Jennifer Crittenden, Assistant Professor, MSW Program Coordinator

Jennifer Crittenden joined the School of Social Work (SSW) faculty in 2020. She now serves as the School’s MSW Program Coordinator. She received her Interdisciplinary PhD in Gerontology from the University of Maine (UM) in 2019.  She also received her MSW in 2005. She holds a BA, with a double major in Psychology and Child Development and Family Relations with high honors from the Honors College at UMaine.  Prior to joining the faculty at the SSW, Dr. Crittenden was the Associate Director at the UM Center on Aging, where she had worked since 2005 in a number of capacities.  Dr. Crittenden remains closely aligned with the Center, where she continues to be involved in numerous research and evaluation projects.

She has experience in aging research, professional and community education, program evaluation and program planning. Dr. Crittenden’s research interests span a range of topics focused on older adult health, well-being, and life role intersections including caregiving, volunteering, and working. Nearly all research projects and grant-funded programs under her management entail the translation of academic research into professional and public education programs, events, and dissemination activities. Her research interests and funded projects include: geriatrics workforce development, employment in later life, older adult volunteerism, virtual volunteerism, oral health, patient education, and kinship caregiving. Her work has been funded by local, regional, and national funders including AmeriCorps, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Atlantic Philanthropies, Maine Community Foundation, The Children’s Bureau, CareQuest, and Lunder-Dineen Health Education Alliance of Maine. Dr. Crittenden is an affiliated researcher with the UMaine Institute of Medicine, the Downeast Rural Health Collaborative Research Institute, and the Elder Family Financial Exploitation (EFFE) Research Network.

Jennifer serves as the coordinator for the UMaine Interprofessional Graduate Certificate in Gerontology and teaches one of the three certificate courses: Life Transitions and Health in Aging.  She has taught social welfare policy in both our undergraduate and graduate programs (SWK 440 and SWK 540) since 2016, first as a part-time faculty member, and now as a full-time faculty member.  She has also taught courses in our undergraduate practice and graduate research sequences. 

As an instructor, Dr. Crittenden views students as active participants and essential partners in their educational development. Across all the courses she teaches, her pedagogical approach emphasizes student professional development, deliberately incorporating opportunities for growth and self-reflection. She firmly believes in the value of integrating student experiences and diverse perspectives into the learning process. By recognizing and valuing the unique insights students bring to the classroom, she fosters a richer and more pertinent comprehension of course content, transforming abstract ideas into immediately relatable connections that act as a foundation for more intricate learning and dialogue.

Dr. Crittenden has received many awards, including the SSW’s Outstanding Internship Instructor Award in 2016 and the Outstanding Alumni Award in 2010. In 2019 she was selected for the Kinship Advocate of the Year Award from Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine.  She is a Fellow of the Maine’s Gerontological Society, the Graduate Fellow of the Scholars Strategy Network in 2015, and was awarded Fellow status by the Gerontological Society of America in 2024.

Her community service includes sitting on the Advisory Board of the Tri-State Learning Collaborative on Aging and previously serving on the Statewide Age-Friendly Advisory Committee through the Office of the Governor. She has served as a grant reviewer for the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, the U.S. Administration for Community Living, and the Maine Community Foundation. She currently serves on the editorial board for the Grandfamilies journal, a peer-reviewed journal publishing research and practice literature focused on issues impacting kinship families. Jennifer has been active in both the Maine Gerontological Society, serving as both its Secretary and Treasurer, and in the national Gerontological Society of America, where she previously co-chaired the Rural Interest Group.

Dr. Crittenden is the author of numerous reports, book chapters, and peer reviewed articles related topics surrounding the health and well-being of older adults.  She is a frequent presenter at national professional conferences and an invited presenter at statewide colloquia, trainings and workshops.