Three Psychology Majors Honored for Community Engagement
The University’s Community Engagement Scholars Program honored its 2024 graduates at a reception on May 2, 2024. Three Psychology majors graduated from this program: Leo Goldblatt, Zoe Hoornbeek, and Kate McKinney.
“The Community Engagement Scholars Program (CESP) is a program for students who want to make a commitment to community engagement during their undergraduate experience. Students complete 400 hours of community engagement work, participate in reflective workshops and assignments, and complete a 1 credit senior capstone project. Because of the rigorous nature of the program, students are also recognized by the Board of Regents with a notation on their official transcript and a medal of distinction. The program is open to all undergraduate students in every major and college.”
Read about the accomplishments of our psychology graduates:
Leo Goldblatt (BA)
Goldblatt created a "Mental Health Counselor" position guide for the company he works at, RADIAS Health. He noticed over the past year that one of the biggest issues affecting the clients served was a lack of staff engagement and a general lack of knowledge of what to do during a shift. Goldblatt consulted with the Director of Residential Support Services to determine what specifically should go into the guide, and after several revisions, is in the process of getting it ratified in the company. Not only will the guide increase worker knowledge, but it will improve the lives of the vulnerable clientele served. Goldblatt notes that no such guide had existed before his creation of one.
Zoe Hoornbeek (BS)
Hoornbeek explains that her project addresses the need to bring together the Minnestoa Youth Sex Trading Project (MYST) with the community, and connect people with the resources that MYST has to offer. She engaged in awareness of MYST- relationship building, general tabling events, recruiting for events, Instagram posts, outreach, and education of the public.
Kate McKinney (BS)
McKinney created a “Guide to Using Community-Based Participatory Research Methods to Research Commercial Sexual Exploitation with UMN CDC Research Team.”
This project provides a resource for researchers interested in using community-based participatory research practices, related to commercial sexual exploitation, sex trafficking, and sex trading. McKinney completed a systematic review of community-based participatory research practices in commercial sexual exploitation research. She outlined the key findings from the literature search and practical recommendations for researchers. Findings were summarized in an infographic that new and experienced researchers can use to learn about community-engaged participatory research.
Composed by Madison Stromberg, communications assistant.