Service to the University and Community
Narrative and Documentation Supporting Service to the University and Community
Service to the University
Human Services Department and CCSPA
I routinely attend and contribute to our department meetings. The Human Services faculty are a brilliant and mutually-supportive group; it is an honor to work with them. I will be assuming the role of department chair during summer 2022 and I look forward to being of service to my colleagues in that role.
I participate in CCSPA-wide activities such as all-college meetings. An agenda for one of them is below.
Program Review
Dr. Goonetilleke and I are in the midst of the MS CODC Program Review. While Program Review is a Criterion 5 function, it was discussed in the Criterion 1 narrative, as it dovetailed with the program improvement process that I undertook as program director.
Faculty Association
I appreciate the benefits of being part of a unionized faculty. I served as a delegate to the Metro FA Council in AY21 and am an alternate delegate in AY22.
Human Subjects Research Board (HSRB)
The work of the HSRB is vital to the research process at Metro. As chair, along with attending to routine duties, I initiated and coordinated a number of projects. Below find the minutes of my final HSRB meeting as chair and excerpts from my final chair’s annual report to the Provost.
One HSRB effort that is still in process is updating our D2L site to include a series of short videos that we hope will benefit student, faculty and administrative research. The below is an example from the video series. It will be finalized and captioned in the near future.
Graduate Programs Committee (GPC)
I have served on the GPC throughout my time as director of our graduate programs. Below is a recent agenda that suggests that I may be a bit active in my participation.
Anti-Racism Work on Campus
I volunteered at the 2020 Day of Mourning, Learning and Action and the 2021 Day of Honoring, Learning and Action. Campus and community anti-racism activities are of central importance to my work.
Minnesota State at the State Fair
In August 2021, I joined the Metro team staffing the MinnState booth at the State Fair.
A fun cross-college collaboration: I joined College of Science faculty member Cindy Harley in putting on a Brain Awareness Week presentation.
Service to the Community
Minnesota Addiction Professionals (MNAP)
MNAP is the state affiliate of NAADAC: The Association for Addiction Professionals. I completed my term as president of the MNAP board and representative to the NAADAC board in October 2018. I organized two of our annual meetings, 2018 and 2020. Below find the promotional materials and agendas, as well as the slide deck for the 2018 meeting, at which I concluded my term.
While no longer a board member, I remain involved in MNAP as a member of the Education Committee. In that role, I am chairing a rural behavioral health conference scheduled to take place at MSU Mankato in spring 2023.
Inservice Training
A student who works with the Youth Service Bureau appreciated my discussion of drugs and race in HSCD 200: Pharmacology of Addictive Drugs. She suggested me as a presenter for their equity and inclusion inservice series. I provided the training in September 2021. The slide deck is below.
Podcast Appearance
I interviewed Therissa Libby who is an Associate Professor and Co-Coordinator, Graduate Programs in Counseling, Metropolitan State University. Therissa works in collaboration with Metropolitan State University on the Recovery Narratives Project and Minnesota Recovery Connection. The Recovery Narratives Project is an inquiry into experiences of recovery from substance use and mental health disorders. The episode entailed myself and Therissa Libby getting into topics and conversations that involved what true recovery may mean for each person struggling with addiction and mental health issues. We get into topics on how individuals in the mental health addiction field need to make more money as well as some ideas on how to do it. Throughout the episode, we went into topics of harm reduction that included the benefits of opioid replacement therapy with the use of methadone and suboxone. We also challenge many of the stigmas not just society has on individuals with addictions but stigmas that healthcare professionals have on client’s in their recovery. We also get into controversial topics as it comes to the use of MDMA as well as other psychedelics as an intervention for people struggling with mental health and substance abuse disorders. I just have to say it was a true honor and blessing having Therissa on my podcast. I hope to work with her again down the road.
Meditative Videos
One last note: I have devoted my professional Instagram feed to 30-second meditative videos. I’ve posted 144 so far, with the first 100 being from sabbatical. I hope they bring moments of peace and delight.