Fargo, N.D. – Kelly Sassi, assistant professor of English at NDSU, received a 2012 Best Article Honorable Mention from the English Leadership Quarterly, a publication of the Conference on English Leadership.
Her article, “Misgivings and Opportunities: The Common Core Writing Standards," was included in the October 2011 issue themed "Common Core State Standards for English/Language Arts." The awards committee said  Sassi's piece included a  "realistic portrayal of the tensions surrounding the Common Core writing standards."

Sassi has a joint appointment at NDSU in English and education. Her research agenda focuses on social justice issues, including race in the classroom, fair practices in writing assessment, feminist research methodologies, pedagogical approaches to Native American literature, multicultural field experiences and the high school to college transition in writing. Sassi also co-wrote two books, Writing on Demand (2005) and A Student Guide to Writing on Demand (2006), with Anne Gere and Leila Christenbury. 

Sassi serves as a consultant for the National Council for Teachers of English and is a trainer for Project CRISS, a research-based learning strategies program.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.