by James Glass
Dr. Erin Richard, Associate Professor in the School of Leadership & Human Resource Development and Louisiana State University (LSU) has helped pave the way for two traditional elementary schools in the East Baton Rouge Parrish School System to transform into magnet schools.
Superintendent Sito Narcisse has proposed converting two Baton Rouge elementary campuses into health care and environmental education programs. These two programs would be backed by Baton Rouge General Medical Center and LSU, according to a report in The Advocate.
Dr. Richard, who holds a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from LSU, has applied her expertise and conducted evaluation workshops on the teachers being brought on board to launch the new program in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System.
The two schools being proposed are Park Elementary and Polk Elementary. Superintendent Narcisse’s proposal noted that Park Elementary would then add a middle school and the name would change to Park Elementary Medical Academy. Polk Elementary would become a sixththrough-12th-grade school and would be renamed the Eva Legarde Research Center for Coastal Studies and Environmental Studies.
In a memorandum from Superintendent Narcisse, the Eva Legarde Research Center for Coastal Studies and Environmental Studies would be based on a phase-in approach, with 50 students per grade level or approximately 350 students. Successful participation in this program is an asset for students interested in pursuing their post-secondary studies at LSU.
Narcisse explained that professional development, both at the district level and in partnership with LSU, is a crucial component to ensure that teachers have the expertise and support to ensure that the program is implemented with fidelity.
This is where Dr. Richard’s expertise plays a key role in the successful completion of professional development. As a faculty member in the LSU School of Leadership and Human Resource Development, Dr. Richard teaches courses on work stress and health, organizational needs assessment, program evaluation, and quantitative research methods.
Dr. Richard consults with local organizations to provide services such as training needs assessment, program evaluation, leadership development workshops, and survey design and
analysis.
Her research focuses broadly on the promotion of worker well-being, with a focus on topics related to emotion, self regulation, interpersonal communication, and leadership.
Dr. Richard is currently examining how organizational leaders manage negative emotion and promote resilience in followers.
“This is a dream coming true before our very eyes,” Edgardo Tenreiro, chief executive officer for Baton Rouge General, told the board. Tenreiro said Baton Rouge General has a school of nursing that the Park Elementary program could feed into, noting there’s a shortage of nurses right now.
Christopher D’Elia, dean of LSU’s college of coast and the environment, said the college has successfully partnered for years with science-minded students at Scotlandville High and he sees the new Eva Legarde school as an opportunity to expand on that. “I’m looking for more of the same and better, and I just can’t tell you how excited we are about this opportunity,” D’Elia said.
Dr. Richard has conducted applied research funded by the Office of Naval Research in partnership with the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD), and she has collaborated on projects funded by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). She has also consulted with local organizations to provide new manager training.
Her focus is on intrapersonal and interpersonal processes related to emotion in the workplace, the promotion of worker well being, with a concentration on topics related to emotion, self-regulation, interpersonal communication, and leadership. Her research Interests include Industrial and organizational psychology, work stress and health, leadership and emotion Interpersonal emotion management, work motivation, cyber-aggression and workplace
neurodiversity.
She has published her research in academic journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Occupational Health Science, and many others.
Dr. Richard’s publications include:
Matey, N., Sleiman, A., Nastasi, J., Richard, E. M., & Gravina, N. (2021). Varying Reactions to Feedback and their Effects on Observer Accuracy and Attrition. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 54(3),1188-1198.
Richard, E. M. (2020). Promoting employee resilience: The role of leader-facilitated emotion management. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 22(4)*, Special Issue on Resilience and HRD (J. Mendy & M. Bal, Issue Eds.) Issue awarded the 2020 Best Issue Award from the ADHR editorial board.
Richard, E. M., Young, S. F., Fischer, J. J., & Giumetti, G. W. (2020). Unique effects of cyberaggression on victims’ counterproductive work behavior via rumination and negative emotion. Occupational Health Science, 4, 161-190.
Richard, E.M. Fischer, J. J., & Zhou, Z. E. (2019). Cyberbullying in the Workplace: Cross-cultural Issues. In G. Giumetti and R. Kowalski (Eds.), Cyberbullying in Schools, Workplaces, and Romantic Relationships: The Many Lenses and Perspectives of Electronic Measurement. Routledge/Taylor Francis.
Dr. Richard received her PhD in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Louisiana State University. She is Assistant Professor in the School of Leadership and Human Resource Development, in the College of Human Sciences & Education at Louisiana State University. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Business and Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and the inaugural board of Occupational Health
Science. She is also a member of the Academy of Human Resource Development, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and the Society for Occupational Health Psychology