Ella Reuter, Author at Health and Human Services News

Staff spotlight

December 2, 2024 by Ella Reuter

Our featured staff member, Andrew Cole, is an academic technology support administrator in the McQueary College of Health and Human Services (MCHHS).

Let’s find out more about him.

Where are you originally from?

I’m originally from Moberly, Missouri, but I’ve lived in the Springfield area since 2005.

What brought you to Missouri State and how long have you been here?

I’ve been at Missouri State since early 2018. I always wanted to work in education, and working at a university is a great fit.

What’s your favorite part about working at Missouri State so far?

My favorite part is the wide range of people I’ve met during my time at the university.

What’s your educational background?

I have an Associate of Applied Science degree from Ozarks Technical Community College, with additional coursework in programming and accounting.

Where did you work prior to Missouri State?

I worked in the IT department at the corporate office of Meek Lumber here in Springfield.

What do you do in your role as academic technology support administrator for MCHHS?

I handle the IT support needs of the MU School of Medicine Springfield campus and the Alliance for Healthcare Education at Cox College. When I’m not working at either location, I assist the MCHHS team on the main campus.

How do you spend your leisure time?

I enjoy reading books, watching movies and playing video games.

What holiday tradition is special to you?

I love taking a week off from work to have a movie marathon. I usually watch “The Lord of the Rings” or “Harry Potter” series.

Find out more about MCHHS

A new effort to ensure student success

November 14, 2024 by Ella Reuter

In the last decade, some universities created online programs that offered course curricula but no student life or student affairs opportunities.

Online program students might benefit from lower fees but miss out on important aspects of college living and learning.

An interdisciplinary team of McQueary College of Health and Human Services (MCHHS) faculty members and student leaders saw the need to educate the whole learner, understood the fee/funding concern and took up the challenge.

What’s the MSSIP grant?

Thanks to a MCHHS Student Success Innovation Projects (MSSIP) grant worth about $8,000, team members launched a full-year pilot project in 2023. Called “More Than the Sum of Their Credits,” the project focused on integrating high-impact learning and social connection opportunities into two of Missouri State’s online academic programs – social work and psychology.

This project originated from the belief that the quality of education for students in online programs at Missouri State is enhanced by the traditional melding of academic affairs and student affairs.

MSSIP offers funds to implement real impact projects that improve undergraduate student success. Multi-year funding is available for up to four years and a maximum of $100,000.

“It allows teams to launch projects fast. We were able to pivot quickly from ‘someday we should’ to ‘let’s get started,’” said project leader Dr. Tim Daugherty. He is a psychology professor in the School of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences at Missouri State.

The other faculty members involved include:

Natalie Curry, clinical associate professor and coordinator of the Bachelor of Social Work program in the School of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Paul Deal, associate professor in the School of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Leslie Echols, associate professor in the School of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Dana Paliliunas, former faculty member
Dr. Tanya Whipple, senior instructor in the School of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. David Zimmerman, associate professor and undergraduate coordinator of the forensic child psychology certificate program in the School of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences

More about the project

Through the university’s Learning Management System, the team experimented with delivering weekly club meetings, monthly events and plenty of accessible content. The content included links to career-related sites, news articles, videos to facilitate students’ understanding of their major curriculum and interviews with faculty members via Zimmerman’s “ZimTube.”

A year after the project began, Daugherty notes the team has been able to leverage lessons learned to continue offering the most effective project elements without additional funding.

Successful outcomes

“The team succeeded in reimagining high-impact practices to make them accessible and meaningful for online-program students,” Daugherty said.

The data the team collected and reflected on from this project resulted in a peer-reviewed scholarly paper that will soon be published in the Journal of College Orientation, Transition and Retention. This paper features a student co-author who worked closely with the team.

In addition, two online-program students seized the opportunity to collaborate with faculty members on clinical research during the pilot period. That opportunity was a first for the online program, and the successful students co-authored a paper presented at the APS (Association for Psychological Science) Global Psychological Science Summit in October.

“Working together, we can do great things,” Curry said. “We’re grateful that MSSIP funds helped launch these efforts.”

The team is available to consult with and support the efforts of teams in other programs wanting to take the next step.

Find out more about the MSSIP grant

Embarking on a future of helping others

November 4, 2024 by Ella Reuter

For Missouri State University senior Macey Maas Hauver, her goal of becoming a nurse is within reach.

This December, Maas Hauver will graduate from MSU with her nursing degree.

Realizing a goal

From Kearney, Missouri, Maas Hauver grew up in a family of nurses, so she was always aware of the field. As she got older, her enjoyment of biology and health sciences inspired her to make nursing a career of her own.

Maas Hauver chose to attend Missouri State due to its nursing program.

“I visited the campus while I was in high school. I thought it was a pretty campus and the people seemed friendly. My decision was made easier because of the nursing school,” she said.

She came to Missouri State in 2020. She believes the nursing program has prepared her well for the workforce.

“Our clinicals at varying locations and different units, as well as the clinical instructors have been very helpful,” she said.

Serving in the National Guard

While a student, Maas Hauver was also juggling service in the Missouri Air National Guard. Initially, she joined the National Guard to help her pay for school. But it quickly became much more to her.

“Along the way, it has made me grow a lot through basic training and my job as a logistics planner for the 139th Airlift Wing,” she said. “The National Guard has been a huge benefit, beyond just putting me through school.”

For her job, she helps with planning for deployments and exercises for her base.

According to Maas Hauver, the National Guard has changed her life.

“I had to take off the first semester of my sophomore year for basic training and tech school. But that taught me a lot about perseverance and gave me a stronger mentality,” she said. “This journey has also given me many experiences that I wouldn’t have had otherwise in college.”

Balancing school and her National Guard obligations has been tough at times for Maas Hauver. She has to attend drills one weekend every month and sometimes assist with other responsibilities. For example, she had to be at an air show recently for a few days.

While the journey has been challenging, the people around her have made the process easier.

“Everyone’s very supportive and understanding, especially my professors and my leadership in the National Guard,” she said.

Get involved

She encourages current and future students to network and find ways to stay engaged.

“Get involved in whatever you can to make the most of your time here. And always go out of your way to put yourself out there and talk to someone in your classes,” Maas Hauver said.

She was involved in Delta Zeta sorority and the Student Nursing Organization on campus. She notes her favorite part about her time at Missouri State is the lifelong friendships and connections she has made, especially in nursing school.

Future ambitions

Maas Hauver already has a job lined up – as a pediatric intensive care unit nurse at Children’s Mercy in Kansas City.

She also has plans to continue with the National Guard even after her contract ends in 2026.

Check out nursing programs

Receiving a life-changing gift

October 21, 2024 by Ella Reuter

For two students from McQueary College of Health and Human Services (MCHHS), their financial burdens are now a little lighter thanks to the 2024 MarooNation Springfield student scholarships.

Riley Laub and Carlos Abrams received their scholarships at the MarooNation Ball Springfield on Oct. 8 at the Old Glass Place

Laub is in the first year of the physician assistant studies (PA) graduate program and Abrams is a junior majoring in psychology and minoring in human resource management at Missouri State University.

Deserving recipients

From Republic, Missouri, Laub completed her undergraduate degree at University of Missouri. She returned to Springfield to pursue the PA program at Missouri State.

“I chose the PA program here because Springfield is home. Once I toured the program and met the faculty, I realized what a supportive environment I would be in,” Laub said.

She added that her favorite part about Missouri State is the close relationships she has formed.

While she is keeping an open mind, Laub’s dream job is to work in a Level 1 trauma center.

“I love the fast pace and the unpredictability that environment brings. Just thinking about it excites me,” she said.

Born in Springfield, Abrams moved to Kansas City around the age of 5. He returned to Springfield during his freshman year of high school.

When he toured Missouri State, he felt drawn to the campus.

“When I took a tour here, something about Missouri State felt different than any other campus I’d toured before. I looked around and I realized I could call it home,” Abrams said.

His favorite thing about Missouri State is the opportunities for involvement. He is a research lab assistant for one of the university’s retention teams.

“We’re tasked with improving retention, especially among freshmen. One of the main factors we keep coming across is that involvement is key to everything,” Abrams said. “When people feel like a place is home and they’re emotionally attached to something, they’re a lot more likely to care about it and I think that’s true with the students at Missouri State.”

He is also a Theta Chi Fraternity member and former executive, Order of Omega Honor Society president, Society for Human Resource Management president, Student Government Association Chief Wyrick commissioner and Student Mobilization member.

As part of the talent and strategic operations team at Forvis Mazars in Springfield, Abrams is gaining valuable work experience.

“After graduation, I want to be an industrial and organizational psychologist and what I’m doing now is extremely relevant,” he said.

Giving changes students’ lives

The generosity of alumni, friends and community members opens doors and creates opportunities for Missouri State students like Laub and Abrams to chase their goals and ambitions.

For the first time ever, more than $4 million dollars in privately funded MSU Foundation scholarships have been awarded to students this academic year.

“It can sometimes be a thankless job to donate funds to students you may never get to see or meet. But behind the scenes in our lives as people who receive these donations and scholarships, it helps a lot,” Abrams said. It takes a lot of stress off to not have the financial burden constantly. So, I just want to say thank you.”

While she completes PA school, Laub is living with her dad to save money.

“I won’t be able to work for a while and thinking about the debt I already have from undergrad, it’s very stressful,” she said. “But I’ve gotten this awesome scholarship, which relieves a lot of stress. It allows me to focus on my bigger priorities right now.”

To find out more about how you can empower students’ dreams and shape their futures, visit the MSU Foundation website.

Donate to the MSU Foundation