Brigham Young University’s School of Social Work Newsletter
Winter 2011
Newsletter Title
NEWSLETTER DATE
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
School of Social Work Hosts 5th Annual Conference
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Director Report
2
Alumni President Report
3
Dr. Gene Shumway’s 85th
Birthday
4
CSWE Mourns Death of Katherine A. Kendall
5
Faculty Accomplishments
6
BYU’s Real Iron Man
7
Student, Now the Professor
8
BSW Student Passes Away
8
MSW Class of 2010 Project
9
J. Ellis’ Ukraine Experience
10
Mary Lou Fulton Poster
10
March 2010 Service Project
11
Marjorie Pay Hinckley Lecture 11
Global Awareness Society
Conference
12
Arial S. Baliff Award
12
Shumway Publishable Paper
13
Presidents Leadership Council
13
Internship Reports
14
Strut Your Stuff Internship
15
Alumni Get Connected
15
Current Cohorts
16
International MSW Students
17
Annual Turkey Bowl
18
Marriages and Newborns
18
Alumni Updates
19
Above: Key Speakers Dr. Hughes, Dr. Bales, Mrs. Chan-Downer, and Dr. Schmiedel
BYU School of Social Work
hosted a successful conference
on human trafficking entitled
Assisting Victims of Human Trafficking through Research, Policy
and Practice on October 28 & 29,
2010. The conference was sponsored by the Marjorie Pay Hinckley Endowed Chair in Social
Work and the Social Sciences.
Speakers from the U.S. State
Department Office to Monitor and
Combat Trafficking in Persons,
the international anti-slavery organization Free the Slaves, the
European Union, the Philippines,
Turkey, Canada, and many well
recognized universities around the
country, contributed to the conference.
Human trafficking, the buying,
selling, and exploiting of human
beings, has become a growing
problem throughout the world and
within our own country. Much
was learned from the keynote
speakers, the panels, the presentations, and the posters during two
very busy days. Among the high-
Above: Program Director Dr. Limb
BYU School of Social Work Annual Newsletter
(801) 422-3282
lights of the conference, Dr. Donna Hughes of the University of
Rhode Island, spoke on the Dutch,
Swedish, and US anti-trafficking
models and their effectiveness in
addressing sexual trafficking. Dr.
Kevin Bales, President of Free the
Slaves, focused his remarks on
the types of work undertaken by
victims who are ensnared in trafficking, the effects of federal
regulatory responses regarding
foreign diplomats and au pairs, as
well as the indicators/identifying
measures of human trafficking.
Christine Chan-Downer, who
works for the Office to Monitor
and Combat Trafficking in Persons, shared the U.S. State Department’s diplomatic efforts to
promote greater anti-trafficking
activities, with a focus on the East
Asia region. Dr. Frank Schmiedel,
of the Justice and Home Affairs,
as well as the Political Security
and Development Section Delegation of the European Union, discussed the EU’s role in fighting
global human trafficking, includ-
ing the latest legislative proposals and initiatives by the European Commission.
In addition to these highlights,
concurrent sessions provided
both legal and social science
information. Free CEUs were
offered for LCSWs and SSWs,
as well as for psychologists and
Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs), and CLEs were
offered for attorneys.
In discussion with one another,
many guests at the conference
wanted to learn how to get more
involved in the effort to stop
human trafficking. A wonderful
point was brought up as a 1st
year MSW student asked Christine Chan-Downer (a plenary
speaker) “As a social worker or
in any other profession, what can
we do to help?” Ms. ChanDowner explained that whatever
our focus or talents, we can be of
great assistance in these important efforts: An artist may
contribute flyers and posters, a
web designer can assist with the
internet, an accountant can help
on the business side, or a social
worker can work with the individual victims, conduct research,
or advocate for better policies.
Power Point presentations and
videos from the conference can
be viewed at the conference
website: http://swevents.byu.edu.
Above: First-Year MSW Students aending the conference
http://socialwork.byu.edu
socialwork@byu.edu
Page 2
Brigham Young University Winter 2011
From the Director
By Dr. Gordon Limb
The more I interact with our BYU Social Work students and alumni, the more I
appreciate being a social worker. I am thankful to be part of a helping profession that instills in each of us a service or helping attitude. So many of you go above and beyond the
call of duty in helping those in our society who are vulnerable and less-fortunate. Thank
you.
A recent experience reinforced this concept to me in a meaningful way. Once a
month, the young men and women in our ward get together for a combined activity. Often,
I get to help out in their activities. For our September combined activity, the Priests were
in charge and they staged an experiment in human awareness and kindness. The youth
were divided into three groups and given certain timed tasks to complete. The winners
would be the team that completed the tasks in the shortest amount of time. Unbeknownst
to the youth, the Priests had set up opportunities to serve people in need along the way.
School of Social
Work Mission
Statement
The mission of the
School of Social Work
at Brigham Young
University is to
support the overall
mission of BYU and
the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day
Saints by generating
new knowledge and by
educating and training
students to use the
appropriate
knowledge, skills, and
abilities of the social
work profession to
serve children and
families within their
environment and the
context of their
specific cultures.
Our first stop was a grocery store where we were instructed to buy some soda and
have a contest to see who could drink theirs the fastest. All of the youth ran inside as fast
as they could, running right by a man sitting outside the store with a “homeless” sign (this
happened to be our stake young men’s president dressed to the hilt). No one recognized
him and one of the youth even made some negative comment about the “homeless” man
but all of them ran right by him in order to accomplish the task. We then went outside to
do the contest. After drinking our sodas, we hurriedly got in our cars and drove to the next
task. At the second stop, the task was to spell a specific word using candy bars found at a
local gas station. Everyone again rushed to complete the task and ran right by a lady in a
car with the hood up and lights flashing. I knew about the “staging” and watched how the
focus on completing the task (winning the game) caused most of the youth to not see
things around them, like this lady. As I stood there watching, there was a man (not with
our group) who walked over to help this lady. I was touched that a normal, everyday person would go out of his way to make sure she was okay. By this time, the youth were
starting to get an idea that something might be going on and wondered if the lady was part
of the experiment or really in trouble. Nevertheless, we all got in the car and proceeded to
our next task without helping.
Our final stop was a local grocery store where we were assigned to get ice cream
toppings for our refreshments after the activity. As the youth were searching for the frozen
food isle, three or four rough-looking teenage kids approached them and asked for a couple of dollars to buy milk for a friend who needed it for her baby. All of the teenagers
were dressed in black gothic style clothing with nose rings and such. When they approached our youth, most were nervous and apprehensive, while a few wanted to help
them. One of our young women even told them, “My parents won’t let me give you money, but I’ll go buy the milk for you,” and ran off to purchase milk. As we left, the youth
were talking about how weird those teenagers looked and how they were “freaked out”
because you usually don’t see people like that around town. We then met back together at
the church to “reflect” on the experience and have refreshments. Many of the youth were
shocked to realize that this was all staged and that one of their own was dressed up as one
of the gothic teenagers.
This experience was a good reminder to me that there are opportunities all around
us to serve and help others. The challenge is to not be so focused and in such a hurry to get
the ice cream toppings and finish the task that we miss the more important opportunities to
help those around us.
School of Social Work Winter 2011
Page 3
From the Alumni President
By Sandra L. Wilkes
As the new year 2011 begins, I reflect upon the amazing events that are now part
of the history of BYU’s School of Social Work.
In October 2010, we were privileged to hear from experts from all over the country, indeed all over the world, who educated us at the annual social work conference entitled, “Assisting Victims of Human Trafficking through Research, Policy and Practice.”
The conference was sponsored by the Marjorie Pay Hinckley Endowed Chair in Social
Work and the Social Sciences. Not only did we learn about trafficking, but we were also
given practice- and policy-specific tools to assist us in stopping this abhorrent challenge.
Youtube.com has become another medium being used by the school to promote our MSW
program. Video clips of MSW graduates are featured promoting the distinguished education they have received through BYU’s program. Be sure to check this exciting site at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7poQLq77gQ
I often receive inquiries regarding our school’s social work education. Questions
regarding diversity, research, and incorporation of gospel principles are common. At a
recruiting dinner held in the fall of 2010, a number of top students, including students
from BYU and UVU were invited to attend and hear Dean Anderson, Class of ’85, give an
inspiring address which detailed the need for and career variety of social workers. Members of the faculty and MSW graduates were available at each table to answer individual
questions regarding BYU’s MSW program. The students who attended were motivated by
the prospect of entering a profession which is an impeccable fit with their educational
plans. It was thrilling to witness those students becoming acquainted with the field of
social work. Those of us in attendance felt the evening was especially successful.
My enthusiasm for being part of BYU’s School of Social Work continues. I am
privileged to promote not only the school’s outstanding education, but the skills that are
gained by combining education and gospel principles. I was once asked by someone who
is not a member of the Church if she would “fit in” as a BYU MSW student. My reply
was a definite “yes” because we are social workers and our program, by its nature, embraces all.
Once again, the Alumni Board encourages you to update your personal information at: http://fhss.byu.edu/socwork/alumni/index.html to receive new information on
Social Work and Alumni happenings.
Thank you for your support both financially and through your excellent professionalism. I continue to be honored by this position and look forward to an amazing new
year.
Best Regards,
Sandra L. Wilkes
Members of the Board: Sandra Wilkes, Terri Rowley, Jon Stewart and Mindy Woodhouse
Your donation helps provide an
excellent educational experience
for students. If each of our
4,000+ social work alumni
gave just $10 per year, that
would fund a scholarship for
a current social work student!
Yes, your donation
matters!!
For donations to the
School of Social Work
contact:
Jim Crawley
940 SWKT
Provo, UT 84602
jim_crawley@byu.edu
(801) 422-8028
Help give more
students an “exceptional
educational
experience.”
Page 4
2010
Fall 2010
Brigham Young UniversityFall
Winter
2011
Dr. Gene Shumway’s 85th Birthday
A Beloved Father of BYU’s Social Work Program
Dr. E Gene Shumway and his wife Argie, celebrated his 85th birthday with a wonderful open
house, full of friends and previous co-workers, in his beautiful Springville home. He stated it
was a great time as old memories were shared with so many who had served alongside him
over many years.
Born on August 17th 1925, Dr. Shumway has had a great compassion for others. This is perhaps what led to his profession in social work. He attended BYU, graduating with his bachelor’s degree in sociology. Later he received his masters degree in sociology from the University
of Utah, followed by his DSW from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He
worked in the community as a caseworker, a clinician, and a medical social worker and then
returned to teach at the University of Utah as a full-time professor.
He joined the BYU faculty in 1975, with the primary responsibility of establishing the MSW
program. Although he didn’t want to leave the University of Utah, Dr. Shumway felt a special
impression to join the faculty at BYU because he was convinced the development of social
work at BYU was, in fact, a “labor of love.”
Dr. Shumway was a key figure in the Master’s program accreditation process. He also, amazingly, found paid internships for all twenty of his first MSW class.
Above: Dr. E Gene Shumway
Although now retired (August 1990), students today still benefit from his great efforts. The
program will always be thankful for his hard work, dedication, and love.
Above: Gene & Evelyn Gibbons, Verla & Mike Seipel,
Barbara Wheeler, and in front Gene Shumway
Above: Gene Shumway, Genevieve & Arturo De Hoyos
Above: Genevieve De Hoyos & Mari Ellen Staley
Above: Gwen Squires & Kevin Mare
Page 5
2010
Fall 2010
School of Social WorkFall
Winter
2011
CSWE Mourns Death of Katherine A. Kendall
Katherine A. Kendall, a world-renowned
icon of social work education, passed away on
December 1, 2010. Born in 1910 in Scotland,
Kendall emigrated to the United States at the
age of 10. She was one of four children and
the only girl. Kendall excelled academically
from childhood on and initially wanted to
become a writer. Reading about the appalling
work conditions vividly described by Upton
Sinclair in The Jungle led her instead to pursue a career in social work. Kendall received
an MSW from Louisiana State University in
1939 and a PhD in social service administration from the University of Chicago in 1950.
Kendall was actively involved in the development of social work education in the United
States. In 1950 she became executive secretary of the American Association of Schools
of Social Work (AASSW). She was involved
in the complex negotiations that merged
AASSW and other social work governing
bodies into the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), which is recognized as the
sole accrediting body for social work education in the United States. During her long tenure with
CSWE Kendall also held the positions of educational secretary, associate director, and executive
director. Throughout her career Kendall was able to merge her global outlook with her passion for
social work education.
Her initial work in the international arena began in the mid-1940s, when she worked in the international service department of the U.S. Children’s Bureau. During her time there she helped launch
a program in Latin America that provided technical assistance and training for social welfare personnel. In 1947 she began working for the United Nations (UN), where she conducted a world
survey of social work training that resulted in the publication of Training for Social Work: An International Survey. This pioneering work influenced the Social Commission of the UN to pass a
resolution calling for the professionalization of social workers. The document was also the basis of
Kendall’s doctoral dissertation and subsequently encouraged the development of social work and
social work education around the world.
Kendall first became acquainted with the International Association of Schools of Social Work
(IASSW) in the late 1940s, when it was known as the International Committee of Schools of Social
Work. After her survey of social work training was unveiled at the UN, Kendall was invited to give
the keynote address at her first IASSW conference in Paris, France. She made a positive impression on the organization’s leadership and was elected secretary of the organization. Kendall served
in that voluntary position from 1954–1963 while concurrently holding leadership positions at
CSWE. She often used her free time away from her official duties at CSWE to attend to IASSW
matters.
During Kendall’s tenure with IASSW she helped transform it from a primarily European association into a global organization. She also played a role in IASSW’s move to consultative status with
the UN. From 1971–1978 Kendall was the first paid secretary general of IASSW with a staffed
office.
Although Kendall officially retired in 1978, she continued to research and write on various issues
affecting social work and social work education. In 2004 she founded and endowed the Katherine
A. Kendall Institute of International Social Work Education, which is housed within CSWE, to
promote and enhance the social work profession’s international perspective. Key topic areas identified by the Institute include disaster management, global migration, and human rights. The Institute
has organized and participated in conferences, workshops, and seminars in the United States, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
In addition to numerous awards, honorary degrees, and accolades, Kendall was made an honorary
life-time president of IASSW and an honorary life-time board member of CSWE. She celebrated
her 100th birthday with family and friends from the social work community on September 25,
2010, at her retirement community in Mitchellville, MD. We will remember Katherine for her
warm and compassionate spirit and her significant global contributions to social work education.
During Katherine’s
centennial year, CSWE is
holding a special fundraising event to support global
social work education.
Contributions at any level
are greatly appreciated and
will be recognized on the
CSWE website.
• Friend ($100)
• Contributing Friend
($250)
• Sustaining Friend ($500)
• Centennial Friend
($1000 or more)
For more information, send
an email to kaki@cswe.org.
Page 62
2010
Fall 2011
2010
Brigham Young University Fall
Winter
Faculty Accomplishments
Dr. Shirley Cox completed her service as a
board member of the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) in
December 2010 but is still actively researching and consulting with several international projects: the JUCONI Program for
street-living and street-working youth in
Puebla, Mexico; the Stay Alive Program for
youth and their families struggling with the
effects of HIV/AIDS throughout countries
in Africa and Southern Asia; the Family
Enrichment Program, a family strengthening program now implemented in thirty-three different countries
throughout the world; as well as other consulting projects regarding best practice standards and means of implementing familytype care programs for currently institutionalized children and
youth. Articles published in 2010 include:
“Enhancement of the social work field practicum studentsupervisor relationship: Utilizing communication styles ”with Dr.
Pehrson, Dr. Panos and Krista Larson and “Social Workers’ Postgraduate Use of the IFD Interpersonal Communication Model”
with Dr. Pehrson, Dr. Panos, Austin Sorensen and Megan Perkins.
Her CSWE sponsored Guidebook for International Field Placements and Student Exchanges: Planning, Implementation, and
Sustainability with Dr. Mark Rodgers, and Pat Lager, and Sally
Mathiesen was published in July of 2010.
Dr. Kevin Marett spent much of last year
improving his professional skills. He
completed the certification for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
(EMDR) from EMDRIA and was also
certified as a Site Visitor for the Council
on Social Work Education. And in the
research arena, he was certified by the
Institutional Review Board at BYU. He
also completed a study on the treatment
modalities used when treating pornography problems. And he had a son get married and another son leave on a mission to Albania.
Dr. Ken Matheson has been involved
teaching Religion 234, “LDS Marriage and
Family,” and also direct practice and supervision courses. He had a book published
entitled, “Keeping Love Alive: Answers to
100 Marriage Questions” which took much
more time than he realized. In the Ensign,
September 2009 edition, he authored an
article entitled, “Spiritual Fidelity in Marriage,” for which he has received comments
concerning how the article has helped
church leaders and couples. He still loves
working with and seeing students grow in confidence as they learn
and apply clinical concepts and principles.
Dr. Judy Norman has continued to be
involved in research in the country of
Ukraine. She published another article regarding her work in the area. With coauthor Z. Bathori-Tartsi, entitled Improvisational international research: Seeking to
help children in Ukrainian orphanages sooner than later. Her article is in the October
issue of Families in Society. She says that
“Just getting there and back is an accomplishment!!”
Professor Jini Roby has had a very busy
year. Her biggest accomplishment was
heading up and organizing the Human Trafficking Conference this year. She was able
to get a large amount of support for what
was thought to be a topic that wouldn’t be
discussed at BYU. This was a dream come
true for her, one which she had in mind for
10 years. Speakers from all over the world
including Turkey and the Philippines came.
She was proud that she was able to get so
many entities together including cosponsors
from the J. Reuben Clark Law School, The BYU Comprehensive
Clinic, BYU Women’s Studies, the Marriott School of Management and others. She did this as a leader, something Professor
Roby feels all MSW students should strive to do is to act a leader
and not follow.
She has also presented at CSWE, as well as published several
more papers.
Dr. Michael Seipel published "Gender
empowerment measure and policy choice"
in Families in Society, 91(4), 350-355. He
also presented a paper on Quality of health
care in seven countries: An implication for
health reform in the United States at the
19th annual conference of the Global
Awareness Society International in Krakow,
Poland.
Dr. Wanda Spaid has continued to do
part-time supervision and program
evaluation at the Utah County Division
of Substance Abuse. She and her husband have traveled to their “secret”
location to experience some amazing
scuba diving, where this year she saw a
bright yellow frog fish for the first time
after years of going there.
Dr. Gordon Limb and Dr. Stephanie Matsumura can be seen in separate articles in this newsletter.
Page 73
2010
Fall 2010
School of Social WorkFall
Winter
2011
Brigham Young University’s Real Iron Man
Dr. Limb realized over a year before the
California Iron Man triathlon, he needed a
new goal to accomplish, as if he wasn’t
already busy enough with his family, his
teaching position, and his responsibilities as
the Director of the Social Work program at
Brigham Young University. However, he
had determined, early on, he wanted to accomplish something big every decade following high school: in his 20’s it was his
mission, in his 30’s it was his PhD, and in
his 40’s it would be completing the Iron
Man race.
This latest goal would require nearly eighteen months of training, six days a week, 2-3
hours a day Monday through Friday and 5-6
hours on Saturdays. A year in advance, he
spent the first six months building up his
body capacity and the final six months
building up his endurance. This process
consisted of long runs, bike rides, and many
hours in the BYU pool.
Finally, he was ready and in position. The
first stage of the race was a 2.4 mile swim in
the Russian River, in Northern California,
with the regular fog of the bay area mornings. The hundreds of swimmers meant
there was a lot of swimming into other contenders, yet it seemed that everyone was
there to support one another.
After eighty minutes in the water, Dr.
Limb hopped onto a bike for a 112 mile ride
through the hilly wine country. The race
Above: Dr. Limb after completing the race
sidelines were filled with people giving out
bananas and Gatorade to support the athletes’ energy and, because of his training,
Dr. Limb was able to keep up the pace.
The third leg of the race was the 26.2 mile
run (the length of an official marathon)
which was also full of hills. In an effort to
survive this final part of the course, Dr.
Limb concentrated on making it to the next
aid station, where he would slow down,
while eating and drinking, and then run to
the next station. After repeating this for 24
miles and doing well (thanks to his preparation), his body began to shut down. With
just over 2 miles left, the fear of not finishing became very real but because of the
great time he had made throughout the
race, he had ample time to walk the last 2
miles.
As he crossed the finish line, fourteen
hours after he had stepped into the river, he
heard everyone cheering for him. Yet he
felt more relief than exultation.
When asked about his final thoughts on
the race, Dr Limb stated his exercise and
practice, as well as his testimony, helped
get him through the race. He related the
physical test he experienced to fasting and
believed that putting his body though such
a struggle allowed him to tap into spiritual
feelings. He said, also, to his surprise, the
athletes were much nicer than he had encountered in other races and that many
would go out of their way to offer emotional support. He also said that it was an
interesting experience to push physical
thresholds and see that the human body
can get past the mind games of disbelief
and wanting to give up.
How many programs can say their program director ran an Iron Man? Not many.
Will Dr. Limb complete another Iron Man?
When asked, he said “I’m not planning on
it, but who knows, maybe Hawaii next
time.”
The Center for Service and Learning (Y-Serve)
provides BYU students with service opportunities in the
local community.
They have 56 programs, many aligned with nonprofit
agencies, and each one fulfilling a specific community
need. Their programs fall under these categories: children/youth, education/mentoring, humanitarian, disabilities/elderly, health/sports, and self-reliance. Their mission is to provide every student with a meaningful service
opportunity. If you’d like to have a meaningful service
opportunity, you can contact them at (801) 422-8686 or at
centerforservice@byu.edu, or find them on the internet
at http://yserve.byu.edu.
Page 82
2010
Fall 2011
2010
Brigham Young University Fall
Winter
Student, Now the Professor
Dr. Stephanie Matsumura, an MSW student 2000-2003 (JD 2004 and her PhD was
finished in 2010) is now a Visiting Professor. She reports she feels it is an honor to
be among her previous professors and
mentors. Though she is now a member of
the faculty, in her mind they will be “Dr.
So and So” that taught her to think like a
social worker, taught her the principles of
ANOVA, social policy, solution focused
therapy, ethics, and many other things.
Dr. Matsumura has a strong respect for the
talent, dedication, and hard work of her
faculty peers and as a result she finds it
challenging to shift from calling “Dr. Cox”
to “Shirley” or “Dr. Seipel” to “Mike.”
The program has changed since she was a
student and the most noticeable evolution
she has seen is that the School is no longer
confined to the half floor of the KMB. Certainly many of the strengths of the program
remain, but she feels that the current students are offered even greater opportunities
today to engage in research and unique clinical practice.
It has always been a dream for Dr. Matsumura to teach. A career in academics appealed to her because she always loved the
atmosphere, specifically the excitement
associated with learning. The field of social
work has always had compelling issues she
has felt need attention, and the work is very
genuine as well as rewarding.
In her early career, Dr. Matsumura says
she has enjoyed her experience as a professor. BYU is a unique student-centered institution, which is dedicated to the needs of the
students. In the few months she has been at
BYU, she has realized that professors care
much more about their students than she had
anticipated. She never imagined that as a
professor, she would have the same anxiety
she had as a student. She finds she is
equally nervous about effectively teaching concepts as she was when learning
the concepts, and the same “butterflies”
come when she gives an exam as when
she was taking an exam. So far, she has
really enjoyed her interactions with the
students.
Dr. Matsumura’s current research agenda focuses on racial disparities in the
juvenile justice system. Her dissertation
examined whether a child’s race affects
intake decisions in the court system. Her
research interests include children and the
law, criminology, socio-legal theories,
and domestic and international social
welfare policy. While she anticipates that
her research agenda will continue to include juvenile justice issues, she would
also like to explore additional social justice issues that focus on the intersection
of law and social work.
Dr. Stephanie Matsumura loves to travel
and to participate in outdoor activities
including hiking, climbing, snowboarding, and scuba diving. She also loves
watching college sports, eating good food
and discovering new places to eat. And,
of course, she loves her new career at
BYU and is happy to be here.
BSW Student Passes Away
PROVO -- Jessica Wilson, BSW Student
(2009), was hit by a car and was killed
Sunday night (September 19, 2010) on
Brigham Young University campus. Police
say Jessica, 28, and a friend were crossing
North Campus Drive between 500 and 600
East near the bell tower around 8 p.m. Sunday, when they were struck by a car driving
west.
"A 27-year-old male got distracted and
didn't see them and hit them both," said
BYU police Lt. Arnold Lemmon.
Lemmon said the man was driving a 2008
Nissan Altima in the inside westbound lane.
Two witnesses at the scene said the man had
a green light, but police are still investigating the incident. Lemon said alcohol and
drugs were not factors in the accident. The
sun had gone down at the time of the accident, but Lemmon said there was still some
ambient light.
Wilson suffered head trauma and was taken to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center
within minutes, where she was later pronounced dead. The second woman, Wilson’s friend from Estonia, (where Wilson
served a mission), was also transported to the
hospital with a possible compound fracture to
her leg.
Everett Wilson, Jessica Wilson's father, said
Wilson worked as a social worker at Wasatch
Mental Health after graduating from BYU in
August 2009. "She really loved her job," he
said.
The family said Wilson loved to help others,
and they provided an excerpt from her journal from when she entered the social work
program: "I'm gonna be a social worker!
Woohoo!" she wrote. "Do you know why?
Because I am a teacher, and I love to help
people -- it brings me joy."
Jessica was also an avid runner and completed several marathons. She was signed up
to run a relay in Las Vegas in October.
Though Wilson grew up in Rexburg, Idaho,
she fell in love with Utah Valley and its
mountains.
BYU social work students were invited by
Mariah Garza Winslow to join in a 5k race to
help Jessica’s family cover the costs of her
burial.
Portions of this article were taken from
“The Daily Herald”.
Page 93
2010
Fall 2010
School of Social WorkFall
Winter
2011
MSW Class of 2010 Project
Bridging the gap between social services and religious leaders
As we students crunched ourselves into a
small conference room on the 13th floor of
the Kimball Tower around an overly exaggerated conference table, we discussed the
requirements of Dr. Seipel’s “seemingly
unreasonable community organization”
class project. While the more precise students were still calculating the exact nature
of this assignment, Dr. Seipel dismissed
himself and asked us to come up with an
idea for our project before the class ended.
It was obvious to Jesse Ellis then that some
of the students felt as though this request
came prematurely or in other words,
“couldn’t we have some time to think this
over?” Regardless, he and others began
pitching ideas, writing them on the chalkboard and prioritizing our options. After
having deliberated strategically for roughly
an hour we settled on the idea of ClergyBridge, which would essentially be a
product aimed at helping religious leaders
serve their parishioners who struggled with
mental illness and/or, other related con-
Though ClergyBridge was initially Jesse
Ellis’ idea, in all fairness, ClergyBridge
ultimately found its success in the hands of
those students who developed it. Kerianne
Dyer and LaDawn Park oversaw the management and development of ClergyBridge,
Andy Westover and his committee spearheaded the writing of over 100 pages of
professional content for the ClergyBridge
manual, Marta Tortosa translated all of that
into Spanish, Robert Justiniano issued a
survey to local religious leaders which
feedback guided our efforts, Tahlia
Cozzens managed to get the manuals professionally formatted, Clint Wolf had them
printed at cost, Steven Hyer and Tiffany
Winder connected the program to media
outlets, Garrit Jacobson helped build an
interactive ClergyBridge website, Lorna
Heppler conducted extensive edits, Rachel
Allen collected resources, and Jodi Peterson organized a local conference where we
distributed the manuals to the community.
The list could go on and on with other stu-
dents who had a hand in helping with this
project.
So in roughly four months, 20 students
with extremely busy schedules took an idea
and transformed it into a tangible product,
that is still benefiting religious leaders today. Even though many of the students who
developed ClergyBridge originally, have
graduated from BYU and have moved on to
other work, some of us have stayed, like
Jennifer White, and are in the process of
securing its further development. Come
January 2011, ClergyBridge.org will have
an entirely new look, a website designed to
showcase professional literature, community forums, resources, and most importantly
pod-casts, which will discuss relevant topics
from professionals in the field that we are
working with.
Feel free to check them out and send ideas
for podcasts. ClergyBridge is applying to
become a federally sanctioned non-profit
entity with the purpose of helping people of
all faiths.
-MSW Class of 2010
March is Social Work Month
Each year during March, the National Association of Social Workers honors social workers across the country. The theme of the National
Professional Social Work Month this year will be “Social Workers Change Futures.”
BYU’s NASW Student Branch is still deciding what their contribution will be this March. Currently they are considering doing something to
raise awareness of professional social work practice. If any alumni would like to speak about their experiences they are welcome to participate. For more information please check BYU’s Social Work home page.
For more information related to Social Work Month, 2011, at the national level, please go to www.socialworkers.org or
www.helpstartshere.org .
Page 10
2
2010
Fall 2011
2010
Brigham Young University Fall
Winter
Jesse Ellis’ Ukraine Experience
Traveling to the Ukraine to attend an
international social work conference at the
University of Uzghorod could not have
come at a more inopportune time for Jesse
Ellis (MSW, 2010). When he and his wife
Kelby originally made the arrangements
for him to present his paper, she was three
months pregnant with their first child.
Regardless, two weeks after Kelby delivered Liam, Jesse, with knots in his stomach, boarded a Delta Boeing 777 to Budapest, Hungary.
Jesse states, attending the international
social work conference was beneficial to
his development as a social worker, and
hopeful PhD candidate. This experience
broadened his knowledge of foreign social
service interventions, the process of working internationally with domestic nonprofit organizations, and also how to address social conflict with foreign governments, all of which, he states, broadened
his skill base as an aspiring new social
worker.
He states, it was good for him to witness
how, by simply delivering a ten-minute
presentation on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), he could contribute significantly to the general knowledge of social
work students in the Ukraine. He learned
not all social work programs are created
equal. In the Ukraine, the field of social
work study is only seven years old. A student there does not expect to have employment in the field upon graduation because
this is not yet a recognized profession.
In addition to attending the conference,
Jesse visited child care facilities in the
Ukraine. Following this experience he
suddenly found he wanted, in a very unrealistic way, all of the abandoned, rejected
children in the world to have parents; he
wanted all the Roma kids to have opportunity; and he wanted all the sick babies to
have access to medical care. If this could
not be done, then in his heart he plotted
ways to bring each of them home to live
with him in the United States…somehow
he would provide. In his own words
“Urgency, intense urgency was what I was
feeling in Uzghorod. Urgency to do something! How could I as a person, as a human
being…as a Christian, turn and look away
from these children, as if doing so meant
that I was somehow, in one way or another, looking past my own child?”
He states, it is difficult to say whether or
not he was a more skilled social work stu-
dent following this trip and Liam’s birth.
He likes to think, however, that becoming
a father and expanding his world view
have added “depth and wisdom to a young
idealistic mind,” but he suspects the greatest thing this experience has added may be
“hypersensitivity.”
Above: Jesse Ellis with Ukrainian Child
Mary Lou Fulton Poster
The 2010 winner from the School of Social Work was Richard Alboroto. He presented on the Predictors of Caregiver Burden of Parents of
Children with Disabilities. His project can be seen in the Social Work Office.
Other participants were Andrew Westover and Tami Thayne. A Conference Speaker from the School of Social Work was Kerianne Dyer (in
picture below).
Above: Kerianne Dyer speaking at conference
Above: Kerianne Dyer explaining poster
Above: Winner—Richard Alboroto
The 2011 POSTER PRESENTATION
The College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences invites undergraduate and graduate students to participate in the annual Mentored Student Research Conference sponsored by the Mary Lou Fulton Chair. The conference is a full day event designed to showcase mentored student learning and is an opportunity for students to present and explain their research to the public. This next year’s conference is scheduled
for April 7, 2011. Poster submissions are due by noon on Monday, March 28th. For more information on the upcoming conference, please
visit http://www.fultonchair.byu.edu/EntryInstructions.dhtml .
Page 11
3
2010
Fall 2010
School of Social WorkFall
Winter
2011
March 2010 Service Project
Last March over 30 Social Work students got
together to serve patients at the Utah Valley
Regional Medical Center. They spent some long
and fun hours building kits for families who lost
their child (to death) in the emergency rooms of
the hospital. The idea came from a student who
had a family member pass away in the ER two
years ago and had wished that there were a few
things there for her family to make the situation
a little more comfortable, if possible. The kits
included a disposable camera, a baby blanket, a
stuffed animal, a card with a nice poem, an
envelope to put a lock of hair in and a nice sheet
of cardstock so they could get a hand and footprint of the child. The students spent one day
doing a donation drive and fundraiser for the
project. Marilla Leishman delivered them to
Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. UVRMC
was very grateful and appreciative for the gesture.
Above: BYU MSW Students building kits for
families at hospital
The 7th Annual
Marjorie Pay Hinckley Lecture
The lecture will be held on Thursday, February 10, 2011
In the Hinckley Center Assembly Hall at 7:00 pm
The Guest Speaker will be
Ross A. Thompson, Professor of Psychology
from the University of California, Davis.
Dr. Thompson will be speaking on "T he Emotionate Child: Building Emotional Health and Compassion in Young Children."
His current research interests focus on early socioemotional and personality development in the context of close relationships, which is an
interest that contributes to the cross-disciplinary field of developmental relational science.
Dr. Thompson has served twice as Associate Editor of Child Development, was a Senior NIMH Fellow in Law and Psychology at Stanford
University in 1989-90, and served on the Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development of the National Academy of
Sciences (1998-2000). He received the Ann Brown Award for Excellence in Developmental Research in 2007. His books include Preventing
Child Maltreatment Through Social Support: A Critical Analysis (Sage, 1995), The Postdivorce Family (Sage, 1999), Toward a ChildCentered, Neighborhood-Based Child Protection System (Praeger, 2002), and Socioemotional Development (Nebraska Symposium on Motivation; University of Nebraska Press, 1990), and he is currently working on Early Brain Development, the Media, and Public Policy. He has
received the Boyd McCandless Award from the American Psychological Association, and the Outstanding Research and Creative Activity
Award from the University of Nebraska, where he was also a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers.
Page 12
2
2010
Fall 2010
Brigham Young UniversityFall
Winter
2011
Global Awareness Society Conference
Above: Shannon Young and Dr. Seipel
In May of 2010, Shannon Young, a first
year student in the MSW program, and Dr.
Seipel attended the 19th annual conference of
Global Awareness Society International in
Krakow, Poland. The title of the paper presented by Dr. Seipel was “Quality of Health
Care in Seven Countries: Implications for
Health Reform in the United States.” Shannon presented two papers entitled “Pieces of
Above: Entrance to Auschwi4
Propaganda: Nazi Strategies Prior to World
War II” and “Pieces of Propaganda: Political Messages of German Expressionist Artists and the Weimar Republic.” The conference was held at Jagiellonian University
established in 1364, one of the oldest universities in the world. The Renaissance
astronomer, Copernicus was a student there
in the fifteenth century. Pope John Paul II
was another one of their illustrious alumni.
Dr. Seipel reported that Shannon’s papers
were well received by the scholars who
came from all over the world. They were
impressed with the depth of her scholarship
and the sensitivity with which she handled
the subject matter. She was among six student recipients of the $300 Crown Products
Global Awareness Scholarship, presented
by Mr. Kee H. Lee of the Crown Products
Corporation. Other student winners were
from Bloomsburg University, USA; University of Exeter, UK; Limpopo University,
South Africa; and University of Leipzig,
Above: Dr. Seipel announcing Scholarship Winners
Germany. Shannon was also awarded a
$400 travel grant from BYU Graduate Student Society, for the quality of her papers.
The most thought-provoking experience of
the entire conference was a visit to Auschwitz for the entire conference delegates. Dr.
Seipel states, “It was a sublime and powerful experience for all to walk on the ground
where so much evil and torture was perpetuated against humanity. We walked away
from Auschwitz with a resolution to be
kinder, more generous, respectful, and supportive of one another and to avoid strife
and contention.”
Students are encouraged to submit papers
for next year’s conference in San Juan,
Puerto Rico (May 23-25, 2011). Students
interested in participating should visit
http://orgs.bloomu.edu/gasi/ to find more
information and instructions on how to submit papers.
Above: Looking into the Compound
Ariel S. Ballif Award
The Ariel S. Ballif Award for Academic and Professional Excellence is awarded annually
to one student in the School of Social Work at Brigham Young University. Unlike other awards at
BYU this is not based on a ‘winning paper,’ but instead the faculty votes for who they feel is most
deserving. This year’s (2010) award winner was Steven M. Hyer. To win this award as a social worker, Steven demonstrated his awareness that the profession must be constantly broadened, deepened
and tested. He also demonstrated a willingness to constantly change and improve both professionally
and personally, as well as to fulfill his responsibility to add to the knowledge base by earnest and
effective research.
Above: Steven M. Hyer
Page 13
3
2010
Fall 2010
School of Social WorkFall
Winter
2011
Shumway Publishable Paper Contest
The Shumway Essay Contest was designed in honor of E. Gene
Shumway, one of the founding fathers of the Brigham Young University MSW program. Dr. Shumway was recruited to BYU’s Social
Work faculty team in 1975, specifically in anticipation of the contribution he would make to the new Master’s program. While working
at BYU, he had a great influence on the evolving design and on the
accreditation of the program. He maintained a personal vision and
commitment to the School of Social Work and in many ways contributed to making it the program we enjoy today.
The 2010 Shumway Essay Contest winners were LaDawn Park (1st
place) and Rachelle Leckie (2nd place). First place received $400 and
second place received $300.
Any second year MSW students interested in entering the 2011
contest should submit their papers to Dr. Michael Seipel (2164 JFSB)
by the first week of March. A decision will be made in the middle of
March. A luncheon for Dr. Shumway, faculty, and participating students will be held in late March.
Papers should be between 15-20 pages in length and double spaced,
with the contents of the paper focused on the application of social
work principles to advocating for social, political, and economic
justice.
This year’s first place winner will be awarded $400, the second
place winner will be awarded $300, and the third place winner will
be awarded $200.
Above: LaDawn Park, Dr. Seipel, Rachelle Leckie, Gene Shumway, Argie
Shumway (Gene’s wife).
Above: Gene Gibbons (emeritus), Ken Matheson, Gene Shumway (emeritus)
President’s Leadership Council
"The BYU President’s Leadership Council (PLC) is a group of wonderfully successful men and women who have committed to give significantly of their time, talent, and treasure in supporting the mission and aims of BYU. Members of the PLC have agreed to participate in a mentoring program with a select number of BYU students. The purpose of this program is to increase the personal and meaningful interaction of
PLC members with students and to provide an opportunity for some of our finest students to be positively influenced by members of the
PLC.... Members of PLC will have an ongoing opportunity to interact with PLC mentors who are recognized leaders in community, business,
and industry world-wide. Participation in this program will allow members to develop their own network of contacts with these leaders as well
as many outstanding BYU students from various disciplines."
Rachel Reist, current MSW student, was selected for this years President’s Leadership Council. Once a month, Rachel is privileged to attend a
lecture given by a member of the President's Leadership Council. These individuals have made remarkable differences in the world, and they
share insights about their experiences with her and other members. Then, about once per semester, they have a mentoring session in which
they are able to sit down and personally talk with a member of the PLC.
Participants are generally selected by their department. Please contact your department if you would like to be considered.
Page 14
2
2010
Fall 2010
Brigham Young UniversityFall
Winter
2011
Internship Reports
All MSW students complete 1,100 clock hours of internship over a 12 month period. Typically, students complete a full
time internship during the spring/summer term after their first year of classes.
Historically, all MSW interns are paid.
Joshua Childs (Class of 2011) worked at
Deseret Industries in Atlanta, Georgia, under the supervision of Layne Daybell, BYU
MSW, Class of 2003. One of Joshua’s particularly valuable experiences was with an
extremely overweight individual.
Initially, Joshua received information that
this member was unmotivated to lose
weight, was perfectly content with his two
part-time jobs, and wasn’t being a good role
model for his adult children, who also lived
at home. However, when Joshua met with
this brother at his local chapel, he found the
exact opposite situation. The client was not
happy with his two part-time jobs (one of
which was seasonal), he was on a diet and
losing 5-10 lbs. a week, and he wanted to
get his Commercial Driving License (CDL)
to support his family.
The client agreed to send Joshua weekly
reports of his weight loss and to notify him
when he was getting close to his goal. When
that time came, Joshua met with him and
handed him a list of certified CDL schools.
They made the goal for him to visit and
gather information of the top three schools
closest to him.
This man then demonstrated tremendous
motivation as he subsequently went to the
top four schools and gathered more information and then completed a physical at the
school he decided he wanted to attend.
Then together, Joshua and he looked at
options of how to pay for the required three
week course. They investigated his Veteran's benefits but found they had expired. This man then applied for funds
through the WIA (Workforce Investment
Act), which is a grueling, long process.
It took a few months of waiting but he
finally got the funding! Not only did this
man go to CDL school, but one of his adult
sons also took the course with him.
Joshua felt this man’s success was amazing because he was so highly motivated and
Joshua did very little except incorporate a
non-judgmental attitude, positive regard for
him, and help him locate information on
schools and funding possibilities. This man
did all the rest and is still doing well.
Social Work really works!
As part of the BYU Clinical Master’s of
Social Work Program, Kellie Winchester
(Class of 2011) was fortunate to be assigned
to the Utah State Prison, Women’s Inpatient
Mental Health (WIPMH) unit located in the
Timpanogos Correctional Facility, within
the large campus of the Utah State Prison at
Draper. The facility implements a punitive
correctional program, in which the women
pay their debts to society and where therapists and other mental health workers try to
manage their mental health and hopefully
help them change their lives.
The WIPMH houses women who have
been convicted of one or more felonies and
have a significant mental health diagnosis.
Many of the women on the unit have histories of being physically, sexually and emotionally abused and/or neglected. Many
have had some sort of substance abuse history and some have histories of abuse or
violence towards others. Some of the women struggle with suicidal thoughts and some
made suicide attempts. Most of the women
have sad life stories and carry mental scars
from all they have been through.
Kellie’s office was on the WIPMH unit,
with a section of cells on either side. When
security was not an issue, the women moved
relatively freely in and out of the mental
health section into Kellie’s office area.
After a week of shadowing another therapist, Kellie provided mental health treatment five days a week, from May 3rd to
August 26th. She was assigned a caseload
of 12 to 13 women who she saw for weekly
individual therapy, a weekly psychotherapy
group of 8-10 high functioning women, a
weekly Coping Skills Group of 8-15 women
and in addition she led an eight week grief
group and a weekly psychotherapy group of
low functioning women that she co-led with
another therapist. Kellie was also assigned
to do crisis intervention for the women in
WIPMH, when their therapist was not available to assist them. Kellie assessed clients,
took mental health histories, diagnosed,
created treatment plans, conducted therapy,
wrote case notes, wrote discharge summaries, referred patients, and participated in
IPMH and Out Patient Mental Health Treatment Teams.
Kellie attempted to describe how she was
affected personally:
“I went into WIPMH as a 2nd year MSW
student with knowledge and skills, which
had only received limited use and strengthening. I was nervous about how I would do
and whether I would be able to apply my
knowledge skillfully and really help the
women. The nature of the prison
meant there was no time to have doubts or
wait to become comfortable; rather, I had to
sink or swim. I found it was much easier to
do therapy than I had imagined. The
knowledge and skills blended together and I
found I could swim. The unit was so
busy and the need for mental health treatment so high that I got a lot of practice using and honing my skills. I quickly felt competent and comfortable doing therapy. I
loved doing it! I learned to love and appreciate the women there. I had deeper empathy and more compassion for the women as
I heard their life stories. I learned to separate the goodness that was within the women from the wrongful deeds that got them
into prison. I was able to see them more like
I imagine Heavenly Father does. I loved it
when a woman would start to overcome
mental health hurdles and grow. They were
so grateful for someone who was willing to
listen and help them with their pain and
struggles.
I was also changed because of the relationship we developed as we worked together in the pursuit of their improved mental
health. I became a more humble, more
grateful, more spiritual person because there
were times I knew I was inspired as I shared
this experience with the women in prison.
Most of all I learned that I loved it, I really
loved doing prison social work!”
“Professionally, I have come away from
this experience thinking and feeling like a
therapist. I have confidence that I can make
the mental health field a career.”
Because no pictures are allowed in or out
of the prison, the following are public information shots
of the women’s prison
unit.
Page 15
3
2010
Fall 2010
School of Social WorkFall
Winter
2011
Strut Your Stuff Internship Showcase
The April 2010 Strut Your Stuff Internship Showcase from the
BYU Internship Office was won by MSW 2010 student, Jesse Ellis.
He was awarded $250 for his hard work and innovative ideas. Jesse
Ellis’ internship involved facilitating an art-centered, autobiographical therapy group with 10 at-risk youth (five female, five male). The
objective of this assignment was to evaluate the agency’s orientation
on narrative therapy and determine if there were alternative options
to the current approach. In other words, he was expected to evaluate
a written autobiographical assignment, which all students were required to complete as part of their treatment, determine its effectiveness and propose an alternative assignment for those students with
differing learning styles. Ultimately, his evaluation led to the creation
of a specialty group comprised of youth who were interested in exploring their lives through art mediums. Through funding from
BYU’s Choose to Give program, Jesse was able to provide each
student with the materials needed to complete their desired projects.
The projects themselves involved professionally recorded lyrical
compositions, mural paintings, comic story-based creations, poetry,
photography and graffiti. In the areas where he personally lacked talent or expertise to help facilitate an art project, Jesse looked to the
community for people with such skills to attend the weekly group and
mentor the youth in their projects.
Overall this project became extremely important to the youth and
staff involved. They learned, through the process, that art was a better
medium for most troubled youth to use as a way of articulating their
broken lives than was the written medium. Art was reported to be less
linear in expression, allowing for a more open expression. Generally,
at-risk youth lack the vocabulary needed to explain the trauma of their
lives. It was easier for them to paint a conflicted picture with muted
colors then it was to talk about a conflicted past. Since conducting this
evaluation, the agency where Jesse interned has continued to conduct
art centered, autobiographical therapy groups.
Above: Jesse Ellis with student from Project Voice
Social Work Alumni Get Connected Through Internet
Brigham Young University encourages
its alumni to connect to each other worldwide, build lifelong relationships, and
cultivate the Spirit of the Y. As many of
you already know, social networking
groups seek to provide alumni with a community that fosters the exchange of ideas
and information.
Facebook and LinkedIn are two such
groups. Facebook is a popular, free access
social networking website. Users can join
networks organized by city, workplace,
school, and region to connect and interact
with others. People can also add friends,
send messages, and update their profile to
notify friends about themselves.
Similarly, LinkedIn, offers the opportunity to quickly re-connect with past and
present colleagues and classmates.
LinkedIn makes staying in touch simple. It
provides an opportunity to discover inside
connections for a new job opportunity.
Your social work network is full of industry experts willing to share advice. If you
have a question you can simply ask others
in your network.
To connect with social workers on Facebook please visit www.facebook.com
search for “BYU School of Social Work”
and “LDS Social Workers.” Within the last
few months Facebook has redesigned their
groups and the old BYU School of Social
Work group page is being phased out as
the new group is starting up. A few of the
benefits of the new group are that you can
join a chat with all MSW Alumni who are
online or you can automatically receive a
notification when there is an update (to the
page).
To connect with LinkedIn please visit
www.linkedin.com and search groups for
“BYU Social Workers” to connect with
friends and colleagues around the globe.
Page 16
2
2010
Fall 2010
Brigham Young UniversityFall
Winter
2011
Current Cohorts
The 1st year cohort (Class of 2012) has been having a great time getting to know each other and building a cohesion as they struggle through
the challenges of their first semester in Graduate School. This cohort has eight men and thirty-five women, with an average age of 28 years.
Fourteen are BSW students, ten are Psychology majors, seven are Sociology majors, and the others are from Human Development, Family
Studies, Liberal Arts, Communications, Music, and Anthropology. Just over half (51%) of the cohort received their undergraduate degrees
from Brigham Young University. Sixteen of the members were born here in Utah and twenty of the members now call Utah home. Nine members are from California, two are from South Korea and one is from South Africa. Fifteen of the forty-three members have served full-time
LDS missions. Fifty-six percent of the cohort is married and several have listed themselves as “available.”
The 2nd year cohort (Class of 2011) is nearing the end of their time here at BYU. They have made it this far and are pushing each other not
only to get by, but to finish strong! This class has eleven men and twenty-six women, with an average age of the 32. Of the thirty-seven members, ten are BSW students, eight are Psychology majors, only three are Sociology majors and others received their undergraduate degrees in
Human Development, Advertising, Communications, English, Education, and Anthropology. Just under two-thirds of the class received their
undergraduate degrees from BYU. Only eight members of the cohort were born in Utah, yet seventeen of them now call it home. Seven members were born in California, one was born in the Philippines, one was born in Uganda, one was born in Chile, and also one from Canada.
Fourteen of the thirty-seven current members of the cohort have served full-time LDS missions. Fifty-four percent of the cohort is married.
Following are some interesting facts about members of the cohorts and their past social work experience:
Current 1st Year Students
Bethany Anderson
taught English in
Russia with the
International Language Programs
(ILP) for four
months back in 2004. She currently works
at a residential treatment center with at-risk
youth. She played basketball for SVU and
was a national champion for high jump in a
small east coast college division. She specializes in Applebee's karaoke and aspires to
run her own farmer's market one day.
Heather Hathaway Astill worked at the
Academy of Child Advocacy and Family
Support supervising high conflict divorce
cases. Part of her job was supervising parents and facilitating child visitation exchanges of children between the two parents. She was married at the end of July
2010.
Kylie Bair
(pictured with her
husband) was
born in Seoul,
South Korea, was
adopted as a baby,
and grew up in
Burley, Idaho. She absolutely loves Idaho,
potatoes (mashed, baked – you name it!),
and the country! She grew up in an interracial family so she has a deep love for diversity, as well as adoption! She also enjoys
politics, legislation, and anything that has to
do with policy. One of her favorite jobs was
working for Idaho Senator Denton Darrington during the 2007 Legislative session.
Someday she would love to serve in the
Idaho Legislature – so watch out world for
Senator Kylie Bair!
Katie Barber went with an NGO to El Salvador for about six weeks in summer of
2006 and loved it!!! She taught English, built
homes with Habitat For Humanity, and spent
a lot of time working in orphanages. She
says “It was a once in a lifetime experience!”
Rebecca Bishop has worked at Davis Behavioral Health as a case manager/SSW
facilitating groups in the day treatment program. She has volunteered at a Mexican
orphanage, and at an Italian Catholic preschool and worked in Italy at a pizzeria and
at an archeological museum.
Marie Charlesworth did an internship
abroad in Romania for a semester working in
the orphanages and at the children's hospital.
Matt Dahlin
(pictured with his
wife) has worked for
the past four years in
two different adolescent residential treatment centers. He is
currently on the Board of Directors for
S.O.A.R., an Oregon based non-profit organization that strives to help teenagers
reach their full potential and work hard to
accomplish their life-long goals. He is regu-
lar volunteer at the Special Olympics based
in Salt Lake City, UT.
KayLee Dunn (pictured
with her husband) lives
in an assisted living care
center for the elderly.
She served with the
Utah County Crisis line
along with her husband
and she currently works
in the Flourishing Families Observational Coding Lab. She wants to get her LCSW within 2
-3 years of graduating and then work full or
part-time (depending on family and life situations) as a therapist in the community. She
will pursue a PhD because she really enjoys
research and teaching. The question at this
point is when. She would also love to travel
abroad with her husband (a nursing major)
and “do good in the world.”
Stacey Nichols went to
Mexico with a group
called Kaizen to help
several orphanages. They
raised money beforehand
and brought dozens of
Christmas gifts that the
kids (all the way up to age
17) had specifically asked
for (leather boots, an
iPod, etc). Also it was
exciting to deliver to one
of the orphanages a new van, donated by one
of the Utah car dealerships. They also went
door to door and sang Christmas carols and
Page 17
3
2010
Fall 2010
School of Social WorkFall
Winter
2011
gave beans and rice to city residents. They
put on plays and had craft time with tons of
kids. They also played soccer with the kids
and got beat by a large margin. Stacey says
“They are SO good at soccer! That was a
really neat experience.”
Kelli Stout was a volunteer for a year with
the Provo Police Victim Services Dept. and
she spent her Thursday mornings in court
helping victims of many kinds of abuse and/
or crimes. She stated “It was very interesting and rewarding.” She has also been a
member of the rape crisis team in Utah
County.
Kurt Vorwaller
was deployed for
a total of 18
months with the
military operation, Iraqi Freedom. During that
time he manned a
SAW (squad
automatic weapon, basically a machine
gun), and an M-16, Mark 19 (basically a 90
pound weapon, usually mounted on a 45 lb
tripod, that shoots a high explosive round/
grenade, like a machine gun). He was a
combat engineer so his specialty was mobility and counter-mobility, explosives, creating/taking out obstacles. In order to do that
he was trained to use C-4, cratering charges,
Bangalore, and other explosives and their
devices.
Jessica Woodbury
spent eight months of her
undergraduate experience
in Romania working in an
orphanage and children's
hospital.
With the International
Rescue Committee in
both their Salt Lake City
and Los Angeles offices. There, through
both casework and an early-employment
program, she worked with refugees from
around the world that were being relocated
to the United States. During her years as an
undergraduate she also received an ORCA
grant for mentored research and won a 2nd
place award for the department at the Mary
Lou Fulton Mentored Student Research
Conference. In addition, she was the Valedictorian of her graduating class.
Current 2nd Year Students
Jocelyn De Corte is very busy outside the
MSW program. She teaches five Zumba
classes a week. She loves working with
children and adolescents much more than
she does with adults.
Liesel Peterson has traveled to Budapest
during this past semester to do research.
Heather Schauers is doing her internship at
the Utah Department of Corrections in the
mental health unit and she is learning a lot
about Borderline Personality Disorder,
Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Major Depression,
and other personality disorders. She completed an internship during the previous
summer at LDS Family Services working
on the Adoption Team. While there she
learned about the Adoption Law in Utah and
what couples and birth parents experience in
the adoption process. She is currently on the
MSWSA Board as the Alumni Liaison and
loves serving in this capacity. Her goal is to
work with women suffering from mood
disorders and substance abuse.
International MSW Students
Laura Harper (South Africa) speaks English
as her home language, and also speaks Afrikaans as her second language and learned Xhosa in high school.
She became a U.S. citizen in 2008, “just in time
to vote for Obama.”
She was born in Cape Town, South Africa.
Before becoming a citizen, she came to Provo,
Utah in 1988 as a “bewildered freshman.” She
studied Anthropology for two years, when she then received a mission call to be sent back to Johannesburg, South Africa. After her
mission Laura returned to Utah, got married, and hasn’t left the valley since. She is happy to be here, living below the Y, with her oldest
child in high school and youngest, in first grade. The MSW program
has been a goal of hers since she graduated in 1993 and she is thankful that the time is now right for her to be here.
Mariela Olmedo (Chile) speaks Spanish,
Portuguese, and English. She came to Utah
for the first time to visit her Chilean best
friend. After spending two weeks on vacation, she decided to study English and transfer her credits from Chile to BYU to continue
her studies in psychology. After graduating
from BYU she worked for three years as a
Case Manager at Wasatch Mental Health
with adults with severe mental illness. After this work experience,
she decided to pursue her MSW. Upon graduation Mariela would
like to work in the international social work field. She stated,
“living and learning in a new culture has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life.”
Other International Students:
Richard Alboroto (Philippines) speaks Tagalog, Cebuano, and English. He has resided in the United
States for 6 years.
Simon Kayiki (Uganda) speaks Swahili, Xhosa, Luganda, and English. He is in the field of social work to
make a difference. He states, “I am in to learn, and go back into the world and serve.”
Page 18
2
2010
Fall 2010
Brigham Young UniversityFall
Winter
2011
MSW Student’s Annual Turkey Bowl
The first-year MSW students accepted the challenge from the second-year class to the second annual MSW Turkey Bowl on Saturday November 20th. The game took place on a cold, wet, Deseret
Towers Field at Brigham Young University. This game had a slightly
different approach as it was connected to the canned food drive of
BYU. The cohort bringing more cans was awarded a 7 point lead to
The first-year MSW students accepted the challenge from the
second-year class to participate in the second annual MSW Turkey Bowl on Saturday November 20th. The game took place on a
cold, wet Deseret Towers field at Brigham Young University.
This game had a slightly different approach as it was connected
to the canned food drive of BYU. The cohort bringing more cans
was awarded a seven point lead to start the game. The secondyears came in strong on the final day piling the social work office
with cans and earning the extra points. With a tough battle on the
field, the first-year students scored one more touchdown than the
second-years, but because of the canned food donations, the
game ended in a tie. Overall everyone had a great time as they all
participated in a fun and competitive environment.
Left to Right: Melaney Gibbons, Bethany Anderson, Kylie Bair, Rebecca
Bishop, Rosie Basse, Ringer #1 Emily De La Cerda, Brian Califf, Katie
Barber, Camm Clark, Brandon Maughan, and Ringer #2.
Marriages and Newborns
Ruth Sarahi Aguirre, a 2nd year student in
the master’s program, married her best
friend, Moises Aguirre, who also graduated
from the Social Work master's program at
BYU in 2009. They were married a week
after her BSW graduation on August 21,
2009. They were married in the Salt Lake
City Temple and had a beautiful "Mexican/
Guatemalan" wedding with a dinner and
dancing. Moises and Ruth met in a nonprofit organization called “Remembering
Our Culture” where college-aged students
learn and perform dances from five different
cultures in order to promote higher education among minorities. They have had a
wonderful experience thus far and grow
deeper in love with each other and with
their shared passion of helping the vulnerable, poor, or oppressed. Everything was just
how they wanted that special day to go, and
then REALITY hit her as she started her
master's social work program a week after
she got married!
nd
(Maria) Kristina Hoffman Peterson, a 2
year MSW student, married Matthew on
Dec 29, 2009 in the Washington, D.C. Temple, where both of them are from. “The
day was windy and absolutely freezing, but
wonderful.” Their family from Sweden,
Finland, and Canada were able to attend. They had a reception and ring exchange ceremony afterwards for those who
couldn't join them in the temple.
Andrew Rose, a 2nd year MSW student,
would like to introduce Anna Rose. She was
born March 6th, 2010. She enjoys: teething,
getting stuck in her crib during nap time
(see photo), and smiling. She really has
been an easy baby and lots of fun. Andrew
says “not to mention her good looks, but
people say she looks like my clone.”
Page 19
3
2010
Fall 2010
School of Social WorkFall
Winter
2011
Alumni Updates
The following information can be used for networking or just catching up. If you have a Facebook account, please join the new Brigham Young
University’s Social Work Alumni Group to receive updates, connect with old classmates, and network. You can find the page by searching BYU
School of Social Work. Over 200 alumni have already joined since the new page started in November.
Class of 2010
Amberly Bateman, MSW 2010, is currently at The Children’s Justice Center in
Provo, UT.
Natalie Buttars, BSW 2010, is getting her
master’s degree from Catholic University
of America in Washington D.C. She just
started the program in September and is on
track to graduate by May 2011! Her email
is merritt.natalie@gmail.com.
Karissa Garr, MSW 2010, is currently
working at Choices Group, Inc. in Las
Vegas, NV. Her email is
mangarr@live.com.
Andy Westover, MSW 2010, is currently
working at the Family Guidance Center (a
community mental health center) in Cameron, Missouri. He was hired originally to
supervise a team of case managers and
was offered the position (on his first day)
to supervise/manage one of their remote
offices. As this would mean a raise and
cut his commute by 2/3, “I was all over it.”
Class of 2009
Shanna Cluff (Newman), BSW 2009, has
worked this past year at Greece Olympia
High School as a Special Education Monitor in Rochester, NY.
Marc Gilchrist,
MSW 2009, has
worked this past
year at Woods
Homes in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada.
Mark especially
enjoys working as a
member of the highly skilled interdisciplinary team at
his center. The
agency provides free walk-in singlesession therapy services to the public. His
email is mg1byu@gmail.com.
Megan Perkins,
2007 BSW and
2009 MSW, is
now working at
LDSFS in Sacramento, CA. Pre-
viously she worked at Sierra Family Services in Roseville. Her email is
smileypickles@yahoo.com
Cassie (Catherine) Richey, BSW 2009,
worked at a residential treatment center
until May of this year, when she moved to
Phoenix to attend Arizona State University
for her MSW. She’ll be finished in May.
She reports that Amy Call, BSW 2009, is
also in the program with her. Cassie is
doing her internship at Superstation Mountain Mental Health, working with youth
and families. Her specialty is children,
youth and families and she is in the advanced direct practice part of the program.
“Here’s a picture of Amy and me, Cassie,
I’m on the left.” Cassie’s email is
richey05@hotmail.com.
Austin Sorensen, MSW 2009, is currently
at the Ely Mental Health Center in Nevada.
His email is Afa98sw@gmail.com.
Travis Sorenson, MSW 2009, is currently
working at the University of Utah HospitalNeurobehavior Clinic in Salt Lake City,
UT. His email is traviss33@gmail.com.
Class of 2008
Craig Boyle, BSW 2008, is
currently working at LDS
Family Services in Spokane,
WA. He lived in Ghana for
three months teaching and
training teachers in The
Stay Alive program, which
is an HIV/AIDS prevention
program. He also worked
with the Ghana AIDS Commission, teaching people of
all ages about HIV/AIDS and how to prevent infection. For fun, he back-packed
Europe and visited Hawaii. During the
winter months, he worked to save money
for Grad school, and is currently attending
Eastern Washington University. He will be
finished in June 2011. His email is
boylecraig@hotmail.com.
Matthew Bowden, MSW 2008, has been
deployed to Afghanistan this past year but
expects to still have a job at Weber Human
Services when he returns. His email is
m.bowden@yahoo.com.
Kip Landon,
MSW 2008, is
working at the
crisis department and is
the inpatient
hospital liaison for admissions and discharge for the Wasatch Mental Health inpatient unit. He also works
part-time at Foothill Residential with the
Utah County Division of Substance Abuse
as a clinical therapist. Kip is finding that
theory and practical application of parenting principles is easy to teach but difficult
to implement. He states, “As a parent of a
two year old, I am drawing on a lot of the
education I learned in school and lots of
deep breathing.” His email is
klandon@me.com.
Estela Marquez, MSW 2008, has worked
the past three years at the Provo School
District. She has been assigned to work
with the gang prevention program at the
school district and is also co-leading a
domestic abuse psycho-educational group
for Hispanic children with the Provo Police Department. Her email is
marquezper@aol.com.
Odbayar Parry,
BSW 2006 and MSW
2008, has worked for
the past two years at
Valley Mental Health
in the Tooele Office.
She provides mental
health counseling for
clients with substance
abuse issues and she
helps coordinate cases
with Adult Probation and Parole and other
legal systems. She helped the current substance abuse program to be more structured by implementing the client orientation package and other new ideas which
she learned during her internship at Utah
County Division of Substance Abuse and
through her BYU experience. She also
initiated a new Family Support Group to
help translate the LDS Addiction Recovery Manual into Mongolian. In December,
2008 she conducted substance abuse treatment training groups for couple missionar-
Page 20
2
ies, who are serving their missions in Mongolia. She has finally completed her LCSW
hours and is waiting for her official license.
She is “grateful for the many blessings in my
life. My BYU experience has changed my
life and now it is my turn to help change
someone’s life.”
Class of 2007
Tom Hail, MSW 2007, has been with the
United States Air Force at the Little Rock Air
Force Base in Arkansas for the past 3.5 years.
He has been the clinical director of his outpatient mental health clinic (with a staff of 24
including one psychiatrist and two psychologists). He also runs the alcohol and drug
abuse prevention and treatment clinic on the
base. He was promoted to Captain in May 09
and is due for a move to a new base this coming summer. He’s gotten “fat and slow and
the Air Force doesn’t like that a little bit, so
now I exercise 5 times a week.” His email is
tomandbetty@gmail.com.
Class of 2006
Casey Ruiz, LCSW, MSW 2006, was commissioned last year as an officer in the United
States Air Force and has been working as an
active duty clinical social worker since then.
He completed a year-long residency program
at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB) in
Ohio and recently was assigned to Sheppard
AFB in Wichita Falls, TX. He works with
active duty military members as well as their
family members and retirees, treating a range
of issues from adjustment and mood disorders, PTSD, family relational issues, substance abuse, to domestic violence. He is
happily married and “proud father of four
wonderful children.”
Kate Crowley Winegar, BSW 2006 (MSW
University of Utah), has worked for the past
two years at Rise Services, Inc. in Midvale,
UT, as a Behavior Specialist, CSW. She “got
married this year.”
Class of 2005
Dustin Bassett, MSW 2005, has worked in
private practice for the past three years at The
Connecting Place Counseling Center in Lehi,
UT. Dustin has been a Bishop for the past
two and a half years (he was called shortly
after opening his private practice). His wife is
now pregnant with their fifth child. “It’s a
busy time of life at the Bassett home!” His
email is theconnectingplace@gmail.com.
Cory Dennis, MSW 2005, has worked for
three years doing part-time clinical work for
LDSFS in Albany, NY. He is currently a
doctoral student and graduate assistant at the
University of Albany. His email is
cory_dennis@hotmail.com.
2010
Fall 2010
Brigham Young UniversityFall
Winter
2011
Mellissa (Daugenti)
DePaola, MSW
2005, has worked
for the past five
years at LDSFS in
Sacramento, CA.
She became an
LCSW in 2009. “Because I live in CA it took
me that long to get the hours and pass the
brutal test!!!” She has been married for four
years and now looks forward to starting a
family. Her email is medlepaola@gmail.com
Melanie Lawrence, BSW 2005 (MSW 2006
from the U of U), has worked for the past 2
years at Highland Care Center in Salt Lake
City, UT.
Class of 2004
Dru Christiansen (Beck), MSW 2004, is
currently working in private practice in
Orem, UT.
Tammy Leifson, LCSW, MSW 2004, is
currently working as the Community Residential Care Coordinator at the Veteran's
Administration in Salt Lake City, UT.
Denese McDonald, MSW 2004, is working
at Southwest Counseling Service, a community mental health agency that offers substance abuse and mental health counseling
located in Rock Spring, WY. Her email is
yardi31@yahoo.com.
David Neslen, MSW 2004, has worked at
Sorenson’s Ranch in Richfield, UT, where he
was made the Clinical Director in July 2008.
He has been in private practice for nine
months. His email is dneslen@yahoo.com.
Elijah Nielson, MSW 2004, began his career
at Wasatch Mental Health (Adult Outpatient)
in Provo, UT. He then left this position in
2008 to pursue his JD at Ave Maria School of
Law in Naples, FL on full-scholarship. In
January 2011, Elijah will begin his LL.M.
candidacy in alternative dispute resolution at
Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, CA. Elijah and his wife, Jennifer, are the
proud parents of “two wonderful, angelic,
and rambunctious little girls.”
Megan Rasmussen, BSW 2004 (MSW 2007
University of Utah), has worked at Provo
Canyon School as a LCSW clinician in Provo, UT, for three years.
Michelle Davidson Rocha, 2004 BSW
(MSW 2007 ASU), is currently working at
Intermountain Medical Center in Murray,
UT. Her email is laughfirst55@hotmail.com.
Megan Edmunds Shumway, BSW 2004
(MSW Columbia University) is currently
living in Buffalo, NY.
Rebecca Starr, MSW 2004, has worked this
past year in private practice in Idaho Falls, ID.
She switched agencies a year ago but continues to provide individual therapy, mainly to
children. She is the clinical manager and provides supervision to bachelors and master
level workers and is a registered play therapist. She is on the board of the Idaho Chapter
for Play Therapy and helps organize play
therapy trainings. Her email is
rls232@cableone.net.
Class of 2003
Ben Lough, MSW
2003, is currently employed by the United
Nations in Bonn, Germany. He graduated
with his PhD last year
from Washington University and is currently
working on the UN
State of the World’s Volunteerism Report,
which will explore the unique contribution
made by thousands of ordinary people on
important development goals such as global
health, education, peace and conflict resolution, poverty reduction, and environmental
sustainability. His email is
benlough@gmail.com.
Chad Schaugaard, MSW 2003, has worked
at LDS Family Services since graduation. He
was first hired in Portland, OR, and then accepted the promotion to Director of Agency in
Albuquerque, NM in 2007. He moved to a
new position and transferred to Pocatello in
April 2010 as the Adoption Manager. He
works with several students from his graduating class including Kurt Olsen, Jared Neal,
Brad Reimer, & Darren Ashton.
Kris O. Stoddard, MSW 2003, is currently
working at Mountain Country Foods in Spanish Fork, UT, as Employee Services Manager,
providing therapy and financial help to 370
employees.
Class of 2001
Sherri Lowery, 1999 BSW, 2001 MSW, is a
full-time mother of three living in Belmont,
MA. Her email is lowery.sherri@gmail.com
Class of 2000
Rachel Atwood Addison, BSW 2000, is
currently a full-time mother living with her
family in the Nashville, TN area. She has
three children – twin daughters and a son, and
just started homeschooling in August and
loves it! Her email is raddison23@gmail.com.
Page 21
3
Li-ju Jang, MSW 2000, has worked at
Chung Shan Medical University in Taichung,
Taiwan for the past four years.
Kimberly T. Konkel, MSW 2000, has
worked for the past eight and a half years at
the US Department of Health & Human Services Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships in Washington, DC. She
has recently been working with the White
House and Secretary of Health & Human
Services to help link faith and communitybased organizations. She does “lots of macro
organizational capacity development, monitoring & evaluation, etc.” She asserts “the
Obama Administration is dedicated to supporting pluralism in America and is greatly
increasing outreach efforts to the Church,
which is fun.”
Kim Sherriffs Oosthuysen, MSW 2000, has
worked in private
practice at Specialist Counseling Services and is a parttime lecturer at the
University of
Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.
Kim will be graduating this December from
the University of
Queensland with
her PhD in Social Work. Her doctoral thesis
was a quantitative and theoretical study
which focused on professional recognition
and related issues affecting clinical social
workers in the Australian context.
~And~
Glenn Oosthuysen, MSW 2000, has worked
for the past nine years at LDSFS in Sydney
and in Brisbane Australia. Glenn was recently made the Manager of the Brisbane Office
of LDS Family Services in Queensland, Australia His email is glennto@hotmail.com.
Kyle Oswald,
MSW 2000, has
worked for the past
four years at LDS
Family Services in
Frederick, MD.
Prior to that he
worked for two
years in North Carolina and for four years in California. He coauthored an article in the August 2009 Ensign
regarding MMORPGs (Internet role-playing
games) titled “Just a Game?” His email is
kyleoswald@yahoo.com.
2010
Fall 2010
School of Social WorkFall
Winter
2011
Class of 1999
Rachel Marie Cutler Crandall, BSW 1994,
MSW 1999, has worked part-time in Park
City in the winter season at Deer Valley in
the Children’s ski school. She is a happily
married, stay at home mother of eight children ages 15 to 2. She has four sons and four
daughters and her oldest two sons have their
Eagle Scout award. She uses social work
skills and knowledge on a regular basis with
her family.
Rachel M. Kummer (Zuehl), BSW 1999
(MSW 2001 University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign), has worked for the past four
years at the Holy Family Memorial (Cancer
Center/Home Health/Dialysis).
Sydney Parent Rombola, BSW 1999, has
worked for seven years at the Western Governors’ University in Salt Lake City, UT. She
is working on a PhD in Higher Education
with a research focus on mothers as postsecondary students. Her email is
sydneymin@gmail.com.
Class of 1997
Ryan Heck, MSW 1997, has worked for 11
years with the San Juan Counseling Center in
Blanding, UT. He has run 12 marathons and
in organizing a marathon between Blanding
and Bluff, UT to be held each spring beginning April 2011. His email is
rheck@sanjuancc.org.
Class of 1996
Amy Jo Finn, BSW 1996, has worked for
the past two years at the Community Counseling Centers at Pine View Hospital in
Lakeside, AZ. She is the aunt of two (almost
three) nieces and two nephews. In the past
ten years she has traveled to NYC, California, church history sites and been on a Caribbean cruise. Currently she is active in the
Sierra Pines Ward and is the Relief Society
Pianist. Her email is ajfinn@netzero.net.
Darren Furman, LCSW, PhD, MSW 1996,
has worked the past eight years at Ucon Elementary, Bonneville School District #93 in
Idaho Falls, ID. He is the Idaho School Counselors Association, Region VI Vice President.
His email is darrenfurman@yahoo.com.
Melinda Grenier, BSW 1996, has worked
the past 17 years at the Frederick County
Sheriff’s Department in Fredrick, MD.
Donna Grindstaff Kuonen, BSW 1996
(MSW California State University Long
Beach), has worked for the past 11 years at
the County of Ventura Children & Family
Services/Supervisor.
Her email is djkuonen@gmail.com.
Matt Larson, LCSW, BSW 1996, received
his MSW in 1998 from University of Utah.
Robert S. “Roman” Montague, MSW
1996, has worked for the past 12 years at The
Aldar Academy Non Public Special Education School for ED and learning disabled
students & in private practice: Affordable
Counseling & Educational Service in Sacramento, CA. He has written three children's
picture books, a twelve week parenting
course, a fifty two week domestic violence
offender workbook. He teaches part-time as a
psychology professor in the nursing program locally and conducts semi-annual training for CEU's on anger management and
domestic violence. He teases, annoys, and
harasses his three children 21, 19 and 15 and
dares them to take his intro psychology
course. And Diane Mcgrublian stole his
shoes 25 years ago and made him walk across
campus in bare feet on icy sidewalks in February! “Tell Dianne (he) wants (his) shoes
back!!”
Class of 1995
Patricia Hunt Grimsman, MSW 1995, has
been employed for 14
years at LDSFS and in
private practice in Sacramento, CA. She is
grateful for the excellent
education she received
at BYU, enabling her to
“help so many to improve lives.”
Class of 1994
Joyce McNeece, BSW
1994, has been retired for
three years and lives in
Tucson, AZ. She
sang soprano with the CoMormon Chorale for eight
years, toured Israel with the Millennium
Choir in 2000, and served as a proselyting
missionary in the Little Rock Arkansas Mission in 2007. She has researched the conditions of aging for 16 years and is presently
researching and writing her first book. Her
email is Coconut123joe@aol.com.
Cary Shelton, MSW 1994,
has worked for 16 years with
LDS Family Services in
Boise, ID. His email is
SheltonCL@
Ldsfamilyservices.org
Page 22
2
2010
Fall 2010
Brigham Young UniversityFall
Winter
2011
Class of 1993
Brian R. Anderson, BSW 1993 (MSW 1998
University of Utah), has worked for the past
12 years at LDS Family Services, currently as
Counseling Manager in Fresno, CA. He was
promoted to Director of the CA Fresno Agency in July 06. His email is andersonrb@ldsfamilyservices.org.
April Crandall, BSW 1993, has worked for
the past 12 years with the Idaho Falls Rehabilitative Health Services (RHS) Community
Mental Health Services, where she provides
program development, quality assurance,
public relations, and legislative contact services. She is helping programmers build electronic medical records for their agency. Her
email is aprilcrandall@yahoo.com.
Lisa Bremner
Peters, BSW
1993, has worked
for the past four
years as a substitute teacher for
all grades in Austin, MN. She has
five children, all in school (a senior to a third
grader) full-time now. She also prepares taxes each new year for H&R Block. She loves
the flexible schedule and couldn’t work fulltime, with kids going everywhere all the
time. Her email is lisapeters@yahoo.com.
Class of 1992
Katrina Appiah, MSW 1992, has been employed in Chicago for the past four years at
LDS Family Services as an Adoption Worker, doing clinical work. Her email is
kmappiah@comcast.net.
Michael Gibbons, MSW 1992, has worked
for the past seven years as the Director of
Student Support at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, VA.
Carol Lawrence-Costley, BSW 1986, MSW
1992, has for the past seven years (since the
birth of her daughter) been home in Centerville, UT raising her children. Following
graduation she ran a non-profit agency for
people with disabilities. During her 16 years
with the Utah/California company she served
as vice president of Utah operations. During
the final three years she served as CEO.
Doug LeCheminant, MSW 1992,
has been employed for the past
18 years in various roles with
LDS Family Services. He is cur-
rently supervising the Gulf Coast area. He
was elected (2009) as vice-president of the
Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists (AMCAP). His email is
lecheminantjd@ldschurch.org.
John Stewart, MSW 1992, has been employed for the past ten years at New Haven
Treatment Center in Spanish Fork, UT. He
and his wife just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. New Haven is celebrating
its 15 year anniversary, having weathered the
economy well.
Jennifer Higham Stewart, BSW 1992
(MSW 1996 University of Hawaii at Manoa),
worked part-time for many years, while raising her three kids and moving around the US
and overseas with her active duty Marine
husband. She is currently serving as assignment coordinator for the United States Marine Corps Exceptional Family Member Program at USMC in Quantico, VA. Her email is
Jennifer.stewart2@usmc.mil.
Steven Jay Whited, BSW 1992 (Masters of
Rehabilitation Counseling 2006), has worked
for the past 15 years at the Utah State Office
of Rehabilitation, Ogden Office. His son,
Kevin, just assumed his duties as Elder Kevin
Whited in the Manchester England Mission.
His email stevenwhited1@msn.com.
Class of 1991
Christina Mashburn Sorensen, BSW 1991,
has been employed for the past 14 years at
the Division of Child and Family Services
agency in Las Vegas, NV.
Class of 1990
Sherry Gunn, BSW 1990, has for the past
20 years served as full-time “mother extraordinaire” of the Gunn family’s House of Organized Chaos. Her husband, Scott, is the Chief
of Critical Care services at the University of
Pittsburg Medical Center’s flagship hospital
in Pittsburgh. They have five children;
Abi (17), Maggie (15), Eliza (12), and twins,
Max and Emma (9). She has served in numerous presidencies, as the ward RS president and currently as the Stake YW president
of the Pittsburgh North Stake. Her training at
BYU in social work laid a great foundation
for her family, church, and community service life. Her email is Sherrygunn@comcast.net.
Class of 1989
Grover Wray, MSW 1989, has for the past
11 years, worked at BYU-Idaho as the Chair
and Director of the Social Work Department.
He has been the director of the Chicago Inner
City Youth summer camp exchange program
for the past ten years and currently serves as
the internship coordinator for the department.
He completed the coursework for his PhD in
Education, “Instructional Design” and is
currently working on his dissertation, with
plans to complete in 2011. In his “spare time”
he coached the Rigby High School boys’
varsity baseball team, where his team has
won the championship three years in a row.
He earned “Coach of the year” his first season (2007). His email is WRAYG@byui.edu.
Ken Stewart, BSW 1990
(MSW 1991 West Virginia
University), has worked for
the past eight years as the
Group Manager for LDS
Family Services in Sacramento, CA. His email is
ken.stewart@frontiernet.net.
Class of 1988
Donald Garner, BSW 1988 (MSW Tulane
University), has worked for the past 14 years
as the Director of Social Services at Valley
View Medical Center in Cedar City. He
joined the Air Force and completed his Law
Degree at BYU in 1997, and then worked as
a Medical Legal Officer in the JAG Corps.
He was recently promoted to Lt. Colonel.
Ana Manent-Garfield, BSW 1988, has
worked for the past 12 years at Babies Can’t
Wait, an early intervention program (birth
through three years of age) in Gainesville,
GA. She is a private contractor with the State
of Georgia, coordinating in OT, PT, SLP, or
special instruction; connecting families with
needed services, providers and community
resources; and monitoring progress and services. Her email is
anaigarfield@windstream.net.
Class of 1987
Dean Anderson, MSW 1987, has been employed for the past 22 years, currently as
director of the Adult Out Patient Clinic at
Wasatch Mental Health in Provo, UT. His
email is danderson@wasatch.org.
Rodney D. McDowell, BSW 1987 (MSW
1989 Eastern Washington University), has
worked this past year at Mid Columbia Medical Group in The Dalles, Oregon. He previously spent nine years practicing in Spencer,
Iowa. His email is mcdowell@gorge.net.
Class of 1986
Mark de St. Aubin, MSW 1986, has worked
for the past ten years as a professor at the
University of Utah, College of Social Work,
where he is currently the Practicum Coordinator. He recently made presentations to the
University of Kuopio Social Work Department in Finland to foster a relationship be-
Page 23
3
2010
Fall 2010
School of Social WorkFall
Winter
2011
tween the two colleges.
Class of 1985
A. Marion Arbizu, BSW 1979, MSW 1985,
is retired. Her daughter, also a social worker,
is currently the Treatment Coordinator at the
Children’s Justice Center in Provo. She
spends her time with genealogy!
John Reeves, MSW 1985, has worked for the
past eight years at the BYU-Hawaii Department of Social Work in Laie, Hawaii, where
he currently serves as the Department Chair
and Field Practicum Director. He has, for the
past four years, served as Bishop of the BYUH 18th Ward. He is excited about being involved with the open house and rededication
of the Hawaii Temple. His email is
john.reeves@byuh.edu. Mahalo!
Class of 1984
Lisa Kirk Call,
BSW 1984, is currently working as a
4th grade teacher at
Los Altos School
District. During her
23 years with the
district, she has also
worked as Musical
Director (six years)
producing full length
Broadway Musicals.
Debbie Hippolite
Wright, PhD, MSW
1984, is currently employed as the Vice President of Student Development and Services at BYU
-Hawaii.
Class of 1983
Reed Stoddard, BSW 1983 (MSW 1985
University of Utah), has worked for the past
16 years at the BYU-Idaho Counseling Center. His email is STODDARDR@byui.edu.
John P. Stone, BSW 1983, has worked with
the American Red Cross organization for the
past ten years, serving all across the U.S.
during disasters and training projects. He
retired after 20 years as a Correctional Habilitative Specialist from the Utah Department of
Corrections. He is also a retired Senior NCO
from the U.S. Air Force (23 years). He has
served for four years on the Orem City Heritage Commission as Chairman, approving the
design for the distinctive Veterans Memorial
located at the Orem City Cemetery. He is
currently serving as a Church Service Missionary as a recruiting specialist for all languages for volunteers at the Missionary
Training Center in Provo, Utah.
Class of 1982
Janie Shumway, BSW 1982 (MSW 1986
Louisiana State University), is currently
working at Lovelace Westside Hospital in
Albuquerque, NM.
Karyn Coppock-Takke, BSW 1982, has
supervised BSW interns for the school and is
currently employed at both the Utah Valley
Regional Medical Center, Inpatient Psychiatry Unit and The Adoption Center of Choice
in Utah Valley. She has worked for three
years at UVRMC, eight years at IHC, and
nine and a half years with The Adoption Center.
Class of 1981
Bruce W. Davis, BSW 1981 (MSW-Florida
State University 1983), has worked for 27
years at the Gainesville VA Medical Center
in Gainesville, FL. His email is
Bruce.Davis2@va.gov.
Class of 1980
Todd R. Manwaring, BSW 1980, has been
employed for 28 years at the LDS Hospital in
Salt Lake City, UT. His email is
Todd.Manwaring@imail.org
Class of 1979
Brent Graham, BSW 1979, has been employed for 31 years at Boeing in Everett,
WA.
Christine Magner Reeder, BSW 1979
(MSW 1984 University of Houston), lives in
Houston, TX. Her father was a social worker
(he received his PhD and eventually went
into university administration), and her
daughter has just received her BSW from
BYU-Idaho and is now working on her Masters degree in Social Work at the University
of Houston. So the tradition continues! Her
email is misschris57@comcast.net.
Charles C. Rich,
LCSW, BSW 1979
(MSW University of
Utah) has been employed the past 29
years and is currently
the Executive Director
of David and Margaret
Youth and Family
Services in Rancho
Cucamonga, CA. His
email is 1holdout@gmail.com
Tomoe Witherspoon, BSW 1976, MSW
1979, has worked at the LTM, MTC and
BYU as a Spanish, Guarani teacher, and as a
writer and editorial assistant to the MTC
director. He currently works for BYU at the
Department of Spanish and Portuguese languages where he does occasional translation
and interpretation in Spanish and Guarani. He
has also worked in different movie productions, served as an Orem City Commissioner,
Voting Judge, Precinct Chairman, Legislative
Vice-Chairman, etc. He is presently writing
his autobiography and books for children. His
email is ttw2@byu.edu.
Class of 1977
Kevin Miyasaki, BSW 1977, has been employed for the last 18 years at BYU-Idaho.
Darla Wardle Nielsen, BSW 1977, has
worked for the past 30 years with her husband in their family owned business in Burley, ID. Her email is Nielsen@safelink.net.
Chris Zahlmann, BSW 1977, has been employed for the past 19 years as a Product
Specialist for Credit Union data processing
solutions at Fiserv Inc. in Corvallis, OR.
Although she doesn’t work directly in the
Social Work field, she states her skills and
training (acquired in the Social Work environment) are used every single day of her
life. “It was worth the effort.”
Class of 1976
Ilene Fluckiger Kuhns, BSW 1976, has
worked for the past five years at the Solomon
Park Research Lab in Kirkland, WA. Her
email is iflk@yahoo.com.
Class of 1974
Harold K. Tso,
BSW 1974 (MA
University of New
Mexico), and (MSW
-New Mexico Highlands University) is
current working at
San Juan College in Farmington, NM. He just
completed his MSW (clinical emphasis) at
New Mexico Highlands University, and is
studying to take the examination for licensure. He is an LPC presently teaching a graduate class, COUN 605-Pre-Practicum in
Counseling Skills. He presented the Keynote
Address for the New Mexico Highlands University-San Juan Center graduation ceremony
last spring, 2010. His email is
tso_hk2@yahoo.com.
Class of 1972
Dennis Gale, BSW 1972, is working as the
Dean of Students at Lincoln Elementary in
Salt Lake City, UT. His email is
dennis.gale@slcschools.org.
Page 24
2
2010
Fall 2010
Brigham Young UniversityFall
Winter
2011
Class of 1971
Kathleen M
(Olson) Black,
BSW 1971 (MA in
Anthropology with
an Archaeology
emphasis), used her
social work training
to raise her five sons
and one daughter.
She is now an archeologist working off and on these past three
years at the Aqueologia Regional Integrada
de Mesoamerica in Salama, Guatemala. Her
email is bkblack@gmail.com.
Barbara Gressmen McNulty, BSW 1971
(HSM 1977 Utah State University), worked
for the State of Utah, Department of Social
Services for 17 years and then moved to Massachusetts, where she worked as a Halfway
House residential counselor. Then for an
additional eight years she worked in New
Hampshire for Northern New Hampshire
Youth Services as a residential counselor.
Upon her return to Utah in 1996, she retired
from social work and for nine years assisted
her son-in-law with his real estate office.
The National Association of Social Workers wants YOU!
NASW is making a continued effort to recruit BSW and MSW students,
graduates and social work professionals.
This is a great opportunity to have an influence on
national program planning and policy development.
By becoming a member, you take part in an organization
that is instrumental to your profession!
For membership information
visit the Utah Chapter of NASW’s website
at www.utnasw.org or call 801-583-8855