Students, faculty, and community partners gathered in LaRose Student Commons on April 30 for the annual Human Service Studies banquet. The evening honored the program’s graduating seniors and the fieldwork supervisors who mentored them, and included the induction ceremony of the Tau Upsilon Alpha Honor Society, led by Assistant Teaching Professor of Human Service Studies Deidre Yancey. Professor Emeritus Bud Warner delivered the evening’s closing remarks.

Ruby Radis ’26 received the Outstanding Senior Award, Haleigh Cephus ’26 earned the Research Scholar Award and Hadley Studer ’26 recorded the highest score on the HSS Comprehensive Exam. The Al and Ruby West Scholarship was awarded to Mia O’Brien ’25.

Eleven students were inducted into Tau Upsilon Alpha, the national honor society for human services professionals: Brooke Aronowitz, Kate Carlson, Haleigh Cephus, Emma Dany, Olivia Feinstein, Rose Fyffe, Shayla Goba, Bronwyn Mulvaney, Alyson Pilloff, Rio Plumlee and Solène Smith.

Twelve of the 23 graduating seniors are heading directly to graduate school. Eight will pursue a Master of Social Work: Julia Bromfeld and Megan DeMarco at Rutgers; Jack Bull, Margaret Crawford, and Hannah Findling at the University of Michigan; Emily Lambert at NYU; Janeeta Smith at UNC; Chloe Vautrin at Boston College; and Elizabeth Sumner at Norfolk State. Sydney Goldstein will pursue a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Lynn University, and Haleigh Cephus will also pursue a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling as part of ÂŇÂ×ĘÓƵ’s inaugural class.

Fieldwork placements are where HSS students do some of their most important learning, and the banquet set aside time to thank the supervisors who made that possible. Lasonya Moffett at ABSS Williams High School; Yolanda Whitted at BPD Youth Diversion; Nathaly Diaz at the Centre for New North Carolinians; Lisa Davis at the Dream Center; Sarah Black at the Exchange Club Family Center of the Central Piedmont; Jacque Anderson at the Family Justice Centre; Crystal O’Neil at the Graham Police Department; and Teresa Cuthbertson at the Guilford County Juvenile Detention Center were all recognized.

Also honored were Erika Nunnally at Head Start; Kenneth Jefferson at the Positive Attitude Youth Centre; Carolyn Carter and Todd Perry at Residential Treatment Services Agency; Breana Southerland and Caroline Laur at the Salvation Army; Phil Bowers and Emily Flack at Sustainable Alamance; Taylor Hicks at the Triad Health Project; and Jennifer Le and Katie Gantos at Twin Lakes.

The program congratulates the full Class of 2026: Aidan A. Bonomo, Julia T. Bromfeld, Jack L. Bull, Haleigh K. Cephus, Margaret L. Crawford, Megan E. DeMarco, Hannah W. Findling, Shayla M. Goba, Sydney H. Goldstein, Izzy Greenstein, Hailee S. Jaronko, Lauren R. Klappholz, Emily H. Lambert, Grace E. McGowan, Simon D. Mendelsohn, Darian V. Myers, Ruby T. Radis, Eden F. Redmond, Janeeta S. Smith, Julie R. Snow, Hadley Studer, Elizabeth M. Sumner and Chloe M. Vautrin.

The book explores the evolution of Bronfenbrenner’s model from its early ecological framework to the more complex bioecological theory and the Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) model, offering practical guidance on how to teach and apply the theory in a range of educational settings. It includes classroom-ready tools such as reading primers, lecture slides, discussion questions, case studies, and in-class activities, and introduces recent adaptations like inverse proximal processes and neo-ecological theory, which address how technology and digital environments shape development.

This summer, Navarro and Tudge traveled to Serbia and Scandinavia to give workshops based on the book, meeting with international educators and researchers who are applying the theory in diverse cultural and institutional contexts. “It was exciting to see how the framework resonates globally,” Navarro said. “People are eager for resources that make the theory more usable without flattening its complexity.”

Reviewers have praised the book as both timely and transformative.

“The book is a gamechanger… one of the most useful texts for the social sciences in the 21st century,” wrote Professor Iram Siraj at University of Oxford.

“A carefully constructed guide… that brings Bronfenbrenner’s theory to life for everyone,” added Professor Nóirín Hayes at Trinity College Dublin.

“To see information technology’s role in family life and individual development captured by Navarro and Tudge’s work is a gift,” said Professor Susan Walker at the University of Minnesota.

Navarro says the book reflects her long-standing interest in helping students engage meaningfully with complex ideas.

“Bronfenbrenner’s theory has shaped how we understand human development for decades,” she explained. “But too often, it’s taught in oversimplified ways. We wanted to create a resource that respects the theory’s complexity and makes it usable for real classrooms, researchers, and practitioners.”

“Understanding and Teaching Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory” is available now through and .