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Spring 2011 Featured Students

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Hunger Doesn't Take a Spring Break-- OSU Social Work Students Volunteer to Serve Lunch to Hungry Kids! Spring break may be a welcomed respite for school-aged kids, but it may also place an extra burden on families already struggling to make ends meet. During spring break, many kids miss out on the free- and reduced-price lunch programs at school—and their families may not be able to budget for the additional expense of lunch while they’re home. To remedy the situation, students at OSU’s College of Social Work volunteered for a project called “Hunger Doesn’t Take a Spring Break” that provides free lunches to kids during the week of April 18-22 a the city's eastside Barnett Recreation Center. Nearly 500 kids were fed this year! Front (l to r): Kolbie Saddler, Kayla McMillion, Chasity Speaks, Kaleigh Ziegler, Stephanie Kossler and Rebecca Pasch. Back: Alicia Parise, Blair Gonsenhauser, and Jesse Schroeder.

MSW Students Volunteer During NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Sleep Out. Pictured left to right: Ashley Garcia. Liz Thomas, and Samantha Satchell man a tent during NAMI's Ohio Sleep Out for Mental Illness event held on May 10 at the Ohio Statehouse. The event was a huge success, attracting the attention of legislators and key community liaisons as well as mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and friends of the mentally ill.

Martha Leads Initiative to Support the Repeal of Senate Bill 5. Martha Hensley Wessell is in her final quarter with the college clinical track and has also taken the required coursework for the state School Social Work License. Having firsthand experience in a school setting as a social worker, she has developed a strong opinion on how important the role of public employees, namely teachers, play in best serviing the needs of her student clients. When SB5 was passed through the House of Representatives and Senate, Martha felt the need to take action.

She is currently coordinating with the Franklin County Democratic Party office and We are Ohio, a bipartisan grassroots organization created in response to the public opposition to SB5, and other student organizations to help collect as many of the 231,149 valid signatures needed to put SB5 on the November ballot so that Ohioans, not legislators, can decide whether this law best meets the needs of Ohioans. By removing the collective bargaining rights of public employees, the Ohio Legislature has taken away the opportunity for teachers, police officers, firefighters, nurses, along with many others, to negotite safe work environments and fair wages, according to Martha.

As a social worker, Martha says she absolutely understands the importance of a safe work environment and can empathize with teachers' rights to fight for a fair working wage. She feels social workers share this struggle. To read more, see your April 29, 2011 issue of the MSW Newsletter.

Do the research! Congratulations to Stephanie Neal, who was among more than 500 undergraduates who showcased their outstanding research at the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum held May 11 at the Recreation and Physical Activity Center (RPAC). Stephanie's research project was titled "An Exploration of Bachelors of Social Work Students' Personal and Professional Perspectives on Spirituality and Religion." Her study focuses on BSSW students' views of the importance of spirituality and religion in social work education and practice.

Here's what OSU President E. Gordon Gee says about Stephanie and the other undergrads participating in the forum: "They are working at the frontiers of their respective fields, and they do so with unmatched creativity and determination. I take enormous pride in their enthusiasm, tenacity, and diligence. These undergraduates embody the intellectual curiousity, social awareness, and unwavering determination that together are propelling the university from excellence to eminence."

Ohio Jobs! MSW student Kara Whitacre retrieves her resume for a potential employer at the Mwanafunzi Job Fair held on May 11 in Stillman Hall. Nearly a dozen agencies were present including Buckeye Ranch, Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging, Franklin County Children Services, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Working America, Netcare, Adriel, Berea Children's Home and Family Services, Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities, Starr Commonwealth, Talbert House & Centerpoint Health, and Berea Children's Home and Family Services.

Oh No! Documentation! As part of their field experience with NCR, social work students (l to r) Adrianne Seemann, Sarah DeAnna, and Christine Hill held a Brown Bag workshop on May 10 about documentation to help students gain critical strategies necessary for social work documentation and understand its impact on practice. Attendees learned about the importance of documentation, how to identify best practices for documenting, the various approaches to documentation used at Central Ohio agencies, and how documentation can improve service provisions and outcomes. Room 115 was packed with students eager to learn about this challenging topic.

MSW student Donna Ruch participates in the World Cafe hosted by the Office of Community Engagement on Wednesday, April 13 at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. During the event, field instructors and CSW students, faculty, and staff held meaningful conversation that will help shape the future of lifelong learning in our local and global community. Attendees contributed to helping transform the practice landscape of our communities.

Congratulations to graduate student Stephanie Seger, who has been selected as a recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Graduate Student Award. Stephanie was chosen by the university because of her involvement and leadership both in and out of the classroom. Seger is from Stafford, Virginia, and is interested in public policy and child advocacy social work. She is currently employed as a Government Relations Specialist at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Stephanie will be presented her award at the 50th Annual Leadership Awards Celebration on Thursday, May 12, at OSU’s Ohio Union Performance Hall.

In conjunction with the 23rd National Symposium, the Doctoral Student Organization of the College of Social Work hosted the second annual Student Poster Presentation. Pictured left to right are the student presenters and their poster topics: Allison Gibson "Difficult Diagnoses: Examining Caregivers’ Experiences with Dementia Diagnoses"; Dana Baynard, "Perceptions of Hope and Hopelessness among Inner-City African American Adolescents: A Qualitative Study Utilizing Grounded Theory and Photovoice Methods"; Christine L. Sielski, "Safe at Home: Readiness-to-Change Norms in Intimate Partner Violence Treatment"; Karen Call, "Childcare Opinions Project"; Nitisha Burkhead, "Service Needs for Offenders with Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Problems"; and Gina Mattivi Stango, "Cultural Competence in Social Work Education and Practice: A Comprehensive Literature Review."

Congratulations to Phd student Victoria Venable, who is a recipient of the 2011 SAMHSA Dissertation Research Award! Victoria is a third-year doctoral candidate in the college's PhD program and a 2004 graduate from its MSW program. Her research interests involve factors that relate to culturally competent treatment for African American juvenile sex offenders. She was chosen as one of the Council on Social Work Education's SAMHSA Minority Fellowship scholars in 2009. This highly competitive fellowship program provides opportunity for networking, educational skill advancement, and support to minority social work doctoral students all over the country. As a part of this program, fellows are encouraged to apply for the SAMHSA Dissertation Research Award. Victoria was awarded $5,000 in funding.

Congratulations to PhD student Dana Baynard, who is a recipient of the 2011 SAMHSA Dissertation Research Award totaling $5,000—the maximum level awarded! Dana will use her funds to continue her research exploring the constructs of hope and hopelessness among African American adolescents. In her award letter, the following comments were made: “The idea of hope and its role in behavior is an important but understudied element to understanding human functioning and wellness in context. Examining the role of hope (and how it is maintained or constrained in youth) could impact social work practice interventions beyond skill development and beyond the typical socio-emotional focus limited to constructs like ‘self esteem.’ Her work may also point to culturally relevant ways in which hope is defined and maintained among black youth.”

Congratulations to undergraduate Hannah Bonacci, who has been selected as a recipient of the 2011 Outstanding First Year Student Award! Hannah is from Akron, Ohio. She is majoring in Social Work and minoring in Spanish and Developmental Studies. Hannah hopes to find a career working with juvenile delinquents or a career working internationally in orphanages in Africa and Hispanic countries. Hannah was chosen by the university because of her drive and initiative in getting involved at Ohio State. She will be presented her award at the 50^thAnnual Leadership Awards Celebration on Thursday, May 12, at OSU’s Ohio Union Performance Hall.

Congratulations to BSSW student Nicole (Nikki) Carbonari! She has been selected to be part of the 2011-12 Board Immersion Program. The Board Immersion Program is for students interested in community engagement and nonprofit organizations. This advanced leadership program matches students with board members of local nonprofit organizations, providing students the opportunity to gain insight into the inner workings of nonprofit organizations while developing valuable community leadership skills. As a newly selected fellow, Nikki will attend board sessions and relevant committee meetings, while completing a strategic project for the organization under the guidance of a Board Mentor and Ohio Union staff member. She will be placed in a cohort within the classroom and attend collaborative workshops focused on professional development skills for effectively contributing to the nonprofit organization. Nikki is from Lake Forest, Illinois, and is interested in school social work.

Where are your SHOES? MSW student Jesse Schroeder didn’t wear shoes on Tuesday, April 5, to help promote the TOMS “One Day Without Shoes” event and his upcoming trip to Guatemala City. In addition to delivering new shoes to the children in Guatemala in June, he and his wife will be taking seven students to work on simple construction projects and minor house repairs. They will also lead kids’ programs that involve singing, games crafts, and a Christian message of love. Their philosophy is that trips to Third World countries allow students, who are at a crucial stage in their lives, see firsthand the lives of people in developing countries, believing that their worldview will be fundamentally changed. By visiting squatter settlements, one room shack houses with dirt floors, and seeing the crowded streets of Guatemala City, students will be challenged to make important decisions about how they will live their lives and what they will do with the blessings they have been given, simply by being born an American. To donate, visit guat11.blogspot.com.

Another project Jesse is working on this spring involves collecting fabric to create blankets for campers at Flying Horse Farms, a camp for kids with serious illnesses. Every camp participant will receive a hand-sewn blanket that they can keep. He is working on this project with the Linus Project and the Hugh O' Brian Youth Leadership organization. On May 21, about 200 students will gather to sort and cut fabric into 6x9 squares and make some of the blankets.

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Spring 2011 Featured Students