Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools

📣 WE ARE RECRUITING! Help us understand sibling relationships between children who use AAC and their neurotypical sibling!

We’re exploring how siblings interact, communicate, and build relationships when one child uses AAC — and how those relationships can better support autistic children in everyday play and connection. Your family’s experiences will help us identify what strengthens communication, what challenges arise, and how we can better support neurodiverse sibling dynamics.

We’re looking for families who:
👧 Have an autistic child (5–12) who uses AAC
👦 Have a typically developing sibling (5–15)
📍 Live within 100 miles of Lincoln, NE

What’s involved?
🎲 A video-recorded sibling play observation
🗣️ Parent and sibling interviews — all completed in your home!

Your family’s insight can guide future supports and resources for improving communication and connection in neurodiverse homes.

📬 To get started, contact Dr. Ciara Ousley at [email protected] or [email protected]

University of Nebraska-Lincoln undergraduate students! Enroll now in Connections for Kids — a series of five online courses focused on promoting children’s social and emotional development. The CK approach brings together three evidence-based programs used widely in Nebraska: CHIME, Getting Ready and Pyramid Model.

This coursework will help you strengthen your resume, while building innovative, evidence-based skills for a variety of careers supporting children and families.

Learn more: 🔗 https://cyfs.unl.edu/news/?p=8056

📣 CYFS Grants Coordinator

Do you have finance or grant management experience? We're seeking a full-time grants coordinator with excellent interpersonal skills to help execute and review pre- and post-award grant transactions.

Learn more & apply: https://employment.unl.edu/postings/10067

🔴 CYFS is seeking its next director! 🔴

This leadership opportunity is ideally suited for a senior principal investigator or current research center director with a strong record of externally funded, interdisciplinary research and experience leading a large, complex research enterprise.

Founded in 2004, CYFS is a nationally recognized, revenue-generating research center advancing high-impact scholarship in the social, behavioral and educational sciences.

Interested in leading the center's next chapter — or know someone who would be a great fit?

Learn more & apply: https://go.unl.edu/cyfs-director See less

A statewide campaign is giving Huskers hands-on learning experiences while raising awareness about the critical need to support children’s social and emotional development.

Nurture Nebraska, a partnership between the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Jacht Ad Agency and faculty in the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications, recently earned three Prism Awards from the American Marketing Association Lincoln Chapter. The awards recognize excellence in website design, digital advertising and special events.

Learn more: 🔗 https://go.unl.edu/on2f

The Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools (CYFS) is seeking its next director.

📅 Review of applications begins June 18. Please consider sharing this opportunity with your networks.

Learn more & apply: https://go.unl.edu/cyfs-director 🔗

Search begins for next CYFS director | CYFS | Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools | University of Nebraska–Lincoln Search begins for next CYFS director Review of applications for the CYFS director and full professor position will begin May 21. CYFS is seeking its next director — an accomplished research leader who can build on a strong foundation of partnerships, signature programs and real-world impact. The s...

Big news! 🎉 Sungeun Kang, assistant professor of school psychology, is the 2026 recipient of the CYFS Signature Research Impact Program award.

Now in its second year, the program supports high-impact research in the social, behavioral and educational sciences that benefits Nebraskans, fosters collaboration and generates pilot data to secure external funding.

Funding for this program is provided by generous private donations directed to the center through the University of Nebraska Foundation.

Read story ›› https://cyfs.unl.edu/news/?p=8172

🔴 CYFS is seeking its next director! 🔴

This leadership opportunity is ideally suited for a senior principal investigator or current research center director with a strong record of externally funded, interdisciplinary research and experience leading a large, complex research enterprise.

Founded in 2004, CYFS is a nationally recognized, revenue-generating research center advancing high-impact scholarship in the social, behavioral and educational sciences.

Interested in leading the center's next chapter — or know someone who would be a great fit?

Learn more & apply: https://go.unl.edu/cyfs-director