Laura Strunk

Profile

Dr. Laura Strunk joined the Department of Social Work as an adjunct faculty in 2003 and was hired for a full-time faculty position in 2008. Dr. Strunk earned her PsyD in Psychology from Minnesota State University, Mankato, her MSSW degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Stout. Dr. Strunk is licensed at the LICSW level with the Minnesota Board of Social Work, she is certified by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) as a school psychologist (NCSP), and she is licensed by the Minnesota Department of Education as a school psychologist and school social worker.

Dr. Strunk has many years of experience working in the fields of education, social work, and psychology. Dr. Strunk is currently the BSSW Program Director and is primarily assigned to teach courses in the BSSW program in the Department of Social Work at Minnesota State Mankato.  In addition, Dr. Strunk is the school psychologist for the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (JWP) School District. She has worked in many types of service areas in the role of either a social worker or psychologist including public schools, group homes, residential treatment facilities, community mental health centers, and county settings. 

Dr. Strunk is in the process of developing and integrating virtual reality (VR) experiential learning into the BSSW curriculum and is overseeing a curriculum redesign that integrates applied learning opportunities across the BSSW curriculum.  Dr. Strunk’s primary interest areas are advancing technology in social work education, assessment and crisis intervention, working with at-risk youth and their families, mental health diagnoses, and child welfare issues.