UB Alberti Center Newsletter

Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention News & Updates

June 2023 | Volume 12: Issue 2

Upcoming Events

Check out all upcoming events hosted by both the UB Alberti Center and Graduate School of Education!

Out and About in the Community & Beyond

The Alberti Center team offers in-person, virtual, and hybrid events upon request. These are just some of the events we have participated in or provided over the past few months:

March

Spread the Word Inclusion WNY event - Tri-Main Center, Buffalo, NY

Being positive for our kids: Enhancing social media strengths of children and adolescents. Parent presentation - Cheecktowaga CSD, Cheektowaga, NY

Lockdown drills: Research and best practices virtual presentation - Buffalo, NY

Helping Students at Risk virtual training for NYS Office of Mental Health

April

Supporting Students' Social, Emotional, and Relationship Needs presentation for Haldane Central Schools - Cold Spring, NY

Helping Students at Risk Training of Trainers for Crisis Services - Buffalo, NY

May

embraceWNY's Buffalo Brunch - Salvatore's, Cheektowaga, NY

Cyberbullying Q&A webinar for National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)

Cyberbullying and social media use: Prevention and intervention practices. Keynote for British Virgin Islands (BVI) Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Event - Tortula, BVI

NYSED Dignity for All Students Act Training

Registration dates are now available through August, 2023. The course is offered fully online in two parts. Part One is asynchronous, while Part Two is synchronous with "live" interactive instruction. Feedback from recent participants:

Very confident in what I learned and able to immediately apply my learning - thank you.

Bullying is more nuanced and grey than we realize, our own perceptions and beliefs impact how we perceive what happens around us and when one person stands up then others feel brave enough to do so as well.

Link to DASA Training registration information.

Photo banner of presenters for annual conference including Drs. Byron McClure, Stacy Williams and Rebecca Vujnovic

Save the Date! 11th Annual Conference

We will be hosting the 11th Annual Alberti Center Conference on Thursday, October 5, 2023 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Classics V Banquet Center in Amherst, NY. The conference will be offered in a hybrid format again this year with a virtual option via Zoom. For in-person attendees, a continental breakfast and lunch buffet are provided with registration. The theme of the conference this year will be Strengthening Support for the Whole School Community.

Three keynote presenters will include Drs. Byron McClure who will focus on SEL in the classroom and school climate, Stacy Williams who will focus on self-care and advocacy for educators, and Rebecca Vujnovic who will focus on strengthening support for the student community. In addition, Dr. Vujnovic will lead attendees in a mindfulness exercise following her presentation. Please share the save-the-date flyer (coming to your inbox soon!) with your friends and colleagues and registration will open before the end of summer on our conference website!

Shout out to our Alberti Center student team!

We are so proud of the accomplishments from our student team members this year! During the month of May, Hannah Grossman successfully defended her PhD dissertation titled Exposure to Violence and Aggression in Adolescence: The Protective Role of School Connectedness and Prosocial Peers in a High-Risk Sample and Abbey McClemont successfully defended her PhD dissertation titled Effectiveness of a Skill-Building Intervention for Students with ADHD: The OutSMARTers Program. Hannah and Abbey will be completing their internships in Pittsburgh and New York City respectively. Amanda Breese, Schomburg Fellow, will be completing her internship at the Western New York Children's Psychiatric Center.

Dr. Margaret "Maggie" Manges and Dr. Samantha Stanford both graduated in May from the counseling & school psychology doctoral program. Maggie was also the recipient of the UB Graduate School of Education's PhD Excellence Award! We wish them both the very best in their future endeavors!

Dr. Margaret "Maggie" Manges (left) and Dr. Samantha Stanford (right) pictured with Dr. Amanda Nickerson.

Video Resource Spotlight

In recognition of Pride Month, we share this video resource titled Centering Youth Voices: Addressing Identity-Based Bullying, released through a collaboration between the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) Welcoming Schools educator training programs and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

"In addition to an unprecedented and dangerous political environment, LGBTQ+ kids continue to shoulder the weight of being bullied in school just because of who they are. It’s why we’ve partnered with ADL to get more educators and other youth-supporting adults to learn more about identity-based bullying, and what they can do to prevent it. The importance of having these conversations cannot be overstated. I’ve seen it again and again through our Welcoming Schools educator training programs that have benefited 600,000 students this year alone: When educators center inclusion, kids thrive." Cheryl Greene, HRC Foundation’s Director of Welcoming Schools

You can find this video along with other resources for parents, students, and educators on our YouTube channel as well as in the Resources section of our website.

Screenshot of Mental Health and Well-Being website page for student resources

Mental Health and Well Being Resources

During the month of May, Mental Health Awareness Month, we added phone, video and website resources to each of the educators, parents and students sections of the Resources page on our website. Some of these additions include teen crisis support, teaching tools for mental health discussions in the classroom, screening tools and tips for parents, and a link to our YouTube playlist on this topic. Due to the correlation between the effects of bullying and mental health, it is critical to include these resources. Bullying can lead to poor emotional, mental, and physical health outcomes. Strengthening well-being and coping skills can significantly impact how young people respond if they are confronted with harassment, bullying or abuse in their lives. It is also extremely important for parents and educators to include these conversations when interacting with their children or students.

Please take a look at the resources we have included and let us know if there are any that would be important to add! We're open to any suggestions for improvement in order to make the site as helpful as possible. Feedback can be directed to Brie Kishel, program & operations manager at briekish@buffalo.edu.

2022-2023 Colloquium Series

On April 18, Dr. Wendy Craig, Professor of Psychology and Scientific Co-Director of PREVNet and BRNet at Queen's University, Toronto, Canada, wrapped up our 22-23 Colloquium Series with a presentation on Addressing Power in Bullying is About Gender and Income Inequality. Presentation slides and a recording of the event are now available on our website. Other speakers for the 22-23 Series included Dr. Ann Farrell, Growing LGBTQ Youth Support (GLYS) of Western New York, and Jessica Quintero. Our 23-24 Series will kick off on Thursday, September 14, with Rachel Garthe, PhD, recipient of the 2022 Alberti Center Early Career Award. More information coming soon!

Early Career Award Applications

The Alberti Center Distinguished Scholarly Contributions to Bullying Abuse Prevention Award recognizes an individual who has made exemplary scholarly contributions to the field of bullying abuse prevention and conducted research that has the potential to influence practice and policy. Applications are invited from early career professionals (no more than seven years since receiving doctoral degree) from psychology, education or a related field who work in an accredited college or university setting. The recipient will receive a plaque and $1,000.00. Deadline for applications is Friday, July 14 at 11:59 p.m. ET and can be submitted via our website. The winner will be announced by the end of August!

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