Elizabeth “Buffy” Stoll, director of new student programs at Miami University, has received the National Orientation Directors Association’s 2012 Outstanding Research Award.

Each year the National Orientation Directors Association (NODA) honors one graduate or doctoral student who conducts exemplary research in higher education student orientation, transition and retention programs.

NODA selected Stoll for the award based on her “outstanding research on first-generation college students and college persistence,” according to Terry Hill, chair of the NODA scholarships and awards committee.

Stoll received a $1,000 stipend for her research, and her annual conference and membership fee for the association were waived. She was recognized at the NODA annual conference Oct. 27 in Las Vegas, NV.

Stoll joined Miami’s student affairs team in 2008 after serving as assistant director of the student resource center at New York University. She holds degrees from West Virginia Wesleyan College and New York University.