UB Alberti Center Newsletter

News & Updates

December 2023 | Volume 12: Issue 4

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:

September

Preventing Bullying and Promoting School Safety plenary session presented at the National Federation for Just Communities conference - Buffalo, NY

Pathways to Violence Prevention training - Little Rock, AR

October

The Role of School Practices and Characteristics in Bullying and Bystander Behaviors presentation at 2023 World Anti-Bullying Forum - Raleigh, NC

Cyber-Victimization and Addictive Phone Use: Indirect Effects of Depression and Anxiety Among College Students presentation at 2023 World Anti-Bullying Forum - Raleigh, NC

November

Bullying Prevention presentation for students at Abate Elementary - Niagara Falls, NY

Navigating Sticky Situations and Supporting Social Interactions of Gifted Children presentation for Speyer Legacy School - Manhattan, NY

PREPaRE Workshop 1: Comprehensive School Safety Planning: Prevention Through Recovery for Ken-Ton School District - Kenmore, NY

NYSED Dignity for All Students Act Training

Registration dates are now available through March, 2024 for the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) training workshop for teacher certification in New York State. The course is offered fully online in two parts. Part One is asynchronous, while Part Two is synchronous with "live" interactive instruction via Zoom. Here is some feedback from recent participants:

Examining your own biases is vital, bullying prevention requires being present and follow-up, all of these behaviors are muscles you need to engage regularly.

Instructor was amazing, enjoyed the prompts and slides, super informative.

I feel like we talked about a lot of useful information and it was helpful to learn about why bullying occurs and how to stop these negative behaviors using different techniques.

Link to DASA training workshop information.

2023-2024 Alberti Center Colloquium Series

The 2023 portion of the Alberti Center Colloquium Series wrapped up on November 8 with Ana Bravo Castillo, PhD student and Fulbright scholar, who presented on The Moral Dimension as a Key to Understanding and Preventing School Bullying and Cyberbullying. Ana's slides and presentation recording are available on our website.

The 2024 portion of the series will continue during the spring semester with Hannah Rapp, PhD, postdoctoral researcher with the Alberti Center, presenting on An Exploratory Mixed Methods Study Considering Parents of Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities as Secondary Victims of Bullying Abuse. This presentation will be offered both in-person and virtually on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 from 11:30am-12:45pm. More information and a registration link are available on our website.

Descriptive flyer for February 2024 colloquium presented by Hannah Rapp, PhD.

Awards & Recognitions

Congratulations to Dr. Amanda Nickerson for being selected as a recipient of the Graduate School’s 2023-24 Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award! “This award recognizes truly exceptional faculty mentoring of graduate students at UB. Nominees are reviewed by a faculty committee, based on the nominee’s sustained support and development of graduate students.” As a result of winning this award, Amanda will also be nominated for the Geoffrey Marshall Mentoring Award which is given each spring by the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools (NAGS).

On December 7, the Alberti Center team honored Kathleen Allen, PhD, former training and evaluation specialist for the Alberti Center, with dinner at Giancarlo's restaurant. Katy announced her retirement earlier this year and will be spending time with her two daughters and their new babies who are expected to arrive in early 2024! Thank you, Katy, for all of your many contributions to the Alberti Center, you will certainly be missed!!

Group photo at Giancarlo's restaurant for Katy Allen's retirement dinner.

Image of Amanda Nickerson with a group of 5 students at the NASP 2023 Conference.

Video Resource Spotlight

Rather than share our 2022-2023 Annual Report, which you can still find on our website here, we thought it would be fun to share this video photo album to look back on some of our most memorable moments in 2023!

Some of the highlights include a few of the conferences, student presentations, dissertation defenses, graduation, and community events we have participated in over the past year!

You can find this, and other resources on our YouTube channel.

2023 Alberti Center Conference

The Alberti Center Annual Conference, Strengthening Support for the Whole School Community, took place Thursday, October 5, at Classics V Banquet Center. Keynote presenters included Byron McClure, EdD, NCSP, Stacy Williams, PhD, LP, and Rebecca Vujnovic, PhD, NCSP. Thank you again to our presenting sponsor, Spectrum Health and Human Services, and all of the school districts and businesses across Western New York represented by conference attendees! Additional photos from the conference can be viewed here and presentation slides are available on our conference website.

Photo of Drs. Stephanie Fredrick, Amanda Nickerson, Suzanne Rosenblith, and keynote presenters Drs. Byron McClure, Stacy Williams, and Rebecca Vujnovic at the Alberti Center Annual Conference.

Photo of Drs. Stephanie Fredrick, Kathryn Jens, and Amanda Nickerson.

Alberti Center Bequest from UB Alumna

We are excited to announce that Kathryn Jens, PhD ’78, MA ’75, a licensed clinical psychologist now residing in the state of Colorado, has committed to $1.5 million in funding for the first-ever endowed faculty position in the University at Buffalo's Graduate School of Education. “My hope is that the endowed position will give UB, and the Alberti Center, even more esteem,” explains Jens. “It’s an assurance that the work will continue. Bullying is such a universal human issue, and it’s not a topic that the world will soon move on from.” In 2021 Jens made the first of many gifts to the Alberti Center to establish a graduate student fellowship. Shortly after, she began making plans for the bequest commitment. "An endowed chair elevates the position of the GSE and will expand the capacity of the Alberti Center for additional levels of support to advance cutting-edge research,” explains Amanda Nickerson. “Focused funding is absolutely essential to produce high-quality research that directly impacts schools, communities, youth and their families."

Group photo of the Alberti Center administrative and student team at Wine on Hertel for End of Semester Holiday Celebration.

End of the Semester Holiday Celebration

The Alberti Center administrative and student team gathered on December 14, at Wine on Hertel in Buffalo, to celebrate the end of the fall semester and the holiday season. Food, beverages and a white elephant gift exchange were enjoyed by everyone! Most of the students will now return home for winter break until classes resume for the spring semester beginning on January 24, 2024. We wish everyone peace, joy, and happiness in the new year ahead!!

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