Matthew James Cuellar, MSW
Doctoral Candidate
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
College of Social Work
301 Henson Hall, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-3333
(865) 313 – 7982 / [email protected]
www.csw.utk.edu/phd/students/cuellar
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work 2016
University of Tennessee at Knoxville • Minor in Statistics
Master of Social Work 2013
The University of Alabama
• Concentration: Children, adolescents, and their families
Bachelor of Social Work 2011
The University of Alabama • Minor in Psychology
SCHOLARLY FOCUS
My scholarly focus is on youth violence and juvenile justice. My current research interests are school safety, school-based violence prevention, and school social work.
CURRENT RESEARCH
Principal Investigator (2015 - present)
Investigating the effects of commonly implemented school safety strategies on school social work practitioners (Dissertation Research)
College of Social Work, University of Tennessee at Knoxville Principal Investigator (2015 - present)
School social workers and their interactions with school resource officers: A preliminary investigation College of Social Work, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Study in collaboration with the Department of Social Work, University of Memphis Co-Principal Investigator (2015 - present)
Social Work Student Perspectives and Experiences with Latino/a Immigration College of Social Work, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Cuellar, M. J. & Held, M. L. (2015). Adolescent Latino immigrants: Migration and mental health.
Perspectivas Sociales, 17(1), 11-26.
Theriot, M. T. & Cuellar, M. J. (revise and resubmit). School resource officers and students rights. Submitted to Contemporary Justice Review.
Cuellar, M. J. (revise and resubmit). School safety strategies and their effects on the occurrence of
school-based violence in United States Secondary schools: An exploratory study. Submitted to Journal of School Violence.
Cuellar, M. J. (under review). Exploring the effects of parental and community involvement on the
implementation of school safety strategies. Submitted to Journal of School Public Relations. Held, M. L., & Cuellar, M. J. (under review). Social capital and wellbeing: A structural analysis of Latina
mothers by origin. Submitted to Maternal and Child Health Journal.
PUBLICATIONS IN PREPERATION (DISSERTATION RESEARCH)
Cuellar, M. J. (in preparation). School safety in United States schools: Implications for school social work
practice. To be submitted to Children and Schools.
Cuellar, M. J. (in preparation). Examining the factorial structure of the SSWAA National Evaluative
Framework for School Social Work Practice. To be submitted to School Social Work Journal.
Cuellar, M. J. (in preparation). Investigating the effects of commonly implemented school safety strategies
on school social work practitioners. To be submitted to Child and Family Social Work.
INVITED BOOK REVIEWS
Cuellar, M. J. (2015). School safety in the United States: A reasoned look at the rhetoric. [Review of the book
School safety in the United States: A reasoned look at the rhetoric, by David C. May]. Criminal Justice Review. DOI: 10.1177/0734016815591818.
PEER REVIEWED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Cuellar, M. J. & Theriot, M. T. (2015, October). School safety strategies and their effect of reducing
school-based violence. Poster presented at the Annual Program Meeting for Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Denver, Colorado.
Orme, J. G., Cuellar, M. J., & Pilkay, S. R. (2015, October). Teaching an Applied, Two-Semester,
Interdisciplinary Graduate Statistics Course. Workshop presented at the Annual Program Meeting for Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Denver, Colorado.
Theriot, M. T., Orme, J. G., & Cuellar, M. J. (2015, October). School resource officers and students' feelings of safety at school. Paper presented at the Annual Program Meeting for Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Denver, Colorado.
Cuellar, M. J. (2015, July). Exploring the typologies of sexually abused children. Poster presented at the 23rd
Annual Colloquium. American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC). Boston, Massachusetts.
Cuellar, M. J. & Bolen, R. (2015, January). Can symptom profiles in sexually abused children be predicted?
An exploratory analysis. Poster presented at the Society for Social Work and Research. New Orleans, Louisiana.
Theriot, M. T. & Cuellar, M. J. (2014, October). The effects of BSW students’ first field placement on mental illness stigma. Poster presented at the Annual Program Meeting for the Counsel on Social Work Education (CSWE). Tampa, Florida.
Cuellar, M. J. & Held, M. L. (2014, October). Adolescent Latino immigrants: Understanding the impacts of
migration on psychological development. Poster presented at the Annual Program Meeting for the Counsel on Social Work Education (CSWE). Tampa, Florida.
Cuellar, M. J. (2014, July). An organizational approach to implementing trauma-informed practices in the
juvenile justice system. Poster presented at the International Family Violence and Child Victimization Research Conference. Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Cuellar, M. J. & Bolen, R. (2014, July). Can symptom profiles in sexually abused children be predicted? An
exploratory analysis. Poster presented at the International Family Violence and Child Victimization Research Conference. Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Cuellar, M. J., Conners, F. A., & Loveall, S. (2013, March). Phonological Memory in Down Syndrome: a
Developmental Trajectory approach. Poster presented at the Gatlinburg Conference for Intellectual and Related Disabilities. San Antonio, Texas.
Bussanich, P., Cuellar, M. J., & Conners, Frances A. (2011, April). Precursors of language impairment in Down syndrome: Analysis of the AAGT. Poster presented at the Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference. The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Graduate Research Assistant, College of Social Work 2013 – present
University of Tennessee at Knoxville Knoxville, Tennessee
Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Psychology 2012 – 2013 The University of Alabama
Funded under R01 HD55345-04 PI: Frances A. Conners Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Department of Psychology 2010 – 2011 The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
PhD Committee Student Representative, College of Social Work 2014 – present
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
General Education Assessment Reviewer 2013 – 2014
University of Tennessee at Knoxville Knoxville, Tennessee
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
It is my goal to encourage students to appreciate and enjoy the Social Work profession. I aim to encourage and empower the students I work with while assisting them in the development of their critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. From my background in practice, I hope to instill a desire in every student I work with to become an effective change agent and a broker of resources. From my academic background, it is among my top priorities to ensure that students have an appropriate educational environment that will help them develop an interest in life-long learning.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Adjunct Instructor Spring 2016
College of Social Work
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Course Title: SOWK 563 Systematic Planning and Evaluation for Interpersonal Practice (online)
Adjunct Instructor Fall 2015
College of Social Work
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Course Title: SOWK 519 Foundational Research Methods (online)
Graduate Teaching Assistant Fall 2015
College of Social Work
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Course Title: SOWK 665 Applied Multilevel Modeling
Graduate Teaching Assistant Summer 2015
Department of Statistics and Business Analytics, College of Business University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Course Title: STAT 531 Survey of Statistical Methods (online)
Graduate Teaching Assistant Spring 2015
College of Social Work
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Course Title: SOWK 606 Analysis of Social Work Data II
Graduate Teaching Assistant Fall 2014
Department of Statistics and Business Analytics, College of Business University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Course Title: STAT 579 Applied Multivariate Methods
Graduate Teaching Assistant Fall 2014
College of Social Work
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Course Title: SOWK 605 Analysis of Social Work Data I
Graduate Teaching Assistant Summer 2014
College of Social Work
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
PRACTICE EXPERIENCE
Behavioral Health Group 05/13 – 09/13
Substance Abuse Counselor Supervisor: Cassandra McAllister Knoxville, Tennessee
Tuscaloosa County Juvenile Detention Center 01/13 – 05/13
Mental Health Consultant and Assistant Educational Coordinator MSW Field Placement (Funded) – Supervisor: Cathy Wood Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa’s One Place: A Family Resource Center 08/11 – 12/11
Program Coordinator and After-School Assistant Supervisor BSW Field Placement – Supervisor: Teresa Costanzo Tuscaloosa, Alabama
RECENT AWARDS AND GRANTS
Summer Graduate Research Assistantship Grant 2014
Scholarly and Research Incentive Funds (SARIF) Recipient University of Tennessee at Knoxville
John G. Borkowski Diversity Award 2013
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Vanderbilt University
Lori K. Herbert Student Endowed Scholar 2012
School of Social Work The University of Alabama
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
Member, School Social Work Association of America 2015 – present
Member, National Association of Social Workers 2015 – present
Member, Council on Social Work Education 2014 – present
