Jessica Aungst Weitzel, M.P.H.
Director of Behavioral Health Evaluation
American Evaluation Association (AEA) member
American Public Health Association (APHA) member
American School Health Association (ASHA) member
Ms. Weitzel has experience conducting both quantitative and qualitative research. In addition to evaluation reports for a variety of clients and types of projects, she has published peer-reviewed scholarly articles, newspaper articles, and book-length reports, and has presented at national conferences. Prior to joining Ciurczak & Co., Inc., Ms. Weitzel worked as a project director for a foundation grant to evaluate the prevalence and treatment of co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders among a drug court population. She also served as a project director on a federal grant to explore the use of handheld computers for data collection and tailored messaging. In addition, she worked as a research assistant on a project to summarize key health communication literature and for multiple Institute of Medicine projects related to health policy.
Currently, Jessica is evaluating the following types of programs and projects: 21st Century Community Learning Center after-school programs, bilingual education and assistance center, pregnancy prevention/abstinence education, Smaller Learning Communities, Supplemental Education Services (SES) and after-school partnership, Extended School Day, and systemic change for student support. In addition, Ms. Weitzel oversees the work of other evaluators and contributes to the grant development process.
She continually enhances her evaluation skills through participation in American Evaluation Association activities, training at the Evaluators’ Institute, and reading relevant literature and other information, as well as other activities.
- Education
- M.P.H. Behavioral Science and Health Education
- Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
- B.A. English
- State University of New York at Geneseo
Current Projects
- 21st Century Community Learning Centers
- Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Center
- Community-Based Abstinence Education
- Community Health Foundation
- Extended School Day/ School Violence Prevention
- Smaller Learning Communities
- Supplemental Educational Services
Current Interests
- School Health
- Youth Development
- Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Certifications & Formal Training
- The Evaluator’s Institute: Evaluation Consulting Business Skills, 2009
- The Evaluator’s Institute: Alternative Evaluation Designs, 2009
- The Evaluator’s Institute: The Basics of Program Evaluation, 2007
- American Evaluation Association: Using Systems Tools, 2007
- American Evaluation Association: Using Systems Thinking, 2007
- NIH Human Participants Protection Education for Research Teams
- CITI Social/Behavioral Research Program in the Protection of Human Research Subjects
- HIPAA Researchers Job Training, New York State
Publications & Presentations
- Mays, D., Usdan, S., Arriola, KJ, Weitzel, JA, Bernhardt, J. 2009. Development and Validation of the Retrospective Alcohol Context Scale. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, (35:2), 109-114.
- Usdan, S., Martin, R.J., Mays, D., Cremeens, J., Jacob-Arriola, K., Aungst-Weitzel, J. & Bernhardt, J. Self-reported consequences of intoxication among college students: Implications for harm reduction approaches to high-risk drinking. Journal of Drug Education (38:4), 377-387.
- Weitzel, J. A., Nochajski, T. H., Coffey, S., Farrell, M. G. 2007. Mental health among suburban drug court participants. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, (33:3), 475-481.