California State University, Stanislaus

18/08/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 19/08/2024 02:38

Warriors Remember: Robin Ringstad

Remembered as a visionary leader, diligent researcher and accomplished writer, Stanislaus State Master of Social Work (MSW) professor, former department chair and director, Robin Ringstad passed away on Aug. 5. She was 63.

For all her accomplishments, though, what colleagues remember most is the impact she had on others, both students and the University community.

"She helped so many, possibly hundreds of students," said her best friend and colleague, Valerie Leyva. "Robin was a tremendous researcher, and helping students write their theses and engage in their own original research had a huge impact on them."

Ringstad made earning a master's degree possible for countless students while serving as chair and director of the MSW program from 2010-2016 and again from 2018-2019. She worked to change the program's requirements by eliminating the standardized graduate school exam and college transcripts requirements in favor of working credentials, understanding that with the proper structure and support, non-traditional students could succeed.

Her greatest legacy was working with Leyva and fellow professor Shrada Tibrewal to establish the Extended Education Hybrid MSW program in 2016.

Colleagues initially resisted, fearing a non-state-funded offering would diminish the standards of the MSW program established in 1995.

"I said if you want to do it, do it, but I'm not having anything to do with it," said John Garcia, one of the program's original tenured faculty members.

Immediately, however, Garcia agreed to teach a research course -his specialty, and how he first connected with Ringstad, another researcher -in the program.

"I was wrong," Garcia said. "I didn't realize what we could do. It's been highly successful. I thought students were going to be cheated and that they wouldn't be committed. The students who go into that hybrid program want to be clinical social workers or behavioral health workers. They're willing to work at it. They're giving up their weekends and need flexibility in their schedules to be able to do it."

Ringstad's clear vision helped her sway other colleagues, too.

"Robin pulled people together," Leyva said. "She was very good at having private conversations with people and helping them come around to the mission. She was very focused on the department's mission. She would help people see that mission and that this was a viable project we could accomplish that the community was asking for. Employers were really clear they were struggling and needed to increase capacity for education."

Ringstad, originally from a farm in a small community in the Ozarks of Missouri, earned a master's degree from Sacramento State and spent 10 years with San Joaquin County Child Welfare Services before joining Stan State in 1997 as a full-time lecturer preparing students to work in child welfare.

During her pre-academic career, Ringstad created a forensic interview process to use with sexually abused children. It was the first of its kind in the Central Valley and is now a universal practice, Leyva said.

She also researched and wrote about social workers as victims of clients and clients as victims of social workers, Garcia said.

"She helped so many, possibly hundreds of students. Robin was a tremendous researcher, and helping students write their theses and engage in their own original research had a huge impact on them."

Valerie Leyva, Professor, Master of Social Work

After earning her doctorate in social work and higher education from Berne University, Ringstad became a tenure-track professor in 2005.

In 2007, she was awarded an educational fellowship in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Hispanic-Serving Institutions National Program. Three years later, she was elected by her colleagues for the first of two three-year terms as department chair and director.

"She was the third in the prestigious line of chairs and directors, after Ellen Dunbar and Margaret Tynan, whose work was glorious," Garcia said. "She walked in and followed them, and she was incredible. We never skipped a beat. She was born to be a chair and director of an MSW program. She was wonderful."

He called her an "incredible social work educator" who rolled up her sleeves and worked tirelessly to make a difference. While she collaborated with Leyva and Tibrewal on the hybrid program, Ringstad, Garcia said, did the heavy lifting, including negotiating with the University and outside agencies and securing financial backing.

"She was just a good human being, a person you wanted to be around," Garcia said.

"In every department, people don't always get along," Leyva said. "In talking to colleagues since she passed away, even people who butted heads with Robin said she was a respected colleague. When she set her mind to something, she worked and got it done. That was her biggest strength."

She worked across campus, including helping to grow graduate education, Garcia said.

For Leyva, the loss is personal.

"When she became department chair, I became our internship coordinator, so our offices were next door, and that's when we really got to know each other," Leyva said. "We were yin and yang. She was a statistician. She loved numbers. She said, 'I can write any article if I have numbers.' I said, 'I like narrative and want to tell a story.' She said, 'That's why you never get anything published. It takes you too long to tell the story.' That was our relationship."

Leyva was among the few who knew of Ringstad's illness. When she called colleagues with the news of Ringstad's passing, many were shocked, unaware of how sick she was. That, however, is how Ringstad wanted it, Leyva said.

Services will be private. In addition to her husband, Ed Auerbach, a teacher in the Stockton Unified School District, Ringstad is survived by two daughters, Khira, an actor and producer in the film industry, and Taryn, a high school English teacher in Oregon.

For those who would like to make a donation in her memory, the family asks to please consider the following charities: