Florida State University’s Honors in the Major Program recognized Crystal Taylor, Ph.D., AICP, with the 2024 Honors Thesis Mentor Award for excellence in directing and advising her undergraduate students in their honors theses.
Dr. Taylor is the Director of Research for the DeVoe L. Moore Center (DMC), and most of her instructional time is spent at the DMC preparing ambitious new scholars to engage in policy discussions through evidence-based research.
“I’m extremely pleased to see Dr. Taylor recognized for her excellent mentorship in research,” said Tim Chapin, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy. “Her dedication to mentoring and guiding undergraduates in their research is commendable. This award showcases what a great faculty member she is and her ability to get the best out of students.”
Dr. Taylor was nominated for the award by Camila Aponte, a senior majoring in Political Science and International Affairs.
In her nomination, Aponte detailed the impact Dr. Taylor had on her development, starting with her time in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) here at Florida State and culminating with her current Honors in the Major thesis, titled “The Every Student Succeeds Act: Preparing Students for College.”
Dr. Taylor’s assistance with understanding statistics, quantitative research methods, the format and structure of a thesis project, and research design was crucial for Aponte’s success.
“I am extremely grateful for Dr. Taylor’s guidance and support,” Aponte said. “Her dedication to the DeVoe L. Moore Center, in pushing high-quality and highly valuable undergraduate research work, indicates that she truly believes in her students and believes that they can achieve greatness and success.”
Aponte’s first research project was a qualitative study that analyzed citizen involvement in the decision-making process of public infrastructure plans for Leon County, officially termed “participatory planning processes,” by performing a content analysis. In her current thesis, Aponte has switched gears to explore quantitative research within federal policy regarding education and how it’s implemented in Florida; her research primarily tackles how to address gaps in education and graduation rates, including looking at factors like ethnicity and race and how college and career readiness vary by school.
Dr. Taylor is currently chairing two honors theses and serving on two committees. Since starting as the Director of Research at the DMC, her undergraduate research mentees have presented posters 61 times at conferences. Dr. Taylor personally interviewed and recruited Aponte as part of the UROP during her sophomore year and is now supervising Aponte’s honors thesis in her senior year.
“Ms. Camila Aponte’s honors thesis research with me has been a wonderful scholarly and professional development journey transitioning from my Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program mentee to my policy research intern, to my Honors Thesis mentee,” Dr. Taylor said. “I am proud of her for all of her work, as she has become a formidable scholar, and am pleased to report she was selected by an external committee of professors across the country to represent Florida State University this April at an academic conference in Las Vegas. I have mentored Camila at several local and state conferences and advocated for travel funds on her behalf. However, this is her first research competition and her first time presenting at the national level.”
Dr. Taylor received her Bachelor’s in Management from Missouri State University, her Master’s in Geography from the University of Alabama, and her Ph.D. in Urban Planning from Florida State.
Click here to learn more about the Honors Thesis Mentor Award and its previous recipients. For more information about the DeVoe L. Moore Center, visit coss.fsu.edu/dmc.