ISSUED: 29 March 2019
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University will host the 39th Annual Mid-Atlantic Undergraduate Social Research Conference on Friday, April 12, from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. The conference allows undergraduate students to explore scientific inquiry and knowledge in the areas of psychology, sociology, interventions on behalf of clients, and national and international government, politics, and policy.
The first Mid-Atlantic Undergraduate Social Research Conference took place at Elizabethtown College in 1981 with 23 participants. This year, approximately 35 students are expected to attend the conference, which will offer three events that are open to the public.
A Social Work Practice/Research Panel Discussion will take place from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Student Center Cumberland Room. The panel will include senior social work students who have worked with organizations in the community. They will highlight topics such as the impact of the opioid epidemic on child and family welfare, community engagement, school-based social services, and well-being across the lifespan.
Social work majors who will participate include Tracy Long, Ranson, The Martinsburg Initiative; Taylor Staubs, Martinsburg, Safe Haven Child Advocacy Center; Katie Fenley, Martinsburg, Board of Child Care; Caroline Wilson, Inwood, Berkeley Day Report Center; and Mitchell Haines, Slanesville, and Haley Gieck, Frederick, Maryland, Bester Community of Hope in Hagerstown, Maryland. Craig Cline, assistant professor of social work, will moderate the discussion.
A lunch and keynote lecture are scheduled from 12:30-2:15 p.m. in the Student Center Storer Ballroom. Tamara N.S. Brooks, senior human resources consultant for the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, will give the talk “Knowledge and Action: Personal Branding of the iGeneration.” Lunch is included for student presenters and the cost is $6 for other event attendees and the public.
Brooks is a doctoral candidate in educational leadership and management with a concentration in creativity and innovation at Drexel University. Her research explores identity and involvement with social media of the iGeneration, those born between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s. The presentation will highlight forms of unhealthy online interaction and the impact on future success, reputation, and employment opportunities among members of the iGeneration.
A student research and service learning poster session will take place from 2:30-4 p.m. in the Erma Ora Byrd Hall atrium. The posters will highlight the field experiences of the students, who provided a minimum of 30 hours of service in the community.
A Criminal Justice Special Intelligence and Innovation Teach-In will take place from 3:30-5 p.m. in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education auditorium. Panelists for the Teach-In will be Special Agent Keith Toomey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Conservation Training Center; Special Agent Ellen Duffy, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent Mark Bender, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Supervisory Deputy Cole Barnhart, U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Magistrate Robert Trumble, Northern District of West Virginia; 23rd Circuit Court Judge David Hammer; and U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Jillian Jeffers.
For more information, visit https://www.shepherd.edu/mausrc.
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