Honors Students Receive Statewide Recognition

Kalamazoo Valley Honors Program student Betsy Kooistra won an award from the Michigan Political Science Association (MIPSA) for her research paper about the public’s dissatisfaction with politics. During MIPSA’s October conference at Eastern Michigan University, she earned the MIPSA Undergraduate Paper Award for her paper titled, “Perception of Polarization: Impacts on Congress.” MIPSA is a nonpartisan state professional association of educators, scholars, students, and practitioners dedicated to advancing the study of government, politics, and public policy.

Kooistra started her research by asking, “Is party polarization crippling lawmakers?” She expected to find a simple answer. “Instead I found that the public is frustrated with elected officials, that, in turn, these officials are paralyzed by the expectations of their constituents, and that while the majority of the country is not politically extreme, or polarized, there is a clear divide in the nation that is halting the legislative branch,” Kooistra said.

She explained that neither side is willing to compromise very much, or at all on issues. “Congress stands still. The public grows increasingly impatient, then votes for whichever candidate promises to fight harder for the people. The issue worsens and the cycle continues,” she said. “For this reason, I concluded that the cause of unsatisfactory Congressional efficiency is far more complicated than polarization alone, and has much more to do with the public’s perception of polarization and how this effects the political behavior and voting patterns in the United States.”

In addition to Kooistra’s award winning paper, Kalamazoo Valley Honors Program students Austin Ladd, Sarah Blok, Dakota McCracken, Katie French and Rebekah Bensley were recognized as the student paper award finalists.

Faculty members submit student papers written in an undergraduate political science course during the previous academic year. “All of the honors student finalists developed their own original semester research project ideas and collected research to address a central question of American politics.

Betsy Kooistra’s paper won due to both her creative originality in developing her research project idea, and her well-thought out analysis of the data to draw some fascinating conclusions on partisan polarization and its impact on congress,” said Kevin Dockerty, Kalamazoo Valley political science instructor and former MIPSA board member. “Participating in the conference is a good opportunity for our students to compete with other students from around the state,” Dockerty explained.

The students and Dockerty felt a sense of community that energized them all to do their best work. “We definitely helped each other a lot and as I was writing the paper I started to realize that I had something special,” Kooistra said. “When I entered Kevin’s class I was really torn about what I wanted to do. I knew that in the future I might want to go into government in some capacity, but after the class I decided that I wanted to go into political science,” Kooistra remarked. “I came into the Honors Program thinking I was a pretty good writer, but now that I am almost done I realize how much I have learned and grown.”

“Our Honors Program is very writing intensive and in-part, the fact that our students were recognized at the conference, gives us validation. Honors students go through extremely rigorous English classes that enable them to create very well written research papers,” said Valley’s Honors Program Director, Stephen Louisell. “The education the Honors Program offers enables our students to be prepared to transfer to any four-year college or university they choose.”

“Winning this award validates the effort that I put into the Honors Program and Kevin’s class. The classes aren’t easy. This is confirmation that I am headed in the right direction,” Kooistra said.

For more information about Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s Honors Program visit www.kvcc.edu/campuslife/orgs/honors.