VCU School of Social Work

Please join us in congratulating our Spring 2013 doctoral program graduates!

Dr. David Axlyn McLeod successfully defended his dissertation on Feb 26, 2012. Dr. McLeod’s dissertation, entitled “The Impact of Perpetrator Gender on Child Protective Services Sexual Abuse Cases: A National Picture,” was chaired by Dr. Sarah K Price. Dissertation Committee members were Dr. Liz Cramer, Dr. Pat Dattalo, and Dr. Janet Warren. Dr. McLeod has accepted a position as Assistant Professor, Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work, The University of Oklahoma.

Dr. Suzie S. Weng successfully defended her dissertation, “Dimensions of Informal Support Network Development in an Asian American Community in the “New” South defense on April 16, 2013. Dr. Weng’s dissertation committee included Dr. Mary Katherine O’Connor (Chair) and attended by many members of the Asian community. Dissertation Committee members were Dr. Peter Nguyen, Dr. Youngmi Kim, Dr. Rosalie Corona. Dr. Weng heads to the University of North Florida where she has accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Social Work for fall 2013.

Dr. Carmen Monica successfully defended her dissertation entitled, “Implications of Child Abduction for Human Rights and Child Welfare Systems: A Constructivist Inquiry of the Lived Experience of Guatemalan Mothers Publically Reporting Child Abduction for Intercountry Adoption” on April 25. Dr Humberto Fabelo, with Dr. Karen Rotabi, chaired the committee. Other members were Dr. Mary Katherine O’Connor and Dr. Rosalie Corona. Dr. Monica will join the Department of Human Services Studies at Elon University, N.C., beginning this fall as Assistant Professor.

Dr. Katherine Cohen-Filipic successfully defended her dissertation, entitled “Guilt, Blame, and Responsibility: The Experiences of Parents and Clinicians Providing Services to Adolescents with Co-Occurring Mental Heath and Substance Abuse Challenges.” On April 18th. Her dissertation committee was chaired by Dr. Kia Bentley; members were Dr. Sarah Kye Price, Dr. Joseph F. Walsh, Dr. Evelyn Reed, and Dr. Robert Cohen. Dr. Cohen-Filipic is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Ithaca College in New York.

Please join us in congratulating our newest doctoral program graduates!

Dr. Linda Love successfully defended her dissertation, The Multiple Perspectives on the Lived Experience of Civil Detainment, on November 2, 2012. Committee members included Dr. Mary Secret (chair), Dr. Kia Bentley, Dr. Michele Nelson, and Dr. Mary Katherine O’Connor. Dr. Love currently serves as the substance abuse section head in the Marine and Family Programs Division, Marine Corps Headquarters.

Dr. Shane Brady successfully defended his dissertation, Discovering How Community Organizing Leads to Change: Developing Formal Practice Theory for Social Workers Engaged in Empowering Community Organizing, on November 14, 2012. Committee members included Dr. Mary Katherine O’Connor (chair), Dr. Cornelia Ramsey, Dr. Mary Secret, and Dr. Traci Wike. Dr. Brady serves as a client services manager with Washtenaw County Community Mental Health Project Outreach Team and as an adjunct professor of social work at the University of Michigan.

All M.S.W. Foundation students (full-time first year or part-time entering first field placement) must attend field orientation on Tuesday, August 28 and Wednesday, August 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Please note the meeting locations below.

Tuesday, August 28:
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Student Commons, Commons Theater

Wednesday, August 29:
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Student Commons, Richmond Salons

Field instruction for the fall 2012 semester begins for all students in their agencies the week of September 4.

All field instructors are invited to come to the annual Opening Meeting for Field Instructors on Friday, August 31 in the Student Commons, Commons Theater beginning at 8:30 a.m. New field instructors are asked to stay until 12:30 p.m. to receive important information about preparing for field instruction. Seasoned field instructors are also welcomed to stay, but may leave after morning activities at 11:30 a.m.

We are delighted to announce that Laura Napky has joined the Dean’s Office as the Administrative Assistant to the Associate Deans. Laura has over six years of experience working for VCU in various departments and roles, beginning as a student worker. In her new role, Laura will be assisting the associate deans with maintaining calendars, processing travel, helping with special events, and general Dean’s Office duties.

Laura earned her Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies from the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences. She is a very active volunteer and enjoys community service. Laura assists in the production of the Richmond Folk Festival as a fourth-year volunteer with Venture Richmond, teaches a free hula hoop class, and occasionally works with Richmond Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities in partnership with the Let’s Move! Richmond initiative. She is also a member of RVA Hoop House, a local nonprofit focused on fun and fitness with a hula hoop.

Please join us in welcoming Laura!

Dr. Kia J. Bentley recently announced that the 2012-2013 Hans S. Falck Scholarship has been awarded to doctoral candidate Nathan H. Perkins.

Nathan’s application was among four outstanding projects submitted for review by Ph.D. alumna Dr. Lori Thomas (UNC Charlotte), and Assistant Professor Dr. Miriam M. George. Nathan plans to defend his proposal during the summer 2012 semester and begin data collection in the fall. He will use the $1,000 award to help defray costs of his research project.

In her support letter, Nathan’s dissertation chair, Dr. Mary Katherine O’Connor, commented, “I have seen Nathan grow to become a scholar with a consistent focus on making a difference. He is making great progress on a very complex research project that is certain to do just that. Importantly, Nathan’s work fits very well within the tradition that Dr. Falck established for both his students and his colleagues.”

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We are pleased to announce that Jackie Maroney has joined the school as the new M.S.W. Program Assistant. In her new role, Jackie will be supporting M.S.W. faculty in a variety of capacities. She will make travel arrangements, maintain program files, and assist the M.S.W. Program Director.

Originally from upstate New York, Jackie studied Sociology at the State University of New York College at Cortland. She has extensive administrative support experience at VCU, as well as in health care and accounting settings.

Please join us in welcoming Jackie!

NASW News recently announced that the HIV/AIDS Spectrum: Mental Health Training and Education of Social Workers Project has been awarded a $334,000 contract modification through the Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration which will support efforts to accelerate a federal response to HIV/AIDS as outlined in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. 1997 Ph.D. alumna Lisa E. Cox serves on the advisory committee for this national project.

Dr. Cox, whose dissertation The Relative Influence of Social Support and the Medication Compliance of People with HIV Infection was chaired by Dr. Beverly Koerin, is an associate professor of social work at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and, since 2007, has served as the Research Chair for Stockton College’s Center on Successful Aging (SCOSA). Additionally, Lisa is an Associate Fellow with University of Pennsylvania’s Institute on Aging, collaborates with the Tourette Syndrome Clinic at Rutgers University, and is currently working on several publications in the area of HIV/AIDS.

We are delighted to announce that Kim Flournoy DiJoseph has joined the school as the Director of Student Success. In her new role, Kim will serve as a resource to students in all programs at the School of Social Work. Kim will coordinate our Advising Center, which will open later this year. She will further develop student engagement and support activities, emphasize scholarship opportunities, coordinate student awards, and advise the school’s various student organizations.

Kim earned her B.S.W. and M.S.W. degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has been a field instructor and adjunct instructor in addition to having provided course development for the School of Social Work and the Department of Sociology’s Certificate in Gender Violence Intervention Program. She provides consultation and training in areas such as domestic violence, play therapy, non-profit program development, and the effects of trauma on children, families, and clinicians. Kim serves on the board of the Virginia Society for Clinical Social Work and is an active member of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance.

Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Kim!