Topic Speakers

Below you will find information and biographies on the main speakers of the six issues facing our region.

Suicide, Presenter Denise Lutz:

Denise Lutz earned her B.S. Degree in Business Administration from Dickinson State University, and is employed by St. Joseph's Hospital and Health Center in Dickinson, ND, where she has been employed since May of 1994.  Denise is currently the Program Director for Mental Health Services.  Presently she supervises 19 staff, 2 psychiatrists, and 2 psychiatric nurse practitioners in addition to managing four areas of the mental health services.

Denise is also certified as a Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) Instructor.  She is also active in her community as well, and is involved in the following organizations:

*Serves on the Board of Directors of the Mental Health Association of North Dakota
*Very active on the Health 8 Committee
*Chair of the Mental Health Education Team Task Force, and chair for the NDAABH
*Member of the North Dakota State Suicide Prevention Task Force, Project A.C.E., and Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Health Care (AABH)

Violence, Presenter Hal Haynes:

Hal Haynes, Jr. is the Senior Director for Student Life at Dickinson State University.  He is a graduate of Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, and holds a masters degree in management from the University of Mary.  Currently, he is a doctoral student at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks pursing a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership with an emphasis on Higher Educational Administration.

Hal has been employed as a student development professional in higher education for twenty-two years in Kentucky, Illinois, and North Dakota.

Alcohol, Presenter Becky Byzewski

Currently, Becky is the Prevention and Safe Communities Coordinator at Community Action Partnership since 1998.  Becky graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration with an area of concentration in management. 

Becky has also had several professional achievements including:
*Appointment to the North Dakota Injury Prevention Coalition
*Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician
*President of Drug Free North Dakota (2001-2003)
*Currently she is a member of the ND Injury Prevention Coalition for the State and ND Suicide Prevention Coalition for the State

Gambling, Presenter Dr. George McClellan

Dr. George S. McClellan is the Vice President for Student Development at Dickinson State University, is co-editor of Gambling on Campus, is an author of a monograph in the Jossey-Bass New Directions in the Student Services series, and the co-chair of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrator National Gambling Task Force.  Dr. McClellan has presented at numerous regional and national conferences on campus gambling.  He is also a featured panelist on a recent national teleconference addressing gambling on campus.  Dr. McCellan has served students at both the University of Arizona and Northwestern University.  Dr. McClellan has obtained the following educational credentials:

*B.A. in English and American Literature (1982)
*M.S. Ed. in Higher Education Administration (1998) from Northwestern University
*Ph. D. in Higher Education with a minor in Native American Studies from the University of Arizona (2003)

Sex and Sexuality

For information on this subject contact Carrie Decker at 227-0131.  Community Action Partnership, 202 East Villard, Dickinson, ND.

Meth and Other Drugs, Presenter Matt Schaefer

Matt Schaefer is a Training and Research Associate who works for the Rural Crime and Justice Center (RCJC) at Minot State University.  The RCJC is a self-contained research organization that is committed to quality research, evaluation, and training and strives to serve as a creditable source of knowledge and expertise regarding evaluation, research, and training initiatives.

Matt is assigned to the Rural Methamphetamine Education Project.  As a Training and Research Associate, he assists with developing and delivering a methamphetamine public awareness/education campaign to children, schools, teachers, parents, and communities within North Dakota.  Matt also assists in the development of research projects.