Jose Garcia is one of two HPS students to earn this honor that only six students received university wide.
DENTON (UNT), Texas – Jose Garcia, who’s pursuing a bachelor’s degree in social work in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service, has earned the esteemed UNT Golden Eagle Award from the Division of Student Affairs and Multicultural Center. It is the most prestigious award that UNT bestows on a student leader. Recipients are those who show a tremendous commitment to co-curricular activities and enhance campus life at UNT by engaging in considerable service and displaying great leadership, all while achieving excellence in the classroom.
“I could not have achieved this award without the support of my family, professors, student organization advisors and classmates at UNT. As a non-traditional student, it can be challenging to make sure everything is taken care of at home, school, student organizations and volunteering,” Garcia said. “However, being part of student organizations at UNT,...
Ivalis Guajardo is one of only six students to earn the honor.
DENTON (UNT), Texas – Ivalis Guajardo, recent audiology and speech-language pathology graduate in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service, has earned the esteemed UNT Golden Eagle Award from the Division of Student Affairs and Multicultural Center. It is the most prestigious award that UNT bestows on a student leader. Recipients are those who show a tremendous commitment to co-curricular activities and enhance campus life at UNT by engaging in considerable service and displaying great leadership, all while achieving excellence in the classroom.
“The experience UNT has given me has allowed me to transform the many organizations I was part of, cultivate relationships with staff and peers that have changed my life, and ultimately finish a degree I am passionate about,” Guajardo said. “This award encapsulates my last four years here and I am so grateful to receive it!”
Only six undergraduates in the university received the...
DENTON (UNT), Texas – U.S. News and World Report has named two concentrations in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service (HPS) number one in Texas on its 2021 list of Best Graduate Schools – local government management, and homeland security and emergency management.
“These rankings show our college's continued dedication to excellence and to providing our students with a top-tier education,” said Dr. Nicole Dash, dean of the college. “While we know rankings aren't everything, it's always an honor to have outside entities recognize our achievements."
The Master of Public Administration (MPA) program specialization in local government management is ranked no. 12 in the nation and it is also ranked in the public financing and budgeting category, where it sits at no. 31.
“The UNT MPA program is proud to again be recognized as one of the top degrees in the nation. With a placement rate...
A new dean, associate deans and new chairs are all part of the shift in leadership.
DENTON (UNT), Texas – The University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service (HPS) named Dr. Nicole Dash the new dean of the college in September 2020. Dr. Dash has served as academic associate dean of HPS since 2010 and has been instrumental in integrating health programs and growing the college’s enrollments. Under Dash’s leadership, the college has added master’s degrees in applied behavior analysis and emergency management and disaster science, as well as expanded its undergraduate offerings to include new and growing concentrations in public health, urban policy and planning and nonprofit leadership studies.
“I know the college and its people very well, and I couldn’t be prouder of all that we’ve achieved—both as individuals and as a collective,” Dr. Dash said. “I’ve witnessed firsthand the hard work it’s taken to become what we are today. Our graduates are doing research and going into professions that make a difference in their communities and the world.”
Dr. Dash served as...
DENTON (UNT), Texas — A researcher in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service is studying how the continuum of care for homeless people, which includes the social, medical, public health and education sectors, has changed during COVID-19.
Hee Soun Jang, an associate professor and graduate coordinator for the Department of Public Administration, and Jesus Valero, an assistant professor at the University of Utah, have been researching services for homeless people that are run at a local level and often involve multiple agencies known as Continuum of Care (CoC).
“Continuum of Care is a premise that is unique to improving a fragmented service system for homelessness,” Jang said. “There are innovative and interesting examples of individual agencies providing successful interventions for homeless populations. But, because agencies do not always coordinate services and information with one another, it is difficult to capture comprehensive knowledge of...
The funding will provide case management services, housing and meal plans for the UNT students.
DENTON (UNT), Texas – The Carl B. & Florence E. King Foundation granted $50,000 to the University of North Texas Persevere UNTil Success Happens (PUSH) program, which helps young adults who age out of foster care achieve educational success at UNT by focusing on academic, financial and career achievements, as well as the social well-being of each student. The generous grant will be used to provide programming and college transition services to incoming freshmen and transfer students who are part of PUSH from Spring 2021 to Spring 2022.
“Supporting students who have experienced foster care presents a lot of challenges, especially during a pandemic. It absolutely takes the university and community village to provide the resources students need to be successful,” said Brenda Sweeten, clinical associate professor of social work, PUSH advisor, UNT foster care liaison officer and director of social work...
DENTON (UNT), Texas — University of North Texas students are working with the Women’s Storybook Project to make the holidays a little brighter for children whose moms are incarcerated.
Senior Julia Langlois and 29 of her classmates in the College of Health and Public Service Social Work program chose the organization to support this semester as part of a long-standing tradition in the department to assist a group that needs some extra help. With COVID-19 restricting many activities, the Women’s Storybook Project was a great fit, as it allowed the fourth-year social work students to make an impact without in-person contact.
“When we were contacting organizations to see who might need help, they said that any help this semester would be great, since there’s a lot more people in the prisons wanting to participate during the holidays,” Langlois said.
The Women’s Storybook Project originated in 1994 and allows women who are incarcerated in state prisons to record themselves reading a story and offer a short greeting...
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ENTON (UNT), Texas — University of North Texas Emergency Management and Disaster Science associate professor Tristan Wu is studying evacuees and the emergency response from Hurricane Laura to create new protocols for emergency managers facing mass evacuations in the time of COVID-19.
Wu said he and his colleagues had the idea to study mass evacuations and COVID-19 in March, but funding wasn’t available. After Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana and Texas in August, they resubmitted the idea to the National Science Foundation and were awarded a Rapid Grant.
“During hurricane events, households usually evacuate together. Their evacuation behavior was solely due to the risk perception of the hurricanes,” Wu said. “This time around it’s very different with the COVID pandemic. They might not want to evacuate or they might evacuate separately because of COVID concerns. If they evacuated, they might be less likely to go to a hotel or an evacuation shelter. We...
Hadidja Nyiransekuye, an assistant professor of social work in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service, has won the prestigious Social Worker of the Year Award from the National Association of Social Workers that honors a member of the organization that exemplifies top-tier values and achievements.
Nyiransekuye, a refugee from Rwanda and a survivor of genocide along with her four children, specializes in policy advocacy focusing on the refugee crisis that affects communities across the globe.
“I know what it feels like to not have a home,” she said. “There are people who have helped me and opened their homes to me, for that I am grateful. I owe it to humanity to do what I can to help others.”
Nyiransekuye’s research demonstrates the problems faced by refugees that are global issues, including acts of violence and loss of freedom.
“If we don’t address...
DENTON (UNT), Texas — A University of North Texas professor, who studies the role of land buyouts in disaster recovery and hazard mitigation, has been recognized as one of the nation’s top scientific leaders researching ways to improve the wellbeing of coastal communities and ecosystems. Elyse Zavar, assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science, is one of the 20 fellows selected as a 2020 Early-Career Research Fellow by the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Her research focuses on buyouts – federally funded land purchased to relocate residents out of high-risk areas like floodplains or hurricane-impacted coastlines – and the challenges and successes of open space land management by local governments, most recently in areas of Harris County hit by Hurricane Harvey.
“I am honored and incredibly excited to be selected as one of the 2020 fellows. This is a tremendous opportunity that will further my research, which in turn, directly informs my...
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...
DENTON (UNT), Texas – Federickia Washington, Ph.D. graduate of public administration and management from the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service has received a tenure track job offer from the Department of Public Administration at Tennessee State University (TSU).
Dr. Washington is enthusiastic about the position, where she will be able to show her talents.
“I am incredibly excited to have been offered a tenure track job opportunity at TSU in Nashville,” Dr. Washington said. “I am looking forward to being able to take my talents to TSU where they value educating and empowering leaders/future leaders in the public sector.”
For Dr. Washington, the position offers her the opportunity to put the rich knowledge and skills gained at UNT into action.
“This new position means that I will continue to be able to teach students and follow with my scope of research,” Washington said. “This is all very exciting.”
Dr. Hee Soun Jang, associate professor and graduate coordinator in the department, says she...
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...
Drs. Stan Ingman and Elias Mpofu of the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service Department of Rehabilitation and Health Services were awarded a $50,000 grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration to address opioid overdoses among Native Americans in Oklahoma. They are working in partnership with Meharry Medical College in Tennessee, the Principal Investigator of the $200,000 grant, which is split among UNT, Meharry, North East Oklahoma A&M College and the nations of Spokane, Pawnee and Ottawa. The collaboration, called the IMPACT Tribal Consortium, will plan and operationalize models to address and reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with opioid overdoses among the youth and adult Native Americans in Northeastern Oklahoma/Ottawa and Pawnee (North Central) Counties, as well as Eastern Washington/Spokane. They hope to replicate...
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...
DENTON (UNT), Texas – Josh Caldwell, a third year audiology and speech-language pathology student in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service received the Continued Achievement Scholarship from the American Academy of Audiology Foundation. The scholarship was awarded based on Caldwell’s academic record, recommendations and clearly articulated professional aspirations.
The scholarship awarded $2,000 to Caldwell, a financial relief that will help him focus on the two degrees he’s pursuing.
“Last fall I began taking classes for the Ph.D. in Health Services Research program, so my course load, as well as my expenses, significantly increased,” Caldwell said. “This scholarship will help provide financial relief from pursuing two doctoral level degrees and allow me to focus on my coursework and research.”
Caldwell hopes to have a positive impact on others through his career.
“I...
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 ...
Parents say Dr. Theresa Kouri, with the help of Scottish Rite, is giving their children a second chance at success.
DENTON (UNT), Texas – Andrew McCann struggled in every school subject. “He was truly a high-risk student who could have easily fallen through the cracks,” his mother Donna McCann said. Jordan Yancey’s grades suddenly plummeted and he wasn’t reading at his level. His self-esteem was suffering and he was being bullied. “He was at a second-grade level at 13-and-a-half,” his mother Stacy Rollins said. His sister Kinslee Warren was also struggling. Rollins, a mother of five children with a variety of challenges, began homeschooling both children who were diagnosed with severe ADHD.
Madelynn Michaels was facing reading challenges of her own. The...
T
he 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...
In 2016-17, approximately 55 percent of children in Denton county schools met grade level expectations for reading on the STAAR test. UNT Speech and Hearing Center hopes to ultimately improve that percentage with a new preschool literacy program.
DENTON (UNT), Texas – The University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service (HPS) Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology is offering a language-literacy preschool at the UNT Speech and Hearing Center to ready children for entry into kindergarten and first grade. Dr. Theresa Kouri, principal lecturer and clinical director for speech-language pathology, is...
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...
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice: An Interdisciplinary Journal (YVJJ) received an impact factor of 2.981 and is currently ranked 10 out of 65 in the nation in the “Criminology and Penology” category.
DENTON (UNT), Texas – Dr. Chad Trulson, professor in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public Service Department of Criminal Justice, serves as editor of the prestigious publication that “provides academics and practitioners in juvenile justice and related fields with a resource for publishing current empirical research on programs policies, and practices in the areas of youth violence and juvenile justice.” The impact factor is a measure of the average number of times per year an article has been cited from that specific journal. It is used to measure the importance or rank of a journal based on the number of times its articles...
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.
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The conference focused mainly on the issues facing an increasingly globalized society.
DENTON (UNT), Texas – Dr. Sarah Moore Oliphant and Dr. Hadidja Nyiransekuye, who are both currently assistant professors in the University of North Texas College of Health and Public...
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...