Pre-Ph.D.
CASA Pre-Ph.D. Faculty Associate, Dr. Lakeyta Bonnette-Bailey, currently teaches classes on American government, Black women and politics, Black political behavior, Black politics, Hip-Hop and politics, racial attitudes in the U.S. and identity politics.







- help students identify and solidify their interests and eligibility for graduate school
- provide academic mentoring and support that keeps students on track toward successful graduate school applications and career progressions, both directly to students and indirectly through faculty development
- expand research opportunities on all campuses
Welcome to the CASA! As a participant at CASA, we invite you to complete this Intake Screening and Planning Tool. The purpose is to think about where you are in your academic process and compare that with where you want to go over the next couple of years. Revisit this document frequently updating it as you complete the tasks outlined here.
What are my options: Researching Graduate Schools – (Pre-Recorded)
Objective: To instruct students on what they should consider and look for when researching potential graduate schools to attend.
How do I Ask?: Requesting Letters of Recommendation (Pre-recorded)
Objective: Instruct students on the proper ways to request letters of recommendation.
“While the session was primarily geared toward those studying the arts and humanities, Dr. Bonnette-Bailey was very helpful in getting me listings for various STEM summer research opportunities that CASA has on file. She also recommended to the guests how we should go about preparing a CV (which I did not realize is different from a resume) and how we should also prepare our “personal mission statement” and try to keep an up to date transcript at all times as well as a letter of recommendation, if possible. All of this was helpful in me realizing that for me to get a summer research opportunity I need to be going about it in a very systematic and hopefully efficient manner. As regards environmental geosciences, the field is very broad, and while it can easily be applied to many topics in science, that makes it difficult to know where to even start. I have taken to using the NSF site to look up sponsored REU across the United States and I already have my eye on several in California related to hydrology and water sciences that I hope I can get into.
Attending the information session provided me with some very necessary information that I was not thinking about up until she mentioned it. I should have considered these things, but she laid it all out very plainly and with a healthy dose of urgency. I am not going to be leaving getting a summer research opportunity up to chance. If I am unable to acquire a position this summer I will be trying again for next summer.”

For Dr. Lakeyta Bonnette-Bailey’s full biography, visit her CASA Staff page.
Dr. Lakeyta Bonnette-Bailey is an Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Georgia State University, and the Pre-Ph.D. Faculty Associate for the Center for the Advancement of Students and Alumni (CASA). At the CASA, Dr. Bonnette-Bailey serves as a mentor, and guides students through the graduate application process. Her support includes researching and identifying the best graduate schools for Georgia State University students interested in Pre-Ph.D. pathways. She also works with students who seek assistance on how to structure and successfully write personal statements. Additionally, providing strategies for requesting letters of recommendations, reviewing final applications before submission, sharing resources on graduate related activities and programs, and developing lectures which cover various aspects of the graduate application experience is also part of her portfolio.