Title: Planning for a Social Work Data Corps 

Abstract: Data science in social work is emerging as a new research approach for exploring, analyzing, and predicting social issues at the micro, mezzo, and macro level. However, data science is noticeably absent from accredited social work programs and is not often discussed in the social work literature. Data science has the potential to bring new understandings and provide the best outcomes for our communities, especially African American communities. We will develop a summer program that will train undergraduate social work students, with graduate student mentors. This LRC will employ a train-the-trainer model with student ambassadors to support the development of the program. The LRC deliverables include a plan for the program’s activities and content; student recruitment strategies; and development of an evaluation plan. 

Facilitators:  Dr. Mustapha Alhassan (Clark Atlanta), Dr. Youseung Kim (Clark Atlanta), Dr. Ivis Renee King (Clark Atlanta), and Dr. Kenya Jones (Clark Atlanta) 

Members:

Dr. Shena Brown (Clark Atlanta)
Dr. Darrin Wright (Clark Atlanta)
Ms. Yvonne Phillips (Clark Atlanta)
Ms. Kourtney Clinton (Clark Atlanta)
Dr. Oyebade Oyerindeort (Clark Atlanta)
Dr. Gerry White (Clark Atlanta)
Ms. Persephone Goodwin (Clark Atlanta)
Ms. Rosa James (Clark Atlanta)
Dr. Ernest Alma-Mensah (Clark Atlanta)

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PREVIOUS LRC’S

Title: Hacking Equity: A RAND-AUC Consortium Tech and Public Policy Hackathon

About: The objective is to plan, develop, and implement an AUC-wide hackathon with a focus on social policy to: 1) help AUC students visualize data for social change; 2) expose students to the Pardee Rand Graduate School and potential careers in social policy and/or data analysis; and 3) model collaboration (inter-institutional, inter-disciplinary, and other) for our students. The hackathon seeks to address two questions. (1) Can we paint data-driven pictures of how our vulnerable populations fared throughout the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) To what extent have government policies (or lack thereof) increased or decreased inequities? In collaboration with the Pardee Rand Graduate School and the members of this Learning and Research Community, we will develop a structure for AUC-wide hackathons that position students to develop solutions that amplify social justice for all.

Facilitators: Barbara Harris Combs (Clark Atlanta) and Sinead Younge (Morehouse)

Members:

Nathan Alexander (Morehouse)
Pamela Daniels (Morehouse School of Medicine)
Dwann Davenport (Morehouse)
Desha Elliott (Clark Atlanta)
Mikki Harris (Morehouse)
Tiffany Oliver (Spelman)

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Title: Leveraging R to Conduct Classroom Performance Analytics in Introductory Biology and Chemistry Courses

About: There is interest among faculty in employing data science and analytics to enhance pedagogy in courses at AUC member institutions. A barrier to widespread adoption is the lack of expertise in many of the primary tools used for data analytics. We propose to use R to actively engage faculty who teach introductory biology and chemistry courses on how to analyze student performance. This methodology has the benefit of demonstrating the power of data analytic tools in a manner that is directly beneficial to faculty and also allows for faculty to consistently use and work with R throughout the semester, reinforcing newly acquired skills.  

Facilitators: Wallace Sharif (Morehouse) and Ethell Vereen (Morehouse)

Members:

Myron William (Clark Atlanta)
Elycia Daniel (Clark Atlanta)
Cimona Hinton (Clark Atlanta)
Mona Ray (Morehouse)
Dwann Davenport (Morehouse)
Tina Change (Morehouse)
Ernest Alema-Mensah (Morehouse School of Medicine)
Michael McGinnis (Spelman)
Ayesha Don-Salu-Hewage (Spelman)
Mark Maloney (Spelman)
Elethia Tillman (Spelman)
Lisa Hibbard (Spelman)
Robert Brown (Spelman)
Jeticia Sistrunk (Spelman)

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Title: “Online Collaborative Environments: GitHub and OSF for Data Science”

About: This LRC will explore GitHub and OSF as possible tools for online, collaborative data science work. This will include an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each platform, as well as its potential for use by AUC faculty, staff, and graduate students in data science. The goal will be to find a system and establish a workflow and best practices for online collaboration across the AUC in a virtual environment.  

Facilitator: Justin de la Cruz (AUC Woodruff Library) 

Members:  

Dr. Tammy Greer (Clark Atlanta)
Dr. Kenya Jones (Clark Atlanta)
Dr. Aaron Carter-Enyi (Morehouse)
Dr. Sinead Younge (Morehouse)
Dr. Unislawa Williams (Spelman)