Office of the Provost Announces Strategic Initiative Grants
The Office of the Provost announced 16 strategic initiative grants awarded this fall. Erika Cameron, PhD, Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs, said “We were amazed to see the tremendous ways each of our awardees developed grants that foster new academic programs, advance research and scholarly activities, and enhance PAU’s culture for student-centered excellence.”
The Strategic Initiative grantees include:
Academic Excellence
Bilingual Certification
Development of an online bilingual certificate for students and clinicians to enhance Spanish and Mandarin clinical language proficiency, enhance multicultural awareness within the language group, and apply culturally responsive counseling skills when working with Spanish and Mandarin speaking populations.
Psychological Test Technician Project – Didactic Component
Rayna Hirst and Marion Minor
Establishment of a PAU task force to develop the didactic component of a pilot Psychological Testing Technician Certificate program.
Psychological Test Technician Project – Experiential Component
Rayna Hirst and Marion Minor
Establishment of a PAU task force to develop the experiential component of a pilot Psychological Testing Technician Certificate program.
Center for Global Mental Health Research and Training
Development of a Center for Global Mental Health Research and Training (Center for GMH), to elevate the research, clinical service, advocacy, teaching and training that our faculty and students engage in across the university.
Building Community
Engaging Community and Centering Community as a Source of Healing: “Breathing Black” Screening
Funding to pay for a screening of the documentary “Breathing Black” by director Tina Canady. They are also willing to offer a zoom Q&A for students after the screening.
External Opportunites
Contextual analysis to inform use of traditional practitioners to prevent gender-based violence against women in Kenya
Support to develop and submit an external grant application to conduct research on the use of traditional practitioners to prevent gender-based violence against women in Kenya.
Operational Excellence
AANAHPI Task Force
Darlene Chen, Carlie Belmodis, Janessa Rozal Chin, Lina La and Shreya Vaishnav
Creation of a governing body that advocates and highlights AANAHPI community successes and concerns with all PAU units.
Developing a DASA Guidebook
Janessa Rozal Chin and Carlie Belmodis
Creation and development of a DASA guidebook to serve as a centralized resource, with visuals, a glossary of commonly used terms and FAQs of each office.
Learning in Bursts: Enhancing Learning and Retention Through Microlearning
Creation and development of microcourses for MA Counseling students who are in practicum and internship. Creating these courses will provide our students with highly focused, short, and quick learning modules that are byte sized content (single objective lesson, no longer than 10 minutes).
Student Success
PAU Positive Period and Plumbing Project
Charlotte Beard, Fernando Galeano and Ruby McCoy
Funding will provide menstruation products in our Calvin Campus restrooms to ensure gender equity and working with facilities to reduce inappropriate flushing of menstrual products.
AANAHPI Task Force Initiatives: Facilitating Culturally and Linguistic Specific Training
Development of a cross-listed elective online course titled Counseling Mandarin-Speaking Families and in collaboration with the PAU Asian Pacific American Student Association (APASA) invite guest speakers involved in AANAHPI mental health support and research to share their clinical and research experiences working with AANAHPI populations with the PAU Community.
First-Generation Peer Mentor Program (FGPMP)
Ana Castrillo, Mary Anderson and Alaina Dunn
Launching of a First-Generation Peer Mentorship Program (FGPMP) at PAU. This peer mentorship program is aimed to provide first-generation students with a partner who will help them navigate unique academic challenges, provide support, and increase feelings of inclusivity and belonging.
Technology & Innovation
Talking Mental Health Careers Podcast
Amber Watkins, Katherine Gardner and Tasha Prinkey
Development of an educational podcast series tentatively titled, Talking Mental Health Careers. The podcast's purpose is to provide career introductions to various specialties within the mental health field, with a focus on new and emerging areas of practice that address pressing needs in society.
Chatbot Lab
Creation of the Chatbot lab will give MS students a chance to gain research experience and publications. Students will learn how to develop chatbots that can be used for the current projects or projects of other faculty.
PAU eClinic: Community Mental Health Care App Initiative
Donna Sheperis, Anupam Khandelwal, Victoria Guinn and Roshni Joseph
Development of an app for the PAU eClinic that will allow clients to interface with their care team; receive assessment notifications; appointment reminders; and access to a curated selection of digital therapeutics. The ultimate goal is to provide a secure platform for clients to engage in digital therapeutics in addition to the video based therapy services currently provided in the eClinic.
PAU eClinic Website Development
Donna Sheperis, eClinic Advisor Board and Lee Vacarro
Development of a PAU eClinic website that reflects the cutting edge capabilities of a digital therapeutics training clinic; is HIPAA compliant; and engages PAU community stakeholders.