School of Education & Social Sciences SUMMER 2015
> Psychology Program Celebrates 10 Years and a New Degree Alumni, students, faculty and psychology advisory board members gathered to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Psychology program at RMU in April. The “PsychoVersary” celebration featured reflections by alumni Ashley Wagers, Brad Jump, and Rachel Ragozzino, a video contribution by alumnus Eric Levine, as well as a magic performance and “mind games” challenges. There was a lot to celebrate, starting with the growth of the program: from 2 students graduating in 2007 the number has jumped in 2015 to 43. A clinical concentration was added in 2008 and sports psychology concentration – one of only three in Pennsylvania – in 2009. The Psychology Club was founded in 2006, and Psi Chi, the national honors society in psychology, inducted its first students in 2008. Many psychology students have presented their research at the Western Pennsylvania Undergraduate Psychology Conference – in 2009 the annual conference was held on RMU’s campus – and the past few years have seen the very successful “Psychology in a Box” event, run by Dr. Stephen Paul. Since 2013, over 200 High School students have come to campus to learn about Psychology from RMU students. The evening also saw a big announcement: the creation of a new Master’s in Counseling Psychology Degree, a two-year cohort program that will prepare students for graduate-level careers in professional psychology or counseling. It begins in May of 2016, with a curriculum that provides a foundation in counseling skills, program evaluation, and group therapy, with a counseling practicum and internships developing necessary skills. Graduates of the program will meet the core educational requirements for professional counselor licensure in the State of Pennsylvania. “We are very excited to be one of the few universities in our area to offer the MS in Counseling Psychology,” said program coordinator, Liam Kelly. “This field is unique in its combined emphasis on alleviating distress associated with both normal developmental issues and emotional and mental disorders. We look forward to helping fill the ever-growing need for high quality, well-trained mental health professionals.”
>> EDUCATION FACULTY RECOMMENDS THE BEST MULTICULTURAL BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS RMU.EDU/RMURECOMMENDS
>> MAGICIAN DOC DIXON ENTERTAINS GUESTS BEFORE DINNER AT THE PSYCHOVERSARY CELEBRATION
>> CHRIS CATON PRESENTS ON TEXT DEPENDENT ANALYSIS AT THE EDUCATION CONFERENCE
> Education Conference a Big Success This March over 100 people from 23 various school districts and organizations attended the annual RMU Education Conference, “Creating Innovative Classrooms.” Sessions included “Building Learning Ecologies and Pathways,” “Science with All Children,” and “Infusing Creativity into the K-2 Classroom.” The Keynote Address “Learning in the 21st Century” was given by Kyle L. Peck, professor and research fellow in the College of Education at Penn State University. The conference was given very high ratings. One participant wrote, “I attended three amazing sessions. The take-aways were impactful and really made me think about how I can structure my classrooms to further the development and mastery of my students. Thank you!”
Two new undergraduate programs in the Social Sciences were approved this year: Political Science and Criminal Justice. The political science BA degree caters to students interested in American politics, law, and international relations. Semester internship opportunities for students with the Washington Center will be beneficial to students interested in any of these areas. The degree is also part of the Early Law School Admission Program. A new Assistant Professor of Political Science and expert on the US Presidency, Justin DePlato, joined the faculty in the fall. A minor in political science was also approved. The new BA in criminal justice is offered fully online and on ground, along with a minor as well. A new assistant professor of criminal justice was hired this summer, Frank Hartle, who has experience on the federal and state levels of law enforcement, having served as a detective with the Pittsburgh Police, and assistant federal security director for law enforcement with the Department of Homeland Security. “This program will build future law enforcement professionals who have the ability to see things from different perspectives, to understand the culture and the science behind it,” Hartle said, “because that builds relationships, and that solves crimes.”
> Psychology in a Box Two Psychology-in-a-Box events were needed this year to handle all the students from the interested schools. RMU students taught different areas of psychology to over 120 high school students from Moon, South Side Beaver, Avonworth, and Cornell. According to RMU junior psychology student Bre Zurman, it was exciting “teaching the high school students things they never even knew existed, like sports psychology.”
>> CONGRATS TO THE PRESIDENTIAL AWARD WINNERS FROM SESS: CATHERINE SCHERER, TAYLOR WHOOLERY, RYAN GRACEY, AND KEVIN RENNER!
> New Programs Launched in Political Science and Criminal Justice
>> S-PSEA CONFERENCE
> Student Activities Education students traveled to Harrisburg in April to attend the Spring S-PSEA conference with 500 other education students. The PA “Teacher of the Year,” Mairi Cooper was the keynote speaker, shown here with the RMU S-PSEA officers Danielle Citchfield (Pres), Jamela Mack (V. Pres) and Mary Trax (Sec.\Treas.), and RMU professor Dan Shelley. Six students volunteered from the B.E.S.T. Club (Bridging Education, Service, & Teaching) for the “Reality Games” at Moon Area High school. High School juniors and seniors researched a career, and then budgeted for purchases they could afford based on their income. RMU hosted an Athletic Field Day for Students with Disabilities on April 22nd in Sewall Center. It was planned by Brianna Iannarelli and Kristin Yoviene, with members of the B.E.S.T. club helping out. Students from the B.E.S.T. club formed a team to raise funds as part of the Pittsburgh Walk for Autism.
>> JOSHUA CASKEY WITH DEAN RAFOTH
The Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education initiated new officers and 14 new students in April. From left to right, Mary Ann Rafoth (Dean), Ron Perry (Assistant Professor of Education), Kevin Renner (Treasurer), Mary Trax (President), Ryan Gracey (Foundation Representative), Danielle Crichfield (Vice President), Marissa Stanga (Membership Chair), David Jamison (Provost).
> Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee SESS hosted the 65th Annual Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee in March. Student volunteers from the school included Sarajane Gracey, Taylor Gensler, Abigail Depace, Josh Sektnan, and Danielle Crichfield. The winner, seventhgrader Atharv Bhave, went on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
>> STARTING IN SUMMER 2016, THE IML PHD PROGRAM WILL ACCEPT A FULLY ONLINE COHORT: RMU.EDU/IML
> Kappa Delta Pi
> SESS Awards History major Joshua Caskey won the award for the top student in the school, the John Graham Founding Dean Award, and was honored at the spring awards ceremony, along with Dean’s Scholars, Teaching Fellows, Distinguished Student Award Winners, Endowed Scholarship winners and the John Bassett Memorial Scholarship winners.
> Girls and Sport Conference Lauren Rauscher and Samantha Monda organized the Girls & Women in Sport Symposium, which took place on February 4. The symposium promoted positive youth development and lifetime wellness through sport by examining the barriers that girls and women in sport encounter. The keynote, “Exercising Strong Leadership as Girls and Women in Sport,” was given by Dana Voelker, assistant professor of Sport & Exercise Psychology at West Virginia University.
> Selected Faculty Research
On September 17, Constitution Day, the Oral History Center sponsored an event featuring a talk by World War II Veteran Carl Walpusk, one of the “Forgotten 500.” History Professor John McCarthy also conducted an interview with Mr. Walpusk. Both videos are available at rmu.edu/OralHistoryCenter. The Center will also be starting the Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans Project in the fall, with the goal of capturing the oral histories of 100 veterans of those wars.
>> DAVID SHRIBMAN SPEAKS AT RMU
> Symposium on Presidential Leadership Last November A Symposium on Executive Power was sponsored by the Department of Social Sciences and featured a keynote address by David Shribman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning executive editor of the Pittsburgh PostGazette, and a presentation by scholars on the Presidency, including RMU’s Justin DePlato, author of The Cavalier Presidency from Lexington Books.
>> RMU POLLING INSTITUTE DOES SURVEYS ON EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SCIENCE TOPICS: RMU.EDU/POLL
> Constitution Day
Beaver, W. (2014). “The Changing Nature of Division III Athletics,” College and University, 89 (3): 34-40. Bernadowski, C., Perry, R., Del Greco, R., & Parker, S. (2014). START: A Framework for service learning implementation for preservice teachers, Journal of Education and Training, 1(2), 262-275. Bernauer, J.A. (2015). Reflections on Catholic education in the USA: A dialogue across generations from the 1950s to the 2000s. International Studies in Catholic Education, 1-20. DePlato, J. ed. (2015). The American Founders and the Classics. Cognella. Donne, V., & Rugg, N. (2015). Online reading practices of students who are deaf/hard of hearing. Deafness & Education International, 17(2). Hansen, M. A., Lyon, S. R., & Heh, P. (2015). Validating Performance Level Descriptors through a longitudinal examination of data. Paper presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting for the National Council on Measurement in Education. Kelly, W.E. (2014). The relationship between nonpathological worry and narcissism: A path analytic study investigating the effects of self-esteem and anxiety, Individual Differences Research, 12, 209-218 Rauscher, L. & Cooky, C. (2015). Ready for Anything the World Gives Her?: A Critical Look at the Efficacy of Sports-Based Positive Youth Development for Girls. Sex Roles.
Robert Morris University is now one of only five universities nationwide to offer online graduate degree programs to educators through the NEA Academy.