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Pete's Pet Posse Research Committee

The Pete’s Pet Posse Research Committee (P3RC) was formed in 2023 to support the exploration and understanding of how Pete’s Pet Posse (P3) serves the Oklahoma State University community. With an interdisciplinary membership spanning the OSU campus, the P3RC works to guide research being conducted on the P3 program by the OSU community and collects data to evaluate P3 programming for continual enhancement. The P3RC initiated their program evaluation at P3’s 10-year anniversary by conducting surveys, interviews and focus groups with the campus community. Major findings revealed the widespread mental and social benefits of P3 pet therapy for students, faculty and staff.

Research Committee Members

Dr. Ryan Chung

Assistant Vice Provost for Accreditation, Assessment and Testing
Governing Board Member

Dr. Ryan Chung currently serves as Assistant Vice Provost for Accreditation, Assessment, and Testing. Ryan has served on the P3 Advisory Board since 2022 and helped to establish the P3 research initiative. Ryan was a P3 handler along with Mr. Benny who recently retired from P3 service earlier this year

Dr. Rachel M. Schmitz

Committee Chair, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
Governing Board Member

 Dr. Rachel M. Schmitz (she/her/ella) is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Oklahoma State University and conducts research and teaches in the areas of social inequalities. Dr. Schmitz served as a P3 Handler with her mini Schnauzer Lucy from 2018-2024 and is currently the Chair of the P3 Research Committee. She is also an Associate Director for the Center for Insecurity and Inequality at OSU and is a co-editor for the academic journal "Social Problems."

Dr. Kelva Hunger

University Assessment and Testing

Dr. Kelva Hunger is the Associate Director of Assessment and Analysis at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Hunger has experience working in program assessment, general education assessment, and institutional accreditation. She has also provided key support in over 40 survey-related projects across the OSU campus and thoroughly enjoys being involved in P3 research.

Dr. Chia-chen Yang

Associate Professor, Educational Psychology

Dr. Chia-chen Yang (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology. Her research centers on the psychosocial development of young people in the digital age. Specifically, she examines how adolescents and emerging adults engage with communication technologies and the role digital media plays in shaping their identity development, social relationships, and socioemotional well-being.

Paola Sainz Sujet

Ph.D. Student REMS, Graduate Research Assistant University Testing and Assessment

 Paola is a Ph.D. student in Research, Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics (REMS) and a Graduate Research Associate with University Assessment and Testing. She holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia and a Master’s in Information and Communication Technology Applied to Education from the University of Salamanca. In addition, she has earned multiple graduate certificates in Education and Human Resources. Paola also serves as a member of the Research Council for the Bolivian Academy of Sciences.

Jaime Lewandowski, MSEd

Ph.D. Student, Educational Psychology
P3 Handler

Jaime (she/her) is a Graduate Research Associate in Special Education and a doctoral fellow in Educational Psychology. Her research explores the lived experience of caregivers of autistic children, with a focus on supporting caregivers’ well-being. She currently serves as a P3 handler with her joyful Golden Retriever, Bob.

Nicole A. Tracy, M.A.

Academic Advising Manager, P3 Handler
Office of Student Success

Nicole serves as the advising manager for the Office of Student Success, assisting life science and pre-health freshmen.  She is in the second year of her doctorate program at Arkansas State University, where her primary research area is the influence of therapy dogs on college students’ social wellness.  She has been a handler in P3 since 2022 with her dachshund Strudel. 

Understanding our reach

We're enhancing the wellbeing of the Cowboy family one visit at a time.
In 2023, 85 therapy dogs served the the OSU system alongside their handlers. In a survey taken by 1,900 OSU students, 99% of students reported feeling welcomed at visits and believe that interactions with our teams can improve mental health. 

1,037VISITS

reaching 67,080 people in the OSU-Stillwater community in 2023.

3,550TOTAL HOURS

of pet therapy provided at OSU-Stillwater in 2023.

Pete's Pet Posse Impact2014-2021 *

300,000+
Human lives touched**
 
4,897
Special Appearances
 
140
Pet therapy teams have been trained/are in-training since 2013
 
150+
Ruff Rider volunteers
 
9
Classes of therapy teams have been trained at OSU-Stillwater
 
5
Classes of therapy teams have been trained at OSU-Tulsa and OSU-CHS
 

* Number tracking began in 2014; 2022 data is being evaluated

** These numbers reflect physical touches only and do not include number of people reached through public virtual pet therapy, social media, presentations, videos or other publications.

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