Cite as: Renick, Jennifer. 2019. Research Program Description. University of California. November.http://centerforethnography.org/content/jennifer-renick-research-program...
Jennifer Renick is a Ph.D. student at UC Irvine's School of Education, specializing in Human Development in Context. She recieved her BA in Community Mental Health: Schools and Youth from Pitzer College, completing an honors thesis in partnership with a local high school. While attending Pitzer, Jennifer was awarded the Kallick Community Service Award twice, the Katie Lawson Memorial Award, the Pomona Unified School District Community Service Award, and was named a Napier fellow. At UCI, she engages in community-based research in partnership with Orange County schools and non-profit organizations, including conducting youth participatory action research with middle school students, as a graduate student researcher on UCI's OCEAN intiative. For the 2019-2020 academic year, she was selected as a Newkirk Fellow in Community Based Research. Her research interests include school climate and community engagement, utilizing a community psychology approach.
My research program focuses on two main areas, both broadly situated within community studies. The first area is the factors that influence climate and culture within educational spaces. I am interested in understanding how schools and other educational programs can be welcoming communities for all participants, by adopting practices that foster a sense of belonging and mattering. My second area of interest is in how to conduct community engaged research that is mutually beneficial, looking specifically at effective approaches for university-community partnerships and participatory research methods.
This rendering of well known psychologist, Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, highlights the importance of a sense of belonging for healthy human development.
Approaches I have used thus far for data collection in my research projects include both mixed and qualitative methods. I have experience with qualitative coding and interview methods, as well as survey design and statistical data analysis. I also have conducted youth-participatory action research with middle school students.
Since 2015, I have been a member of the Society for Community Research and Action, supporting in various ways including serving as a mini-grant reviewer, volunteering at the organization's biennial conference, and being an active member of their School Interest Group.
I also serve as a member of the student editorial board for Collaborations: A Journal of Community Based Research and Practice, reviewing manuscripts.
In May of 2013, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education adopted the School Climate Bill of Rights to ensure all students will "attend schools with climates that focus on safety, teaching and learning, interpersonal relationships, and institutional environment that influence student learning and well-being."