JJ GREEN GIVES

Back At Her Alma Mater

Jadelynne (JJ) Green (MSSW, ‘22) serves as a Professional Academic Coach and First Year Studies (FYS) Instructor on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus. She graduated in May 2022 from the advanced standing organizational leadership program.

Green’s job includes supporting students in higher education through one-on-one, group, and class settings to help the students reach their goals and be successful. “We focus on wellness and strengths within the students to assist them in reaching their academic goals,” she explained. “Academic coaching can help students improve their skills and performance. Working with an academic coach can help students study smarter by developing skills in time management, goal setting, and test preparation. I am here for all undergraduate students at UT to help them manage their time, study smarter, plan for tests, and design learning strategies tailored to each individual student. Meeting with a coach is comfortable, low maintenance, and low drama. It’s a chance to talk about their own experience at UT, in and out of the classroom. In addition to academic coaching, I also assist with social media and outreach. It is not as common for social workers to be in higher education, especially where I am, but I think we bring a unique perspective that can assist students in a different way. Change agents are important here too.”

One of Green’s best memories of her time at UTCSW was her resource and development course from Dr. Schriver where she learned about budgeting and organization skills. “The class allowed us to practice writing grants and instilled marketing tools which proved very applicable to the field. In addition, I learned about interpersonal skills, the background of trauma and how it affects individuals, and leadership skills. The holistic view of a person is so important when meeting and assisting them and I feel that my education prepared me for the real world.”

Lakeisha Conway Supports The Next Generation Of Social Work Psychotherapists

Lakeisha Conway (MSSW, '07) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), who has a sincere passion for and commitment to providing clinical supervision and mentoring support to the next generation of social work psy chotherapists. She was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, and holds a BSSW from the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, and an MSSW from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Memphis Campus). She is licensed through the State of Tennessee with over 20 years combined experience providing psychosocial case manage ment services, crisis intervention, individual and group counseling, supportive counseling, bio-psychosocial assessing, therapeutic counseling, discharge planning, care coordination, mental health, and dual diagnosis treatment, diagnosing (according to the DSM-5) and social work clinical supervision.

“I remain a practicing social worker within VHA at the Department of Veteran Affairs, and since 2014 I have worked as an adjunct instructor/field liaison position at UTCSW,” she explained. “Prior to that, I served as a field instructor for UTCSW and have worked in social work programs at Jackson State, Union University, Ole Miss, and the University of Memphis.”

In 2021, Conway fulfilled one of her professional goals by opening her private practice Best Practice Supervision, Coaching & Consulting, LLC, which offers valuable support to clinical professionals. She thoroughly enjoys partnering with MSSW students and social workers by providing access to supervision on their journey to clinical licensure. “With my supervision style, emphasis is placed on achieving competency in clinical skills while preparing to become a clinical social worker encouraging a holistic approach that nurtures and embraces work-family life balance,” she explained. “I value everyone’s unique learning style and method of performing clinical work. My goal is to assist new clinicians as they grow, learn, and feel challenged and accomplished in their practice. I strive to create and maintain a safe and respectful environment for questions, interactions, and feedback related to the learning process and other important needs within this very valuable partnership.”