the KSU IRB, was integral member of the provost’s NTT Advisory Council, a member on KSU’s Data Science/Data Analytics Committee. Additionally, Dr. Gibson co-chaired the 2021 KSU Campus Climate Questionnaire Development Subcommittee.

Before joining KSU, Dr. Gibson was the Research Director for the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT). While with the NREMT, he conducted a number of research projects drawing upon survey research methods and qualitative-focused methods, including focus groups, nominal groups, ethnographies, and key informant interviews. Dr. Gibson is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. Dr. Gibson's research areas include survey research, gender, and prosocial behaviors, such as heroism and altruism.

Chief Statistician and Methodologist

Dr. Vander Horst studied at The Ohio State University, where in 2012,when he earned a Ph.D. from the College of Education and Ecology in the department of quantitative research evaluation and measurement. Dr. Vander Horst has well over two decades of statistical consulting and program evaluation.

For over two decades Dr. Vander Horst worked extensively on large federal grants related to life-skills and remedial education. Life-Skills: Founded and housed in the University of Colorado Institute for Behavioral Science (IBS) within the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence in Boulder, Colorado. This Life-Skills program was a drug intervention program that began in 1996 and in the early 2000s, was implemented in middle schools across the U.S. During 2000 and 2001, Dr. Vander Horst coordinated 15 states, hundreds of schools and their school principals, and dozens of field key informants in the implementation of the Life-Skills curriculum. The goal and purpose of Life Skills was to teach children about not only the dangers of drugs and violence, but also the benefits of proper life skills, including money management, building quality relationships, and the ability of education to shape their future in a positive way. This three-year study was funded by the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).  The year, Dr. Vander Horst worked on this three-year grant included over 13 million dollars to study the effects of Life-Skills curriculum as a deterrent to middle school drugs use, as well as the ability to increase student knowledge regarding pro-social life skills (aka reduction of violence).

From 2010 to 2011, Dr. Vander Horst’s research focused primarily on remedial education within the Ohio juvenile prison system. Dr. Vander Horst worked on a team funded by a 30-million-dollar, five-year, Institute for Educational Statistics (IES) grant. Dr. Vander Horst’s duties were to help construct a multi-dimensional observation sheet, linked to the Read 180 guidance and expectations, to measure student engagement while teachers, teacher aides, and literacy coaches implemented Read 180 program. Dr. Vander Horst was one of only two field observers/coordinators that entered the eight state juvenile prisons with the goal of monitoring compliance with the implementation of the Read 180 program.

In 2020, Dr. Vander Horst was formally hired into the SRL as the Chief Statistician and Methodologist where he assists with all our various program evaluations and survey research projects.

Senior Research Associate

Craig Wawrosch, BA, is the current Senior Project Manager for the SRL. Craig “rose up through the ranks” first as a telephone interviewer, then a telephone interviewer trainer, an Assistant Supervisor, and finally as the Senior Project Manager. Craig programs all non-CDC projects consisting of internal to KSU and external to KSU projects. Craig also meets with project stakeholders, refines client deliverables, and according to Dr. Gibson, Craig “is a key component to the SRL’s current success.”

Supervisors

Quality data collection starts with our Senior Supervisor—Jane Howe. In addition to administrative oversight, Jane’s duties include interviewing and hiring the best interviewers for data collection projects, development, and implementation of methods to ensure strict adherence to procedures and protocols, refusal conversion, and conducting interviewer training (both initial and refresher sessions).

Jane Howe joined the SRL in 2012, as a telephone interviewer and is now the Senior Administrative Project Coordinator for the SRL and PRAMS projects. Jane has over 36 years of data collection, analytical and client driven administrative experience. Before joining KSU, Jane assisted major corporations such as Konica Minolta, IBM, NIKE, DuPont and Goodyear with project management and standard operating procedures. When not working, Jane relaxes with her family, and finds ways to remotely connect and support her daughter, who is starting graduate school, after working in Massachusetts for the Harvard University Medical school.

Stefanie Beer began working as an interviewer for the SRL in 2010. Stefanie enjoys contributing to the health of mothers and babies through her work on the PRAMS project. As our Senior Assistant Supervisor, in addition to calling, Stefanie provides additional training (both initial and refresher sessions), oversees shifts, and monitors interviewers. She is a native of Kent, OH and feels a strong connection to the university and the city.

CDC PRAMS Certified Telephone Interviewers

Janice Nuspl is a Senior Interviewer for the SRL. Janice has been with the SRL since late 2012 and is known for her penchant for detail. Janice’s years of experience enable her to easily connect with respondents and consistently obtain their participation. Additionally, Janice regularly fulfills her civic duties as a poll worker during local, state, and national elections.

Danielle Cooke is our Senior bilingual interviewer. She joined the team in late 2021. In addition to working for the SRL, Danielle is currently working at a museum, perusing her field of study. Danielle is flexible, assisting with additional projects and new hire training, as necessary. 

Daisy Hernandez is a bilingual interviewer, who joined our team in early 2023. Daisy served in the USMC and in addition to the SRL, works part-time as an In-Home Caretaker as she continues classes. Daisy easily connects with respondents and regularly gains their participation in our projects.