Rate My Professor Scott Woitaszewski

Scott A. Woitaszewski, Ph.D., NCSP, serves as Professor of School Psychology and Director of the School Psychology Program in the Department of Counseling and School Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, roles he has held since 2012 and 2007, respectively. He joined the faculty in 2002 as Assistant Professor, advancing to Associate Professor in 2008. His academic background includes a Ph.D. in School Psychology with a cognate in Counseling Psychology from Ball State University in 2001, where his dissertation examined the contribution of emotional intelligence to the social and academic success of gifted adolescents; an M.A. in School Psychology from Ball State University in 1995; and a B.A. in Psychology with minors in Sociology and History from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1992. Prior to academia, Woitaszewski worked as a school psychologist for Carver-Scott Educational Cooperative in Minnesota from 1998 to 2001 and Delaware Community Schools in Indiana in 1998, and held positions such as Associate Director and Supervisor of the School Psychology Clinic at Ball State University.

Woitaszewski's research specializations encompass school crisis prevention and intervention, school safety and behavior threat assessment, suicide assessment, intervention implementation science, resiliency in children, emotional intelligence in gifted adolescents, collaboration between school counselors and psychologists, and support for transgender students. Key publications include peer-reviewed articles such as "From Neutral to High Gear: Critical Implementation Drivers for PREPaRE in Practice" (Contemporary School Psychology, 2020, with T. Savage and A. Zaslofsky), "School Threat Assessment Policies and Resources: A Fifty State Analysis" (Contemporary School Psychology, 2018, with F. Crepeau-Hobson, C. Conolly, and M. Cruz), "School Psychologists in Support of Transgender Students" (Contemporary School Psychology, 2017, with J. Agee-Aguayo, E. Bloomquist, and T. Savage), and "Program Evaluation of the PREPaRE School Crisis Prevention and Intervention Training" (Psychology in the Schools, 2014, with A. Nickerson et al.). He has contributed book chapters on school crisis team implementation, emergency preparedness, and promoting healthy families. Notable awards include the National Association of School Psychologists’ School Safety & Crisis Response Award (2018), the College of Education and Professional Studies Annual Award for Outstanding Research, Creativity, or Scholarly Activity (2011), and recognition as outstanding faculty member (2007). As a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, he oversees NASP-approved program accreditations and trains professionals in crisis response curricula like PREPaRE.