As of fall 2015, Michelle Sandhoff, assistant professor of Sociology and MARTI research associate, replaced Christian Vaccaro, founding coordinator of the Research Cluster, as head of the Veterans' Reintegration Research Cluster. The Research Cluster, an interdisciplinary research team, aims to support interdisciplinary work and grantsmanship focused on innovative research insights for therapeutic and preventive interventions that will lead to a reduction in a variety of reintegration issues for veterans.
The Veterans' Reintegration Research Cluster has been active since its inception in 2011 with a number of research initiatives and the development of proposals for both internal and external sources of funding. Examples of projects are described in more detail below.
In fall 2013, Vaccaro and Michele Papakie received funding from the Faculty Senate Grant for their project titled "Qualitative Inquiry on Family Impact for Campus Veterans' Educational Performance." The project, conducted at IUP, sought qualitative data on the role of family support and functioning in the reintegration dynamics for veterans pursuing higher education. These data are intended to serve in the preparation of future grants.
Additional grant development activities and research on veterans' health problems resulted in the development of the Research, Education and Advocacy for Community Health (REACH) Conference, "Understanding and Responding to Violence and Trauma: A Community Health Initiative." The REACH Conference was held from May 20 to 23, 2014, at the Hadley Union Building and attracted an estimated 180 registered attendees. The focus of this inaugural multidisciplinary conference was on prevention, response and coping with violence and trauma in the context of families, schools, medical and health settings, work place, and in the military.
For more information on the members of the Veterans' Reintegration Research Cluster, please see the links below.