Issue link: http://ncumarketing.uberflip.com/i/1422929
Greetings, everyone, and happy fall! Much has happened since the last Department updates. In September, we celebrated our first in-person symposium and graduation since the start of the pandemic. It was wonderful to meet so many graduates and their families in Nashville, Tennessee. It was very touching to again see graduates walking, jumping, or dancing across the stage and their families cheering them on. Many of our graduates had waited a year or longer for this opportunity, and the energy in the room was electrifying and smiles everywhere, with some of the smiles beaming from behind masks. This year, the Dissertation of the Year was awarded to a graduate from the Department of Psychology. The DOY award went to Dr. Keressa Britton. The title of her dissertation is "Dancing with Mom: The Shared Identity Between Caregiving Daughters and Their Mothers with Dementia: A Qualitative Narrative Study." If you get the chance, I will highly recommend reading her dissertation. Her chair was Dr. Jill Blackwell, the SME was Dr. Michelle Ackerman, and the AR was Dr. Peter Bradley. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Keressa Britton and her dissertation committee for this wonderful achievement. With great excitement, I am welcoming Dr. Brandi Chamberlin to the department as program director for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. Dr. Chamberlin has a distinguished career in the field of clinical mental health counseling, and she is leading the efforts in creating a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree program. This is not a small task. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Chamberlin to the department. I hope you are having a great fall season with much academic success and achievements. Bettina Shapira, PhD Department Chair, Department of Psychology Department Updates Bettina Shapira, PhD 14 NCUPA Fall Bulletin