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Virginia Whitekiller

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Dr Virginia Whitekiller

longvs@nsuok.edu

  • Professor
    Social Work

Office Location

  • Tahlequah
    Wilson Hall 146
    (918) 444-3517

Bio

Virginia Drywater-Whitekiller (United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians) is a professor of social work at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. In addition to teaching, she pursues an active research agenda utilizing the theory of cultural resilience as applied to American Indian/Alaska Native/First Nations population issues such as microaggressions, higher education retention, identity, and Indian child welfare. Dr. Drywater-Whitekiller served as the 2018-2019 Fulbright Canada Jarislowsky Research Chair in Aboriginal Studies at Vancouver Island University, British Columbia. In 2009 she was selected as a Smithsonian Community Scholar conducting research at the Smithsonian Achieves in Suitland, Maryland. Dr. Drywater-Whitekiller has written for and has been awarded $2,338,110.00 in external grant funding that directly correlates with program development, evaluation, and assessment in medical and social service occupations.

Education:

  • EdD, Higher Education Administration, Oklahoma State University, 2004
  • OtherMaster of Social Work, Social Work/Not for Profit Management Specialty, Washington University in St. Louis, Brown School of Social Work, 1995
  • OtherBachelor of Social Work, Northeastern State University, Cum laude, 1987
American Indian Alaska Natives
Child Welfare
Cultural Resilience Theory
Special Populations: American Indian Alaska Natives and Child Welfare
Human Behavior Theory
Organizational Theory

Intellectual Content:

  • Indigenous Cultural Resilience Supporting Higher Education Pathways. (Technical Report), Discovery, Accepted,
  • Literature & Resource Review: Characteristics of Successful Foster, Adoptive and/or Kinship Caregivers of American Indian, Alaska Native, First Nations and Native Hawaiian Children (Research Report), Integration, Published, 2018
  • Changing attitudes toward older adults in BSW service learning projects (Journal Article, Academic Journal), Discovery, Published, 2018
  • First Nations, Metis and Inuit university students share advice for college entry and retention (Journal Article, Academic Journal), Discovery, Accepted,

Presentations:

  • Hidden Behind Walls of Ivy: Child Sexual Abuse in Elite Boarding Schools - Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, 55th Annual Meeting - New Orleans, LA - 2018
  • Bridging the Gap Between Tribal and State Child Welfare Agencies - National Indian Child Welfare Conference - Anchorage, AK - 2018
  • Supporting Indigenous Student Success - CPAEF Symposium for Accounting Educators and Academics - Vancouver, BC - May 2019
  • Preparing resource families to serve children affected by historical, intergenerational, and current day traumas - Society for Social Work and Research Conference - San Francisco, CA - January 2019

Courses Taught:

  • ADV SOWK PRACTICE W/CH&ADOLESC - SOWK 5753 - Spring 2020
  • ADV SOWK PRACTICE W/CH&ADOLESC - SOWK 5753 - Spring 2020
  • SENIOR SEMINAR - SOWK 4962 - Spring 2020
  • INTERV SKILLS IN GEN PRACTICE - SOWK 3013 - Fall 2019
  • SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH - SOWK 5023 - Fall 2019
  • INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL WORK - SOWK 2013 - Fall 2019
  • HUMAN BEH IN THE SOC ENV I - SOWK 4003 - Fall 2019
  • HBSE I - SOWK 5003 - Fall 2019
  • WORKSHOP - SOWK 4751 - Fall 2019