Featured Awards – October 2013

Jason Dickinson (Psychology, CHSS) is involved in a collaborative research agreement with Central Michigan University for the project entitled “Talk and Show.” There are 35 participant families involved for the fall 2013 semester and 35 participant families for the spring 2014 semester.  Each participant family will participate in two sessions, to be scheduled one-week apart. The first session will involve exposure to the “target” event and participation in several cognitive-memory tasks. The second session will involve a structured interview about the target event and participation in several cognitive memory tasks. The goal of the research is to identify measures of cognitive control (e.g., inhibitory behavior, theory of mind, working memory) that predict suggestibility and false reporting among children.

Robert McCormick (Center for Child Advocacy, CHSS) received an award of $246,238 from the N.J. Department of Children and Families for the project entitled “Post BA Certificate in Adolescent Advocacy” for 2013-2014. It is being developed for Division of Youth and Family Services workers and Department of Children and Families workers who wish to further their expertise in working with adolescents in the public welfare system.  The program will be offered in both on-line and face-to-face formats.  The program is estimated to consist of 40 people, half of whom will be taking the certificate on-line. The program will provide students with an in-depth understanding of adolescent advocacy by presenting current research and policy through a multi-disciplinary lens. It will create a cohort of professionals who specialize in working with an adolescent population and will help professionals to better understand and engage adolescents within the public welfare system.

Robert Prezant (Dean, CSAM) and Carlos Molina (Biology & Molecular Biology, CSAM) received the fifth year of a subaward from Rutgers University/NSF in the amount of $112,187 for “LSAMP: The Garden State Alliance for Minority Participation.” The goal of this project is to increase the participation of African American and Hispanic students in the sciences and address the national shortage of STEM-trained professionals from underrepresented minority groups.