As a student and recent Master of Professional Science alumna, research conducted during an internship by Rylee Li ‘23 (MS ‘24) under the direction of Elizabeth Sager (MPH ‘16) has already affected the future of violence prevention at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Holly Lovern, the director of Violence Prevention and Advocacy Services (VPAS) at Carolina, refers frequently to emerging, evidence-based research to inform prevention work and confidential support services offered to students, faculty, and staff. When Lovern initially reviewed a newly released report on a five-year trend analysis of domestic violence in North Carolina, she didn’t know a Li and Sager had spearheaded the research.
“Our campus is a microcosm of the larger community around us, and it’s helpful to see the ways in which impact looks similar and different across environments and settings,” Lovern said. “It’s important to strengthen awareness and visibility of resources available on campus and in the community, and Rylee’s role in the report is a great example of the importance of partnership between the University and North Carolina.”
As an international student who transferred to Carolina to complete her degrees at the School of Information and Library Science, her master’s degree program required an internship, which landed her a role as a data evaluation intern with the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCCADV), where Sager works as the director of evaluation. The report generated media coverage from across the state, in part because it noted an increase in domestic violence cases during the last five years. The report included research on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on services, funding, and capacity for care.
Connecting Li’s research to our Carolina community of compassion and care by way of violence prevention proved to be a fulfilling opportunity.
“During my internship, I didn’t expect the report to be such an impactful thing,” she said. “We all have this tendency to underestimate the work we create. It felt so good to know that it made such a contribution to the Carolina community; it’s work that I’m very interested in doing and in a way in which I want to apply my skills.”
As a student, Li volunteered her time with a campus health informatics student association and began to connect with the incoming NCCADV intern for this fall.
“Students contribute in so many different and impactful ways,” Li said. “It makes me feel more confident and connects all the dots that I’ve learned from my courses. Internships are a great way to watch myself and my peers evolve.”
VPAS and its gender violence services coordinators offer confidential support and services for people who are directly or indirectly affected by gender-based violence or harassment. Their support is open to the entire Carolina community, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.