NAU Educational Psychology

This last Friday we had over 100 students graduate from Applied Human Behavior, School Counseling, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Student Affairs, Human Relations, School Psychology, and the combined Counseling/School Psychology PhD program. We wish you all the best on the next part of your adventure! Stay tuned to see a special video made by Dr. Carlos Calderon for his School Psychology grads.

This month we would like to spotlight Dr. Steve Farmer, who is retiring from NAU at the end of the semester. We appreciate everything Dr. Farmer has done for our department and NAU and wish him all the best on his next adventure! Congratulations!

Noe Vargas is our April faculty spotlight! Noe is a faculty member based at our North Valley campus. Beyond his work for our department, Noe is very involved in his community and the university. He serves on multiple boards/committees in an effort to always be part of the solution to problems that arise. If you are subscribed to our department list serve you can read more about Noe in our newsletter that went out today!

Brisa Hopkins is our April student spotlight! Brisa is in her last year of the Applied Human Behavior program and will be rejoining us next year as part of the Clinical Mental Health program. Brisa is very active in her community and already putting her skills learned in our programs to good use! If you are subscribed to our department list serve you can read more about Brisa in our newsletter that went out today!

Marya Cota is our faculty spotlight for the month of March. Marya is a school psychology faculty member at the Flagstaff campus. She has already made a huge impact on the department and has presented with her colleagues at several conferences. Much of her work focuses on the integration of DEIJ to create standards of best practice for children and adults. Marya's passion for solving health and education disparities started early in her career when she was in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica. Beyond her academic pursuits, Marya is enjoying exploring Northern Arizona with her family.

Happy March! Our department newsletter just went out this week and as usual, we selected a student to spotlight. This month, we chose Jonathan Zucchi who is a first year CMHC student at the Tucson campus. Jonathan recently received a scholarship to be able to attend the Association for Humanistic Counseling’s annual conference in Denver this coming May. Jonathan is excited about this opportunity and the entire CMHC program so that he can continue to be a helper in his community. Outside of the academic world, Jonathan is a proud husband and father who enjoys time in the outdoors.

Our February student spotlight is Tori Ball. She is a Counseling-Student Affairs student at our Flagstaff campus. She is already doing impactful work on campus including creating a leadership conference and working with Campus Living to find ways to build community. Tori hopes to use her degree to connect with students and show her compassion for them as whole people and not just in terms of their academic performance. In her spare time, Tori loves to read, cross stitch, cook and bake.

Our current faculty spotlight this month is Nandini Ramakrishna. She is not only a faculty member, but she also is a student at Oregon State University where she is working on her doctorate. Nandini's research interests combine both her passions: linguistics and counseling. She is particularly interested in how language impacts the way that people process their grief. In her downtime, Nandini likes to write, make jewelry, hike, cook, and more!

Happy February! Every month we send out a newsletter to all of the faculty and students in our department. In addition to upcoming events, we always highlight a faculty member and student and their amazing work they are doing. This month, we also included a faculty emeritus spotlight: Dr. Timothy Thomason. Dr. Thomason may have retired last year, but he is still very active in his professional community. He has published several books, which are all available for purchase at most bookstores and from Amazon.

January is Mental Health Awareness Month. This seems very fitting since it is a time when many of us start to reflect on the year ahead and what goals we might like to achieve. Did you know that by February, about 80% of us are likely to have abandoned our resolutions? If one of your resolutions had to do with your mental health, we can help! We have a free clinic for in person or telehealth counseling. Our counselors are graduate students in training. Send us an email if you'd like more information!

In addition to selecting a student to highlight, we also select a faculty member each month and this month we chose Alana Kennedy! Alana, who calls Hawaii home, is a new member of our EPS faculty this year. She is a dedicated instructor who really cares for her students and is invested in their success. Beyond her teaching responsibilities, Alana is actively working on several projects including being an AERA presenter this April, research, and authoring a book chapter. One of Alana's main research interests is academic help-seeking among minority groups. She also is interested in optimizing instructional technology in various non-traditional educational settings, which is the topic of a book chapter she is working on with a colleague from USC. Outside of all her work, she is enjoying getting to explore Flagstaff including trying new restaurants and hiking!

Each month we select a student to highlight for their outstanding accomplishments and we are happy to share that our January student is Gurjot Kaur. She is nearing the end of her time as a Combined Counseling/School Psychology Ph.D. student and is looking forward to her internship. She has received interviews from many prestigious institutions nationwide! She plans to be a pediatric neuropsychologist with a strong focus on being a scientifically and culturally informed practitioner. Gurjot is highly involved in her professional communities, but also enjoys her free time when she gets to travel and experience new cultures. In fact, she speaks several languages including English, Punjabi, Italian, Spanish, and French.

Happy New Year! We are looking forward to 2023 and all the exciting things happening in our department! #2023

Thank you for your support on our new social media pages this Fall! We look forward to connecting with you more next semester! Happy Holidays!

Congratulations to all our students who will be graduating this week!

Edit after post: Student Affairs, School Counseling, and Human Relations are M.Ed. not M.A.

Several new volunteer opportunities were just announced this week, with specific opportunities related to ethics and professional practice, learning disabilities, and MTSS. View details and apply now: https://buff.ly/3FbW6xt

The December release of NASP’s Virtual Posters is now online! Check out new School Psychology research on topics like su***de, self-esteem, school connectedness, mindfulness, teleconsultation, behavioral and reading difficulties, and more. These are the final posters for 2022 but remember to check back in the summer of 2023 for more new posters and enjoy all the posters in the archive at any time! https://buff.ly/3gZznNj

Allison Williams, a North Valley EdS student, recently presented a poster about COVID's Effects on Special Education Students as part of the Arizona Association of School Psychology's 2022 conference. When asked what a key takeaway of their presentation was, Allison said, “essentially, student needs are going up over time, which data shows was likely exacerbated by COVID. Additionally, there is a high need for mental health professionals like School Psychologists in schools right now.” Allison says there are ways that school psychologists and educators can help students in the next few years. Allison says these things include, “incorporating more Tier I interventions in schools, collaborating with families to aid in smoother Kindergarten transitions, using evidence-based evaluation procedures to assist students in need, and advocating against the use of retention, or "holding students back", as a means of improving student performance.” Allison is excited to enter their internship next year and gain even more experience in the field of School Psychology and would like to focus on counseling services with children and families. Allison is very interested in working with Indigenous and LGTBQIA+ populations. Allison is a part of these groups as a member of the Tohono O'odham tribe in Southern Arizona and a gender non-conforming person. Allison stated, “As a member of these groups myself, I think that it's very important to be involved in supporting members of your own community. I also subscribe to the idea that representation matters and that it is important for children and young people to see others like themselves in professional roles.”

Austin Guida is a faculty member primarily based at the Tucson campus as well as an alumna of NAU. In her “student” role, she is currently finishing up her dissertation in which she “developed a co-parenting education group grounded within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).” When asked what the key take away of her work is Austin said, “Children’s adjustment to divorce/separation is largely determined by how parents choose to co-parent. Interventions that allow parents to develop skills for regulating negative emotion, enhance perceived competence to co-parent, and strengthen functional and values-driven co-parenting, can mitigate the negative impact of high conflict for parents and children alike.” Austin’s work has received recognition by justices of the Arizona Superior Court in Pima County Family Court. As an alumna, Austin finds it exciting to share her passion for counseling and counselor education with NAU. She says that returning to where her journey in higher education began has been a gratifying and full circle experience. She further stated that, “as a faculty member, I have gained an even deeper appreciation for the meaningful work that our administration, staff, faculty, and students, contribute to communities across Arizona. Go Jacks!”

If you are experiencing difficulties or a crisis, Coconino County Health and Human Services, Social Services can help. We can help pay for utility bills, provide bus passes, and connect you with other resources in the community. Eligibility for Social Services is based generally on household composition, household income, and current crisis. For more information, please visit: https://bit.ly/3CcW3BF

Check out some of the announcements that the College of Education sent out today! Here are the highlights: Applications are open for the CSA program! You can attend the NASP 2023 Convention for FREE! There is an information session on the School Psychology program on December 6th!

Our graduate students will be looking for new clients in the spring semester! As long as you are an Arizona resident we can offer FREE counseling under the supervision of faculty. These appointments can be in person or via telehealth! If that sounds like something you are interested in, please contact us today to sign up for services!

We are excited to launch a new page our the Educational Psychology Department at NAU. We will be sharing about our incredible faculty, staff, and students. We will also be keeping you updated on our programs and free counseling clinic!