UNT faculty and students took home a variety of awards.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – Over 40 graduate students from the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology headed down to Houston to attend the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA) convention. The annual convention, held between February 20 and 22, is one of the largest of its kind.

While attending, many UNT students received awards. In the Praxis Bowl, a competition among 18 speech-language pathology (SLP) programs in Texas, UNT placed third.

The Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation presented awards to individuals, with UNT’s Erin Bellue (SLP supervisor), Benjamin Kirby (assistant professor in audiology), and Rebekka Cassidy (graduate student in SLP) receiving honors. Bellue received the Award of Honors, Kirby received the Presidents’ Research Award and Cassidy received a Sandy Friel-Patti Research in Language International Travel Award.

The department’s...

Leslie Roberts emphasized planning, multi-party negotiation and working with a variety of cultures in the one-day workshop.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – Leslie Roberts, principal lecturer in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service Department of Public Administration, worked with Toyota Motor North America to provide negotiation training to a dozen members of the information technology vendor management team. The daylong workshop on March 4 concentrated on planning to negotiate in four situations:

• Working more effectively with internal and external teams
• Gaining an informal leadership role in negotiations when no clear leader is determined
• Working with startups that have no experience working with large corporations
• Working with original equipment manufacturers (OEM)

“Toyota works with a wide variety of parties with very diverse backgrounds and...

The grant will fund the UNT Summer Bridge Program, which provides housing, resources and early coursework to students who’ve been touched by the foster care system.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – The University of North Texas received an $85,000 grant for its Persevere UNTil Success Happens program. PUSH helps young adults who age out of foster care achieve educational success at UNT by focusing on each student’s academic, financial and career success, as well as social well-being.

The Santander Consumer USA, Inc. Foundation grant will be used to further fund the Summer Bridge Program, an initiative that provides housing, programming, early coursework and college transition services to incoming freshmen and transfer students who have been touched by the foster care system.

“Approximately 18 percent of foster care alumni attend college and of those, only 3 percent graduate,” said...

Shae Ebrahimi is one of only 18 in Texas to receive this scholarship.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – Shae Ebrahimi, an Advanced Joint Master’s student in Social Work in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service was awarded the 2019 Ima Hogg Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to graduate social work students who were nominated by the heads of their programs.

The scholarship awards $5,000 to each recipient, and for Ebrahimi this means her family is supported while she goes to school.

 “Because of the scholarship I will be able to focus on my studies and not worry so much about how to help support my family after we adjusted down to a single income,” Ebrahimi said. “Student loans help but it's barely enough, so this scholarship helps us out tremendously.”

Ebrahimi was nominated by the chair of the ...

The grant from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission will be used to expand their Healthy Community Collaborative program to less densely populated areas of Texas.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – The University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service (HPS) has received $400,000 in funding from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC) to expand its Healthy Community Collaborative (HCC) program, which promotes collaboration between public and private sectors to help increase access to...

A new report shows that six of the eight jobs with the most job growth are in the healthcare industry.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – According to a new CareerCast report, health professions have the highest rate of job growth in the U.S. and the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service (HPS) is ready to prepare students for those careers with a new Bachelor of Science in Public Health. The degree program, which is housed in the Department of Rehabilitation and Health Services, prepares professionals to promote health and identify, prevent and solve health problems at the community, local national and global levels.

Dr. Neale Chumbler, dean of the college who has a background in public health, says he’s excited to offer a degree program that will prepare students for...

The product is expected to make big changes in preventing credit card fraud.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – The University of North Texas UNT Cyber Forensics Technology Lab, headed by Dr. Scott Belshaw, associate professor in the College of Health and Public Service Department of Criminal Justice, has recently filed for a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a credit card skimmer detection wand. The product, developed by Dr. Belshaw and Michael Saylor, president of Cyber Defense Labs, is expected to have a major impact on preventing credit card fraud.

Credit card fraud has been occurring more frequently at gas stations and ATMs, with criminals inserting skimmer devices into machines that read a card’s expiration date, security code and 16-digit card number once it is swiped. The information is then sent via Bluetooth to the nearby criminal who will sell the victim’s information on the dark web.

The students find the scholarships to be a reflection of their hard work.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – Victoria Williams, Shekinah Colson and Martina Martinez, all current students enrolled in University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service’s Department of Criminal Justice degree programs, were awarded scholarships.

Victoria Williams, set to be a senior in fall 2019, is a recipient of the J. Edgar Hoover Scholarship. For her, the scholarship is an honor that proves hard work reaps success.

“I have worked hard throughout my college life by maintaining above a 3.5 GPA and being involved on campus to be able to be considered for prestigious awards and scholarships,” Williams said. “Being awarded this scholarship proved to me that hard work and late nights of studying pays off.”

Williams has always wanted to serve the community and was involved with the Tyler Police...

The program is tied for number 24 in the nation.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – U.S. News and World Report has named the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service (HPS) Department of Criminal Justice online graduate degree program number three in Texas and No. 24 in the nation on its 2019 list of Best Online Programs.

It noted the following as reasons for the high rankings:

• All of the online graduate-level criminal justice classes are recorded and archived so that students can access lecture material at their convenience.
• The admissions deadline for programs is rolling.
• All courses are taught by Ph.D. level faculty who also teach campus-based courses.
• Course offerings and flexible schedule are designed to suit the needs of both working professionals and full-time students.

“The continued...

The University of North Texas is home to one of only two clinics in the nation – and one of only three in the world – that will offer auditory testing services specifically for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – The majority of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience some form of auditory processing issue, yet there are currently no set standard testing procedures for them. With the help of a $111,843 grant from Sonova USA, Inc., researchers in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service’s Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology hope to change that.

“Children with ASD can experience a variety of auditory processing problems that vary greatly from what occur in children without ASD, and they are a highly underserved demographic in audiology,” said Dr. Erin Schafer, professor and director of...

Participants will learn skills in computer science, computer engineering, electronics and more.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – The Texas Workforce Commission has awarded the University of North Texas’ Workplace Inclusion and Sustainable Employment (UNT WISE), in conjunction with the UNT College of Engineering, $88,667 to offer the Explore STEM! Summer Program, a variety of summer camps for students ages 14-22 with disabilities.

“Our goal is to provide students with disabilities exposure to STEM fields through interactive, hands-on programming. We hope this piques interest in various STEM careers, which are in-demand and offer great opportunities,” said Lucy Gafford, director of UNT WISE, which is housed in the UNT College of Health and Public Service ...

Their recently published research shows expectations are high for law enforcement to respond to and investigate cyberattacks.

DENTON (UNT), Texas – Researchers in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service (HPS) Department of Criminal Justice recommend that cybersecurity courses be integrated into criminal justice programs to bridge the gap between traditional law enforcement expectations and responding to new cyber threats. Dr. Scott Belshaw, associate professor; Dr. Brooke Nodeland, assistant professor and online master of science in criminal justice degree coordinator; and Dr. Mark Saber, lecturer, made the determination in “Teaching Cybersecurity to Criminal Justice Majors,” which was published in the distinguished Journal of Criminal Justice...