Sociology 2020 Newsletter

SOCIOLOGY NEWSLETTER | Issue #5 Client Problem Solving Competition Winners! A group of three undergraduate Sociology majors—Taylor Lopez, Adrianna Rowden, and Haley Smith—and their amazing sponsor, Dahlia Molloy, traveled to the annual meeting of the Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS) conference in Portland, Oregon over Oklahoma State’s homecoming weekend to compete at the 2019 Client Problem Competition. Dahlia has mentored and traveled with students each year since 2014. In the past, the OSU team have received Honorable mention (in 2014), and tied for 1st place (in 2015). This year, our Oklahoma State University team took home the 1st place prize! On Day 1 of the conference, a representative of a local agency (chosen by AACS) presents a problem that teams must solve using sociological ideas. Although not having any idea what the issue is beforehand is challenging, Taylor Lopez was excited to “rise up to the challenge.” Teammate Haley Sm ith added that this year’s focus, “how race is rela ted to systematic inequities in housing for the hom eless…wasn’t an issue we thought we could solv e in just a weekend.” Stu dents attend AACS sessions and speak with soc iologists and practitioners throughout the con ference. Using their teamwork and time ma nagement skills, teams have just 15 minutes on the last day of the conference to present their solu tions. The agency chooses the team that best app lies social sciences to the agency’s needs. The Client Problem Solving Competition also allows participating students to network with the next generation of practicing social scientists. Adrianna Rowden noted that “the other competitors were very nice and supportive, so it was fun to be able to connect with other sociology students from across the country.” Our students were very grateful for the opportunity to represent OSU so far from home. Their sponsor, Dahlia Molloy was very proud of the students for using their “sociological insights, skills, theory and methodology to solve a real life problem for a social services agency, and they [did] it in 2 days!” Pictured above left to right is Taylor Lopez, Dahlia Molloy, Adrianna Rowden, and Haley Smith at the 2019 Client Problem Solving Competition in Portland, Oregon.