Health and Human Services News

A nod to excellence

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Passionate faculty and staff are at the heart of McQueary College of Health and Human Services (MCHHS), making an impact every day through their dedication and service.  

On April 24, the college came together to celebrate these exceptional individuals at its 2nd Annual Awards Banquet. 

Their contributions go beyond personal achievement — they enrich the learning environment and strengthen support systems that define the MCHHS community. Each honoree embodies the college’s core values, serving as an inspiring example for others to follow.  

“The banquet was such a fun way to connect with colleagues and recognize the hard work happening across our college,” said Dr. Sarah Murray, assistant professor and program director of nutrition and dietetics.  

List of awards 

 Foundation Recipients Award 

Office Orchestrator Award

This award recognizes a staff member who goes above and beyond to create a welcoming, supportive college environment. 

Community Impact Award

This award recognizes a faculty or staff member for impactful community engagement that reflects the public affairs mission. 

Outstanding Academic Advisor 

This award recognizes a staff member for excellence in advising. 

Outstanding Faculty Advisor 

This award recognizes a faculty member for excellence in advising. 

Bearwise Education Excellence Award 

This award recognizes a faculty member for innovative, inclusive teaching and outstanding mentorship that inspires student engagement and learning. 

Outstanding Service Award 

This award recognizes faculty or staff for exceptional service that goes beyond expectations and positively impacts the workplace. 

  • MCHHS information technology department 

Teamwork Trailblazers Award 

This award recognizes a group that demonstrates exceptional collaboration, teamwork, idea-sharing and commitment to a common goal. 

Dean’s Awards 

  • Dean’s Recognition for Service: Dr. Sarah Murray, assistant professor and program director of nutrition and dietetics 
  • Outstanding Service to MCHHS: Dr. Letitia White Minnis, MCHHS associate dean 
  • Outstanding Student Engagement: Nicole Gorley, senior instructor and lab coordinator, biomedical sciences 
  • Outstanding Support to MCHHS: Teri Trickey, director of catering, Chartwells 
  • Outstanding Community Partnership: Burrell Behavioral Health 

Roy D. Blunt Life Science Professorship 

This endowed award, established through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, supports faculty in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines. It recognizes excellence in teaching, research and scholarship advancing the life sciences. 

  • Dr. Amy Hulme, associate professor, biomedical sciences   

Research Fellow 

This new appointment provides support and mentorship to new faculty, centered on the development of a scholarly agenda. 

“I was so surprised and honored to receive the Dean’s Recognition for Service, especially since I helped plan the event and thought I knew the program inside out!” Murray said. “Serving as the Dean’s Fellow for the past two years has been an incredible opportunity to learn about leadership and the administrative side of our college.” 

For White Minnis, receiving the Outstanding Service to MCHHS Award fills her with both gratitude and humility.  

“It affirms my efforts to support others and contribute to our college community. I’ve had the good fortune of working with people who inspire me to serve with purpose and carry that commitment forward with the same dedication that brought me here.” 

Retirements

Besides recognizing outstanding contributions from faculty and staff, the banquet also offered a heartfelt moment to honor those whose long-standing dedication helped advance the college. This year’s retirees honored for their dedication and years of service included: 

Explore MCHHS

Shining a spotlight on student research

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Innovation, discovery and a spirit of exploration were on full display at this year’s McQueary College of Health and Human Services’ (MCHHS) 29th Annual Student Research Symposium.  

The event took place on April 24 in the Plaster Student Union. It featured 53 abstracts with contributions from 147 student researchers across undergraduate and graduate programs. 

Participants represented a wide range of disciplines, including athletic training, biomedical sciences, dietetics and nutrition, exercise science, physical therapy, psychology and speech-language pathology. 

“Our Student Research Symposium is a long-standing tradition that highlights our commitment to academic excellence,” said Dr. Letitia White Minnis, MCHHS associate dean. “The symposium provides students with valuable opportunities to share their research findings, engage with faculty mentors and other community members and contribute to knowledge that advances their field of study.” 

The research projects presented explored current issues across the health and human services spectrum. They included injury prevention, women’s health and performance, nutrition education, clinical innovation and the application of emerging technologies in health care. 

The symposium also recognized the dedication of faculty mentors, whose encouragement and insights help students turn their ideas into impactful research.  A special recognition goes to the MCHHS Student Research Symposium Committee for organizing and sustaining this important academic tradition. 

Learn more about MCHHS

A new effort to ensure student success

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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

Receiving a life-changing gift

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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.

Riley Laub
Riley Laub

“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.

Carlos Abrams
Carlos Abrams

“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