{"id":40802294478,"date":"2026-04-27T15:41:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T19:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/?p=40802294478"},"modified":"2026-04-29T17:54:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T21:54:51","slug":"social-work-students-present-at-bpd-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/social-work-students-present-at-bpd-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Work Students Present at BPD Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Social work students Hunter Drivanos and Caitlin McErlean recently delivered a poster presentation at the annual Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors (BPD) Conference<\/a> in New Orleans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their presentation, \u201cSupporting Social Work Students Through a Change: A Support Group Intervention at Monmouth University<\/a>,\u201d explored a structured group check-in designed to help students process their thoughts and emotions as they prepare to enter the professional field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAttending the conference with professors who have been part of my social work education meant so much. It was an inspiring and transformative experience, both professionally and personally \u2026 as we shared the positive impact of the support groups we hosted for social work majors, creating spaces for connection, understanding, and support,\u201d McErlean said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drivanos and McErlean also provided guidance on navigating the academic realm and world outside of campus, creating meaningful connections within the social work program, and promoting mental health awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing surrounded by meaningful conversations by day and the energy of the music by night made the experience deeply personal, strengthening my understanding of mental health and my passion for helping others,\u201d Drivanos added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erin Nau, Ph.D., lecturer in the School of Social Work, served as the students\u2019 mentor and presented at the conference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project was the culmination of skills they learned in group class, research and evaluation, and their practicum education. We are so proud and excited that our student\u2019s had this transformative opportunity,\u201d Nau said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional School of Social Work faculty members also presented at the conference, including Sarah Brown, LCSW, Ralph Cuseglio, DSW, Christa Hogan, LCSW, Sanjana Ragudaran, Ph.D., Michelle Scott, Ph.D., and Joelle Zabotka, Ph.D. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

View facutly presentations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cuseglio’s, \u201cArt as a Social Change Agent: Getting Students Excited About Social Justice Activism<\/a>\u201d and \u201cMSW Student Perspectives on Their Mental Health Conditions: Career Motivation and Future Practice Implications<\/a>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott’s, \u201cBut I\u2019m Not a Clinician: Role of All Social Workers in Suicide Prevention<\/a>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nau’s, \u201cProfessional Associations: Advantages and Challenges for Social Work Students<\/a>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Social work students Hunter Drivanos and Caitlin McErlean recently delivered a poster presentation at the annual Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors (BPD) Conference in New Orleans. Their presentation, \u201cSupporting Social Work Students Through a Change: A Support Group Intervention at Monmouth University,\u201d explored a structured group check-in designed to help students process their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2249,"featured_media":40802294603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,215,444,423],"tags":[6876,4291],"person":[6881,2603,6408,6878,1360,6884,470,2228,4453,2152],"audience":[14,11,1961,128,47],"school":[89,98],"program":[],"class_list":["post-40802294478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-excellence","category-experiential-education","category-monmouth-now","category-faculty-perspectives","tag-association-of-baccalaureate-social-work-program-directors","tag-school-of-social-work","person-caitlin-mcerlean","person-christa-hogan","person-erin-nau","person-hunter-drivanos","person-joelle-zabotka","person-kristina-lind","person-mscott","person-ralph-cuseglio","person-sanjana-ragudaran","person-sarah-brown","audience-alumni","audience-current-student","audience-parent","audience-prospective-undergraduate-student","audience-undergraduate-student","school-school-of-social-work","school-social-work"],"squareimage":{"id":40802294600,"rendered":"\"\"","original":{"url":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2026\/04\/Drivanos-and-McErlean_square.jpg","width":660,"height":660}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40802294478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2249"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40802294478"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40802294478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40802294541,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40802294478\/revisions\/40802294541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40802294603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40802294478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40802294478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40802294478"},{"taxonomy":"person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=40802294478"},{"taxonomy":"audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience?post=40802294478"},{"taxonomy":"school","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/school?post=40802294478"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=40802294478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}