Regional Update Summer 2016  

Edited by Regina Langhout

Summer is here! I hope that you are finding some time to enjoy things you love. In this column, I am happy to welcome to Naz Chief, a new Midwest Student Regional Coordinator. In terms of the regions, I am always impressed by the work happening across the globe. This quarter, I would like to highlight the Canadian column. The partnership between a 2-quarter class and town appears to serve both stakeholders quite well. Enjoy reading about it, as well as all the rest of the regional activities.

AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND AND THE PACIFIC

International Regional Liaison Katie Thomas, mothercarematters@gmail.com, Antony Street Specialist Centre

Student Regional Liaison Rahman Gray, rahman.gray@live.vu.edu.au, Victoria University

Australia/New Zealand and the Pacific Regional Update

Written by Katie Thomas

Australasian SCRA Social Justice Symposium

SCRA ANZP is offering a one-day symposium in Perth on Monday, August 22nd for students and others interested in globally appropriate and socially just research approaches.

The Symposium is entitled: “Global Knowing and Socially Just Research.” A core component of the day will be the establishment of network, mentoring and support links for members. The Symposium aims to be an avenue for creating links with others who have a passion for socially just research. Please email Dr. Katie Thomas for further details and to be placed on the Symposium email list.

The Symposium will provide exposure to a range of community appropriate research approaches and global views. Researchers who have significant experience in the field will present a concise folio of the most powerful techniques or resources for Community Activism/Research or Social Change they have identified over their career and some explanation of their use. By the end of the day attendees will have garnered a “toolkit” of excellent community research tools and a good understanding of their utility and value.

We look forward to gathering momentum, collaboration and solidarity in this event through greater connection. There are very few professional bodies offering the level of inclusion and resources offered by SCRA and for $A10 a year it is a great investment for students who are seeking career and internship opportunities. Together we can do great things. If you would like some flyers for colleagues and friends please send an email to mothercarematters@gmail.com.

To facilitate inclusion in the Symposium the cost will be minimal: $40 per participant and $20 for SCRA members. This is a great value for all but particularly for SCRA members. It represents a full return of the $A20 investment of a 2 year student membership and much return of the $30 “electronic journal” membership for academics. We hope you will join us.

News from Canada

Written by Sue Weare

Student-Community Research Partnerships for Social Justice and Wellbeing

The 2015-16 academic year marked the second offering of the Student-Community Research Partnerships for Social Justice and Wellbeing (SCRP) internship. This unique program is offered in partnership with the Centre for Community Research, Learning and Action (CCRLA) and the Laurier Students Public Interest Research Group (LSPIRG), both located at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Photo: Back row - Prem Nichani, Dr. Robb Travers, Carter Winberg, Nicole Mthies; Front row - Jamie-Ann Tomin, Ruth Cameron (AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, and Waterloo Area), Alannah Mulholland, Sue Weare (CCRLA Associate Director)

The 8-month internship runs during the fall and winter terms each year, and is designed to give undergraduate students at Laurier an opportunity to make a difference in their community while gaining hands-on experience and skills in community-based research. This year’s cohort of interns focused on the following topics:

• Barriers and facilitating factors experienced by service providers when referring clients for HIV testing
• Lived experiences and wellbeing of individuals accessing supportive housing programs
• Perspectives of service providers on effectively including girls and young women in extracurricular programming

In teams of 4-5 students, the interns work closely with a professor and research associate to design and implement a research study that addresses a research need identified by their assigned community partner. Over the summer months, the CCRLA Associate Director brokers relationships with local charitable agencies that have expressed the need for research support, and works with them to define the scope of the project. Often these agencies have had some previous connection with CCRLA’s other programs, or with the centre’s faculty, staff, and students.

Interns are carefully selected based on a written application and interview. The program officially begins in September with an intensive in-class introduction to the principles of community-based participatory research, partnership building, values-based leadership, and effective team collaboration. Students receive ongoing training on applied research design, methods, ethics, and proposal writing, as well as concepts and issues related to their specific projects.

Photo: From left to right - Nicole Mathies, Jamie-Ann Tomin, Alannah Mulholland and Prem Nichani

During the first half of the program, interns work with their teammates to develop the project proposal, which is vetted by the community partner, and submit a request ethics review. In the second half of the program, interns collect data, complete their analysis, and report back on findings. The internship culminates in an annual mini-conference where interns present their final reports.

While the students gain valuable knowledge, skill, and experience, agencies benefit through access to high quality research assistance at no cost, receipt of a knowledge product that supports their community work, and overall increased access to the resources of the university. This internship encourages students to move beyond the walls of the university and gain hands-on community-based research experience in a real world setting. It is a rare opportunity for students at the undergraduate level to build their knowledge and capacity for community-engaged scholarship. More information can be found on the CCRLA website at www.wlu.ca/ccrla.

West Region, U.S.

Regional Coordinators

3rd Year: Lauren Lichty, llichty@uwb.edu; University of Washington at Bothell

3rd Year: Eylin Palamaro Munsell, epalamar@asu.edu; Arizona State University

2nd Year: Emma Ogley-Oliver, eogleyoliver@marymountcalifornia.edu; Marymount California University

Student Regional Coordinators

Graduate: Angela Nguyen, angelanguyen@ucsc.edu; University of California, Santa Cruz

Undergraduate: Brittney Weber, Brittney.Weber@asu.edu; Arizona State University

News from the Bay Area

Written by Angela Nguyen

The Bay Area Community Psychology Network met in May at the University of California, Santa Cruz, for our 2016 Spring Symposium. The gathering featured two speakers: Dr. Rebecca Covarrubias (a new faculty member in the Psychology Department at UC Santa Cruz) and Robert (Bob) Majzler (a doctoral candidate in Social Psychology at UC Santa Cruz). Dr. Covarrubias presented her research regarding the effects of a summer bridge program on “borderline” students, and facilitated a discussion on the implications for university admissions practices in a presentation titled, “I know that I should be here”: Lessons learned from the first year performance of borderline university applicants. Bob presented on his interview study with White men who identify as anti-racist feminist activists, and
facilitated a discussion on the ethics of research in a presentation titled, 26 Summer 2016 The Community Psychologist Studying up: Ethical questions in researching power and privilege. The goal of our network is to provide a forum to informally discuss work in progress, network with other community practitioners, and provide an exchange of ideas related to community intervention work. The larger group generally meets twice a year, once in Fall and once in Spring, alternating between UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz. Our upcoming fall meeting will be held at UC Berkeley. If you are interested in attending and/or presenting at one of our meetings, or if you would like to be on our mailing list to receive more updates, please contact Angela Nguyen (angelanguyen@ucsc.edu).

Southeast Region, U.S.

Regional Coordinators

Sarah L. Desmarais, sdesmarais@ncsu.edu; North Carolina State University

Winnie Chan, wchan1@gsu.edu; Georgia State University

Pam Imm, pamimm@windstream.net; Community Psychologist, Independent Practice, Lexington, SC

Student Regional Coordinators

Candalyn Rade, cbrade@ncsu.edu; North Carolina State University

Jaimelee Mihalski, jmihalsk@uncc.edu; University of North Carolina-Charlotte

Dominique Thomas, dthomas60@student.gsu.edu; Georgia State University

Susie Paterson, University of Miami

Douglas Archie

SE Regional Update

Written by Candalyn Rade

SE ECO 2016 Announcement: "On the corner of Peachtree and Action: Empowering Communities for Social Change" October 21-22, 2016, Atlanta, GA

If a tree falls on the corner of Peachtree Road and Peachtree Avenue (yes, this is a real intersection in Atlanta), does it make a sound? A similar philosophical question was asked over a century ago with the answers varying based on one’s knowledge of the unobserved world. Too often there are community issues that are unobserved, avoided, or disregarded. The purpose of the Southeast ECO 2016 Conference is to acknowledge the research and action taken towards social change. From Georgia State’s Sweet Auburn community to international level engagement, we gather to share the strategies, successes, and future directions of the communities we represent. Join us for the Southeast ECO 2016 Conference in the world city of Atlanta, Georgia, home of some of our nation’s greatest civil rights activists.
• Upcoming Dates:
• Call for proposals: June 1, 2016
• Proposal submission deadline: September 1, 2016
• ECO Registration begins: August 1, 2016
For more information visit the SE ECO website: http://sites.gsu.edu/seeco2016