E-Contact Newsletter: June 2009
Alumnus killed in Baghdad military clinic shooting
Charles Keith Springle, MSW '84, was a “kind and gentle person, just the kind of person you want in a social worker,” and he was well prepared to assist soldiers who were mentally scarred by combat.
That’s how former School of Social Work colleagues and others remembered Springle after learning that the Navy commander and UNC-Chapel Hill graduate was among five people U.S. military officials say were shot and killed at a military clinic in Baghdad on May 11. Springle, a decorated officer, husband and father of two, was 52.
Army Sgt. John Russell from Sherman, Texas, was charged in the shooting incident, which the Associated Press reported as the “deadliest case of soldier-on-soldier violence” among American forces in the six-year Iraq war. Military officials identified the other victims as an Army officer, also on the clinic staff, and three enlisted soldiers, who were at the clinic at the time of the shooting. Full story
Spring issue of Contact is published
The latest edition of Contact, the School of Social Work magazine for alumni and friends, is now available online. The theme of this edition is "Supporting war-weary service members, veterans and their families."
Alumni, look for your copy of Contact in the mail later this month.
Keep up with the SSW via social media
Do you "tweet?" If so, be sure to follow the School of Social Work on Twitter. Michelle Rogers posts up-to-the-minute School news.
And if you're on Facebook, you can now "fan" us! Kristen Huffman recently set up this page.
Study: Latino youth who embrace both native and American cultures are happier, healthier
Over the years, studies have shown that Latino youth face numerous risk factors when integrating into American culture, including increased rates in alcohol and substance use and higher rates of dropping out of school. But researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill say adolescents who actively embrace their own native culture stand a greater chance of avoiding these risks and developing healthier behaviors overall.
According to a longitudinal study, supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and directed by Paul Smokowski, Ph.D., an associate professor at UNC’s School of Social Work, Latino youth who nurture their own cultural identity while also adopting American language, customs and social behaviors are more likely to experience an increase in self-esteem and less likely to adopt aggressive behaviors. Full story
Save the date: Clinical Lecture Series fall schedule announced
Mon., Sept. 14: Psychological Functions of Nonsuicidal Self-injury, Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D. Mon., Oct. 19: Grief Work for the Clinician and Client, Steven Bradley-Bull, MA, MED, LPC. Mon., Nov. 16: Treating Clients and Ourselves with Positivity, Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D.
Registration is not yet open for the fall events.
Videos of past lectures are posted online.
Field instructors needed
Social programs are closing or reducing services in this stressed economy, and years of disruption in the state's mental health system have resulted in fewer learning opportunities for our students. The School of Social Work has an increased need for quality field placements and instructors, especially for students at the foundation level.
Please contact Rebecca Brigham, director of field education, at brigham@email.unc.edu if you are interested. The Field Education office will be glad to discuss the program with you, or to receive your recommendation of other qualified MSW social workers for us to contact.
Innovation Fund research grants awarded
The Armfield-Reeves Innovation Fund was established by Billy and Janie Armfield and Sam and Betsy Reeves to encourage faculty and student researchers at the School of Social Work to become involved in innovative, community-based, engaged research. This year's awards are:
- $16,789 to Gary Bowen to deliver and evaluate a program designed to increase academic engagement, school success and school retention of low-income sixth grade students at the Durham Nativity School.
- $13,233 to doctoral student Erica Richman to evaluate the effectiveness of university services provided to learning-disabled students. She hopes to learn which of the current services offered are effective so they can be replicated in other universities.
- $9,950 to doctoral student Carrie Pettus-Davis to test a prosocial support group program designed for people with substance abuse issues who are transitioning from prisons to communities, with the goal of reducing substance abuse and recidivism.
- $11,070 to Joelle Powers to develop a mental health module to help school personnel identify, assess and develop evidence-based programs for elementary school children with mental health issues.
- $20,000 to Susan Parish, Rebecca Macy and Kathryn Moss to assess an evidence-based sexual assault prevention program for women with intellectual disabilities. These women are at particular risk for assault, and there is little research about the effectiveness of prevention programs.
- $13,500 to Mat Despard to assess the financial coaching and counseling practices of human services professionals in North Carolina. This is especially relevant in the current economic climate because more social workers are working with financially vulnerable families and individuals, yet often lack the knowledge and skills to help their clients with complex financial decisions.
Students learn to help nonprofits weather economic storm
Students taking the Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations course this summer with clinical assistant professor Mat Despard are learning about various strategies for nonprofits to financially sustain their efforts in tough economic times. For example, one student team is examining recommended sustainability strategies for nonprofit child care centers that primarily serve low-income families, in the wake of proposed state budget cuts to key early childhood development programs like More at Four and Smart Start.School hosts nephrology social workers
Title protection for social workers passes
Medicaid billing for provisionally-licensed providers extended
North Carolina has allowed the extension of provisionally-licensed clinical social workers (P-LCSW) delivering reimbursable outpatient therapy services billed through the Local Management Entity. "H codes" (which is how P-LCSWs bill Medicaid, and which were due to be cancelled on July 1) have been extended for another year.
Alumni job board
Congratulations to Johanna Greeson and Martin Hall, who successfully defended their doctoral dissertations this month.
Greeson's dissertation is "Natural Mentor Relationships Among Young Adults with Foster Care Experience: Pathways to Emerging Adult Outcomes."
Hall's dissertation, "Prescription Drug Misuse Among Adolescents," consists of three manuscripts. He has accepted an NIDA post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Kentucky, and is moving later this month.
Second-year master's student Carynne Hardy was selected to participate in UNC's new internship program, the Carolina Economic Recovery Corps. Hardy will go to Greensboro for 10 weeks to provide assistance to the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments. She will be writing and developing grant projects, as well as collaborating with local governments and surrounding councils of governments to apply for grants. Full story
Carrie Pettus-Davis was named the School of Social Work’s 2008-09 Outstanding Doctoral Student.
“Carrie is intelligent, a critical and creative thinker, and an excellent and productive writer,” Anna Scheyett wrote in her nomination letter. “She has the ability to place her research questions within a theoretical framework, then develop, design and manage her own research agenda. And, she does this with charm, grace, genuine concern for others and passion for her work.”
Davis entered the doctoral program in 2007. Her research interests include adult incarcerated and recently incarcerated populations, program development and evaluation, and translation of research to practice.
F A C U L T Y S P O T L I G H T
Natasha Bowen and three doctoral students -- Aaron Thompson, Krysti Webber and Kate Wegmann -- spent the first four days of June in North Hampton County teaching students at KIPP Pride High School about mental health, research methods and how to play acoustic guitar. Although KIPP Pride High is a public charter school in a rural, economically depressed part of North Carolina, 100% of its graduating seniors are going to college in the fall.
Emeritus faculty member Andrew Dobelstein was inducted into the North Carolina Community Action Association Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Raleigh on May 21, as its 2009 Champion, “an individual outside the Community Action Network who has made an impact and contribution to the community action movement.”
Dobelstein established his relationship with North Carolina’s Community Action Agencies in 1968 when he came to the University, and has provided education, training and consultation with these agencies statewide for the past 40 years.
Jodi Flick presented on "Potentially Violent Situations" at AHEC's annual Future Leaders in Health Care Conference on May 30 in Chapel Hill. The conference is offered to high school students who are interested in pursuing careers in health care and participate in AHEC's health careers and workforce diversity programs. 
Michal Grinstein-Weiss and doctoral student Pajarita Charles were awarded one of four nationwide $20,000 grants from the National Center of Marriage Research that is being supported by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The award is for their one-year project, "Does Homeownership Affect Relationship Stability: Evidence from an Event History Analysis." P.I. Grinstein-Weiss' and Co-P.I. Charles' paper will address key questions about the linkages between family instability and well-being. There will be a one-day event next spring where they will present their work.
Shenyang Guo has been approved by the UNC Board of Trustees and Chancellor Thorp for promotion to the rank of full professor.
Emerita faculty member Hortense McClinton was given the Legacy Award for distinguished service on May 8 from UNC's Black Faculty Staff Caucus. In 1966, McClinton became the first black faculty member at UNC-Chapel Hill and remained on the School of Social Work faculty until her retirement in 1984. View larger
Dennis Orthner was quoted in a May 30 News & Observer article about a Wake County program that helps the working poor.
Susan Parish has been approved by UNC Board of Trustees and Chancellor Thorp for promotion to the rank of associate professor and has also been conferred tenure.
Anna Scheyett and Sharon Thomas (pictured) presented a workshop on the field of social work to the N.C. Health Careers Access Program’s Science Enrichment Preparation (SEP) Program on June 8 here at the School. SEP is an eight-week, honors-level academic enrichment program for disadvantaged undergraduate students who seek admission into health professional graduate programs. View larger
Alumna and School of Social Work faculty member Dania Ermentrout, MSW '04, and husband Dan welcomed their first child on April 6, son Asher Stone Porter Ermentrout.
Karen Smith Rotabi, Ph.D. '05, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Social Work, was recently appointed to the United States Hague Commission for Intercountry Adoption (ICA). This organization operates within the Council on Accreditation and oversees agency approval under the Hague Convention as per U.S. State Department requirements. Rotabi does this as part of her volunteer service activities and her research agenda includes intercountry adoption and global social work practice. She has carried out a number of agency evaluations throughout the U.S. and, as a Hague Commissioner, votes on agency accreditation.
In addition, Rotabi was asked by the Guatemala Human Rights Commission to co-lead a human rights delegation to the nation in August. It will focus on violence against women and the "Women's Right to Live" campaign. VCU colleague Denise Gammonley, Ph.D. '98, will participate in the delegation as well.
Charessa Sawyer, MSW '09, was selected to participate in UNC's new internship program, the Carolina Economic Recovery Corps. The program sent Sawyer to Washington for 10 weeks to provide assistance to the Mid-East Commission, where she is working closely with the town and city managers for Beaufort, Bertie, Hertford, Martin and Pitt counties. Sawyer is helping the municipalities under the Mid-East Commission work on economic recovery, primarily grant writing and developing programs for rural populations. Full story
Sabrina Williamson Sullenberger, Ph.D.’03, received tenure and was promoted to the rank of associate professor at Indiana University. Additionally, she has been serving as the interim associate dean in the Office for Women’s Affairs at Indiana University-Bloomington since Oct. 2008, and will cheerfully return 100% to IU Social Work in Jan. 2010.
Jo Ann McCachern Swart, MSW '78, was honored on May 22 by the YWCA of the Lower Cape Fear at their 25th Annual Women of Achievement Awards. Swart, who received the Volunteer Award, has given her time for a variety of issues including adoption, domestic violence, mentoring women, eliminating racism and rip current education. She has worked as a social worker for more than 40 years, facilitated adoptive parent support groups, and has served as a field instructor for social work students. In 2002, their oldest adopted daughter was caught in a rip current and drowned. Swart turned her grief into a mission to educate coastal residents and tourists about rip current safety. She worked with the N.C. Sea Grant to develop a free pamphlet on rip currents and in 2005 was interviewed on the Today Show. In 2005, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce National Weather Service gave her a Public Service Award for "significant services rendered for her promotion of rip current awareness."
Danielle Turnage, MS '09, has moved to Gastonia, N.C. to work as a foster care social worker with the Dept. of Social Services.
Editor: Michelle Rogers, director of communications
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Alumni -- do you have news to share? If you have received an award, promotion, taken a new job, gotten married, or added a new member to the family, let us know. We would love to share your news with other alumni and the School of Social Work community. Please e-mail your alumni news and photos.