The objective of our research is to determine the efficacy, diversity, and factors that influence intent to stay in public child welfare, specifically applied to the graduates of the Title IV-E program at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire (UWEC). For decades, child welfare agencies have experienced near consistent turnover rates ranging from 20-40%. We hope to use the data gathered towards improving the program at UWEC by evaluating preparedness, diversity, and retention to decrease turnover rates and increase intent to stay. Participants will be UWEC Title IV-E graduates who have been employed in the child welfare workforce for at least six months. In the study, participants (n=50) will be asked to complete portions of the Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment (COHA) and a semi-structured interview. Examples of sections in the COHA are as follows: Peer Support, Supervision, Job Satisfaction, Intent to Stay, and Self-Care. The interview will explore burnout, secondary trauma, and compassion fatigue. We expect results that show the Title IV-E program at UWEC has better prepared social work graduates to succeed in the child welfare field. We expect that job satisfaction and supervision/peer support are major influencers on intent to stay in child welfare.
Our research question is, “How does an individual’s access to transportation impact their ability to shape the policies in the community that they live in and the services they engage in?” Much research has been done concerning access to transportation as a social determinant of health; however, there is a gap in research addressing how access to transportation impacts an individual's ability to engage with and shape the policies that impact them. We conducted a literature review concerning transportation justice and spatial justice as one area of focus, and access to transportation as a social determinant of health as another area of focus. With this background information, we began conducting interviews with those who engage with the public transportation system in the area, including bus riders, bus drivers, advocates, service providers, and city officials. The purpose of these interviews was to integrate experiential local knowledge. The goal of the literature review and integration of experiential local knowledge is to develop tools that will be used to develop community surveys and focus groups that will then allow us to draw conclusions around the primary question.
Neurodiversity is defined as any deviation from typical brain functioning. Neurodivergence remains underdiagnosed and under researched among females due to societal expectations, pressures, and gendered stereotypes. Female-identifying neurodivergent college students report elevated anxiety, depression, and social isolation relative to neurotypical peers, yet their voices remain underrepresented in campus research. Masking behaviors including suppressing neurodivergent traits to fit societal norms, contribute to increased pressure, burnout, and concerns regarding students' overall well-being, mental health, and retention in higher education.This mixed-methods study examines how neurodivergence shapes well-being across academic, social, and health domains among female-identifying students at UW-Eau Claire (UWEC). Grounded in Ryff's positive psychology framework, this research emphasizes identifying strengths and flourishing rather than solely focusing on deficits. We will administer an anonymous survey collecting demographic information and the 42-item Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale. The scale's six domains autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance will inform focus group interview questions designed to capture both challenges and strengths. Through thematic analysis of semi-structured focus group discussions, we will identify patterns related to psychological well-being. Findings will provide evidence-based, strengths-based recommendations to UWEC departments for improving campus culture, accessibility, and targeted interventions supporting the well-being and academic success of female-identifying neurodivergent students.
This qualitative study explores how community-level stigma affects transgender individuals, focusing on how stigma is experienced, maintained, and resisted within their communities. Guided by input from a community advisory board, researchers conducted interviews using a constructivist grounded theory approach with transgender participants to better understand these dynamics and support community resilience. Findings will inform future research and interventions aimed at reducing stigma and promoting equity.
This research and resulting community education outreach project aims to meet the needs of the rural population of agricultural workers in their environment to address suicidality and mental health. Farm workers have the highest rate of death by suicide of any occupation. Farmers have a suicide rate that is 3x higher than the general population. Barriers such as limited mental health care access and stigma are main contributing factors. The community education outreach project is research-informed; research was conducted by reviewing preexisting literature and media. The goal of this project was to meet farmers in their rural communities. This researcher then conducted an educational campaign in partnership with local businesses to raise awareness in rural areas of Trempealeau and Eau Claire Counties about the Wisconsin Farmer Wellness Helpline. Local representatives were contacted to voice support for this vital resource to advocate on a policy change level. It is imperative that we meet farmers in their own environments to educate them about mental wellness and resources. Education about mental health is vital to reduce stigma and provide life-saving resources.
The term community‑level stigma appears across many areas of research, but it is not always defined in the same way. This project aims to take a broad look at how the concept is used in the existing literature and to identify the different terms or ideas that researchers apply when discussing stigma in a community context. Rather than evaluating how communities produce or respond to stigma, the goal of this review is simply to understand the range of approaches currently present in published work.In reviewing work from fields like public health, sociology, geography, and community psychology, this project will note how researchers use the term, the ideas they pair it with, and the places where definitions differ. Along the way, a range of related concepts is likely to appear, including terms such as social climate, place‑based stigma, territorial stigma, and intersectional stigma.The goal of this review is simply to pull together what is currently being said about community‑level stigma and to identify common patterns in how it is framed, described, and discussed.
This presentation examines exploratory cross-institutional findings on the experiences of college students in recovery from substance use, highlighting barriers to engagement and the critical role of recovery-supportive environments. Drawing from exploratory survey data at two universities, the study identifies strategies for reducing stigma, fostering peer connections, and expanding recovery-friendly policies on campus. The project demonstrates how social work education, through undergraduate research labs, can respond to accelerated change by producing actionable knowledge and mentoring future practitioners. Implications for practice, policy, and pedagogy underscore the role of social work in advancing recovery support in higher education.
The objective of our research is to determine the efficacy, diversity, and factors that influence intent to stay in public child welfare, specifically applied to the graduates of the Title IV-E program at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire (UWEC). For decades, child welfare agencies have experienced near consistent turnover rates ranging from 20-40%. We hope to use the data gathered towards improving the program at UWEC by evaluating preparedness, diversity, and retention to decrease turnover rates and increase intent to stay. Participants will be UWEC Title IV-E graduates who have been employed in the child welfare workforce for at least six months. In the study, participants (n=50) will be asked to complete portions of the Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment (COHA) and a semi-structured interview. Examples of sections in the COHA are as follows: Peer Support, Supervision, Job Satisfaction, Intent to Stay, and Self-Care. The interview will explore burnout, secondary trauma, and compassion fatigue. We expect results that show the Title IV-E program at UWEC has better prepared social work graduates to succeed in the child welfare field. We expect that job satisfaction and supervision/peer support are major influencers on intent to stay in child welfare.
Our project examines how students navigate forming social connections during their first year of college. According to Liu et al. (2025), social connectedness is multidimensional and influenced by students’ perceptions of their relationships, the actions they take to engage with others, and the emotions associated with belonging and inclusion. We chose to focus on this topic because prior research demonstrates links between social connectedness, academic performance, and mental health.We developed a semi-structured interview and selected two pre-existing measures to explore social connectedness. The interview includes questions about respondents’ high school expectations regarding making connections in college compared to what actually occurred, as well as questions about the actions they took to build social networks. The Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and R-UCLA Loneliness scales will be used to examine respondents’ emotions related to connectedness. Respondents have been identified using purposive sampling (all UWEC first-year students), and our goal is to meet with twelve participants.Once data collection is complete, we will conduct a thematic analysis of the interview responses and use descriptive statistics to analyze the FoMO and loneliness data. Our goal for this project is to better understand how UWEC students form social connections during their first year of college.
During our study of community-level stigma of transgender individuals, student researchers Bee and Wind provided a vital perspective from within the transgender community. In this presentation, both researchers will discuss their experiences as transgender individuals performing research on their own community. Here, they will briefly explain the project and its findings, and discuss their perspectives throughout the process, including the need for objectivity, maintaining boundaries during participant interviews, trans perspectives they believe to be missing from the small pool of participants, and the lines drawn between personal experience and fact when drawing conclusions.
This project examines how growing up with a chronically ill sibling may function as an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), causing alasting impact on the psychosocial health of the non-ill child. By reviewing existing research and conducting a qualitative study andanalysis, this study aims to expand the current ACE framework to improve trauma-informed care and future outcomes of the non-illchild. This project emphasizes the need for increased awareness among professionals as well as the need for support and earlyinterventions. Overall, the findings of this study will promote a more comprehensive and equitable support system for vulnerablechildren.
