COE Psychology Student wins Jim Castaneda Postgraduate Scholarship for Conference USA!

Diamond Every
Image from LATechSports.com

Congratulations to Psychology's own Diamond Every on her recent selection as the Jim Castaneda Postgraduate Scholarship recipient for Conference USA!  Dr. Donna Thomas, Psychology Department Chair and Faculty Athletics Representative Presented Every's application to the Conference USA committee earlier this year. Dr. Thomas stated,“I’m so proud of Diamond. She crushes the stereotypes many people hold about student-athletes. By earning this postgrad scholarship, she made her road to becoming a successful helping professional a little easier. Good things come to those who work, and Diamond Every worked hard for this honor. As the NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative for Louisiana Tech, I have the privilege of presenting nominees for this scholarship each year; the fact that she was a Psychology major made it even more special this year.”

Diamond is a graduate of the psychology department and is currently working on her Post-Bac obtaining necessary prerequisites for physical therapy school.  She participates and competes in track and field.  Diamond indicates that she has great interest in being, "a mentor to many young people while inspiring them to be an achieve all they would like to achieve."   Jake Cohen, Assistant Track Coach at Louisiana Tech noted that, "Diamond is an excellent student, athlete, and community member." He further describes her as a, "hard worker, dedicated, and a team leader." Coach LaMonte Vaughn insists that, "Diamond ....was an asset to achieving our team goals." She is a great representative of our College of Education and our  Louisiana Tech University, and we are thrilled about this achievement. Congratulations, Diamond!

 

To learn more about her award, check out the link below:

 

http://www.latechsports.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/062016aab.html

 

A Peachy Weekend for our COE!

This weekend was just Peachy for our COE students, faculty, and staff!

Over the weekend, five young women from Louisiana Tech University participated in the 2016 Miss Louisiana Scholarship Competition. Of those, we are happy to report that one of our COE's own, Miss Anna Blake, a junior kinesiology major also competed and did quite well.  She is pictured to the right in the News Star at check in. Check out the link to learn more. http://www.thenewsstar.com/picture-gallery/news/2016/06/19/miss-louisiana-contestant-move-in-day/86120768/
Anna even made it to the Top Ten! Congratulations, Anna! Your COE family is quite proud of you!

Our College clocked over 50 hours of community service for the Peach Festival this year! Pictured is PDRIB's Sheena Manuel that helped contribute to our COE volunteer time. Thanks, Sheena! We are still waiting to hear back about the total hours for all organizations and see if we won; however, win or lose, It is pretty impressive to have that kind of support from a single College within Louisiana Tech University. Thanks to all who found a way to contribute and be part of the Peach Fest experience!

AROS, a branch of the Department of Psychology had an incredibly important job this weekend, too. They began data collection related to the economic impact of the Peach Festival on our community. AROS is a supporting partner of the Ruston/Lincoln Chamber and CVB and a sponsor of the 66th Annual Peach Festival.

In addition, SciTEC in our COE helped host multiple events at the Annual Louisiana Peach Festival including the Fishing Tournament at Lincoln Parish Park and the Entertainment Tent for Kids near RailRoad Park! Check out the pictures of all of the fun!

....and this week may even be better!

Co-Directors, Drs. Carrice Cummins, Libby Manning, and Kim Kimbell-Lopez of the Literacy Center in CIL in our COE will be hosting the first annual Powerful Instruction Literacy Conference in Shreveport/ Bossier and welcoming teachers from across the region for the three day professional development in-service Tuesday through Thursday of this week. The event will be held at the Tech Center.

Drs. Jordan Blazo and Braden Romer of Kinesiology and Lindsey Vincent of SciTEC will be hosting the first Project KINES Professional Development workshop funded by the Lincoln Health Foundation. The three day event will be a precursor to the year-long implementation in AE Phillips Lab School and RJHS and serve as an introductory class meeting series for the corresponding fall graduate course for participating Lincoln Parish educators.

Camps through SciTEC's IDEA Place and Bricks4Kidz will continue this week with Worlds of Amusement and Mining and Crafting. Students will design, create, and build. A few spaces are still available if there is interest in participating!

COE Students help with the Big Event!

On  Saturday, April 16, students from the Counseling Psychology doctoral program, as well as ESPE and PEK from Kinesiology, and the FETCH student from UTeachTech participated in the 2016 Big Event.  Faculty advisors helping with the groups included Dr. lore Dickey, Ms. Jessica Szymanski, and Ms. Rhonda Boyd. The event, organized by the Louisiana Tech SGA as an extension of a national Big Event clean up day, allows students and faculty to engage in their communities and help others with yard work, community beautification, and more! This service event is national in scope. After meeting in Joe Aillett stadium on Saturday morning, the students took off into Lincoln Parish to make a big difference, and they did. Thanks to the Departments of Psychology and Kinesiology for your hard work on this special day!  Check out our COE facebook for more great pictures from the Big Event! https://www.facebook.com/LATechCOE

Psychology Faculty and Staff Present Across North America

Dr. Jerry Tobacyck and Dr. Mary Margaret Livingston recently delivered a poster presentation titled Paranormal Beliefs of Latvian and American Students: Support for Motivational-Control. Other authors included Arturs Utinans ,  Gunta Ancane, Vinita Cauce, from Riga Stradins University; Elizabeth Dixon, and Quinn Warner, presented at Southeastern Psychological Association in New Orleans on March 31. Pictured is Dr. Tobacyck with two of the presenting students, Quinn Warner and Elizabeth Dixon.

In addition, COE IT Coordiantor, Chris Coleman also had a poster there presented in conjunction with Livingston, M., Boyraz, G., Hindman, M., and Tobacyk, J. titled Self-Stigma Toward Counseling: Internet Online and Office Settings. This presentation was also delivered at the New Orleans event on March 31.

A third poster presentation was also accepted and delivered at the American Counseling Association and Canadian Counseling Association in Montreal, Canada. The proposal was titled, Willingness to Participate in Online Counseling and Computer Security Concerns. Co-Authors included Livingston, M., Hindman, M., and Coleman, C. The presentation was delivered on April 2, 2016.

Congratulations to these outstanding COE faculty, staff, and students on great work related to Psychology!

AROS Advises the New Orleans Police Department

AROS, the I-O Psychology PhD program's consulting group, has been working with the City of New Orleans to conduct job-analysis work and to design a new written test for police recruits for the New Orleans Police Department. To complete this work, students have traveled to New Orleans, met with a federal judge, attended a consent-decree hearing, sat in on police-academy sessions, ridden along with on-duty police officers, and conducted numerous interviews, focus groups, and meetings with police officers of all ranks, members of New Orleans Civil Service, and the Consent Decree Monitor. The experience that students gain through doing this type of hands-on, real-world work is immensely valuable in preparing them to leverage their doctoral education!

 

This blog was submitted by Dr. Steven Toaddy of the Department of Psychology in the COE.  Above and below are images from the educational adventure. To learn more about AROS or the partnership with New Orleans Police Department, you can contact Dr. Toaddy at toaddy@latech.edu or visit the AROS webpage.

COE Faculty Submit Research Proposal Requests Totaling More than 3 Million Dollars!

The College of Education has a history of submitting and being awarded millions of dollars in grant funding from a variety of sources to pursue unique research opportunities ranging from studies in biomechanics, curriculum development, informal learning, literacy, health, STEM, psychology, to studies of students with visual impairments and more. This past quarter has been particularly successful for our College of Education as a significant amount of funding has been awarded to COE faculty on a variety of proposals. Fourteen COE faculty were awarded or proposed research funding as leads or in collaboration with campus colleagues between July 2015 and December 2015 according to the OUR Breeze, a publication of Louisiana Tech University ( http://research.latech.edu/files/documents/winter_2015-16_breeze_newsletter.pdf) .
Some of the active COE researchers and PIs noted in the most recent Breeze included the following: Dr. Eddie Bell, Dr. Bryan McCoy, Dr. Braden Romer, Mrs. Lindsey Keith-Vincent, Dr. Carolyn Talton, Dr. Frank Igou, Dr. Mitzi Apter-Desselles, Dr. Steven Toaddy, Dr. Jordan Glenn, Dr. David Szymanski, Dr. Tammy Schilling, Dr. Kimberly Kimbell - Lopez, Dr. Carrice Cummins, and Dr. Libby Manning.  The total amount of new grants awarded with COE involvement was just at $600,000.00 from July 2015- December 2015. The total amount of new funds requested or proposed by a COE principal investigator or collaborator during the same period totals just at  3,100,000.00. The 3.1 million total requested included a 1.25 million dollar proposal by Dr. Eddie Bell for scholarships for teachers of students who are blind. Plus, additional grant funds were provided to COE collaborators for existing awards from July 2015- December 2015 that totaled almost $200,000.00! Great work, and thanks for all you do. We are looking forward to hearing about the pending proposals and to see what other great ideas and explorations/experiments you devise!

COE Scholarship Deadline Extended

Don't forget that the COE deadline for scholarship application submission has been extended this year from December 31 to January 15 at 5 pm central.  We are very fortunate in our College of Education to have a large group of donors and supporters that want to help our students be successful! You have approximately one week left to complete and submit your applications. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Below are just a few of the many scholarships and endowments from our generous donors and friends in the COE that make these opportunities possible. A link to the webpage outlining the requirements for each scholarships follows: http://education.latech.edu/students/scholarships/list.php . Best of luck on your submissions!


Alex Laney Endowment
Ann Marilyn Melton Memorial Endowed Scholarship
Bessie Purdy Scholarship
Betty Edwards Owens Endowed Scholarship
Causey-Tanner Scholarship
Erma Flesher Memorial Scholarship
Elizabeth Morris Odom Endowed Scholarship
Emmons, Morelle and Trissielee Endowed Scholarship
Estelle Harris Memorial Scholarship
Evelyn Swihart Endowed Scholarship
F. Elizabeth Bethea Endowment
George Madden Lomax Scholarship
Gertie M. H.  & Eldrice H. Green Scholarship
Enid Gladden Butler Graduate Scholarship
James and Janis Pierce Endowed Scholarship
John Cawthon Scholarship
Knotts Memorial Scholarship
Lanette Southall Fisher Memorial Scholarship
Lu Iman Allen and Ann McCraw Stokes Scholarship in Education
Lucille Pierce Folk Endowed Scholarship
Mary Ann Smalling Scholarship (Kalil Scholarship)
Mary Ross Higginbotham Scholarship
Mary Wilson Scholarship
Miriam Davis Hogan Endowment
Pipes Memorial Scholarship
Ruston Sunrise Kiwanis Scholarship
Thomas Gaston and Hessie Gaston Watson Endowed Scholarship
Wilbur Bergeron Memorial Scholarship

 

Polishing the COE Strategic Plan

December 1, 2015, was not only the first day of the new month, it was also the first day of the development of the new College of Education Strategic Plan.   Beginning in early 2015, a leadership team including Dr. Carrice Cummins, Dr. Lanie Dornier, and Dr. Mitzi Desselles consulted with Dr. Gil Reeve, Vice Provost at Louisiana State University and nationally recognized expert in strategic planning, to design  a strategic plan that reflects the vision and mission of each unit within the COE and aligns the subsequent goals and objectives to the Louisiana Tech University Tech2020 Plan. Dr. Reeve and the core planning team met with the entire COE faculty in the spring of 2015. Over the 2015 year, departments and units designed, reviewed, revised, and polished independent strategic plans. Tuesday of this week, division leaders, guided by faculty feedback,  reviewed each  unit plan; identified commonalities (themes) across the college; and began work on a comprehensive strategic plan that describes where we are, where we want to be (benchmarks),  and how we are going to get there (action steps) as a college. The beneficial day of reflection and planning on Dec. 1 and the initial meeting in the spring of 2015 provided a reminder of the unique, collaborative culture we enjoy at Louisiana Tech University and in our College of Education; yet another reason to be grateful during the season of thanks. Thanks to Drs. Cummins, Dornier, and Desselles! The time and effort they put in to this process has exceeded expectations and has set the stage for intentional action that matches the mission, vision, and goals of the College of Education, the units within it, and the University. Thanks to the Dean, Associate Dean and Unit Heads, Faculty, Staff, and Students for collaborating on this endeavor. Once complete, we look forward to sharing the work with our COE family and our Louisiana Tech University family.

Thankful for a Great Fall Quarter and a Record-Breaking Number of Students

Our COE is grateful for a wonderful fall quarter and a record-breaking enrollment for Louisiana Tech University for 2015! We are thankful that the COE was able to contribute significantly to both the graduate and undergraduate enrollment of Louisiana Tech University which totaled 12414 students. Our three departments, Kinesiology, Psychology, and CIL  had a total of  1345 undergraduate students enrolled for the fall, according to data from Mrs. Lori Theis. Of the 1345, more than 450 enrolled from our rapidly growing Department of Kinesiology alone. The total number of graduate students for the entire University totaled 1718. Of the 1718 students, 935 graduate students were enrolled in our College of Education. That is over 1/2 of the total university graduate enrollment for fall 2015!

Our graduate numbers for new students also soared with 513 new graduate students students being officially admitted and enrolled for the 2015 fall quarter by the ninth class day.  In fact, of the 695 total new graduate student enrollment for the University, according to data from the LATECH Graduate School, 74% were enrolled through the COE. Of the 513 new students admitted and enrolled in the college, 387 students were enrolled through the Office of Professional Education Outreach (OPEO) in the Science and Technology Education Center (SciTEC) .  The LLLE and LLL COE combined enrollment total for new and returning students for the University for the quarter equaled 446, just over 1/4 of total University graduate enrollment.
New collaborative extension efforts were critical to the success of our College of Education this  quarter and included projects in Caldwell, Morehouse, Livingston, Caddo, Ouachita and Bossier parishes, to name a few. Even teachers in Michigan engaged in the online opportunities through coursework on the MOODLE platform. Doctoral cohorts were also established  through the TLLI program, processed through the OPEO unit, and lead by the Department of Curriculum Instruction and Leadership. Leaders in the extension efforts for the 2015 included  Mr. Jody Purvis, Drs. Randy Parker, Mr. Randy Moore, Dr. David Gullatt, and Dr. Carolyn Talton, with each enrolling between 30-80 students each for the custom coursework. Interdisciplinary partnerships with faculty and staff in biomedical engineering as well as local and national agencies including the Department of Natural Resources also contributed to the figures and served as foundational partnerships for new large-scale efforts planned for the academic year.

The continued success of the COE is also a direct result of the outstanding caliber of students we have and currently served. Psychology boasts the highest number of graduate teaching students who continually deliver high quality instruction and research to supplement the efforts of the outstanding faculty. The competitive positions are sought nationally.  Innovative programs such as, orientation and mobility through PDRIB, and custom professional development courses through AE Phillips, one of the highest ranked K-8 schools in the state of Louisiana, also are integral factors in annual enrollment success. While all faculty, staff, students, administrators, and alums in our College of Education are responsible for the high quality programing, strong reputation, and numerous successes in our division; we wanted to highlight a few of the key contributors that lead the way in terms of program development, enrollment, and outreach for the 2015 quarter. During this season of thanks, we plan to share a few of their stories and successes! Thanks to you for your contribution to the success of the College of Education. We wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Psychology's Dr.Latoya Pierce Receives the RusTony Award!

On August 27, Dr. Latoya Pierce received the prestigious RusTony award at the 25th Annual RusTony Awards Ceremony in Ruston, LA. The event was held at the Dixie Center for the Arts on North Vienna. Dr. Pierce has participated in many productions with Ruston Community Theatre including her outstanding portrayal of Calpurnia in "To Kill A Mockingbird," in the spring of 2015.

Pierce to represent STEM interests at NSF sponsored program

Dr. Latoya Pierce, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, will represent Louisiana Tech University at a national LiY Workshop in Seattle, WA.  LiY stands for Lead-it-Yourself and is an NSF sponsored program developed by the University of Washington's ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change.  This workshop is designed to help individuals and institutions who currently plan, or want to plan, organize, and run faculty workshops and have an interest in STEM faculty diversity and inclusion.  Dr. Pierce was selected from numerous applicants and will attend the LiY workshop on October 25, 2015.

For the past year, Dr. Pierce has served as a steering committee member for the ADVANCEing Faculty Lunch Series, a part of the ADVANCEing Faculty Program in the College of Engineering and Science at Louisiana Tech University.  The ADVANCEing Faculty Lunch Series committee consists of an interdisciplinary faculty group and Dr. Pierce was selected to represent the College of Education.  The function of this committee is to provide faculty members with an opportunity to network as well as a professional development lecture series including topics such as tenure, research, funding opportunities, service, and leadership.  From this endeavor, Dr. Pierce was encouraged to apply for the LiY workshop.  The acceptance of her application and workshop attendance will afford her the opportunity to disseminate information and resources to faculty and administrators at Louisiana Tech University.  ​

Marcus Cherry, Psychology Graduate Student, Recieves First Place for His Research Poster, "Personality and Coping Strategies as Predictors of Help-Seeking Attitudes among Military-Affilliated and Civilian Students"

Mr. Marcus Cherry and Co-Author Dr. Margaret Cochran  of Northwestern State University recently received an award for their research poster titled " Personality  and Coping Strategies as Predictors of Help-Seeking Attitudes among Military-Affiliated and Civilian Students."  Mr. Cherry is a student of Dr. lore dickey, faculty member in the college's Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences. The research included the analysis of survey data from over 280 participants. Content explored include personality and coping mechanisms. Additional information about the research and the award may be found by accessing the link below.

Psychology Times Volume 6

Psychology's Dr. Lore Dickey Recieves the 2015 Award for Significant Contribution to Social Justice and Advocacy

Dr. lore dickey has been selected as the 2015 recipient of the Significant Contribution to Social Justice and Advocacy Award. The award is presented by the Section for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues of the Society of Counseling Psychology. The award will be presented August 6th in Toronto, Canada at the APA Convention.Congratulations, Dr. Dickey!


Dr. Dickey's LATECH Webpage

Counseling Psychology Student Selected for Leadership Role with American Psychological Association of Graduate Students

Please join me in congratulating and thanking Counseling Psychology doctoral student Lindsey Shamp, who recently applied for and was approved to serve as State Advocacy Coordinator for the state of Louisiana for the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS)! It is important for our programs to maintain an active relationship with APA, as well as to network with faculty and students from other training programs, so when Lindsey asked me whether she should look into this opportunity, I said "go for it!" Please encourage and support her in her new role.

I'd love to see the Louisiana Tech doctoral training programs be the leaders and models in Louisiana for graduate training in psychology.

Thank you, Lindsey, for seeking this opportunity to serve your fellow students, faculty, and the profession! 

Donna Thomas

Counseling Psychology Ph.D. Students and Faculty Assist Red Cross with Disaster Relief

We are blessed to have so many wonderful events and items to write about each day that sometimes one of them gets overlooked. A prime example of this is the help provided to the Red Cross when disaster struck Monroe earlier this year (October, 2014). lore dickey, a Disaster Services Volunteer, was contacted by the Shreveport Chapter of the American Red Cross asking if he could help with the response to the storm. He was disappointed thinking that it wouldn't be possible as he was scheduled to teach two classes that day, but he approached his department chair, Dr. Donna Thomas with the question - "is it allowable to have my class join me in Monroe?' She agreed, and the plan was presented to the students, most of whom readily agreed.

They arrived in Monroe at about 9:30 AM. Due to the Red Cross Chapter office had no electricity. they waited for a short period of time, as people gathered, to get assignments. Soon they were provided training in the function of Damage Assessment. This is typically the 2nd area of response that Red Cross engages in after a disaster strikes. They split into two groups and were provided with "street sheets" and maps of the area.  Their job was to walk (or drive) up and down each of the streets in the neighborhoods to determine whether homes had sustained any damage. Homes are listed on the street sheets and marked as having been affected, minor damage, major damage, or destroyed.

This task is critically important - as the data that is collected about the numbers of homes and type of damage to homes is used to determine how much assistance a person will receive. It is also used to help determine the "cost" of the storm. Data from the Damage Assessment is ultimately used to determine whether federal resources will be made available, by relief agencies such as such FEMA.

While the majority of the group were conducting the Damage Assessments, one member of our group remained at the Chapter Office and helped to tally the damage assessments, prepare feeding resources, and assist with other administrative duties. The students enjoyed this activity, as it was a natural extension of the conversations they had been having during their coursework. Specifically, they had been discussing Social Justice and the ways that psychologists can help to meet the needs of people who are marginalized or disenfranchised. Pictured from left to right in the photo are:Mercedes Bonnette, Mandi Ardoin, Megan Kuhl, and lore m. dickey.