Contact Us

Jean Ajamie – Jean Ajamie is Director of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports of Arizona (PBISaz), the statewide network that promotes a systems approach and use of the three-tiered pyramid model for school prevention and early intervention practices (http://pbisaz.org). During Ms. Ajamie’s 15-year tenure as the Director of School Safety and Prevention in the Arizona Department of Education, she led innovative efforts in education and public health issues relating to school safety, substance use and violence prevention, students at risk for school failure and school change. She has recently joined ADE as the Deputy Assistant Superintendent for School Safety and Social Wellness.

Kris Bosworth – Dr. Bosworth is the Smith Endowed Chair in Substance Abuse Education and Professor in the College of Education at the University of Arizona. Prior to her appointment at the University of Arizona in 1998, she was the Director of the Center for Adolescent Studies at Indiana University and a Visiting Scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with the Youth Violence Prevention Team.  She has been involved in prevention research since the late 1970’s and has developed several nationally marketed computer-based multi-media prevention programs for teens.  Her research includes an analysis of predictors of drug use and bullying behaviors in early adolescence and working with school teams to develop and maintain protective climates.  Her model Protective Schools has focused on school and classroom climates that are protective and support positive human development.

Mark Joraanstad – A former Superintendent; Dr. Joraanstad is the Executive Director of Arizona School Administrators. Arizona School Administrators is an organization of 1,400 leaders who work with students, teachers, parents and the community to make Arizona schools safe, welcoming, collaborative and effective learning environments for all students. ASA is a non-profit association of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and we work cooperatively on educational issues of national, state and local importance. Our mission is to promote and support excellence in educational leadership.  Three Guiding Principles support that mission.

Jennifer Kirkpatrick – Dr. Kirkpatrick is an educational psychologist and from 2001 to 2015, she worked in a variety of settings including public schools (TUSD, Vail), public charter schools, and Bureau of Indian Education schools. She also served as a Part-time Assistant Clinical Professor for Northern Arizona University and is currently an Assistant Professor of Practice in the School Psychology Program at the University of Arizona and the Ed.S. Program Director, Tucson campus. She is the past president of the Arizona Association of School Psychologists.

Carl Liaupsin – Dr. Liaupsin is currently Professor and Department Head of Disabilities and Psychoeducational Studies at the University of Arizona.  His research interests include PBIS, the validation of function-based behavior intervention methods, development and evaluation of effective training in intervention practices, and use of technology-based tools to support teachers who work with students.  Prior to coming to UA, he was a Research Associate at the National Center on PBIS.

Sarah Lindstrom-Johnson – Dr. Lindstrom-Johnson is an Associate Professor at ASU T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics. She takes a positive youth development approach towards identifying ways to prevent youth involvement in risk behaviors with a focus on supporting developmental assets and improving environments in which youth learn and grow. She is a member of a research team that evaluates models of PBIS and does work in understanding trauma-informed schools. As part of this, she is the developer of a measure to assess the physical environment of schools.

Cindy Ruich – Dr. Ruich is a graduate of the University of Arizona Educational Leadership Program.  In the Marana Unified School District, she has been a school counselor and Associate Principal and has been in schools with PBIS for over a decade.  Currently she holds the position of Director of Student Services and coordinates two innovative school prevention grants. Her research interests are school climate, cultural diversity, school safety and PBIS. She is co-chair for the Arizona School Counselor Association, a member of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF), Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), American School Counselor Association (ASCA), Arizona School Counseling Association (AzSCA), Southern Arizona Interagency Peer Support Team, Association for Positive Behavior Support (APBS), Arizona School Administrators Association (ASA), American Counseling Association (ACA), and Arizona Youth Mental Health Alliance (AYMHA).

Katie Cotter Stalker – Dr. Cotter Stalker is an Assistant Professor in the ASU School of Social Work where her research focuses on youth violence prevention, school climate, and community-centered prevention and intervention strategies. Currently, she is exploring the impact of Teen Court (a peer-mediation model for discipline) for racially/ethnically diverse .