Spring-2015-Vol-3 - Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology

Spring 2015
Vol. 3
SOCIOLOGY AT WORK
The Official Newsletter of the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology
Editor: Tina Quartaroli
Greetings AACS members and friends,
CONTENTS
From the Editor………………………… 1
Member Spotlight……………….……. 2
Sociologist@Work.…........………… 4
Topics, Tidbits and Tools ……….... 7
Book Review…………………………….. 8
Committee Reports………………... 10
Announcement ….…………….……. 13
Call for Submissions……………. 13
Calls for Papers…………………… 14
Call for Student Participants.. 18
Call for Journal Editor…………..19
Certification…………………………….20
AACS Leadership…………….………21
2015 AACS Conference
October 8-10
Montgomery, AL
“Social Justice from Local to
Global: Sociology on the
Move”
Click here to join AACS or
renew your membership
aacsnet.net
We are gearing up for a fabulous conference this October in Montgomery,
Alabama as the city commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Selma to
Montgomery March and the subsequent passage of the Voting Rights Act of
1965. Voted Best Historic City in last year’s USA Today Reader’s Best Travel
Award contest, Montgomery is jam-packed with history, culture and
entertainment. Check out the Visit Montgomery website on your way to
registering for the conference and take a look at all the city has to offer.
Our keynote speaker for the conference is noted civil rights scholar, Dr.
Aldon Morris, Leon Forrest Professor of Sociology and African American
Studies at Northwestern University. His forthcoming book, The Scholar
Denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology, explores the
largely uncredited role Dubois played in the founding of American
Sociology.
Please be sure to get your submissions in as soon as possible. We will be
closing submissions and registration a little early this year and don’t want
anyone to miss out! Faculty members, we are currently soliciting
participants for the 2015 Judith Little Problem Solving Competition.
Consider bringing a student team to Montgomery to compete!
This issue of Sociology at Work features an interview by Kathy Stolley with
AACS member Diane Hotaling on her documentary "Winter Shelter, On
Campus: College Students Encounter Homelessness at Home." Also
featured this issue in the “Sociologist@Work” section is AACS member Lisa
Fisher on employing visual sociology in organizational settings, as well as a
review by Roger Straus of The Complete Guide to Writing Questionnaires:
How to Get Better Information for Better Decisions. As always, make sure to
check out Steve Steele’s Topics, Tidbits and Tools!
Wishing everyone a lovely spring season,
Tina Quartaroli
Editor
Member Spotlight
An Interview with Diane Hotaling:
Director of Community Service at Virginia Wesleyan College
on her College’s recent documentary,
"Winter Shelter, On Campus: College Students Encounter
Homelessness at Home"
By Kathy Stolley
Virginia Wesleyan College
2015 Winter Shelter Management Team: Clockwise from top right – Director of Community Service Diane
Hotaling, Patrick Baiocco, Dani Williams, Tianna Garland,Morgan McKenzie, Christina Reynolds, Xzavier Darden,
Alyssa Gwara, Bianca Nonnenmacher, and Visiting Instructor of Recreation and Leisure Studies Takeyra Collins
A session at the fall 2014 AACS meetings in Pittsburgh screened the short 16-minute
documentary video from Virginia Wesleyan College titled "Winter Shelter, On Campus: College
Students Encounter Homelessness at Home." The video, directed by Stu Minnis (Associate
Professor of Communication) and Diane Hotaling (Director of Community Service), captures the
unique relationship between college students and the homeless. It showcases a long-standing
college-community partnership - a week-long winter emergency homeless shelter hosted oncampus during VWC’s short January term beginning in 2007. The directors framed the video to
encourage other schools to envision similar possibilities.
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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If you missed the screening and would be interested in learning more or viewing the video, it is
now available on the College website (click "Video Documentary" on the bottom left menu):
http://www.vwc.edu/shelter
Or access it at YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSpC9xDXIY0
Documentary co-director Diane Hotaling works closely with VWC’s applied sociology courses
and has made several presentations at AACS. She agreed to share some thoughts about the
Shelter project. Contact Diane for further information at: [email protected], or 757-4553216.
Q. How did Shelter begin through your office?
A. Two sophomore students (including a sociology major!) envisioned and proposed the project
to our administration for approval. They were part of our Student Outreach
Coordinators (SOC) program focusing on hunger and homelessness. SOC is a studentled organization that has the mission of raising awareness of societal issues and inspiring
all Wesleyan students, faculty and staff to engage in community action, by planning and
implementing direct service projects that meet real needs.
Q. How many people has Shelter served during the past 9 years? And how many volunteers
and volunteer hours have been dedicated to Shelter during that time?
A. Since 2007, we have served approximately 553 homeless men and women, not accounting
for those who return year after year. The most number of Guests in Shelter was an
average of 86 per night in 2010. The least number of Guests in Shelter was an average of
31 per night this past year. Volunteers have ranged in number from a low of 91 that first
year, to a high of 219 this past year. In the early days, we operated shelter with just four
managers. We now carry 10 managers who each dedicate more than 80 hours during
the week.
Q. What is the student role in Shelter?
A. Students own shelter from the idea of it to implementation. This shows clearly in the student
Shelter Management staff. They are amazing, both in their passion for the cause and
compassion for the individuals experiencing housing insecurity, and in their dedication
to ensuring a quality experience for both Guests and Volunteers.
Q. What do you see as the most unique aspect of this Shelter project?
A. It is not unusual for college students to work with the homeless in the community. It is,
however, unusual for college students to host the homeless in their campus homes.
Students have been warm hosts through the years and our Guests have been respectful,
grateful visitors.
Q. Why do you think the Shelter has been such a sustainable project?
A. The enduring nature of this offering by students at the college speaks to the trust and
respect between all partners in this endeavor: the community partner, the homeless
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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Guests, the student and staff volunteers, campus security and food service, and the
college administration.
Q. What advice do you have for any other schools interested in implementing an on-campus
Shelter?
A. First, seek a good partner, one that has tried and true procedures in place to ensure a safe,
dignified shelter experience for all who need the services and for the volunteers who
provide them. It is incumbent on you to help the partner understand the learning goals
for your students. This mutual benefit is the foundation on which our partnership is
built. Even our Guests understand it. Second, create an atmosphere where shelter is a
shared experience on campus. To this end, plan to offer honest, heartfelt reports each
morning to all stakeholders. We send a Shelter Update each morning. All feedback
we’ve received indicates that the Updates are well received and have created
widespread support for this undertaking, from individuals who donate items to coaches
who give up gym time for our use, and everyone in between. Last, maintain your
compassion for the Guests throughout planning and implementation. Working Shelter
can make you weary. Don’t lose sight of why you are taking on the offering of a Winter
Homeless Shelter. The rewards are immeasurable.
Kathy Stolley may be contacted at [email protected]
Topics, Tibits, and Tools
Sociologist@Work
“Building your Toolbox: Using Visual Sociology to Gauge Local
Relevancies of Organizational Culture”
By Lisa Fisher
The College of Wooster
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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As Stephen Steele said in the last issue of Sociology at Work, it is critical that applied
sociologists continue to gain new skills to “get a bigger toolbox.” One tool to consider adding is
visual sociology. Generally, visual sociology incorporates the use of images in the processes of
documentation and interpretation of social phenomena. Thus, the focus is on collecting and
inductively analyzing “moments in time.” This method has particular value for gauging local
relevancies of organizational culture that may be taken-for-granted by organizational members
and overlooked by researchers and practitioners yet can do much to inform work in
organizational settings.
Building understanding of organizational culture allows for more targeted analyses and
interventions in these settings. Local relevancies of culture include aspects of organizational
history, metaphors and other tools of sense-making, nuanced aspects of relationships between
departments or occupational groups, and other cultural knowledge that may be only tacitly
known by organizational members but is significant to how they operate.
Identifying local relevancies is difficult because the tools typically used for examining culture
often invite over-simplified descriptions and lead respondents to hyper-focus on a limited
number of dimensions of culture as opposed to considering the workplace as a whole. Local
relevancies of culture have a way of blurring into the background in an organizational setting.
This, coupled with the fact that so much of cultural knowledge is tacit, leads respondents to
omit important insights when they are asked to describe organizational culture.
For example, respondent descriptions may follow the “company line,” reflecting how leaders
attempt to shape and drive culture, or descriptions may take the form of a series of words, such
as “structured, competitive, high expectations.” However, neither of these responses alone
allows the analyst insight into local relevancies that are not immediately evident to the
respondents themselves. Additionally, when members are asked to respond to a series of apriori questions about culture in a survey instrument, their focus is limited to the categories
gauged by that instrument, which leads to homogenization of cultural phenomena. Thus,
these methods generally provide only part of the picture of culture and are unlikely to tap into
local relevancies and tacit knowledge.
Visual sociology offers a unique means of addressing these limitations. Grady (2007) states that
images meaningfully frame moments in time, offer insights into behavior and experiences from
specific vantage points, and represent intentional efforts to inform or persuade. By collecting
images that reflect insider perspectives and knowledge, the analyst’s vantage point is
broadened such that a wide-angle view of culture becomes possible. This allows the analyst to
notice local relevancies that are salient to culture but may not even be associated with culture
in the minds of organizational members.
The key to employing visual sociology in organizational settings is collecting images that reflect
“moments in time” and are meaningful to organizational insiders. Images may be collected, for
example, by photographing objects and spaces pointed out by informants during workplace
tours or asking various stakeholders to send you images or publications (and accompanying
descriptions) that depict important information about the organization. You could also pull
from the company website, photograph wall-hangings (art, banners, personal effects) and
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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photograph workers engaged in common activities. Another option is employing Chalfen’s
(1997) method of gathering “subject-generated imagery” by providing respondents with
cameras or other recording devices and asking them to capture images that are meaningful to
them as organizational members.
Avoid direct mention of organizational culture as you engage in respondent recruitment and
solicitation of images so that focus is not automatically narrowed to explicit descriptions of
culture. This ensures that you, as the researcher or practitioner, can bring to bear the full
power of your analytical expertise to consider the bigger picture of background knowledge in
the workplace, read between the lines to tap tacit knowledge, and consider local relevancies in
ways that organizational members themselves may not have done explicitly. This approach
elevates the importance of insider perspectives and acknowledges the complexities and
intricacies of culture within the organizational setting. At the same time, it prizes your
perspective as an outsider capable of observing and analyzing aspects of culture so
foundational that they blur into the background and are no longer noticed by insiders in their
daily experiences of work.
The number of images collected will vary depending on your project. Let your expertise be your
guide. In general, aim to collect images from a wide array of stakeholders and engage in open
coding. Images might be coded based on time period, department, subject or themes that you
identify. One approach for analysis is to focus first on making observations about images,
grouping them, and then interpreting observations relevant to an entire grouping. As this
process continues, cultural themes and patterns will emerge. Remember that contradiction is
inherent in culture and, when detected, can lead to particularly valuable findings as to local
relevancies.
In addition to analyzing a collection of images, researchers and practitioners can also use
images during focus groups and interviews or include them in follow-up surveys to gather
information on specific topics, items or spaces; aid recall and invite rich descriptions of imagery.
Harper (2002) calls this “photo-elicitation” and discusses ways that it can be done in openended fashion, to encourage respondent description, and closed-ended fashion, to ask
respondents to identify subject matter in images. The flexibility inherent in the method makes
it even more valuable.
So the next time you need to examine organizational culture to support a program or
intervention, you will have the tool of visual sociology at your disposal to allow you to look
broader, dig deeper and gauge local relevancies of culture that can inform your work in new
and profound ways.
Chalfen, Richard. 1997. “Afterword to the Revised Edition,” Pp. 275-341 in Through Navajo Eyes
by Sol Worth and John Adair Albuquerque NM: University of New Mexico Press.
Grady, John. 2007. “Visual Sociology.” In C. Bryant, & D. Peck (Eds.), 21st Century Sociology. (pp.
II-63-II-71). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Harper, Doug. 2002. “Talking about Pictures” Visual Studies 17, 1: 13-26.
Lisa Fischer may be contacted at [email protected]
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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Topics, Tidbits, and Tools
Futures Wheel
By Stephen F. Steele
As Baseball Hall of Famer, 89 years old, Yogi Berra, claims:” The future ain’t what it used to be.”
Perhaps we should considering offering him an honorary membership in our organization for
such insight! In reality the durable old catcher for the Yankees was on target (as on target as he
ever is). One of the key challenges when we use our discipline in the boardroom or the
classroom is dealing with change, but often more difficult, dealing with the future.
When a client puts a project in motion she is “looking down the road” for outcomes, not now,
but in the future. The foresight strategists and futurists have led the way in attempting to
understand this perspective and provide tools to begin to envision likely outcomes. There are
many of these (and, I’ll likely share more at other times). For this writing let’s look at a futures
wheel.
We’re all fairly comfortable with a non-recursive model:
If xtheny
It’s the mainstay of hypothesis testing (and, I would contend, a futures statement). If a
program (x) has the impact for which it is intended we can envision (y) and measure an
outcome. The model immediately gets more complicated if y is recursive and drives x, or if
multiple y’s emerge, some manifest and intended, some latent and unintended. The futures
wheel provides a tool when employed early in program or project planning that can open a
client’s and our eyes to multiple possibilities. Sociologist are all too aware of unintended
consequences. I needed go no further.
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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Doing it …
Skills Converged provides an excellent one-page overview
for conducting and drawing a futures wheel. It uses
“wearable computing” as the innovation and then shows
how (like a stone thrown in a pool) brainstorming “What
happens if “wearable computing” becomes reality.
Primary, secondary and tertiary causal change emerge.
Want to try it? See…
http://www.skillsconverged.com/FreeTrainingMaterials/ta
bid/258/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/763/FuturesWheel.aspx
The topic in the center need not be an innovation but a
local program or problem on the horizon. Asking a group
of stakeholders to get involved in the possible outcomes of
an action at several impact levels can help program design
and head off longer term problems.
Figure from Bing images
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=++futures+w
heel&go=Submit&qs=bs&form=QBIR#view=detail&id=
C91C14B0CA264515D09E8E593C2F73BAF30E2A9D&s
electedIndex=7
Stop by each quarter and see if you can use the tool outlined. In the meantime, “Get a bigger
toolbox!”
Want to recommend a tool for inclusion in this section? Send your recommendation, your
name, affiliation and the tool website to [email protected]
Book Review
Reviewed by Roger A. Straus
The Blackstone Group, West Linn, OR
The Complete Guide to Writing Questionnaires: How to Get Better information for Better
Decisions, by David Harris, I&M Press. 2014. ISBN-10: 0615917674 ISBN-13: 978-0615917672.
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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In this age of MBA one-shot courses on market research, Survey Monkey and other DIY tools,
an awful lot of people think that just about anyone can write a questionnaire... Well, kind
of/sort of -- if you know what you are doing. Sociology programs may go deeply into scales and
the underlying statistics, but someone is generally expected to pick up the underlying skillset by
osmosis. That's where this book comes in.
Written by a professional marketing researcher and research methodologist (disclaimer – and a
long-time client and friend of the reviewer), this book provides systematic, practical guidelines
on how to write a survey questionnaire. It is a pragmatic, well-organized, list-driven guide to
creating effective questionnaires. One of the aspects of this book that is particularly relevant to
AACS members is its focus on research that is designed to support decisions – a concept
essentially alien to the purely academic sociologist or methods course.
Harris goes beyond the obvious. Rather than providing an academic introduction to
questionnaires or some kind of rote cookbook, the book is organized as a series of guidelines
for writing effective questionnaires divided into four parts:




Part 1: plan research to support decisions, which may include conducting qualitative
research first and then writing a research plan. Harris correctly points out that this
crucial step is often neglected.
Part 2: plan the questionnaire, including first determining the information needed and
how to analyze the data, then working out question sequence and flow, transitions, etc.
Part 3: write the questions. Chapters cover making questions clear, ensuring that they
are answerable, making questions easy and unbiased, and effectively presenting lists,
rating scales and open-ended questions.
Part 4: pretesting the questionnaire and conducting a soft launch.
This approach is facilitated by presenting the information, itself, in a practical manner -- for
example, presenting a topic with a question that two people interpret differently in order to
convey the rationale.
As I have implied, one of the most valuable aspects of this book is that the author is not an
academic and is not writing for academics -- rather, he has spent his career on the “client" side,
for much of it leading marketing research departments for a Top 6 global pharmaceutical
company. As one of Dave’s major research suppliers for some two decades, I can attest to his
level of savvy and sophistication (and friendliness to a sociological approach even though his
graduate degree is in quantitative psychology).
While I suspect that this guide will most often be used for the obvious purpose of training new
researchers (whether in an academic or applied setting), that would be a disservice to us all. This
book should not only be in every sociological practitioner and aspiring practitioner’s library, it
should be used by them. Even an old survey research hand like myself can find a great deal of
useful information and practical tips in this volume -- including many things "I used to know," and
too often have forgotten! Oh, and it is well written and accessible. Highly recommended.
Roger Straus may be contacted at [email protected]
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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1st Quarter Committee Reports
Nominations and Governance Committee Report
Submitted by Bob Kettlitz, Chair
[email protected]
The nomination process for elected positions on the AACS board is just about over. There are
five (5) positions being filled for this upcoming year; President-Elect, Vice President-Elect, and
three (3) At Large Board member positions. I want to thank those of you that nominated
individuals from AACS to serve. I would like to take this time to remind you to renew your
membership at this time. In order to vote your membership has to current. The membership
year begins in January. Elections will begin on or about April 15th . Election results will be
announced in the summer edition of the newsletter (June). I look forward to seeing you in
Montgomery in October.
Finance Committee Report
Submitted by Michael S. Fleischer, Chair
[email protected]
In 2015, the AACS Finance Committee will be expanded to include more AACS leadership. This
decision follows an assessment by AACS President-elect, Dr. Stephen Steele, and AACS
Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair, Dr. Michael Fleischer, in light of several important
financial and fiscal issues the Committee will need to address over the next few years. Pending
confirmation from the parties, the reformed Committee will consist of AACS CEO, Dr. Tina
Quartaroli; AACS Administrative Officer, Ms. Fonda Martin; AACS Vice President, Dr. Karen
Albright; and AACS Vice President-elect, Dr. James Wiest. AACS President, Dr. Troy Adams, and
AACS President-elect, Dr. Stephen Steele will serve as Ex Officio members of the Committee.
AACS Student Committee Chair, Dr. Marilyn Dyck, and AACS Past Treasurer, Dr. Eleanor Lyon
will serve as advisors to the Committee.
The most important item on the Finance Committee agenda is the need to revisit AACS's
membership and conference pricing structure, beginning with the Denver Annual Meeting in
2016. The new structure will be designed with a cost-benefit calculus that provides a financial
incentive or savings (lower total cost) for those who join the Association and register for its
conferences, rather than pay only to attend and/or participate in AACS's Annual Meetings as
non-members. The new formula's prospect to incent more non-members to join the
Association also promises to increase the subscription base for AACS's peer-reviewed Journal of
Applied Social Science (JASS). According to President-elect Steve Steele, "the new pricing
structure is crucial to renewals and marketing," and will figure prominently in optimizing AACS's
membership campaign. The Finance Committee will tender its new pricing structure for Board
review at the post-conference AACS Board meeting in Montgomery, AL, in October.
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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Additional agenda items to be addressed by the Committee later this year include acquiring a
corporate credit card, opening a small interest-bearing savings account, and investing limited
funds in a short-term, higher-yield certificate of deposit (CD), to complement the non interestbearing checking account that AACS has at the Bank of America (BofA), its financial institution.
Transfer of BofA signature authority and AACS Treasury documents were completed on
February 17th, 2015. A revised 2014 Treasurer's Report was emailed to the AACS Board on
February 19th, 2015. Total income for AACS in 2014 was $52,848.00. Total expenses were
$40,912.00, leaving a surplus of $11,936.00 in 2014. As of February 28th, 2015, AACS's total
assets were $46,540.82, which included the 2014 surplus combined with the existing balance in
the Association's checking account at BofA.
Student Committee Report
Submitted by Marilyn Dyck, Chair
[email protected]
The task for sociology is to come to the help of the individual. We have to be in service of
freedom. It is something we have lost sight of.
-- Zygmunt Bauman
Greetings from your AACS student working-group! If you resonate with this quote you will
probably already be seeking insight toward the applied sociology practice you are preparing for.
As our next annual gathering of members and friends of Applied and Clinical Sociology draws
near, (October is only 7 months away!) we are eager to invite you to share in growing our
undergraduate and graduate participation at the 2015 annual AACS conference.
The AACS invites students at all stages of their personal academic process, studies, and applied
work opportunities to join us. At AACS, students don’t just present research—they meet, talk
to, and are inspired by people who live the passion of applied work. Students even have the
opportunity to participate in a “real-world” applied and clinical problem solving competition!
(Please check out the opportunity to participate in our hosted annual Student Problem Solving
event (see this newsletter / website for details).
Going forward, student engagement with AACS continues to be a priority strategy with the goal
for students and AACS members to grow in shared learning experiences. As we create our
structure, and build forward to what we will become, we want to recruit and create ideas for
interaction and exchange at the conference venue.
Our student working-group is currently in the development stages of our 2015 work plan and
will soon be sending out a short survey to invite your ideas. New ideas and new people ignite
new thoughts, insight and directions.
Please contact [email protected] to forward your interest to the Student Working Group.
AND please join us, state your interest, and participate!
We hope to meet you, or say hello again, at our October Conference in Montgomery, Alabama!
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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Site Selection Committee Report
Submitted by Steve Steele, Chair
[email protected]
Put Denver on your Meeting Calendar for 2016!
Contracts are complete and arrangements are in place thanks to AACS CEO, Tina Quartaroli and
Vice President-elect, Jim Wiest. The Doubletree by Hilton Denver Tech Center will be the site of
the 2016 Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology Annual Meeting on October 6-8, 2016.
The Doubletree by Hilton Denver is in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and while not “downtown”
the site provides a solid set of facilities, with easy access to the highlights of the City of Denver.
Conference rates are more than reasonable at a price of $119.00/ night.
Take a look at the hotel’s amenities and its location relative to downtown Denver. Vice
President-elect, Jim Wiest thoroughly investigated the conference site in behalf of the Site
Selection Committee with Tina. Jim says “the hotel perfectly fits our needs. It has easy light rail
access to downtown, and the light rail to the airport will be completed before October, 2016.” I
agree with Jim. The site seems ideal. As you make your travel and conference plans for 2016,
make sure you include the 2016 AACS Meeting. President-elect, Steve Steele, plans to
announce the conference theme for the meeting in the next issue of this newsletter.
Marketing, Membership and Development Committee Report
Submitted by Lubomir Popov, Chair
[email protected]
We need to grow AACS membership and participation in order to strengthen our voice, to
implement new developmental programs, and to boost our resources and bargaining potential
for future meetings and initiatives. The Marketing, Membership, and Development Committee
has focused on the forthcoming 2015 AACS Conference.
We see an opportunity for both membership recruitment and increasing conference
attendance. At this point of time, the Call for Proposals (CFP) is posted or sent to two dozen
research association listservs and websites as well as several Internet groups. We would like to
thank our colleagues who participated in this effort. We would also like to ask you to continue
posting contingent on your posting privileges. If you have questions or need more information,
please email Lubomir Popov at [email protected]. Please post, mail, and send as often as
possible. Do not worry about posting duplications. If you haven’t received the AACS CFP from
the listervs where you have privileges, then you can post with confidence. Duplication might be
to our advantage as well. Sometimes the mere number of mails makes a difference. Many
people do not read mails or simply disregard certain subject lines, even when they are about
CFP. However, at some point of time, some individuals might consider our conference as a good
option for them. We are trying to reach tens of thousands of researchers and practitioners with
the hope that 20 or 30 will respond positively. So, please disseminate the CFP whenever you
have opportunities.
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A second strategy for increasing conference attendance involves face-to-face interaction. We
understand that most people can afford only one conference a year; however some of our
colleagues might be willing to experiment with a new conference or to come because of their
interest in our conference theme this year. Although we disseminate the CFP through listservs,
newsletters, and websites, reaching thousands of people, we need more face-to-face
recruitment for the conference. It seems that the e-mail channels do not bring the numbers we
wish to have. So, we need to utilize all possible methods for recruitment.
If you can, please, make an extra effort to bring a colleague of yours. Recruiting people
personally will help a lot with increasing membership and conference attendance. Also, you will
have a friend for sharing the room at the conference hotel. We think this is a good incentive
because the hotel expenses alone make the biggest item in our travel budgets. For some
colleagues, the funding season might be over, but it will be good if they put AACS in their plans
for 2016. Even if you manage to recruit for the distant 2016 conference, it will be a great help
for the association.
Thank you very much for your help! Your active involvement will be a great contribution to the
field of applied sociology, our association, and the forthcoming conferences. Wishing you a
great time in Montgomery, Alabama!
Publications Committee Report
Submitted by Tina Quartaroli
[email protected]
AACS board member at Large, Newman Wong, has been appointed Editor of Sociology at Work:
The Official Newsletter of the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology. His term will begin
October 2015.
Announcements
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Sociology at Work publishes original essays, interviews, research and practice notes, teaching
and mentoring notes, research reports, film and book reviews, book/publication
announcements, and other items of interest related to the practice of applied, clinical and
public sociology. In addition, we are also pleased to publish your announcements such as book
releases, member news and accomplishments, calls for papers, and job opportunities. Please
send submissions to the editor at [email protected]. The newsletter publishes quarterly in
summer, fall, winter, and spring.
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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CALL FOR PAPERS
The 2015 Annual Conference
Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology
October 8-10, 2015
Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa at the Convention Center
201 Tallapoosa Street
Montgomery, AL 36104
“Social Justice from the Local to the Global:
Sociology on the Move”
Deadline for submissions: May 1, 2015
Download individual presentation submission form here
Download full session submission form here
Click here to register for the conference online
Click here to download a fillable mail-in registration form
Click here to reserve your room at the beautiful Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa
or you may call the hotel directly at 334-481-5000 and use code “AACS”
Please direct all program inquiries and submissions to 2015 Vice President and program
organizer Karen Albright at [email protected].
To join AACS or renew your membership, please visit our website at www.aacsnet.net
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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Call for Papers
Book Title: “Understanding Vulnerability, Building Resilience: Responses to
Disasters and Climate Change”
Editors:
Michèle L. Companion, Associate Professor of Sociology
University of Colorado – Colorado Springs
[email protected]
Miriam S. Chaiken, Professor of Anthropology
New Mexico State University
[email protected]
Type: Edited Volume
Proposal to be submitted to CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group
Volume Abstract:
As the global climate shifts, communities are faced with a myriad of mitigation and adaptation
challenges. These challenges highlight the political, cultural, economic, social, and physical
vulnerability of communities, groups, and individuals. However, these challenges can also
demonstrate their resilience. Research in the fields of hazard management, humanitarian
response, food security programming, agricultural development, and gender-equity programming
have sought to understand the factors that create vulnerability, and strategies to enhance
resilience in individuals, families, and communities.
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This volume will bring together case studies from communities around the globe, indigenous
populations, and developing countries that illustrate programming that internalizes these dyadic
concepts of resilience and vulnerability. Specifically, the volume will examine programs that
have helped reduce risks brought on by political instability, climate change, natural disasters,
chronic food insecurity, inequality, and other problems that cause human suffering. Our goal is
to both foster a richer understanding of the variations in vulnerability, and to derive lessons on
fostering resilience that can be employed on a broader scale. Documenting the best practices for
building resilience will be a major focus of the book.
We are seeking interdisciplinary abstract submissions for a peer-reviewed manuscript.
Nutritionists, sociologists, anthropologists, economists, policy makers, disaster managers,
community leaders, indigenous community organizations, and others are invited to submit
abstracts. The volume will be submitted to CRC, part of the Taylor and Francis Group, for
publication consideration. This proposal has been requested by an acquiring editor.
We will accept abstracts as well as full papers for this stage of the process. Full length papers
should be limited to 5,000 words. Inclusion of graphs and photos are welcome and encouraged.
However, please account for these in your paper length. One half-page graph or photo is the
equivalent of 250 words. This is volume has an international focus. We welcome submissions
focusing on all nations.
DEADLINE for abstract submissions: June 1, 2015
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Clinical Sociology division (RC46) of the International Sociological Association
will meet in Johannesburg, South Africa June 28- July 1, 2015.
Theme: Contours of Violence: Manifestations, Interventions and Social Justice.
Presentations not fitting the theme also are welcome.
Abstracts due by April 19, 2015.
For more information, contact Dr. Mariam Seedat Khan at [email protected] or
Dr. Tina Uys at [email protected]
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CALL FOR STUDENT PARTICIPANTS
2015 Judith Little Problem Solving Competition
Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology Conference 2015
Montgomery, AL
We are soliciting student teams for the Judith Little Problem Solving Competition, which will
run concurrently with the annual conference October 8-10th in Montgomery, Alabama.
The Judith Little Problem Solving Competition (JLPSC) provides students a meaningful way to
exercise their sociological skills. It is a networking opportunity for participants and also provides
students a professional experience they can include on their resumes. All students receive a
certificate of participation.
The JLPSC coordinator will solicit a problem from a local Montgomery agency or organization
that is suitable for a sociological solution. The competition begins with meeting the
representative from the community agency on Thursday, October 8th, during the first session
of the conference. The rubric that judges will be using will be distributed to students at that
time. Student teams will have the remainder of the conference to develop a solution. Students
are encouraged to attend conference sessions that may help them develop their solutions.
Students are also encouraged to interview conference attendees for information and
suggestions. Online research is also encouraged but students should not purchase any
additional materials to enhance their presentations. More detailed instructions will be sent to
faculty who express interest in sponsoring a team.
Solutions are due on Saturday, October 10th, during the last session. Teams will present their
solutions to an adjudicating body of judges who are AACS members and a representative of the
agency providing the problem. The solution they present should be framed as a professional
(oral) report to the client agency or organization with a printed one-page executive summary.
No additional materials should be bought for presentation. The winning team and an honorable
mention team will be announced at the completion of the adjudication process. Winning and
honorary mention team members will be recognized on the AACS website. A plaque bearing
the names of the winning team and faculty advisor will be sent to their respective college or
university. Each team and all its members will receive a certificate of participation and a letter
from the AACS president. The winning and honorable mention recognition will be included on
the individual student certificates.
Teams will be made up of 3 to 5 students with a faculty sponsor. Undergraduate and graduate
student teams may enter but not on the same team and will not compete against each other at
the conference.
Interested faculty sponsors should contact Miriam Boeri, [email protected] to receive more
detailed information for participating teams. Thank you for your interest and see you in
Montgomery!
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CALL FOR JOURNAL EDITOR:
Journal of Applied Social Science
The Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS) seeks applications for a new Editor-in-Chief of
the Journal of Applied Social Science for a minimum three year term beginning January 1, 2016.
Reflecting more than 25 years of journal sponsorship by AACS and its predecessor organizations, the
Society for Applied Sociology and the Sociological Practice Association, the Journal of Applied Social
Science (JASS) publishes research articles, essays, research reports, teaching notes, and book reviews on
a wide range of topics of interest to the sociological practitioner. Specifically, we encourage submission
of manuscripts that, in a concrete way, apply social science or critically reflect on the application of
social science. The opportunity to serve as Editor-in-Chief of JASS represents a chance to influence the
content of the journal and help shape the science and practice of the profession.
Editorial duties include receiving manuscript submissions and managing their peer review through an
online submission system; communicating with authors, potential authors, and our publishing partner,
Sage Publications; organizing, recruiting, and working with an Editorial Board and Associate Editors;
organizing and submitting copy for each issue to the production editor at SAGE; checking proofs;
planning future issues; and maintaining regular communication with the AACS Executive Office. In
addition, the Editor prepares and presents a semiannual report to the AACS Board of Directors and
Publications Committee and conducts an Editorial Board meeting during the AACS Annual Meetings each
October.
Institutional Support: Like all non-staff positions in AACS, the JASS editorship is a volunteer position. The
organization appreciates the importance of institutional recognition of the intellectual and practical
challenges of the Editor-in-Chief's position and thus values support from candidates' home institutions.
The Editor’s institution typically provides support in the form of release time, office space and
equipment, student assistants, telephone, and mailing expenses. Graduate Assistant support and
adequate space to house the journal are highly desirable with other kinds of institutional support
significant for the success of operations. Candidates who are unable to get substantial institutional
support will also be considered with the expectation that the institution ensure that needs central to the
journal’s success are adequately met. Candidates should give serious consideration to the feasibility of
serving as Editor-in-Chief in relation to the resources available to them, and they should address these
considerations in their letter of application.
The AACS Board is open to different editorial models such as a co-editorship and invites the candidate(s)
to propose such models.
A completed nomination package includes an electronic letter of application that addresses the
candidate’s qualifications and offers a sense of their vision for JASS; the candidate’s CV; two to four
letters of support from published scholars familiar with the candidate's work, experience and suitability
for the task of journal editing; and a letter of institutional support from the candidate's home institution.
The candidate must be an AACS member at the time of application to be considered for appointment.
The search committee, led by AACS CEO/Executive Director Tina Quartaroli and current Editor-in-Chief
Jammie Price, will begin reviewing materials immediately with an anticipated transition period
beginning July 2015 and the new editor taking over full editorial responsibility on January 1, 2016. Please
send all completed nomination packages to [email protected].
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CERTIFICATION
What Is Certification?
The Certified Sociological Practitioner (C.S.P.) credential is awarded by the Association for
Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS) to experienced professional sociological practitioners who
demonstrate excellence in their practice of applied, clinical, or public sociology.
Certification credentialing is a two-step process. To become certified, you first submit
application materials including a portfolio representing your academic and practice background
and current practice. If your application is approved you will be given the opportunity to
present your portfolio for peer review at an AACS meeting or another regional or national
sociology meeting. For those applicants unable to attend one of the meetings cited above, the
use of video conferencing technology will be considered on a case-by-case basis. For example,
international applicants would be given this consideration. In all cases, the Certification
Committee will make the final decision.
Who Is Eligible?
Practicing sociologists with either a Master’s or Doctoral degree may apply for certification by
the Association of Applied and Clinical Sociology. Those practicing sociologists with
interdisciplinary degrees are also eligible if their practice features a strong sociological
component. Applicants holding a Ph.D. must be able to document at least 1,500 hours or one
year full-time working as a practicing sociologist in the last 5 years. Applicants holding a M.A. or
M.S. must be able to document at least 3,000 hours or two years full time working as a
practicing sociologist in the last 5 years.
You must be a member in good standing of the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology
(AACS) to apply for certification.
What Does It Cost?
The Certification Application Fee is $200 and is due at the time of application. The Portfolio
Demonstration Fee is $100 and is due at least 2 weeks prior to the Portfolio Demonstration.
Annual certification renewal is $50 due at the time of your annual AACS membership renewal.
For more information about Certification, please contact AACS Certification Chair:
Tina Quartaroli, [email protected]
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2014-2015 AACS Leadership
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
President-Elect
Vice President-Elect
Immediate Past President
Anthony Adams [email protected]
Karen Albright [email protected]
Beverly Ross [email protected]
Michael Fleischer [email protected]
Stephen Steele [email protected]
Jim Wiest [email protected]
Robert Kettlitz [email protected]
At Large Members
Lubomir Popov
Libby Larsen
Alison Marganski
Kathy Stolley
Andrew Cohen
Newman Wong
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
International Members
Hong Xiao
Marilyn Dyck
Jawad Fatayer
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
AACS Representative to CAPACS
CAPACS Representative to AACS
Michael Fleischer [email protected]
Miriam Boeri [email protected]
Graduate Student Representative
Undergraduate Student Liaison
Mueni Rudd [email protected]
Gina Castillo [email protected]
Certification Committee Chair
Tina Quartaroli [email protected]
Webmaster
Gina Castillo [email protected]
AACS Journal of Applied Social Science (JASS)
Journal Editor
Managing Editor
Consulting Editor
Associate Editors
Jammie Price [email protected]
Jeffry Will [email protected]
Jay Weinstein [email protected]
John Glass [email protected]
Miriam Boeri [email protected]
Tina Quartaroli [email protected]
Sociology at Work Newsletter Editor
Tina Quartaroli [email protected]
AACS CEO/Executive Director
Tina Quartaroli [email protected]
AACS Executive Officer
Fonda Martin, [email protected]
Sociology, Anthropology, Criminology
Eastern Michigan University
Home of the AACS Executive Office
926 E. Forest
Ypsilanti, MI 48198
Tel 734.845.1206
Sociology at Work  Spring 2015
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Sociology at Work is published quarterly by the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology.
All contributions reflect the views of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the
Association or the institutions with which the authors are affiliated.
Items for inclusion in Sociology at Work should be sent to: Tina Quartaroli at
[email protected]. All contributions must include the contributor’s telephone number,
email address and professional affiliation, as well as the email addresses and professional
affiliations of all persons mentioned in the copy. The editor reserves the right to publish or
not to publish any submission and to edit any submission when necessary.
Please see our website at www.aacsnet.net to join AACS or renew your membership.
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