DSW Professional Notes

Below are some of the many presentations, publications and other professional notes our DSW students and alumni shared for fall 2021:

Anne Adcock, '17

Dr. Anne Adcock currently serves as the bachelor program director of the Carver School of Social Work at Campbellsville University in Kentucky. Dr. Adcock is also the current chair of the Kentucky Board of Social Work. Dr. Adcock is very active within the national Association of Social Work Board (ASWB) and is currently chairing a committee charged with organizing the Association's Spring 2022 Education Conference.

Dr. Adcock co-authored the following peer-reviewed publication:

• J. Jay Miller, Molly Bode, Anne Adcock, Chunling Niu & Dexter Freeman (2021) “I Know What I Know… Unless I Don’t”: Examining Faculty Knowledge About Social Work Licensing, Journal of Social Work Education, DOI: 10.1080/10437797.2021.1963896

Dr. Adcock's peer-reviewed presentations from fall 2021 include the following:

• November 2021 – Annual Program Meeting, Council on Social Work Education, “The Equality Project: Our Social Work Program Looks in the Mirror”
• November 2021 – Annual Program Meeting, Council on Social Work Education, “I Know What I Know... Maybe: Examining Faculty Knowledge About Licensing”

Stephanie Grant, '18

Two articles were recently published from Stephanie’s dissertation research:

• Grant, S.A. (2021). Leveraging efforts to roster resilience in military social work. International Journal of Education and Human Developments.
• Grant, S.A. (2021). How history informs social work practice: Interprofessional collaboration in military contexts (1950-1955). International Journal of Arts and Humanities.

Dana Holcomb, '21

Dana presented “Leveling the Playing Field: The Importance of Formal Mentorship in Addressing Oppression” at the Council on Social Work Education 67th Annual Program Meeting, Orlando, FL.

Dana also had “Leveling the playing field: A conceptual framework for formal faculty mentorship” accepted for an upcoming issue of Advances in Social Work.

Shelita Jackson, '21

On August 1, 2021, Shelita Jackson was promoted to assistant professor and appointed program director for Eastern University’s new MSW program.  

On October 24, 2021, Shelita presented a workshop for the PA chapter of the NASW Annual Conference: “Called to serve: Why our relationships with students matter.” This year’s theme was “Social Workers are Essential.”

On October 29, 2021, Shelita was a panelist for a discussion at Eastern University: “Transformative teaching, training, and tenure.”

Mallory Knipe, '20

Earlier this year, Dr. Knipe had an article entitled "Consciousness Raising as a Prelude to Pedagogy: One Professor's Journey" published in the Journal on Excellent in College Teaching. Critical consciousness was Dr. Knipe's dissertation focus in the DSW program at St. Thomas. Dr. Knipe also conducted a poster presentation at CSWE APM entitled "The Critical Need for Critical Consciousness: An Exploration of Challenges."

In November, Dr. Knipe was invited to be a guest panelist at Destination Star Trek – London and was a panel speaker at the event. From January to August of 2021, Dr. Knipe conducted a research study that investigated the experiences of people participating in a specific digital community, the Sid City Social Club (SCSC), during the time of a global pandemic. SCSC was created by actor Alexander Siddig (Dr. Julian Bashir in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) to offer an online community for people to connect and share their experiences with others during the pandemic. While hundreds of people participated in this online community, Dr. Knipe conducted interviews with 25 participants from 13 different countries around the world regarding why they decided to participate in the Sid City Social Club and the meaning they attributed to their experiences as part of the club amidst the social isolation caused by the pandemic. An article summarizing the research findings is currently pending publication in the Journal of Fandom Studies. DST organizers created a panel to discuss the Sid City Social Club and its worldwide impact. The panel consisted of Alexander Siddig (participating virtually), actor Andrew Robinson (Garak in Star Trek: DS9), Nana Visitor (Major Kira in Star Trek: DS9), Rob Moriarty (SCSC participant), and Dr. Mallory Knipe (researcher).

Cindy Locklear, '17

Dr. Cindy Locklear, assistant professor in the Department of Social Work at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke and principal investigator, has been awarded a three-year $510,000 grant as part of the NC community health worker initiative expansion.

“This is a unique partnership in that it’s usually R1 universities, and not rural universities, that are selected for this high level of research activity,” said Dr. Locklear. “However, the NCDHHS understands that selecting an HMSI (Historically Minority Serving Institution) was important to them. It is unique in that DHHS, state government, the community college system and this private nonprofit organization of community health workers are all coming together for this project.”

The additional grant funding will allow the university to conduct more research, continue evaluating the new community health worker credentialing process and expand its work with state community colleges to develop core competency training.

Lynetta Mathis, '21

Lynetta Mathis accepted a position of DSW program director at the University of Louisville Kent School of Social Work in August of 2021.

Catherine (Jean) Roberson, '19

Jean Roberson had a new article published in Social Work and Christianity titled, "Addressing Spirituality: Reflections on Curriculum Integration in a Christian University." She also co-presented with Dr. Lance Peterson at CSWE: "Piloting teletherapy simulation pairing geographically disparate MSW practice courses." She also presented at the NACSW convention: "A Ministry of Presence in an Online Environment."

Latisha Simmons, current student

Latisha Simmons was elected to the Board of Directors for Girls Inc. In Chattanooga, Tenn.

ZaDonna Slay, '21

ZaDonna Slay co-authored a publication on the sex trafficking of Black girls and CRT:

• Constance-Huggins, M., Moore, S., & Slay, Z. (2021). Sex trafficking of Black girls: A critical race theory approach to practice. Journal of Progressive Human Services.

ZaDonna’s CSWE APM presentations included:

• Robinson, D., Slay, Z., & Rhodes, D. (2021). Shared strength perspectives among Black women social work educators during a pandemic. Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Annual Program Meeting, November 4-7, 2021 (Accepted).
• Slay, Z., Hopkins, S., & Henderson, S. (2021). Too strong to grieve: Using empathy to navigate grief. Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Annual Program Meeting, November 4-7, 2021 (Accepted).

Carolyn Tollett, '21

Dr. Carolyn Tollett, field director at Eastern New Mexico University, was promoted to assistant professor and was granted tenure.

Beth Young, '21

Following graduation, Dr. Young accepted a tenure track position with Western Carolina University. In November, she learned that she and a colleague in Integrated Health Sciences were awarded a competitive internal grant to study adolescent substance use in North Carolina.