PSYCH 499 Program

Who We Are

The overarching mission of the School Mental Health Assessment, Research, and Training (SMART) Center is to promote high-quality, culturally-responsive programs, practices, and policies to meet the full range of social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) needs of students in both general and special education contexts. The SMART Center aims to accomplish this mission by using innovative and practical research methods to:

• Develop contextually-appropriate, low-burden programs that prevent or ameliorate SEB problems;
• Develop strategies for communities, districts, and schools to increase the use of effective SEB programs, practices, and policies;
• Support indigenous providers such as teachers and school-based mental health providers in their roles; and
• Enhance the interconnections across school, home, and community contexts.

The Center represents a transdisciplinary collaboration between faculty in the College of Education (CoE) and the School of Medicine (SoM; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences) at the University of Washington. Through this collaboration, SMART facilitates more equitable, effective, and integrated approaches to research and technical assistance surrounding the design and implementation of evidence-based SEB interventions.

Undergraduate 499 students will have exposure to multiple SMART Center projects and take on many of the same roles and responsibilities as Research Assistants. Under the direction of the 499 Program Director, students will be paired with a Research Coordinator mentor who will serve as their Lead Task Supervisor and explore the project-specific, research, and professional development interests of the 499 Students and assign tasks as needed. Students will have an opportunity to be part of a 499 cohort and attend weekly meetings where guest speakers will be invited to discuss SMART Center projects, provide research-related trainings (i.e. qualitative interview training, Qualtrics, coding), and discuss relevant research literature and methodologies. Additional opportunities might include: shadowing field staff, providing support at SMART Center events, trainings, expert summits, and attending project team meetings.

499 Students will assist Research Staff with tasks as needed. This may include, but is not limited to:

• Transcription of youth, school clinician, and teacher qualitative interviews
• Manuscript preparation (i.e. literature searches, reference reformatting, etc)
• Data collection, entry, and cleaning
• Calculate descriptive statistics
• Reformatting and collation of project, field, and training materials
• Support staff during meetings, events, and trainings.

Learning Benefits

• Developing new skills (e.g., qualitative coding, Excel formulas, calculate descriptive statistics, draft brief reports, etc.) through completing project tasks and skill practice assignments
• Developing general research skills that are transferable to other fields
• Exposure to universal SEB interventions and implementation science (e.g., why programs don’t produce intended student outcomes, how to increase use of interventions, how to improve the delivery quality of interventions)
• Developing close working relationships with Lead Task Supervisors and other staff members
• Discussing research topics in weekly “seminars” as a 499 Program cohort
• Application of coursework to real-time research
• Summarizing and presenting research topics and study results
• Crafting research questions and creating poster for the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium

Many previous 499 Students have used this research course as an opportunity to learn about and understand the work that goes into conducting research before applying to graduate school.

Projects of Interest

499 Students will have the opportunity to work across projects within the DREAMI (Designing Real-world Effective [and Equitable] Approaches to Multilevel Implementation) pod of the SMART Center. Those projects include:

Minimum Requirements

• Junior or Senior standing
• STRONGLY ENCOURAGED: Completed or currently enrolled in PSYCH 209 (Fundamentals of Psychological Research)
• Minimum commitment of two consecutive quarters (Fall and Winter)
• Register for 2 or 3 credits each quarter (equivalent to 6 or 9 hours work each week)
• Commit to in-person work at our Sand Point office (potential for hybrid model given schedule)
• Begin work the week of October 1, 2023
• Complete quarterly evaluations (self, Lead Task Supervisors, 499 Program)
• Interest in addressing mental health in schools for youth
• Experience working with youth or in schools
• Willingness and desire to learn!

Please note the following:

• We are looking to bring on several students for Fall 2023.
• We are currently only accepting students who are interested in receiving course credit for PSYCH 499 (Undergraduate Research).
• Applicants will not be contacted until the first week of September.

If you have questions, please contact Vaughan Collins (collinsv@uw.edu).

Leadership & Staff 

		Aaron Lyon, PhD Faculty Advisor, 499 Program Director, SMART Center Methods Core Co-Director, UW ALACRITY Center Director, Research Institute for Implementation Science in Education (RIISE) Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
		Jodie Buntain-Ricklefs, MSW, MPH Director, 499 Program Assistant Director of Implementation and Evaluation, SMART Center Projects: Research Institute for Implementation Science in Education (RIISE), Accessible Collaborative Care for Effective School-Based Services (ACCESS), Relationships to Enhance Learners’ Adjustment to Transitions and Engagement (RELATE)
		Vaughan Collins, MSW, LSW Manager, 499 Program Research Coordinator, SMART Center Projects: Helping Educational Leaders Mobilize Evidence (HELM), Usability of Social-Emotional and Behavioral Interventions: Links to Implementation and Translation to Youth Outcomes (USABILITY), Research Institute for Implementation Science in Education (RIISE)
		Taylor Ullrich, MS Task Supervisor, 499 Program Research Coordinator, SMART Center Projects: Beliefs and Attitudes for Successful Implementation in Schools (BASIS) – Teachers, Usability of Social-Emotional and Behavioral Interventions: Links to Implementation and Translation to Youth Outcomes (USABILITY)
		Rose Reyes, BA Task Supervisor, 499 Program Research Study Coordinator, SMART Center Projects: Beliefs and Attitudes for Successful Implementation in Schools (BASIS), Beliefs and Attitudes for Successful Implementation in Schools (BASIS) – Optimization, Virtual Implicit Bias Reduction and Neutralization Training (VIBRANT)