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Building a Sense of Community in Online Programs
Attendees will join faculty from the online MSW program to discuss strategies for increasing engagement and connectedness in online programs. Social work is a discipline that centers heavily around human relationships. We have employed intentional strategies to increase our students’ ability and desire to build connections with faculty and peers while enrolled in an online asynchronous graduate program. This session will serve to share our strategies and engage in discussion with attendees about challenges and successes they have faced in helping online students to connect with their program and university.
Lindsey Rinehart
FIELD EDUCATION COORDINATOR
Ms. Lindsey Rinehart is a graduate of the MSW program at New York University. She completed her BSW at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV. Lindsey has over a decade of experience working for community organizations to meet the needs of underserved populations, primarily focusing on mental health, substance abuse and homelessness. She has experience in nonprofit management, Assertive Community Treatment, and housing first modalities. Lindsey has focused on community engagement across disciplines through active partnerships with community stakeholders.
Mandy Weirich
MSW ONLINE PROGRAM COORDINATOR, GERONTOLOGY PROGRAM COORDINATOR, AND CLINICAL INSTRUCTOR
Mandy Weirich is a graduate of the MSW program at West Virginia University and she received her B. A. in Criminology at St. Leo University, Norfolk Campus. Ms. Weirich’s entire college career was spent as a non-traditional student, attending evening and online classes, while working and raising a family. Ms. Weirich has over a decade of experience in the rural aging field, including Adult Protective Services, Statewide Trainer for Adult Services and Adult Protective Services, and Program Manager for Healthy Home--an innovative supportive housing and health model for low-income Seniors.
Ms. Weirich has been the recipient of several awards in her field including: the inaugural WV NASW Karen J. Glazier Award for Social Work in Gerontology, David K. Brown Scholar, Hartford Fellow through the Mountain State Partnership at WVU, Adult Protective Services Worker of the Year. She has co-authored several publications on topics of social isolation and rural service networks, contributed to the NAPSA Adult Protective Services Abuse Registry National Report, and was interviewed about formal and informal caregiver roles for an issue of NASW Social Work Advocates. Her primary interests are in the field of gerontology, policy, health care, and the use of technology in education and social work.
Rhonda Hayes
ONLINE INSTRUCTOR, MSW PROGRAM
Rhonda Hayes received her M.S.W. from West Virginia University’s School of Social Work, at the Wheeling extended campus and currently holds an Independent Clinical Social Work License. She earned her bachelor’s degree with University of Maryland University College online while living overseas. She taught early childhood and elementary education and carried her passion for families and children into social work.In social work Rhonda worked in the field of domestic violence as the Director of the YWCA Family Violence Prevention Program, served on the WV Board of Directors for Family Protection Services, held a WV Domestic Violence Advocate Certification, and served on the West Virginia Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team. She then moved to WV DHHR as a Child Protective Service Worker and later to community corrections where she earned an Advanced Drug and Alcohol Certification while counseling with the Lee Day Report Center. Rhonda later, developed and implemented a recovery/reentry program for women through the YWCA. Rhonda is a certified trainer for Love and Logic parenting, as well as, High Conflict Parenting Education. After working with abuse, addiction, mental illness, and violence, she desires to bring understanding of the complex dynamics of these social issues and quality intervention that will break the cycles of abuse and oppression.