Student Social Work Organization

2015-2016 Officers

School of Social Work Student Social Work Organization (SSWO) Newsletter

Director’s Corner: It has been a time of change for the School of Social Work. Last year we helped found the new College

of Education and Health Professions. This year has brought new faculty and new leadership. But our

mission as social workers, and members of the UALR community, remains unchanged; engage with

individuals, families, and communities in Arkansas and beyond to foster human relationships, honor

the dignity and worth of all persons, and pursue social justice through the work of teaching, service,

and research. As our ‘family’ system of students, faculty, and staff finds a new homeostasis, the

passion and energy of the SSWO, the faculty, and the staff are infectious! It seems like every day, I find

a new reason to be proud and humbled to be part of the School. So I offer a heartfelt “Thank you!” to

each of you for this holiday gift appreciated all year ‘round.- Dr. Chris Lloyd, Interim Director

Fall 2015

President: Nachosha

Johnson, BSW Junior

Vice President: Cai

Carvalhaes, MSW Student

Cai Carvalhaes, MSW

Secretary: Camesha Cromwell, BSW

Junior

Amy Angel

Dr. Tracey M. Barnett

(SSWO Advisor)

Dr. LaVerne Bell-Tolliver

Stephanie Christian-

Carpenter

Dr. Catherine Crisp

Dr. Tara DeJohn

Elizabeth Fowler

Scarlett Harris

Dr. Kim Jones

Dr. Chris Lloyd

Dr. John W. Miller Jr.

Dr. Rosalie Otters

Nathaniel Roe

Sharon Sims

Dr. Greg Smith

Nancy Streit

Dr. Howard Turney

Dr. Carolyn Turturro

(SSWO Advisor)

Dr. Lillian Wichinsky

MidSouth:

Gigi Peters

Charlotte Besch

Misty Blanton

Jan Littleton-Caldwell

Rodney Crownover

Cynthia Emerson

Justin Hamilton

Carol Griffin

Charlotte Lauderdale

Leisa Myles

Sharon Long

Chucks Odor

Misty Paschall

Pam Plummer

Carolyn Rorex

Treasurer: Margaret Kimball, MSW Student

Facebook Manager:

Megan Mattson,

MSW Student

In September, students met for the first SSWO meeting in the student lounge on the 4th floor at Ross Hall. The

purpose of the meeting was to discuss goals for the year, the Homeless Services Day, and to socialize with each

other. This meeting was held on both Monday and Tuesday of the week. The room was filled on both days. Officers

were announced at the first meeting after elections were held. Students discussed having the next meeting in

October with a potluck lunch.

Suicide Prevention Week

The Suicide Prevention week was organized by the UALR Counseling Service where Cai Carvalhaes, MSW student, is

doing her concentration year placement. Cai taught two sessions of guided meditation and mindfulness during the

event. Many School of Social Work students volunteered during the event.

SSWO Events

SSWO members sharing lunch together Bags collected for Homeless Services Day

Homeless Services Day

Saturday, October 17, 2015, numerous state and

local agencies, nonprofits, churches, groups and

individual volunteers provided a huge array of

services, including health, dental, vision, flu shots,

HIV testing, homeless court, legal clinic,

employment resources, haircuts, showers,

veterinarian services, housing resources, resource

identification, benefit assistance, children's services

and distribution of toiletries, winter clothing and

food items. The event was for homeless, near

homeless, and low income persons. No income or

other verification documents were needed. If a

person needed help, this event was for them. The

event included a specific children's services area,

and a veterinarian area. Dr. Carolyn Turturro helped

organize this event. 70 Social work students signed

up, collected data on mental health service needs,

and made referrals to Little Rock Community Mental

Health, the VA, the GAIN program as well as other

services and providers. Social work students also

helped pass out clothes, breakfast, lunch and helped

with clean-up.

SSWO’s November Guest Speakers

Spearkers: Penelope Poppers (Executive Director of Lucies Place, http://www.luciesplace.org/), and Jay

Miracle Huie (MSW student) spoke about LGBTQ issues such as lack of LGBTQ shelters in Arkansas, need for

more services and support for this population, their experience as a member of the LGBTQ community at

UALR and in the south. Pridecorps LGBTQ youth group (http://pridecorps.org) was also mentioned as one of a

few organizations in Arkansas that provide support for LGBTQ youth.

Dr. Lloyd made a cake for SSWO’s November

potluck meeting. We were all thankful and it

was delicious!

Sydney Gambill, Penelope Poppers, Cai

Carvalhaes, and Caitlin Sammons

Nachosha Jonhson and Jay M.

Huie

Social Work Students Presenting Research, Attending Conferences,

Community Events, and Panel Discussions

On Saturday, November 7, MSW student, Catiya Welch attended the panel on “The Effect of Racism: A Call for

Reconciliation and Need to Build a More Inclusive Community” that was hosted by The Central Arkansas Chapter of the

National Association of Black Social Workers and the Arkansas Association of Black Psychology Professionals. Catiya

served as a monitor and assisted with gathering questions from the audience to the panelists. Additionally,

Catiya assisted by providing resources for guests in attendance.

Left Picture: Dr. John Kirk (UALR), Catiya Welch (MSW Student), Dr. Terrence Roberts (one of the Little Rock Nine &

Author), and Sheryl Alexander (President of the Central Arkansas Chapter of the Association of Black Social Workers).

Right Picture: Catiya Welch (MSW Student) and Latoshia Johnson (UALR Alum).

Central Arkansas Gay Pride Parade

Lauren Chambless, (BSW Student)

attended the Central Arkansas Gay Pride

Parade on October 11, 2015. Lauren

stated: “One thing I learned from the

parade is that there are gay, lesbian,

bisexual and trans-friendly churches. The

second thing I learned and realized is

everyone has the right to be who they

want to be.”

World AIDS Day

Worlds AIDS Day was December 1, 2015. Social Work students volunteered with SSWO to guard the two 12’X12’ quilts

that hung from the second floor right in the front door of the DSC. Students provided education on HIV/AIDS, made sure

that no one touched the quilts and etc. Pictured from left to right: Gisheera Jones (BSW Student), Latisha Vanderbilt

(BSW Student), and Sarah Carter (BSW Student).

“Our Campus”

Our Campus was a diversity and inclusion retreat at the 4H Center in Little Rock on November 6th-8th. This retreat is an

opportunity for the members to approach uncomfortable topics. There were five UALR students, two UCA students, and

one student from Louisiana Tech. UALR students listed left from right with majors. Will Kimball (Philosophy) Sarah Carter

(Social Work-BSW) Sydney Gambill (Social Work-MSW) Jessica Lowery (Psychology) Seth Cook (Biology).

Student Veteran Conference

Tanya Brashers (BSW Senior, 3rd from left), President of UALR Students Affected by the Military, co-hosted the

Student Veterans Conference with Arkansas Tech. Operation Student Veteran Success was indeed a step

forward in the unification of Arkansas' student veteran organizations throughout the state. A special thanks to

Kevin D. Steele with the Secretary of State's office from UALR's Students Affected by the Military for your

efforts in making today a success. Also, many thanks to Mike Ross, Matt Snead, Ken Heater Griffin, the various

college SVA's, Veterans’ organizations, military liaisons for Senator Bozeman and Congressman French Hill and

so many more for your support.

McNair Scholars Program host the 22nd Annual Research Symposium

Ashton McFarland’s (BSW Student) presentation examined the correlation of demographic information (race, age,

socioeconomic status, etc.), school participation, motivation, peer influence, criminal activity, and religious participation

with marijuana and alcohol. The overreaching question was: Do factors in a youth’s social environment correlate with

marijuana and alcohol use. This was an exploratory study using secondary data collected from the National Survey on

Drug Use and Health from 2011, a self-report survey. Frequencies, chi-square, and correlational analyses were used to

examine the relationship between a youth’s social environment and alcohol and marijuana use.

Dr. Tracey Barnett served as a judge for oral presentations.

BSW and MSW Students

Putting Social Work into Action

Bryson Hudson (BSW Student) volunteering

for “Homeless Services Day”

Casey Bradley (BSW Student) volunteering at

“Boo at the Zoo”

Pictured left to right: Sadruddin Siddiq (BSW

Student), Dr. Turturro, Bryson Hudson (BSW

Student) & Dr. Tracey Barnett setting up for

“Homeless Services Day”

Sadruddin Siddiq (BSW Student)

volunteering for “Homeless Services

Day”

The Inaugural Career Fair Extravaganza was hosted by Career Services and the Community

Connection Center. There were multiple businesses and service organizations there to collect

resumes and provide volunteer opportunities to UALRs students and alumni. Left to right: Sarah

Carter (BSW Student), and Sydney Gambill- (MSW Student)

Cai Carvalhaes volunteering at Central Arkansas

Gay Pride Parade with Pridecorps LGBT youth.

BSW Students Volunteering at the 2015 Pride

Festival: Pictured left to right: Kibreona Jarrett,

Ashton McFarland, Jessica Diaz, & Nachosha

Johnson

LGBT youth.

Cai Carvalhaes volunteering at Central Arkansas

Gay Pride Parade with Pridecorps LGBT youth.

Hannah Parker (MSW Student)

volunteering at Homeless Services

Day

Standing in solidarity for Mizzou at the campus

NAACP Blackout. Left: Ashton McFarland

(BSW), Callie William, Daja Green (SW- Pre-

admit), & Taylor Washington

Day

Social Work Faculty and Staff News!

Students and faculty attended the community

town hall meeting that was hosted by the 100

Black Men of Greater Little Rock, Inc. where

Dr. John Miller serves as president. The event

took place on Thursday, November 19th, at

the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center

Auditorium. The purpose of the town hall

meeting was to discuss a wide range of issues

that impact the educational outcomes of

youth in our community. The keynote speaker

for the event was former NBA player and

coach, Sidney Moncrief. Panelists who

participated in the roundtable discussion and

Q&A session were: Mr. Baker Kurrus (LRSD

Superintendent), Rev. C.E. McAdoo (St.

Andrews United Methodist Church), LaTonia

Mitchell (Human Services Professional), and

“Broadway” Joe Booker (Power 92.3FM).

In October, Dr. Rosalie Otters published

an article in The Saline Courier

newspaper based on a manuscript

written on Gerontology. This article

includes dates to register for Spring

2016 classes in both the Introduction to

Aging and the Elderly course as well as

the Introduction to Social Work. Also

this semester, Dr. Otters presented at

Hospice and Palliative Care Association

of Arkansas (HPCAA) and Arkansas

Hospice on Cultural Perspectives in

Death and Dying on October 1 and 23.

Dr. Tracey Barnett was invited

to be one of three keynotes

speakers at the 14th Annual

Fall Social Work Conference in

Tuscaloosa, AL, on Friday,

August 28. Dr. Barnett’s

presentation was titled

“Practical Solutions for Social

Workers in Child Welfare:

Preventing and Reducing

Childhood Obesity.”

On Veterans' Day (Nov 11, 2015),

Dr. Catherine Crisp received the

inaugural Excellence in Service to

Veterans Award given by the

student veteran’s organization.

This award is to be given to a

non-veteran who supports

veterans’ issues on campus. BSW

senior Tanya Brashers is the

president of the student

veteran’s organization.

Phi Alpha, Nu Delta Chapter, will be emailing applications by January 31,

2016. Completed applications are due by February 20, 2016.

Please check your UALR emails for the application.

Membership is open to both BSW and MSW students.

Qualifying BSW students will:

-have junior or senior standing

-a GPA within the SSW of 3.25 or greater after 9 hours of social work courses

-an overall GPA of 3.0 or greater

-provide verifiable ***proof of 5 hours of community service in the 2015-2016

academic year.

Qualifying MSW students will:

-have a GPA of 3.6 or greater after 12 hours of graduate courses

in the SSW

-provide verifiable ***proof of 5 hours of community service in the 2015-2016

academic year.

***Note: Proof includes name and contact information if service hours were

accrued outside of a SSW community service project.

Applications will be reviewed and students will be notified of decisions by

March 4, 2016.

If accepted, a one-time Phi Alpha Lifetime Membership Due of $20 will need to be

paid.

See www.phialpha.org and/or email Dr. Tracey Barnett (tmbarnett@ualr.edu) for

more information on the Honor Society.

You’re Invited

2015 HOLIDAY PARTY

University District Senior Network &

Social Work/Gerontology Program

Neighbors, Students, Staff, Faculty & Friends

Friday, Dec. 11 from 2PM to 4PM

University District Building

Located at University Plaza Shopping Center, 5820 Asher Avenue

(opposite Harbor Freight Tools)

Hope to see you there! Emma Rand (UDSN) and

Dr. Otters & Dr. Turturro (School of Social Work)

Congratulations

December Graduates!!!

Marcie Finney (BSW) Emily Martin (MSW)

Brian Whiteside (MSW)

Management and Community Practice (MCP) Panel

o Tuesday, February 9 at 12 noon

o Pizza and drinks will be provided.

Social Work Licensing class is May 20 & 21.

o MSW students attend both days.

o BSW students attend only the first day.