Clairee Peterson and Katelin Russ, both CBCS students majoring in Behavioral Healthcare receive the prestigious King O'Neal award which recognizes graduating seniors with the highest overall GPA of 4.0. The students received a certificate and a gold medallion of the university seal. Congratulations for Clairee and Katelin.

Dr. Roger Peters, Professor in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy participated in the 4th Congresso Internacional Freemind 2016 in Campinas, Brazil in early December, sponsored by the International Society of Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Professionals (ISSUP), the Colombo Plan, and the U.S. Department of State. The conference was attended by approximately 1,000 persons from Central America and South America. Dr. Peters provided a presentation on the "International Consortium of Universities for Drug Demand Reduction", and participated in a meeting hosted by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) on "Addressing the Drug Problem from a Public Health Perspective: A Regional and Multi-Sectoral Vision".

The College of Behavioral & Community Sciences (CBCS) invites applications for undergraduate research assistantships to be offered through a special program known as The Moms Project. Assistantships of $500 each will be awarded to undergraduate students who will be conducting research during the Spring and/or Summer semesters, 2017. In order to be eligible for The Moms Project Assistantships, students must be:

• Completing an undergraduate major or minor in the College of Behavioral & Community Sciences;
• Conducting research in one of the three priority areas of The Moms Project:
   
• Substance abuse
• Nutrition and well being
• Positive aging
   
• Collaborating with a CBCS faculty member and/or doctoral student who will serve as a research mentor for the undergraduate student. 

The application may be found here. The priority areas may be broadly interpreted and some examples are provided on the webpage to demonstrate the wide range of possibilities. Additional information about the Moms Project, including previous recipients, may be found here.

The FMHI Research Library will close for the season December 9th at 5pm. It will reopen January 3rd. Patrons who need to access the library may pose their request to the Tampa Library Desk: 974-1611. The Tampa Library can send someone over to take a book off the shelf, check it out to the faculty member, and deliver it to their office, so service should not be interrupted.

The Special Events Committee and the Holiday Party Planning Committee have partnered with USF's Feed-A-Bull to collect non-perishable food items and toiletries for our students who may be in need. Feed-A-Bull has placed several boxes throughout the building. If you are able to contribute a non-perishable food item or toiletry item it would be greatly appreciated. The Committees will also be collecting items at the CBCS Holiday Party which will be held in the atrium on December 15th. Anyone who brings in items to the Holiday Party on December 15th will receive 1 ticket per item, which can be used for the raffles at the CBCS Holiday Party (must be present to win).