Nicola Dominique Rodrigues
1336 Dana Drive, Oxford, OH-45056
: 513-280-6153, Email: [email protected]
Education
Ph.D.
September, 2007
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Family Social Science
Dissertation: Meanings Underlying Parent Narratives of Living with and Caring
for their Preadolescent Child with Cerebral Palsy.
M.Sc.
May, 1997
Nirmala Niketan, College of Home Science, University of Bombay, India
Human Development
Thesis: Coping Strategies used by Parents of Mentally Handicapped Children of
Three Different Age Groups.
B.Sc.
May, 1995
Nirmala Niketan, College of Home Science, University of Bombay, India
Human Development
Teaching Experience
Visiting Assistant Professor
Fall 2010-till date
Department of Family Studies & Social Work
Miami University
Instructor
Summer 2005
University of Minnesota, Department of Family Social Science
Chronic Illness and the Family
Designed, developed and taught the course.
Guest Lecturer
October 2005
University of Minnesota, Department of Family Social Science,
Topic: Family Policy in India
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Course: Family Policy
Guest Lecturer
December 2003
University of Minnesota, Department of Family Social Science,
Course: Personal and Family Finances
Guest Lecturer
December 2002
University of Minnesota, Department of Family Social Science,
Topic: Family Assets for Independence in Minnesota Project (FAIM)
Course: Family Resource Management
Teaching Assistant
August 2000-May 2001, September 2005-May 2006
University of Minnesota, Department of Family Social Science
Course: Working with Families
Work involved a weekly grading of papers that reflected the student’s critical thinking
on topics from their course book.
Supervisor: Dr. William Goodman
Teaching Assistant
January 2001-May 2001, January 2002-May 2002
University of Minnesota, Department of Family Social Science
Course: Family Policy
Attended class, organized handouts and other material for each class,
facilitated small group discussions, graded tests, exams, class presentations and executive
summaries and held office hours to clarify student doubts and difficulties.
Supervisor: Dr. Martha A. Rueter
Teaching assignment (M.Sc.)
August 1995 - October 1995
Carmel Convent Girl's School - Nursery Class, as part of course work in Early Childhood
Education, Mumbai
Teaching internship (B.Sc.)
June 1994 - April 1995
Chuim Community Center for underprivileged children, Mumbai
Supervisor (M.Sc.II)
June 1996 - October 1996
Supervision / assessment of undergraduate student’s project work. Chuim Community
Center, for underprivileged children, Mumbai
Workshops
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'Effective Study Habits' for 8th grade students
Aga Khan Community Center, Mumbai
July 1997.
'Effective Communication Skills' for undergraduates attending a diploma class in Home
Science (M.Sc.II)
Nirmala Niketan College of Home Science, Mumbai
'Self Esteem and Effective Study Habits' (M.Sc.I) Child Guidance Clinic, Tata Institute of
Social Sciences, JB Wadia Hospital, Mumbai.
'Psychological testing & vocational guidance' for Class X students - (M.Sc.I)
Our Lady of Dolors School, Mumbai.
Research Experience
Research Assistant
January 2005-May 2005
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Department of Family Social Science
Project: ‘Long Term Care Insurance’
Work included conducting a literature search for concepts and methodologies on life
course perspectives pertaining to long-term care for families, writing in depth summaries
of articles, analysis of data and writing publications.
Supervisor: Dr. Marlene Stum
Research Assistant
January 2004 – May 2005
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Department of Nursing
Project: ‘Understanding Perspectives on Type II Diabetes among the Native American
Population’
Conducted qualitative interviews, and carried out in-depth coding and analysis of
transcribed data. Reviewed literature for publications.
Supervisor: Late Dr. Roxanne Struthers
Research Assistant
June 2003 – May 2004
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Department of Design, Housing and Apparel
Project: ‘Rent Wise’
Qualitative research experience involved reorganization and further development of
modules for the ‘Rent Wise’ curriculum. Work also included doing program evaluation
for related projects, Rent Wise and Dollar Works. Tasks for the Rent Wise program
evaluation included mailing out surveys, setting up the SPSS database and doing basic
statistical analysis, coding of themes for the qualitative portion of the data and report
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writing. Tasks for the Dollar Works project included running basic statistical analysis,
coding of themes for the qualitative data and report writing.
Supervisor: Dr. Marilyn Bruin
Research Assistant
August 2002-May 2003
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Institute of Community Integration (ICI) at the University of Minnesota
Projects: ‘Impact of SSI Redetermination for Adolescents with Disabilities on themselves
and their Families’, ‘Mentoring for Special Education Teachers’.
Qualitative research experience involved doing literature reviews, contacting
organizations to recruit participants, transcribing and coding data, writing reports.
Quantitative research experience involves running simple analysis using SPSS software.
Supervisor: Dr. Jane Fields
Research Assistant
May 2001- December 2003
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Department of Family Social Science
Project: ‘Family Assets for Independence in Minnesota Project’ (FAIM)
Recruitment and retention of participants, developed a list of questions for the interview,
conducted face-to-face and phone interviews with families. Transcribed data as well as
coded it, also used the WINMAX software as a tool to aid in data analysis. Wrote case
studies and sent them to the families as a means of verifying the data. Publications.
Supervisors: Dr. Jan Hogan and Dr. Cathy Solheim
Research Assistant
August 2000 - December 2000
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Department of Family Social Science
Project: ‘Dementia Care giving’
Data verification of transcripts, data entry using SPSS, assisted the main interviewer in
conducting interviews with the caregivers.
Supervisor: Dr. Pauline Boss
Publications
Rodrigues, N & Patterson, J. (2006). The impact of severity of a child’s chronic condition
on the functioning of two-parent families. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 1-10
Stum, M., Anderson, K., Haberman, H. & Rodrigues, N. (2005). Family life course and
perceptions about financing long term care: Examining family decision-making.
State of Minnesota Department of Human Services, CFMS#A72196/1-26-05/DB,
St. Paul, MN.
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Stum, M., Anderson, K., Haberman, H. & Rodrigues, N. (2005). Perceptions about
Financing long term care: A cohort perspective. State of Minnesota Department of
Human Services, CFMS#A72196/1-26-05/DB, St. Paul, MN.
Solheim, C.A., Hogan, M.J., Nkosi, B., Wolfgram, S., Rodrigues, N., & NelsonChristinedaughter, J. (2005). Family Assets for Independence Minnesota technical
research report.
Hogan, M.J., Solheim, C.A., Wolfgram, S., Nkosi, B. & Rodrigues, N (2004). The
working poor: From the economic margins to asset building. Family Relations,
53, 229-236
Hogan, M.J., Solheim, C.A., Wolfgram, S., Rodrigues, N. & Nkosi, B. (2003). Assetbuilding for the working poor. NCFR Report, F21 & F23.
Conference Presentations
Hogan, J., Solheim, C., Wolfgram, S., Rodrigues, N.
‘Building Assets for Family Well-Being’
Paolucci Symposium, Michigan State University, April 2002
Solheim, C., Hogan, J., Rodrigues, N.
Can The Poor Save?
CYFAR Conference, Minneapolis, May 2003
Counseling experience
Trainee counselor (M.Sc.I)
Child Guidance Clinic, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, JB Wadia Hospital, Mumbai
November 1995 - March 1996
Awards and Honors

Certificate of Merit' awarded by the Bombay Catholic Sabha, Mahim, Mumbai for
outstanding performance amongst the Christian Students at the M.Sc.
Examination (Human Development).

Certificate of Proficiency' awarded by Citizen Co-operative Bank, Mumbai for
academic excellence at the M.Sc. Examination (Human Development).

'Braganza Scholarship' awarded by Nirmala Niketan College of Home Science for
securing a First Class amongst the Christian Students at the M.Sc.I
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Examination (Human Development) held during the year 1995 - 1996.

'Braganza Scholarship' awarded by Nirmala Niketan College of Home Science for
the Christian Student securing a First Class at the B.Sc. Examination (Human
Development) held during the year 1994 - 1995.

'Branganza Scholarship' awarded by Nirmala Niketan College of Home Science
for securing the highest marks in Seminar Presentation held during the year 1994
- 1995, B.Sc. (Human Development).
Competitive Internal Funding

Jan Hogan fellowship for the year 2005-2006
Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota

Geraldine Gage fellowship for the year 2004-2005.
Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota

Ludden Trust Fund for professional development
Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota
Professional work experience
Organisation: MelJol, Mumbai, India
Duration: November 1998 - May 2000
MelJol is a non-governmental organization (NGO) actively working since December1991
on child's rights education in both private and government run schools. The UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1990 serves as the organization’s reference point
on child's rights. Through a range of programmers and child friendly activities MelJol
attempts to sensitize children towards their own rights and responsibilities as well as
those of others in the environment. MelJol thereby, consciously works towards breaking
barriers of class, gender, ethnicity and enables children to become change agents in their
own environment. MelJol adopts a multi pronged approach and a range of intervention
strategies based on the needs of children. MelJol's programmed includes a Government
School Program, a Private School Program and a Twinning Program. The Twinning
program is a unique feature of the organization wherein children from different
backgrounds i.e. private and government run school children or disabled children with
normal children, etc interact to break down a variety of prejudices and barriers.
Job responsibilities
 Planning, organizing as well as conducting the above mentioned program
modules in several schools.
 Developing various fact sheets, handouts, and manuals used during sessions with
children and teachers.
 Raising funds for the organization and its programs.
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Serving as a liaison with governmental and other non-governmental officials for
the implementation of programs and activities. This included regular meetings
and other forms of oral and written communication.
Maintaining and managing records of programs and activities.
Actively involved in the organization of an educational cum fun fair for children
from the rural areas of Maharashtra.
Organized a children's theatre festival and trained a group of children for the
same.
Coordinated a school based promotional event on Anti – Guthka. Guthka is an
addictive and harmful substance particularly used by children belonging to the
lower strata of society, due to its cheap availability.
Organization: Total Solution (a Human Resources consultancy), Mumbai, India
Duration: July 1997 - November 1998
Total Solution is a Human Resources Development and Management consultancy serving
both, corporate firms and multi-nationals for their management related work primarily in
the areas of recruitment and selection as well as other Human Resources projects.
Job responsibilities
 Recruitment and selection of entry level and middle management personnel
-Meeting with clients to identify their requirements
-Screening and short listing of suitable candidates
-Co-ordination with the client and the candidates
-Managing and updating prospective candidate / client database.
 Drafting of advertisements for recruitment purposes.
 Liaising with advertising agencies / media.
Academic Service
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Member, Incoming Graduate Student Mentor, Department of Family Social
Science, University of Minnesota, 2001
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Member, Department of Family Social Science Web Re-Design Team, University
of Minnesota, 2003-2004
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Student Council Representative, Nirmala Niketan College of Home Science, class
of 1995.
Community work
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Served as a member of church choral groups in Minneapolis, MN and Oxford,
Ohio.
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Voluntary service with St. Vincent De Paul-a worldwide religious organization
assisting the homeless and economically disadvantaged populations, Mumbai,
India
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Served as an active member of the 'Small Christian Community' (S.C.C) core
group within the local parish in Mumbai, India.
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Initiated and contributed to a local community newsletter in Mumbai, India.
Languages spoken
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English – first spoken language
Hindi
Marathi
List of references
Dr. M. Janice Hogan
Professor Emeritus
Department of Family Social Science
290 McNeal Hall
1985 Buford Avenue
St.Paul, MN 55108-6140
(612) 625-6766
[email protected]
Dr. Paul Rosenblatt
Professor
Department of Family Social Science
290 McNeal Hall
1985 Buford Avenue
St.Paul, MN 55108-6140
(612) 625-3120
[email protected]
Dr. Joan Patterson
Interim Director of the Office of Community Engagement for Health
Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Associate Professor Emeritus
School of Public Health
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612-625-2691
[email protected]
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Dr. Cathy Solheim
Associate Professor
Department of Family Social Science
290 McNeal Hall
1985 Buford Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108-6140
(612) 625-1201
[email protected]
Dr. Marlene Stum
Professor
Department of Family Social Science
290 McNeal Hall
1985 Buford Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108-6140
(612) 625-4270
[email protected]
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