The School of Education is pleased to announce that Stephanie J. Waterman ’83, G’04 (Onondaga, Turtle Clan), an associate professor in the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, will address graduates at its 2025 Convocation Ceremony on Saturday, May 10, at 4:30 p.m. in the John A. Lally Athletics Complex.
Stephanie Waterman
The first Onondagan student to earn a Ph.D. in education at Syracuse University and co-creator of the Native Student Program, Waterman teaches courses in the OISE’s higher education program and coordinates the student development/student services program stream.
Supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Waterman’s research addresses Indigenous college student experiences, as well as university supports for all college students, Indigenous methodologies and geographies and critical theories. Her current research asks how do First Nations/Native American student affairs units work and how do they intersect with non-Indigenous units on campuses?
With her colleagues Heather J. Shotton, Natalie R. Youngbull, and Shelly C. Lowe, Waterman is co-editor most recently of “Developments Beyond the Asterisk: New Scholarship and Frameworks for Understanding Native Students in Higher Education.”
In a 2019 interview for “Education Exchange magazine,” Waterman notes that personal experiences and research frame her work: “We all learn in our own way and bring our own ‘story’ or ‘history’ to the institution.” Indigenous and other marginalized people who have been wronged bring various aspects of those histories with them, Waterman says, but settlers also share that history and bring their history with them: “I open every class with a discussion of assumptions and perspectives because we are often not aware of our biases and assumptions that impact our practice and learning.”
Waterman is the recipient of the Mike Charleston Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research in Indigenous Education (AERA Indigenous Peoples of the Americas); the Robert H. Shaffer Award for Outstanding Contribution to Higher Education (NASPA Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education); and the Council for Ethnic Participation Mildred García Award for Exemplary Scholarship: Senior Scholar Award (Association for the Study of Higher Education).
In addition to her Ph.D. from the School of Education, Waterman holds a master of arts degree in liberal studies from SUNY Empire State College (2002) and a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences (1983).
