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2014 Falk College Magazine
View an original, non-accessible PDF version of this magazine.
Spring/Summer 2014
Building healthy communities: Making a positive impact on local, global levels.
Features
Preparing for the world in the world
Falk study abroad programs make the world our students’ classrooms.
Building healthy communities
How the Falk College is making positive impacts locally, globally
A Day in the Life: Falk College Student Services
Strength-based advising, dedicated staff guide student success
Research and scholarship in the Falk College
Grant highlights, including National Institutes of Health-funded research and others
Social work education paves way to law enforcement careers
Meet SWK alums, Jennifer Hardwich and Jenny Terrero, employed by the Syracuse Police Department
Front Cover
Pictured on the front cover: Public health alumna, Sara Curtin ’13, organizes a farmer’s market for local Syracuse elementary school children. Photo credit: David Lassman/The Post-Standard.
Departments
Dean's Message
Dear Alumni and Friends,
This edition’s theme, “Building Healthy Communities,” fittingly describes what goes on in the Falk College. Whether they are learning in the classroom, around the community or throughout the world, we educate our students to bring solutions to the places where they live and work. In the pages ahead, we proudly share stories of our alumni, students and faculty making healthy differences in the lives of others. On a local level, the creativity of a public health alumna instilled healthy eating habits in elementary school children, and a collaborative team is working diligently to reduce adolescent involvement in the juvenile justice system. Featured social work alumni offer fine examples of service to others. Globally, Falk faculty research is making many positive impacts on children, families and communities. Throughout this magazine, you will witness Falk College students, our change agents, who take their roles in building healthy, vibrant communities very seriously.
The Falk College is currently in a building phase literally. We are focusing our collective attention on the move to a new home in 2015. Working collaboratively with our colleagues from S.U.’s Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction, project architects, Ashley McGraw, and design partners Gilbert Displays, our daily focus is to ensure our new building (MacNaughton and White Halls, the former home of the College of Law) meets the needs of our students and the faculty and staff working closely with them every day. We welcome opportunities to meet with alumni and donors interested in hearing about our progress and how they might play a role in our new home. We invite you to stay updated on the Falk College by visiting falk.syr.edu. We are so deeply grateful to our thoughtful and generous donors who make the work we do possible.
Sincerely,
Diane Lyden Murphy, M.A., M.S., Ph.D.
Dean David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics
Credits
Dean: Diane Lyden Murphy, M.A., M.S.W., Ph.D.
Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs: Eileen Lantier, Ph.D., R.N.
Associate Dean of Research: Deborah Monahan, M.S.W., Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Student Services: Renie Kehres, Ph.D., R.N.
Academic Department Chairs: Robert Moreno, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Child & Family Studies; Thom deLara, M.S.W., M.B.A., Professor of Practice, Department of Marriage & Family Therapy; Kay Stearns Bruening, R.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, Food Studies & Nutrition; Carrie Jefferson Smith, M.S.W., D.S.W., Associate Professor, School of Social Work; Michael D. Veley, M.P. S., Rhonda S.Falk Endowed Professor of Sport Management, Department of Sport Management
Assistant Dean for Advancement and External Affairs: David A. Salanger
Director of Communications, Executive Editor: Michele J. Barrett G’92
Events and Alumni Manager: Kate Veley
Contributors: George S. Bain G'06, Michele J. Barrett G'92, Bridget Budwey, Margie Chetney, Kim Desmond, Chyna Fox '14, Kathleen Haley '92, Renie Kehres, Katie Keough, Mary Ann Middlemiss, Deborah Monahan, Montanette Murphy, Robert Murray '14, Kate Veley, Jennifer Ziobro '14
Design: Executive Art
Principal Photography: Alejandro Garcia, David Lassman/The Post-Standard, Laura Newman/PATH, Pete Middlemiss, Gabriela Z. Perez '14, Steve Sartori, Daria Weber
Production Coordinator: Clare Merrick
The Falk College Magazine is published by the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics at Syracuse University. It is distributed free to alumni, friends, partners, students, faculty, and staff.
Direct correspondence to: Editor, Falk College Magazine, David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, Syracuse University, 119 Euclid Avenue Syracuse, New York 13244, 315.443.5555, falk.syr.edu | falk@syr.edu
College News
New bachelor of science in food studies now available
The Falk College recently announced a new bachelor of science degree in Food Studies. The new program, which is now enrolling majors for Fall 2014, provides a thorough understanding of food systems, politics, and economies from production to consumption locally, nationally and globally. Students develop marketable skills, such as data management and analysis, food preparation and presentation, and the ability and knowledge to link these skills to the growing interest in food systems.
The opportunity to pair the food studies major with minors within the Falk College and throughout Syracuse University, such as public health, nutrition, social sciences, policy studies or communications, offers students unique and marketable complements to their degree programs. The major includes a senior-level research project or practicum experience. Practicum sites include organizations such as the Central New York Regional Market, Renzi Food Service, C.N.Y. Food Bank, Syracuse Grows, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Slow Food, Southwest Community Farm (urban farm), Syracuse Real Food Coop., Nojaim Brothers Supermarket, and area farms and restaurants.
Students with a bachelor of science degree in food studies might seek employment with government agencies dealing with food and agriculture issues, food-oriented non-governmental organizations that work on sustainability and food security issues, and food processing, preparation and distribution firms. These jobs include positions in program evaluation, policy analysis, marketing and community outreach and project management. The food studies major provides excellent preparation for further graduate studies in social science and legal and policy approaches to food. The presence of extensive kitchens and a professional staff of chefs, combined with nutrition, food policy and public health experts, creates a more diverse and extensive program than is available elsewhere. For more information, contact the Falk College Office of Admissions at (315) 443-5555 or falk@syr.edu.
Falk College offers nation’s first dual master’s degree program in social work, marriage & family therapy
The Falk College now offers a dual master’s degree program in social work and marriage & family therapy. This interdisciplinary program allows students to complete the master’s degree in two distinct professions—the Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) and the Master of Arts (M.A.) in Marriage & Family Therapy (M.F.T.). The first dual M.S.W.-M.F.T. master’s degree program in the country, it combines the generalist practice orientation of the M.S.W. foundation and the advanced theory, practice and skills content of the M.S.W. curriculum with the intensive relational clinical training of the M.F.T. degree. The dual M.S.W.-M.F.T. degree will allow students to seek licensure in social work and/or marriage and family therapy in any state in the country to assume a very competitive position for employment opportunities.
The M.S.W. program is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. The M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy curriculum— accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education— meets the academic requirements for clinical membership in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
Job prospects for social workers are outstanding as careers in social work are expected to increase much faster than average for all occupations through 2018. Growth areas are anticipated in gerontology, mental health and co-occurring disorders (substance use disorders and mental health), child welfare, military social work, and health care. According to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, marriage and family therapy is one of the fastest growing mental health disciplines. Marriage and family therapy’s prominence in the mental health field has increased due to its brief, solution-focused treatment, its family-centered approach, and its demonstrated effectiveness. For more information, contact the Falk College Office of Admissions at (315) 443-5555 or falk@syr.edu.
Great Cardboard Campout, donation drive on S.U. Quad benefit Rescue Mission
In the past year, an average of 235 people who might otherwise have been homeless stayed at the Rescue Mission shelter nightly. Students enrolled in S.P.M. 101—Personal and Social Responsibility— slept in cardboard boxes for one over night on the S.U. Quad to raise awareness about homelessness. As part of these efforts, they collected personal care items to benefit men using the Rescue Mission shelter in the Syracuse community.
“The students were focused on educating others about the issues of homelessness and doing something practical, like collecting supplies,” notes Falk College associate professor of sport management, Jeff Pauline, who led the course. The coursework and related projects address personal ethical principles and social responsibility. Partially funded through a gift by S.P.M. Advisory Board member, David Kleinhandler, it is offered through the Falk College’s Department of Sport Management.
Boxes were donated by Syracuse Moving and Storage and Dunk and Bright for the event, and students were only allowed to bring a sleeping bag/blanket, duct tape, and a small pillow— no electronics or other comforts were permitted.
Falk College receives 2014 Chancellor’s Awards for Public Engagement & Scholarship
The Falk College is pleased to announce that its students representing 21 courses, student organizations, field placements/internships and community efforts, and their faculty-staff advisors, were recognized with 2014 Chancellor’s Awards for Public Engagement and Scholarship (C.A.P.E.S.). The Chancellor’s Awards for Public Engagement and Scholarship are given each year to Syracuse University students and groups who exemplify the highest ideal of sustained, quality engagement with citizens in the community. Additionally, social work student, Joshua Berman ’14, received a Chancellor’s Citation. Over the years, many students indicated the desire to honor special faculty, staff or community partners who have been motivating to them as they made their way into the community. A 2014 Inspiration Award was presented to social work instructor Bette Brown Thoreck, B.S.S.W. program director.
F.S.T. 402—Feeding the City received an honorable mention in the category of Innovation in Academic Achievement. The Falk College received honors in the category of Legacy Award for Academic Achievement for sustained engagement.
Students enrolled in the Department of Child and Family Studies’ internship courses (C.F.S. 433, 493, and 494) were recognized for their service to the community. Legacy awards were presented to the Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition for: H.T.W. 307—Culturally Competent Healthcare; H.T.W. 227—Healthy You; H.T.W. 304—Public Health: Community Health Education; H.T.W. 311—Health Literacy and the Genesis Health Project Network; N.S.D. 511—Nutrition Education; N.S.D. 513—Nutrition Education Experience: Orange Wrap, and; N.S.D. 658—Participatory Program Planning.
Second-year students in the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy (M.F.T.) were recognized for the more than 7,500 hours of individual, couple and family therapy provided. The M.F.T. Transgender Team, one of the largest transgender programs in upstate New York, was honored for providing access to care many clients might not otherwise be able to afford. School of Social Work students enrolled in field placement courses in the B.S.S.W. and M.S.W. programs (S.W.K. 435, 445, 671, 672, 771, 772) and S.W.K. 301—Foundations of Social Work Practice received awards for their on-going work in improving the quality of life in the greater Syracuse community.
Sports fans, professionals, students experience “The Subject is Sports”
With the popularity and pervasiveness of sport at an all-time high, Syracuse University Open Learning (S.U.O.L.) created a new massive open online course, or M.O.O.C., entitled, “The Subject is Sports.” Rick Burton, the David B. Falk Endowed Professor of Sport Management, was in the virtual classroom sharing his practical and academic experience in sports marketing, management, and media for six consecutive weeks during the fall semester.
A M.O.O.C. enables colleges and universities to reach many students all around the world with the ability to connect with them—and to connect them with one another— to interact, discuss, share, and/or collaborate. Because one simply needs to have an Internet connection and an interest in the subject matter to enroll, M.O.O.C.s are very popular for people who want to learn about new subjects.
The course covered sport past, present and future, beginning with the origins and evolution of the Olympic Games from an insider’s viewpoint. Prior to his appointment at Syracuse in August 2009, Burton served as the chief marketing officer for the U.S. Olympic Committee at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.
Professor Burton, who served as the commissioner of the Sydney-based National Basketball League, gave his students an in-depth view into the development of professional sports teams and leagues.
At course’s mid-point, students received a glimpse into the evolution of sports venues, including behind-the-scenes tours of the Carrier Dome on the S.U. campus. The remaining course sessions covered critical issues in contemporary sport, including the role of the media, women in sports, ethical issues, and the future of organized and recreational sports.
Each session featured a video lecture/ presentation produced collaboratively with the Video Production Unit, a department within S.U. Information Technology and Services (I.T.S.), and S.U.O.L., working closely with Professor Burton.
The Subject is Sports by the numbers…
Number of students enrolled: 904
Countries represented: 24
Male: 62%
Female: 38%
Percent of students who had never taken an on-line class: 63%
Percent of students that this was their first interaction with Syracuse University: 46%
Number of posts to the M.O.O.C.’s discussion board: 855
“A Community in Trauma” conference explores grief, loss
A day-long conference exploring the epidemic of violence and the long-term wounds it inflicts on the children who grow up in its shadow in the Syracuse community was sponsored by the Falk College's Department of Child and Family Studies (C.F.S.) in March.
C.F.S. professor of practice, Colleen Baish Cameron, whose professional credentials include work as a Certified Child Life Specialist, worked closely with community leaders who are deeply involved with and committed to trauma response in the Syracuse community, including: Terrence Byrd-El, assistant director, Syracuse Trauma Response Team, Kimber Gunn, who has been working in the youth development field for over twenty years and Arnett Haygood-El, Syracuse Model Neighborhood Facility Inc., Southwest Community. Falk faculty involved in the project also include C.F.S. department chair and associate professor, Robert Moreno; assistant professor of public health, Dessa Bergen-Cico; associate professor of social work, Keith A. Alford; Mary Kish, internship coordinator, and; Sydnee Corridors, C.F.S. student.
Pictured in this section: Dessa Bergen-Cico, Sharon Owens (Southwest Community Center), Arnett Haygood-El, Sydnee Corridors, Robert Moreno and Chief Frank Fowler (Syracuse Police Department).
Preparing for the world in the world: Public health collaboration results in H.I.V./AIDS education in South Africa
by Mary Ann Middlemiss, Ph.D., R.N. Associate Professor, Public Health
“With freedom comes hope.”
For 20 eighth-grade students in Grahamstown, South Africa, these words are very meaningful. Inkululeko, a Xhosa word meaning freedom, is a non-profit organization based in Grahamstown focused on providing youth the skills and guidance necessary to succeed in a university setting.
A partnership between Inkululeko and Syracuse University began several years ago when local resident, Jason Torreano, volunteered at a school for street children while studying at Rhodes University in 2006. When he returned to Syracuse, he was determined to help South African youth overcome race and class barriers to reach their fullest potential.
As his work with Inkululeko progressed, he wanted to incorporate health education into his efforts. Syracuse University’s Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service connected Torreano and I to work together to create an opportunity for public health students to create a global health H.I.V./ AIDS education program.
The H.I.V./AIDS epidemic is one of the factors inhibiting youth from pursuing education in South Africa, where two-thirds of all people living with H.I.V. reside. Young people have emerged as one of the most affected groups. During the Spring 2013 semester, public health senior, Ivy Green ’14, along with eight other students, created an H.I.V./AIDS awareness program as part of an assignment in their community health education course I taught.
The students participated in assessment, planning and development, collaborating with the Inkululeko executive director and staff, along with community members in Grahamstown via e-mail and Skype.
Green jumped at the chance in May 2013 to pilot the program, which integrated the H.I.V./AIDS education program into the Inkululeko academic curriculum.
Because the Inkululeko classroom had no technology, learning strategies included games, interactive activities, role playing, skits, case studies and scenarios. The program was well received.
Outside of the curriculum-related activities, the Inkululeko students bonded with the group though different activities and discussions about life in their respective home countries. My husband, Pete, traveled with the group and shared his photography skills with interested students while documenting the pilot program in pictures.
This community-campus partnership can become a model that others aspire to, one that uses multiple partnership strategies, involves a range of partners and achieves significant outcomes that go beyond a process or a single event. A second three-week global community health education experience took place in South Africa in May 2014.
Pictured in this section: A photo of a large group posing outside in a field, students from Syracuse University, Rhodes University, and Inkululeko formed strong bonds throughout the program. Another images shows Professor Middlemiss working closely with a student inside a classroom in South Africa, photo by Pete Middlemiss.
Falk College offerings span globe, topics
Falk College offers program-specific opportunities for its students. In addition to Professor Middlemiss’ South Africa Immersion Experience, this year’s spring/ summer offerings abroad include:
The Mediterranean Diet (Italy)
This course offers students the chance to experience one of the most renowned cuisines in the world from a food systems level to dietary patterns and health risk. After the on-campus course where students investigate the food habits, cooking and cultural differences by Mediterranean regions, compare the food systems between Italy and the U.S. and evaluate the health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet, students then travel to Florence to visit the places where foods and wines are grown and produced, and observe differences between an industrialized food sup-ply and a fresh, local, sustainable food supply. Taught by associate professor of nutrition, Tanya Horacek, the course includes new features this year, including the Agriturismo La Ginestra where the students work and have a pizza-making or bread-making lesson using a big open fire place.
Topics in Advanced Social Work Practice and Policy (France, Germany, Switzerland)
This course, led over consecutive years by Professor Nancy Mudrick, offers Syracuse University M.S.W. students the opportunity to study comparative social work services in a specific area of human need by visiting agencies in France, Germany, and Switzerland in the company of social work students from these three countries. U.S. students participate in a one-week seminar in the Alsace/Rhine region of Europe with approximately 40 European social work students, followed by five days in Strasbourg with visits to the Council of Europe and a social work agency, debriefing and synthesis, and touring. In class sessions on the S.U. campus before leaving for Europe, students study the structure of the social welfare systems in the three countries and how each country and the U.S. address the social problem that is the focus of the year’s seminar.
Sport, History and Culture (Australia)
For the third consecutive year, students will explore sport in Australia as well as its rich history and culture. Australia, which is one of the most sport-centric geographies in the world, offers students a chance to visit Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns, and Surfer’s Paradise and attend some of the most significant sports events in the world. According to Falk Professor, Rick Burton, who leads the course, students gain many benefits during this program. “International awareness, cultural diversity and an opening of students’ collective curiosity are just some of the many experiences students have. Plus, to scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef or surf the break at Currumbin can be, for some, a life-changing experience.”
Olympic Odyssey (London, Paris, Lausanne, Athens)
Led by Falk faculty member, Patrick Ryan, the program begins in London, where students experience the impact of the 2012 Summer Games. From London, students travel to Paris, birthplace of the modern Olympic movement, and on to Lausanne to inspect the present-day “Olympic Capital,” headquarters of the International Olympic Committee since 1915. The group then travels to Athens, home of the ancient Olympics and site of the 2004 Summer Games.
Bernice M. Wright Lab School gets new look with renovations
Syracuse University’s Bernice M. Wright Child Development Laboratory School, which is housed in the Falk College’s Child and Family Studies Program, has undergone a major renovation these past two years. In 2012, the preschool took over occupancy of the entire building at M-17 Lambreth Lane on South Campus. Up until that time, they shared the building with the Art Education Department. Phase One renovations included cosmetic upgrades such as paint, flooring, and carpet. A new heating system was installed, and the main office was relocated to new space. Phase Two renovations included building a new classroom, two new therapy spaces, a kitchen, laundry room, library, storage room, and a large space for gross motor play. Upcoming projects in the planning stages include a major playground renovation to be designed by Rusty Keeler, a well-known playground designer. A new accessible main entrance is also coming soon.
“Changing Sports, Changing Lives” documentary premiere
Students enrolled in S.P.M. 300—The History of Sport focused research on sports that have been adapted to transform and enrich the lives of athletes with physical disabilities. In the fall semester, students worked as a research team, each one taking a specific assignment that became their final projects. In the spring semester, these projects have provided the collected body of research to produce a documentary film entitled Changing Sports, Changing Lives. The film’s world premiere was held on the Syracuse University campus April 28. The one-hour film included a follow-up question-and-answer session and reception. Teaching the course and directing the film is professor of practice, Dennis Deninger, a three-time Emmy Award winner.
Hospitality students host 11th Annual Senior Class Gala
On April 5, students in the Falk College’s hospitality management program hosted the 11th Annual Senior Class Gala, which was themed “The Great Gatsby.” The event included a silent auction to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central New York. In the past five years, the Gala has brought in a total of $14,783 for various charities. This year’s total will make the historical total close to $20,000.
Why we eat what we eat … N.E.P.A. hosts best-selling author, Brian Wansink
The Nutrition Education Promotion Association (N.E.P.A.) in the Falk College’s Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition hosted Brian Wansink, Ph.D., in February on the topic of mindless eating. His work focuses on understanding how the environment influences an individual’s decision to eat food. His research guides individuals in understanding how they can change eating behaviors and why these changes are so successful.
Wansink is the lead author of over 100 academic articles and books on eating behavior, including the best-selling Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (2006). His award-winning academic research on changing eating behaviors contributed to the introduction of smaller “100 calorie” packages to prevent overeating, the use of taller glasses in some bars to prevent the over-pouring of alcohol, and the use of elaborate names on some chain restaurant menus to improve enjoyment of the food.
A.S.I. hosts “Social Support and Service Provision to Older Adults: Marjorie Cantor’s Legacy to Gerontology”
The Syracuse University Aging Studies Institute—the collaborative initiative of the Falk College and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs—held a conference on “Social Support and Service Provision to Older Adults: Marjorie Cantor’s Legacy to Gerontology” in New York City in January. The event recognized the pioneering scholarship of the late Professor Marjorie Cantor that advanced understanding of the lifestyles of older persons, the importance of caregiver support systems, and needs of elders across class and culture.
The event featured a full-day agenda of aging-related topics and speakers with expertise in those areas, including faculty from the Falk College and Maxwell School and other invited experts. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services William Corr was the featured speaker. During his address titled “A New Day for Older Americans: Addressing the Needs of Our Aging Population,” he discussed the promise of the Affordable Care Act to meet longstanding needs for our aging population, particularly caregiving and health care disparities among minorities.
Pictured in this section: Dean Diane Lyden Murphy and ASI director, Profesor Janet Wilmoth, pose with William Corr.
’Cuse Dietetics Cookbook now available!
A special collection of recipes compiled by the Falk College’s Nutrition Education and Promotion Association (N.E.P.A.) is now available in a hardcover cookbook. The ’Cuse Dietetics Cookbook can be purchased for $14, with proceeds assisting N.E.P.A. in its continued efforts to give back to the community. N.E.P.A. is a student organization in the Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition that promotes health and nutrition education to the S.U. and the Syracuse communities For more information, and to purchase a cookbook, please contact Lynn Brann at lbrann@syr.edu.
S.P.M. Club raises $30,500 to benefit Food Bank
The Sport Management (S.P.M.) Club at Syracuse University raised $30,500 for Food Bank of Central New York at its 9th Annual Charity Sports Auction. During the S.U. men’s basketball game on December 7, Food Bank supporters placed bids on hundreds of items, including sports memorabilia, electronics and tickets to major sporting events. Following the silent auction, the Club hosted an online auction, in collaboration with Steiner Sports Memorabilia, which showcased a number of premium items up for bid.
“As a result of months of hard work on behalf of over 75 Syracuse University students, 79,300 meals were provided to those families in need in our community,” said Kate Veley, S.P.M. club co-advisor. “We simply couldn’t be more proud of our students, or more thankful of the Central New York community who once again recognized a need and worked together to help us make a difference.”
The S.P.M. Club is a student-run organization in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics’ Sport Management Department. Since its founding in 2005, the Club has now raised over $212,000 for local charities.
Pictured in this section: A large check is presented in the Dome during the S.U. men’s basketball game on February 19 at the Carrier Dome. In the picture are Alyssa Wood ’13 auction co-chair; Kathleen Stress, Food Bank of Central New York, executive vice president; Carly Raimo ’13 auction co-chair; Kate Veley, S.P.M. Club co-advisor.
Stone Fish co-authors Treating Complex Trauma
In Treating Complex Trauma, clinicians Mary Jo Barrett and Falk Family Endowed Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy, Linda Stone Fish, M.S.W., Ph.D., present the Collaborative Change Model (C.C.M.), a clinically evaluated model that facilitates client and practitioner collaboration and provides invaluable tools for clients struggling with the impact and effects of complex trauma. A practical guide, Treating Complex Trauma organizes clinical theory, outcome research, and decades of experiential wisdom into a manageable blueprint for treatment. With an emphasis on relationships, the model helps clients move from survival mindstates to engaged mindstates, and as a sequential and organized model, the C.C.M. can be used by helping professionals in a wide array of disciplines and settings. Utilization of the C.C.M. in collaboration with clients and other trauma-informed practitioners helps prevent the re-traumatization of clients and the compassion fatigue of the practitioner so that they can work together to build a hopeful and meaningful vision of the future. The book is due out this spring.
Stone Fish’s earlier book, Nurturing Queer Youth: Family Therapy Transformed (Norton), is a groundbreaking treatise devoted to advocating for families as safe havens for all children. She has contributed research and theoretical articles to publications including Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Contemporary Family Therapy, American Journal of Family Therapy and International Journal of Theory and Research. She has authored numerous chapters in books including “Research methods in family therapy” (Guilford), “Revisioning family therapy”(Guilford), and “Handbook of affirmative LGBT couple and family therapy” (Routledge).
Falk College announces new Certificate of Advanced Study in Trauma-informed Practice
This spring, the Falk College announced the availability of a new Certificate of Advanced Study (C.A.S.) in Trauma-informed Practice. The C.A.S. is structured for clinicians, mental health professionals, and practitioners from allied disciplines who intend to expand their knowledge and skills in trauma response and intervention. The C.A.S. in Trauma-informed Practice is comprehensive in scope and will prepare professionals to respond to trauma across a broad scope of origins, symptoms, and systems. The core courses, and elective options, address the theoretical foundations of trauma, as well as evidenced-based trauma-informed practice approaches and techniques. Completion of the Advanced Certificate program alone does not qualify an individual for licensure as a social worker, marriage and family therapist, or any other profession licensed under Title VIII of the Education Law, nor does it authorize a certificate holder to engage in those scope-restricted professions.
The C.A.S. in Trauma-informed Practice requires the completion of 15 credits of graduate study. A completed bachelor's degree, minimum G.P.A. of 3.4, or enrollment in or completion of a master's degree in an allied field is required. G.R.E.'s are not required. All of the courses in the C.A.S. track are part of the Falk College’s curriculum in marriage and family therapy, social work, public health, food studies and nutrition. Current graduate students enrolled at Syracuse University will be eligible to apply for admission to the C.A.S. track, as will mental health and allied professionals. The Certificate of Advanced Studies in Trauma-informed Practice will help address the extraordinary need for mental health (and related) services to trauma victims and their families, and will help address the significant shortage of trauma-informed practitioners in the mental health workforce, by creating a steady volume of appropriately educated and trained professionals.
To learn more about the Falk College’s newly announced C.A.S. in Trauma-informed Practice, which will be available Fall 2014, as well as other C.A.S. programs in Addiction Studies (available Summer 2014), and Global Health and Dietetic Internship, which are both available immediately.
Building Healthy Communities
Thwarting a devastating disease
by Kathleen Haley ‘92
In the Amazon port city of Belem, Brazil, David Larsen came to understand the luxury of a few pennies.
Larsen, an assistant professor of public health in the Falk College, worked among the people living in extreme poverty in the favelas, while a missionary from 2002-04. “We’d be knocking on doors and saw very close up the devastating effects of the lack of health care, clean water and sanitation,” he says. “They literally had nothing.”
Larsen now pursues research in infectious diseases and is currently a co-investigator on a malaria elimination study in Zambia. He cannot contain his frustration when he speaks about the children.
“About 10 million children under the age of five die every year around the world and most of those deaths occur in the first 30 days of life from infections, sepsis and tetanus, which is vaccine preventable,” Larsen says.
Inspired research
After his work in Brazil, Larsen earned a B.A. degree in psychology, with concentrations in child and adolescent development, from Brigham Young University. He then pursued an M.P.H. and a Ph.D. from Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine—inspired by his overseas work and a National Geographic article about the impact of malaria, called “Bedlam in the Blood.”
Malaria, which is marked by high fever, headache and vomiting, also causes anemia, which can be especially devastating for children.
There is no vaccine for malaria, so the remedy is to stop or kill mosquitoes or keep them from biting. “Then also it’s about clearing infections quickly with a standard treatment, but one of the problems is that not all infections are linked to symptoms,” Larsen explains.
If an infected asymptomatic individual does not seek treatment, a mosquito may then bite that individual and reinfect another individual. “You can carry the parasite with you without being sick but still be a source of infection for others,” he says.
Larsen’s current three-year study involves asymptomatic infections. “When we talk about malaria control, we target interventions toward children but we’re ignoring the asymptomatic infections that are more prevalent among adults. We wanted to look at if we target the source of the infection, could we reduce the amount of transmission that way,” Larsen says.
Scaling up
Larsen, who has traveled to Africa many times, submitted the proposal to the Malaria Control and Evaluation Partnership in Africa (M.A.C.E.P.A.), a program of the nonprofit health organization PATH whose funding comes primarily from the Gates Foundation.
It turned into a multi-year study where they progressively scaled the group to include 100,000 individuals in 40,000 households in southern Zambia, along the shores of Lake Kariba. Individuals were screened for the infection and treated; this was done three times during the dry season.
His current research includes looking at other vector control measures that could complement bed nets. He is also doing research in the areas of Dengue fever and diarrheal diseases, evaluating a sanitation campaign for nonprofit group Akros and UNICEF.
Pictured in this section:
Professor Larsen’s research involves a study with the Malaria Control and Evaluation Partnership in Africa, a program of the nonprofit health organization, PATH, in which whole communities are screened—and treated, if needed—for malaria three times during the dry season. Photo courtesy of: PATH/Laura Newman
Public health capstone paves way for “cafeteria extreme makeover”
Sara Curtin ’13 turns passion for tackling health care issues into career focus
by George S. Bain G’96
Ask a bunch of Syracuse-area elementary school students how they would change their cafeteria and get ready for their imaginative responses:
dance floor.
walls.
mascots.
Sara Curtin ’13 heard these answers when she first raised the topic at Frazer School, a K-8 school in the Syracuse City School District. During her public health capstone project in Spring 2013, Curtin served an internship with the American Cancer Society’s Syracuse office and undertook what she called a “Cafeteria Extreme Makeover.”
“It was amazing how creative the students were,’’ says Curtin. “All of the students were very interested in making their cafeteria into a place of their own.”
Creativity also paid off for Curtin. Her internship was so successful that the American Cancer Society hired her. She began in August 2013 as an event recruitment specialist for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and is now a Relay For Life specialist.
The Cancer Society placed her at Frazer School to help implement its nutrition and physical activity guidelines and to educate students on smarter decisions about health food and exercise.
“As a public health major, living a healthy lifestyle has always been of interest to me,” says Curtin, who grew up on the family dairy farm in Cassville, New York. She decided to bring that lesson to city schoolchildren through a cafeteria makeover.
Working with the Say Yes to Education K-5 afterschool program, she created a Student Nutrition Advisory Club (SNAC), selecting two students from each class. Four SNAC groups of eight students apiece worked on renaming fruits and vegetables, renaming and decorating the cafeteria, and testing new menu items.
“They liked that I asked them questions about how the food was, if they liked their time spent at lunch, and what foods they would like to see more of there,” she says.
“After a couple of meetings, we came up with new names for the food that made the healthy foods seem more exciting with names their peers would enjoy.”
The name changes included:
Carrots to X-Ray Vision Carrots
Green beans to Jumping Beans
Broccoli to Brain Power Broccoli
Sweet corn to Sassy Sweet Corn
Mashed potatoes to Smashed Taters.
In a school-wide vote, the cafeteria became Frazer Eagles Café.
“They knew that if we made these foods more exciting, their friends would choose to eat them over an unhealthy option, which was a huge success in my book,” Curtin says.
Corporate involvement that Curtin arranged added to the makeover’s success. Chobani donated 650 yogurt cups. Fleet Feet of Syracuse donated three pairs of sneakers to winners of a school pedometer contest and presented a school assembly on physical fitness. The school district’s food services department arranged for Sysco to provide produce for a farmers market that introduced students to fresh fruits and vegetables.
“Sara is a great example of an intern getting it done,” says Susan A. Scholl, public health internship coordinator. “She was a super undergrad with a strong work ethic and a passion for the field.”
About 15 percent of public health students are offered jobs where they have interned, Scholl says, a figure that is low partly due to economic constraints. “Easily 75 percent of our sites say, if they had the money in the budget, they would hire the intern.”
Pictured in this section: A farmer’s market is set up in the cafeteria at Frazer School for the children to sample fresh vegetables and fruits. Sara Curtin talks with kindergarten students. Photo credit: David Lassman/The Post-Standard
Social work alumni connect with patients, families in times of crisis
by George S. Bain G’96
The fast pace on a hospital unit for cardiac or neurology patients energizes—but doesn’t exhaust—medical social workers.
Curious about how much walking she does to cover her 45-bed neurosciences floor, Sue Weibezahl Porter G’11, began wearing a pedometer.
“I average more than 10,000 steps a day,” says Porter, who works at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. “I’m always on the go.”
Providing emotional support to patients and their families through a crisis sustains Andrea Blunda ’10, the medical social worker on The Mount Sinai Hospital’s 35-bed cardiac interventional catheter/ noninvasive cardiac procedures unit in New York City.
“The rewards of knowing you greatly impacted and helped someone in a time of crisis for them makes it well worth it,” says Blunda, who has worked at Mount Sinai since June. “I have worked with so many patients and their families, which keeps me going.”
These two School of Social Work graduates followed different paths to their hospital duties. Porter, who received her undergraduate degree from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1986, left journalism after 25 years as a reporter to start a second career in social work. Blunda knew in high school she wanted to be a social worker. On the New York City Social Welfare History Tour in her senior year, she visited Mount Sinai. “I walked out saying,
‘I want to work there,’’’ she recalls.
After graduating from the School of Social Work with a BSSW, Blunda returned to her native Chicago and earned her M.S.W. from the University of Illinois at Chicago. During those studies, she interned at the Northshore University Evanston Hospital on its inpatient oncology/general medicine floor. She then focused on working in New York City, finding a four-month temporary job at New York University Tisch Hospital.
She worked on the neonatal intensive care unit, covering for another social worker’s medical leave, and before that job ended had been offered her current position at Mount Sinai.
From 2009 to 2013, Porter worked at Tully Hill Chemical Dependency Treatment Center in Tully, New York, starting as an intern and rising to supervisor of the Professionals Program, for patients with a high level of responsibility in their communities. While she found work at Tully Hill fulfilling, she says she thrives on new challenges, like a reporter being assigned to a new beat. So, she sought a hospital opportunity and started at University Hospital, part of Upstate Medical University, in Fall 2013.
“The switch to medical social work was because I have always gravitated to intense situations,” Porter says. “At Upstate, particularly on the neuroscience floor, patients and their families are in crisis, need guidance and support, and time is limited in terms of their lengths of stay, so we have to make the most of the brief window we have.”
Stories of connecting with patients’ families as they deal with crisis stick with Blunda and Porter.
An 85-year-old man visiting New York City with his wife suffered a massive heart attack and was brought to Mount Sinai. When he did not respond well to treatment, he was recommended for a rehabilitation facility or hospice care. His family wanted him to return to his home in Chicago and receive hospice care there.
Blunda says she had two days to create a discharge plan and finished her work in one.
She arranged a full referral to a Chicago hospice agency and lined up an air ambulance flight for the man and his wife with ambulance pick-up from Mount Sinai and an ambulance to take him home in Chicago. Hospice staff would be waiting there to take over nursing care, and she ordered a hospital bed and all his medications delivered to his home.
“What struck me the most was not the intense need for planning in a very complex situation but the family,” Blunda says. “The family was so grateful that I was able to help get the patient home in his own relaxing environment to spend the rest of his time on this earth.”
Porter compares her days as a police reporter interviewing crime victims and their family members to interacting with people in the hospital.
“I want their interactions to be as positive as possible, preferably with someone who will take the time to let them talk/grieve/process their emotions and, maybe, come away with more clarity and the sense that they have been listened to,” she says.
Porter calls it “work that is high-energy, that requires a lot of organizational skills and a calm demeanor.” Tasks range from drafting health care proxies to setting up discharge plans, from screening for depression and substance abuse to connecting patients and families with community resources and navigating end-of-life issues. Social workers are in constant communication with a multidisciplinary hospital team of doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and dieticians.
Composure is crucial in crisis, says Blunda.
“Most patients are in a crisis situation, feeling very overwhelmed and confused. Patients and their families need guidance through this time,” she says. “Social workers must keep this in mind as the patient and families may seem difficult to work with. Social workers need to constantly check themselves and be able to see things from the patient’s point of view.”
Pictured in this section: Students meet with a program director from the youth division at The Center, a large New York City human service agency that provides services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or questioning populations.
Mirken roots of American Social Work Tour
Before she took the Social Welfare History Tour of New York City in her senior year, Andrea Blunda ’10 said she was unaware of medical social work.
Visiting The Mount Sinai Hospital “opened my eyes to my true passion for medical social work,” she says.
Each spring, School of Social Work faculty, students, and staff make this three-day visit to the New York City area. The Alan B. and Barbara Mirken Foundation sponsors the Social Welfare History Tour, designed to help students to learn how U.S. social welfare developed. The tour includes visits to Mount Sinai Hospital, the East Harlem Tutorial Program, the Goddard Community Center, and the Jewish Child Care Association.
“In school you learn the social work theories, but you don’t get to see the daily ins and outs,” Blunda says.
Intending to become a social worker in foster care and adoption, she had done her field placement work at Elmcrest Children’s Center in Syracuse. After seeing Mount Sinai Hospital, “I knew Mount Sinai would make me a better social worker and prepare me for anything,” she says.
“The trip to New York City made me realize my best career fit, but it also opened my eyes to many different options for social workers. This career path is very diverse with a lot of room for growth and development, which I never would have seen so early on in my career if not for the trip.”
Pictured in this section: Andrea Blunda stands outside the entrance to The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.
International collaborations focus on child development and health
Research collaborations between Falk College professors Drs. Ambika Krishnakumar, Lutchmie Narine, and Jaipaul Roopnarine and Dr. Carol Logie from the University of the West Indies (U.W.I.) continue to investigate interrelationships among community and family processes, and their relationship to young children’s health and development in Trinidad and Tobago. As a result, this group has published several empirical research papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Krishnakumar is an associate professor of child and family studies whose research focuses on family development, particularly in cross-cultural contexts. Dr. Narine, an associate professor of public health, focuses his research on health policy and population health outcomes. Dr. Roopnarine is the Jack Reilly Endowed Professor of Child and Family Studies and director of the Reilly Institute. His research focuses on Caribbean families and childhood outcomes, and early childhood education in international perspective. Dr. Carol Logie, a lecturer in the School of Education at the University of West Indies and director of the Family Development Research Center at the St. Augustine Campus in Trinidad and Tobago, is an expert in child development and early childhood education.
Recently, using information from the 2000 Trinidad and Tobago Census and data collected from more than 1,300 families with children between 3 and 6 years old, the group combined their complementary areas of expertise. Families were randomly selected from 45 communities, and trained interviewers met with maternal and paternal caregivers over a one-year period. The researchers explored parental socialization, child behavior problems, child and parental physical and mental health, and domestic violence, among other issues to understand family and community life.
“Relationships Between Parenting Practices and Preschoolers’ Social Skills in African, Indo and Mixed-Ethnic Families in Trinidad and Tobago: The Mediating Role of Ethnic Socialization,” (lead author Jaipaul Roopnarine) appeared in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. The team, along with child and family studies doctoral student, Megan Lape, explored parenting practices in the context of responsiveness and control, and their associations with children’s pro-social behavior and behavioral difficulties in preschool-aged children in three different ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago.
Whereas ethnic socialization mediated the impact of positive parenting practices on prosocial behaviors, the impact of harsh parenting, such as physical punishment, had more direct effects on behavioral difficulties in children across ethnic groups. The latter negates a popular thesis that certain parental behaviors, such as warmth and ethnic socialization, may temper the effects of harsh parenting in ecological niches where physical punishment is commonly used as a child training technique.
“A Multilevel Analysis of the Role of Parental and Community Variables on Young Children’s Health,” (lead author Lutchmie Narine) appeared in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. The Falk–U.W.I. research team examined community and family variables impacting the physical health of children ages 3 to 6. In a newly proposed multilevel model, the authors examined the relationships among family economic adversity, adult and child physical health, parental health beliefs (internality, fate/chance, powerful others), community economic adversity, service density and health problems. Findings supported the important role that parents play in determining their children’s health. Poor parental health was detrimental to children’s health, and family economic adversity undermined parental health status.
Another key finding was health problems in the community hampered parents’ belief they were able to keep their children healthy, which undermined children’s health. Surprisingly, increased density of health services in communities was positively associated with fewer health problems in that community. Although the research team had hypothesized the opposite, the finding reflects ongoing efforts in Trinidad and Tobago to direct more health services to communities with greater need. This study has implications for future research, including the need to incorporate information about families and communities in studies of child health.
“Multilevel and Cross-Level Effects of Neighborhood and Family Influences on Children’s Behavioral Outcomes in Trinidad and Tobago: The Intervening Role of Parental Control” (lead author Ambika Krishnakumar) was published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology in February 2014. The Falk-U.W.I. research team examined the associations among neighborhood conditions and collective efficacy, family socioeconomic hardship, parental control behaviors, and children’s behavioral outcomes.
The conceptual model formulated and tested in this paper is one of the first investigations that have tested inter-relationships among these constructs within a single multilevel framework. The authors found that communities and family environments play a critical and synergistic role in child development. Poor infrastructures place significant strain on integration and cohesiveness of communities, challenge parental control strategies, and undermine children’s behavioral adjustment.
Additionally, children living in more efficacious neighborhoods but experiencing higher levels of harsh discipline were likely to benefit more by having lower levels of behavioral difficulties than children living in less efficacious neighborhoods and experiencing harsher discipline. This finding supports the protective role of community cohesion and social control when children live in less than optimal home environments.
These collaborative projects have led to invitations to conduct research with faculty members at the University of the West Indies and agencies in Guyana. An added benefit is that Syracuse University doctoral students have become more involved in field research in Caribbean cultural communities working with the Falk-U.W.I. research team. Additional scholarly products from the Falk-U.W.I. collaboration have included the opportunity for S.U. students to take immersion trips to meet U.W.I. faculty and staff and visit early education and social service agencies to exchange ideas related to child care services.
Drs. Logie and Roopnarine recently edited a book, “Issues and Perspectives in Early Childhood Development and Education in Caribbean Countries.” In 2008, Dr. Roopnarine completed Fulbright Scholarship work at U.W.I. while other studies by Drs. Roopnarine and Krishnakumar included C.F.S. doctoral students Yan Wang and Kimberly Davidson and have focused on different dimensions of parental control and childhood outcomes in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. These studies have recently appeared in International Journal of Psychology and Interamerican Journal of Psychology.
Dr. Narine has found this collaborative effort between Falk and U.W.I. important in providing a comparative perspective to his research. His collaboration with colleagues from other disciplines has added to his approach in studying public health issues in Trinidad and Tobago, the United States and in current work he is involved with in Thailand. His work on child health in Trinidad and Tobago in particular has offered an unprecedented opportunity to better understand positive and negative impacts on child health at a very young age to allow for early interventions to prevent negative, long-term effects, such as lower academic achievement, anxiety, depression, and obesity.
Working with an exceptional research team has furthered Dr. Krishnakumar’s commitment to conducting cross-cultural comparative work. Studies conducted in differing cultural contexts aid the global community in better understanding challenges and strengths of families and communities in other countries while also learning about the experiences of others. On-going work by this research team will be informative in developing community-based, culturally-sensitive intervention programs to benefit children and families.
Reducing adolescent involvement in the juvenile justice system
by George S. Bain G'96
A Falk College research team is helping Onondaga County identify risk factors that indicate when children and youth will cross over from the child welfare system into the juvenile justice system. The team includes C.F.S. associate professor, Matthew Mulvaney, the project director; Rachel Razza, assistant professor of child and family studies; Nancy Mudrick, professor of social work; Keith Alford, associate professor of social work, and; Carrie Jefferson Smith, director and associate professor of social work. All bring diverse perspectives and areas of expertise to the project. Suzanne Wenger, Falk College computer consultant, is developing the database.
Kimberly Raymond, a doctoral student in child and family studies, directs the research at the OnCare site to integrate the information from the various agencies. “She spent a lot of time looking to see what was available and how we can best approach this,” says Mulvaney.
The researchers will integrate data from all agencies involved in the Onondaga County System of Care (OnCare) into a single database. The researchers’ data analysis will help the county improve its services to children, youth, and families.
“This is an opportunity for us to use our research skills in a way that engages with the community and potentially makes a difference,” says Mulvaney. “We want to identify the adolescents before they get involved with the system.”
The effort is part of a national initiative that uses "system of care" principles and strategies to reduce the crossover involvement of children and families receiving mental health services with the juvenile justice system, Mulvaney says. OnCare— a federally funded community initiative developing partnerships among various social service agencies serving children and youth to age 21— contacted Syracuse University seeking research assistance to combine data systems and identify families at risk. The federal grant to Onondaga County from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration covers the Falk team’s participation.
“The primary purpose is to utilize data that exists across systems and across agencies,” says Mulvaney. “We are basically dealing with the task of taking information that exists in client records, which originally didn’t have a research purpose, and identifying how we might be able to compile that data into a meaningful dataset and proceed with analyses.”
The county’s human service agencies are reorganizing, says OnCare’s director, Linda Lopez. “Many of the children and families are served by more than one component of the service system and we currently have no mechanisms to identify those children so that we can provide a more intensive, coordinated response,” she says.
That’s where the Falk team’s work will pay off.
“The research shows that there is a much higher risk if the family is already receiving mental health services, and we want to identify the specific processes that might be responsible for it,” Mulvaney says.
The initial outcomes of this work were presented in April at the National Society for Research in Child Development Special Topic Meeting: Strengthening Connections Among Child and Family Research, Policy and Practice.
Taking action to prevent childhood obesity
New $4.9 million USDA grant uses social marketing to encourage healthy lifestyles
Falk College associate professor of nutrition, Tanya Horacek, R.D., Ph.D., and Syracuse University are part of a 14-university team that has received a $4.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) to empower college students to create obesity prevention programs for their peers as well as students in elementary and high schools.
The campaign, which will launch in August, is entitled, “Get Fruved.” It will harness the peer-to-peer interactions of more than 1,000 students who will work together to create interventions so students become more physically active. “Fruved” is a term that refers to fruits and vegetables. This project purposefully uses a non-diet approach to weight management and instead focuses on promoting healthy behavior and positive healthy body images.
Multiple student organizations from different universities with specialty interests that include nutrition, media arts, dance, media, kinesiology, public health, and business will partner with researchers to develop and implement the project. Collegiate 4-H students from different states will work together to develop and lead creative, exciting, and interactive social marketing campaigns.
Dr. Horacek and her team will lead the environmental audit and analysis for this U.S.D.A. grant. “Over the past five years, we have been working to refine our tools to evaluate how supportive the environment is for obesity prevention. The audit evaluates policies, walkability/bikeability, the food, vending, and dining environment, recreation facilities, and programs. The results of these audits will help each campus to advocate for the changes they need and desire in their environment to enhance their obesity prevention efforts.”
Horacek’s research interests also include evaluating theory-based nutrition education/counseling interventions, explaining the mediating factors influencing dietary intake and intervention effectiveness, conducting collaborative ecological program development, and evaluating dietetics education effectiveness. Over the past 17 years, she has worked with this multi-state research group to understand young adults’ stages of change for fruit and vegetable intake and conducted a U.S.D.A.-I.F.A.F.S.-funded intervention to improve low-income young adults’ fruit and vegetable intake using a stage-based intervention. Recently, they finished two U.S.D.A.-N.R.I. funded research projects to prevent obesity using a web-based non-diet approach among college students.
This project is a community-based participatory research project (C.B.P.R.). In C.B.P.R., the students are equal partners with faculty researchers in defining the problem, collecting information, interpreting data, and developing solutions in pursuit of socially relevant outcomes. The students are recognized as experts in their won right and their knowledge is equally valued as is academic expertise. This approach will result in more acceptable, culturally-relevant, and effective approaches that can produce long-lasting, real world, obesity prevention solutions.
This research builds on more than 20 years of collaborative multi-state research addressing eating behaviors. The other universities that Syracuse University and University of Tennessee Knoxville, will partner with are University of Florida, South Dakota State University, West Virginia University, Kansas State University, Auburn University, New Mexico State University, University of Maine, Rutgers University, University of Nebraska, University of Rhode Island, University of New Hampshire, and Tuskegee University.
Students
A day in the life of the Office of Student Services
Strength-based advising, dedicated staff guide student success
It’s 8:30 a.m., and the Office of Student Services in the Falk College is open for business. Is there any such thing as a typical day in the life of the Falk College’s Office of Student Services?
Well, yes.
And no.
Students are in and out of the Sims Hall office all day long for a variety of activities. “We may never be sure what each day will bring, but we are always prepared,” notes Dr. Renie Kehres, Ph.D., R.N., and associate dean of the Falk College Office of Student Services.
There are certain activities that usually occur daily. However, on any given day, a student may walk in the office to share his or her excitement about a good test grade. At that same time, another student may walk in crying because of a crisis in their life. And, other students may simply walk in just to get a piece of candy and to say hello to their M.A.H.’s, or Mothers Away from Home, an affectionate term coined by one Falk College student describing front-desk staff who greet visitors daily in the Office of Student Services. That same morning, a parent may call to express concern about their son or daughter, and, often to say thank you for assistance given to their student. Faculty and staff often call, too, for assistance from Student Services staff on a variety of concerns about students or questions about paperwork.
In addition to Kehres, a professional staff of 12 individuals always strives to provide a caring, comfortable, and confidential environment where students can discuss academic, social and/or emotional concerns.
The office is known on campus for its strength-based advising and counseling approach when working with students. “We listen to their concerns, identify their strengths and challenges, and work towards positive solutions. We like to take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach so we prefer to see students when their concerns first arise so we can work on solutions before a crisis occurs or things are too far gone to make an impact in the semester,” explains Kehres.
While counselors and academic learning coordinators help students stay on track academically, the college recorders are working behind the scenes to ensure that the students’ records accurately reflect the state of their curriculum. The front-desk staff in the Office of Student Services are the first ones to greet students and make them feel welcome.
One front-desk staff member describes the Office of Student Services as “the hub of the college, the go-to people.” Notes Kehres, “we rejoice when students do well, and support and motivate them when things feel like they are falling apart. We recognize that a student’s path in college may not always be a smooth one but we teach them to deal with the bumps along the way.”
Recently, the Falk College and Syracuse University celebrated the Class of 2014, which was very meaningful for each and every staff member in the Falk College Office of Student Services.
“What we all hope for and look forward to with great anticipation is the day when our students graduate and move out into the world. It is a bittersweet moment for us because we’ll miss them,” Kehres says.
“And then it’s fall, and a new student comes in to say hello and get a piece of candy,” concludes Kehres.
Falk students named 2014-15 Remembrance Scholars
Each year, 35 Syracuse University Remembrance Scholarships are awarded to undergraduate students on the basis of distinguished academic achievement, citizenship, and service to community. Falk College students who were awarded this prestigious honor for 2014-15:
Fergus Barrie, Sport Management
Miho Hatanaka, Nutrition
Sara Mileski, Child & Family Studies
John Rodgers, Nutrition
Lauren Strand, Sport Management
"To be named a Remembrance Scholar is one of the highest honors at Syracuse University that recognizes students' outstanding academic achievement and service to others, which is consistent with Falk College's priorities for all of its students. We are very proud of Fergus, Miho, Sara, John and Lauren—and all of this year's scholars," notes Dean Diane Lyden Murphy.
The Remembrance Scholarships were established by Syracuse University to honor and remember the 35 students studying abroad with Syracuse University who were among the 270 men, women, and children killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988.
Paying back is paying it forward
When De’Marcus Woods ’14 came to Syracuse University, he was committed to impacting the lives of others in positive ways. As a student, he found what it takes to springboard himself toward a powerful, life-changing future, and attributes guidance along the way from the Falk College’s Office of Student Services as one of the reasons he took the right path. Woods came to Syracuse University from Houston as a first-generation college student who brought to campus his love of people. His early years at S.U. included time socializing, singing, as a member of the University’s Black Celestial Chorale Ensemble, and rowing with the crew team.
“I hadn’t mastered the art of studying and what worked for me,” says Woods, a social work major. “I went home to a community college, and came back here to attend Onondaga (Community) College.”
He slept on friends’ couches and relied on a network of people for support as he forged his way back to Syracuse University. The Falk College’s Office of Student Services was critical in helping Woods focus his goals.
When he returned to S.U., Woods met with an academic support counselor and began utilizing the many resources offered by the Office of Student Services. “They were so encouraging in helping me to move forward,” says Woods. “They were interested in what worked for me or what could they do to help me, and they were here to assist. I gained a very good support group of friends and staff at Student Services.”
Woods is now helping other students realize their potential and find successful paths to their goals. He helps educate new S.U. students, holding educational sessions that teach students how to greet and relate to their professors. His public speaking skills and affable demeanor hold the attention of incoming first-year students. He offers helpful hints—based on firsthand experience—on how to structure and balance college and a personal life successfully.
He has worked at Elmcrest Children’s Center and is a social work intern at Edward Smith (K-8) Elementary School in Syracuse. Woods hosts a fifth-grade lunch group at Ed Smith, facilitates the school’s student council meetings, holds one-on-one sessions with students, and talks with parents. It was support from the Dr. Renie Kehres Special Needs Fund that helped Woods pay fees needed to complete his internship application through the Syracuse City School District.
After graduation, Woods will begin an internship at Black Entertainment Television. When asked how he could honor and repay the university for its role in his life, his answer was simple. “There will be some physical manifestation of my legacy, but for now I feel like to pay Syracuse (University) back is to pay it forward,” he concludes.
Pictured in this section: Falk College Student Services academic counselor, Malissa Monaghan stands with DeMarcus Woods ’14 who is wearing a homecoming court ribbon; DeMarcus was named Homecoming King during Fall 2013.
At your service: About Falk College’s Office of Student Services
Some of the many activities handled by the Falk College Office of Student Services:
Counselors provide academic advising for undeclared students (those without a major), support sessions for students on academic probation, and general counseling.
College recorders place transfer and AP credits on students’ records and certify students for their degrees.
Front-desk staff are answering phones, scheduling appointments and lifting advising and support holds so students can register.
Academic learning coordinators help students learn how to use their accommodations for a learning disability to be more successful in their courses.
Collaborations to ensure student success take place around campus with offices including (but not limited to) S.U. Health Services and Counseling Center, S.U. Athletics, and Office of Disability Services.
Students get assistance to take a leave of absence or complete paperwork to be readmitted; Paperwork is reviewed and signed for majors, minors, transfer credits, independent studies, and experience credit.
Workshops are conducted on topics geared toward student success, such as study and test-taking skills or stress management.
Orientation activities occur for new and transfer students along with “Gateway” sessions to support their transition to college.
Peer advisors are assisting in new student orientation and are in computer labs helping students navigate the registration system.
To learn more about the Office of Student Services, visit falk.syr.edu or call (315) 443-3144.
Supporting student success
As a general maintenance worker in Syracuse University’s Physical Plant, East Zone, Paul Longchamps is a familiar face in Sims Hall, the home of the Falk College’s Office of Student Services. In January 2014, Paul and his wife, Karen, began contributing to the Dr. Renie Kehres Special Needs Fund, which he learned about from one of the Academic Learning Coordinators in the Student Services Office.
Upon finding out about the fund, the Longchamps were committed to take immediate action. Paul set up automatic payroll deduction from his bi-weekly checks to contribute to the Fund because he and his wife are committed to the mission of the Office of Student Services and student success. And, they understand how certain barriers can derail a person’s education.
Longchamps, who has worked at Syracuse University since 1987, supports students because he has been the recipient of others’ help throughout his life. “All of those who have had help must understand they have to pay it forward,” he says. “Everything Paul believes and every-thing he talks about relates to the social justice mission of our college,” says Kehres.
Longchamps is also known by the trail name ‘Orange Lightening’ by many on campus because he is often seen installing light bulbs in stairwells in S.U. buildings throughout the East Zone and because of his reputation for walking fast (he has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail). Shortly after his payroll deduction began, Paul (with encouragement from his wife, Karen) decided to increase his contribution. In order to afford his contribution he works overtime, which can include shoveling snow in the frigid, early-morning Syracuse weather and taking the bus to work. “Paul is a role model because he demonstrates that if one is committed enough there is always a way to give back to others,” notes Kehres.
The donations from people like the Longchamps and others are critical. “I am so touched by the generosity of the Longchamps and I know that their donation will touch the lives of students in so many positive ways.” Their gift (together with other donors) has already had made an impact for several students (see story on DeMarcus Woods).
Kehres, who received her B.S and M.S. from the Syracuse University College of Nursing, completed her doctorate in the Falk College’s Department of Child and Family Studies, where she is a faculty member today. As the Falk College’s associate dean of student services, Kehres is keenly aware of the daily academic, social/emotional and financial concerns that students face on a regular basis. In establishing the fund that bears her name, Kehres remembers her own struggles as a first-generation college student on scholarship who worked summers to afford her textbooks and other college expenses. She remembers help from friends and instructors that helped her successfully navigate her college years, and, like the Longchamps, is always looking for ways to pay it forward.
Students can apply for assistance from the fund by filling out an application of need in the Falk College Office of Student Services. To learn more about the Kehres Special Needs Fund and how to donate to it, visit falk.syr.edu.
Dr. Renie Kehres Special Needs Fund
The Dr. Renie Kehres Special Needs Fund was established in 2013 to help defray the costs of special needs or emergencies that arise for students in the Falk College. The overall goal of the fund is to help students overcome barriers that could negatively affect their education and, ultimately, their graduation from Syracuse University. These funds may be used for, but are not limited to, such things as textbooks, supplies, emergency travel costs, and any other kind of “special need” that may occur while a student pursues his/her education. The fund is administered through the Office of Student Services. Students may apply for assistance from the fund by filling out an application of need in the Falk College Office of Student Services. Donations can be made to the fund by check made payable to Syracuse University (and mailed to David Salanger, Syracuse University, Falk College, Office of Advancement, 425 White Hall, Syracuse, New York 13224.) or via our secured online donation link at falk.syr.edu.
MSW students focus on mental, behavioral health needs of veterans, military personnel
Four advanced standing M.S.W. students received Health Resources and Services Ad-ministration (H.R.S.A.) grant awards as a part of the Upstate New York Mental and Behavioral Health Education Consortium (U.N.Y.-M.B.H.E.C.). This new initiative’s focus is to increase the capacity of the social work profession in upstate New York to serve the mental and behavioral health needs of veterans, military personnel and their families, and residents of medically underserved rural communities.
The School of Social Work partnered with the Syracuse V.A. Medical Center, where all four students had field placements beginning with the Fall 2013 semester, including:
Jessica Currier – Homeless Program
David Minney – Patient-Aligned Care Team
Naomi McLaughlin – Military Sexual Trauma
Megan Vogt – Geriatrics
In 2013, the School of Social Work announced it is part of a consortium of upstate New York schools, led by the University at Albany’s School of Social Welfare, to support behavioral health initiatives for veterans. Under the umbrella of U.N.Y.-M.B.H.E.C., the partners include University at Albany, the University at Buffalo, University at Binghamton, University at Brockport, Nazareth College of Rochester, and Roberts Wesleyan College, in addition to the School of Social Work in S.U.’s Falk College. The Consortium’s objectives include recruiting a highly qualified pool of trainee candidates and supporting their educational and career development, creating and sustaining specialized mental and behavioral health field placement sites and enriched training experiences in high-need, high-demand areas, and disseminating training materials and scholarly research products.
The project is supported by a three-year, $480,253 competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration. This grant is one of only 13 funded nationally. Syracuse University has been awarded a $65,400 subcontract as a part of the three-year project. Its efforts in the consortium are led by principal investigator, Dr. Carrie Jefferson Smith, director of the School of Social Work, and co-Investigator, Kristin Esposito, field placement coordinator, School of Social Work. “Our collaborative partnership is predicated on common purposes, shared resources, mutual accountability for outcomes, and commitment to continuous quality improvement. The benefits for students and the project will be far more than any one institution alone could offer, and the knowledge we will gain has national import for the social work profession and other large-scale professional training interventions,” notes Smith.
To fulfill the certificate of clinical practice, S.U. students participate in an enriched training program that focuses on evidenced-based interventions, trauma recovery, cultural competence and interprofessional practice. The students are connected to other students participating in the program though discussion boards and online training programs. At the end of the program, students will have created a personal ePortfolio and developed career ladders, along with obtaining a certificate of clinical practice.
This collaboration underscores the Falk College, its School of Social Work and Syracuse University’s long-standing commitment to veterans and military families through interdisciplinary scholarship to address issues impacting this community. Recruitment is currently underway for the second cohort of students.
The School of Social Work-Syracuse VA Medical Center partnership:
The School of Social Work has partnered with the Syracuse V.A. Medical Center, where all four students held field placements as part of the HRSA Grant.
The Homeless Program serves homeless veterans through a multitude of services. Social workers connect homeless veterans to find housing, employment opportunities, and assess for emergent needs. Substance abuse treatment groups are also offered to assist individuals. Mental and physical health referrals are also made through this program. The homeless program has strong partnerships with different institutions within the community that help serve individuals and families. This program is one of the newest to have a social work intern work in the clinic.
The Geriatrics Team is based in the community and provides home-based care to those who are home-bound and aging. The team assesses and treats individuals in the home to support the notion of “aging in place.” The student obtains a broad overview of geriatrics and how they look at policy through contract funding, administration, nursing home and adult home inspections.
The Patient-Aligned Care Team (P.A.C.T.) is a fast-paced, dynamic program aimed at working with Veterans who are immobile due to medical reasons. The team works closely with physicians and nurses in the field of medical social work. The Veteran’s Administration is considered to be a “teaching hospital,” and as such, the multi-disciplinary model is used as a teaching mechanism for staff as well as students. In this setting, students assess caregivers and family members to determine areas of need, and make appropriate referrals for treatment. There are also opportunities for the student to pro-vide Brief Family Therapy.
The Military Sexual Trauma Team is focused on individuals who have been affected by sexual trauma through group and individual therapy. There are also opportunities for the student intern to work closely with service providers within the field of behavioral health.
Why does American Samoa produce more N.F.L. football players per capita than anywhere else in the U.S.?
by Robert Murray ’14
For his Capstone requirement in S.U.’s Renee Crown Honors Program, sport management major Robert Murray explored where professional football players are coming from, and why certain geographic regions produce more players who are drafted into the N.F.L. His final thesis project, “A Geographical Analysis of the Origin of National Football League Players and Draftees,” offers several insights, which he details below.
The inspiration for my examination of N.F.L. players came from the September 17, 2010 C.B.S. Television program, 60 Minutes, and a report entitled, “American Samoa: Football Island” by reporter Scott Pelley. The reporter determined that “a boy born to Samoan parents is 56 times more likely to get into the N.F.L. than any other kid in America.” I was inspired to travel to American Samoa in June 2013 to learn firsthand what variables and conditions led to the production of National Football League (N.F.L.) draft picks from this country, Tonga, and all the regions within the United States of America.
The purpose for my thesis was to determine why professional football players are coming from certain geographic regions to be drafted into the N.F.L. I explored which regions are producing the most N.F.L. players at specific positions. Using N.F.L. draft statistics from 1988-2013, these data helped identify certain areas of the country with proven success in producing N.F.L. players. The use of linear regression analyses helped isolate relationships between the hometown region of the N.F.L. player and a multitude of different factors that may have significant relationships in becoming an N.F.L. draft pick.
Using hometown as the reference point for each N.F.L. player during this time period was defined as the state or territory in which the player went to high school last before attending college or a university. The data was compiled through a collection of information from U.S.A. Today, ProFootballReference.com, and the N.F.L. League Offices.
The American Samoan culture and heritage have taught the N.F.L. players coming out of this region self-discipline to continue to work at their craft and get better at playing football each day. Football is a way of life for American Samoans. The shared goal of making it to the N.F.L. through the established pathway of playing the game they love is now as strong as ever. Along with genetic and physical factors, American Samoan culture, demographics, and the way they practice football are the reasons that American Samoa is the most significant producer of N.F.L. players per capita.
My conclusions from this research determine the big three states of Texas, Florida, and California are the top regions to find N.F.L. talent because they are proven producers of most of the N.F.L. players. Based on this data, I also have concluded that teams looking for a player for a specific position should look at a region with the percentage of their N.F.L. draft picks above the United States’ percentage at that position along with having at least 50 N.F.L. players coming from that area. Lastly, looking into players growing up in the Southeast geographic region, with higher obesity levels, income levels, and education rating may factor into the production of getting into the N.F.L. as well. These results can help be persuasive in an N.F.L. or college recruiting room in find ing the next great N.F.L. football player.
Robert recently completed an internship at Bloomberg Sports where he is statistically analyzing players and writing content for StatsInsight. com. Additionally he is providing materials for Bloomberg’s television partners using software to graphically display statistical analysis and developing marketing and business practices they can implement. Robert Murray with his advisor, S.P.M. professor Rodney Paul.
Pictured in this section: Robert Murray stands with his advisor, SPM professor Rodney Paul in front of a screen showing a power point presentation of his findings.
Steve Kozar ’14 connects fans with Super Bowl XLVIII
by Kathleen Haley ’92
It took about three hours for the Seahawks to take down the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. The experience for Steven Kozar ’14 will last a lifetime.
As part of his 12-credit sport management capstone in Falk College, Kozar worked as an intern with the N.Y./N.J Super Bowl Host Committee—an opportunity that had him organizing fan events and connecting with fans over social media, among other responsibilities, up until the big game.
Kozar submitted his resume to the organization after speaking with associate professor Gina Pauline, who mentioned the opportunity. He began an internship with the host committee’s executive department in the summer of 2013, working within the offices of chief executive officer Alfred Kelly and senior vice president and chief of staff Jen Gilke.
As the fall kicked in, Kozar worked on the “Join the Huddle Tour,” the first-of-its-kind mobile tour associated with the Super Bowl. The mobile truck—“the Huddle Shuttle”—carried the Vince Lombardi trophy and replicas of memorabilia, such as from Lombardi and Eli Manning, while visiting high schools, college football games, family festivals and philanthropic events at Boys & Girls Clubs and Special Olympics.
The Special Olympics event was an important one for Kozar, who has worked within SU’s Sport Management Club on its annual charity auction. During that year’s event, the club raised more than $35,000 for Special Olympics. “It brought Syracuse full circle, and it was a special moment to work with athletes who have so much excitement and enthusiasm for their sports,” he says.
The tour staff also organized such activities as a football toss, field goal kick, touchdown dance contest and virtual activities. “We went to more than 48 stops in five months,” says Kozar, who was involved in helping coordinate the myriad logistics and marketing to get people to the tour stop.
Although his capstone had technically ended, Kozar was asked to stay on up until the Super Bowl, a few weeks into the start of the spring semester.
The last location of the Huddle Shuttle was a stop on Super Bowl Boulevard, a four-day fan experience that shut down a section of Broadway in New York City. The Huddle Shuttle took up half a block and included its activities, along with the touchdown dance ceremony, in which winners were awarded their prizes and three winners tested their dance on stage in front of fans.
Kozar put together stage activities, such as games involving trivia and a spelling bee, to have visitors interact with the tour stop.
Kozar also worked within the host committee’s Social Media Communications Center during Super Bowl Week. Some team members monitored fans’ comments and questions; Kozar, as team captain, answered questions, such as what to wear, what was Super Bowl Boulevard, and how to get to the game.
By the day of the Super Bowl, Kozar’s team had basically fulfilled all their duties—all that was left was to enjoy the game at Metlife Stadium. Kozar had upper-deck seats but it was his first step in the stadium when he felt the impact of the past nine months.
“Once I went through security and into the stadium and saw those huge Roman numerals of the Super Bowl, I saw all the hard work that the entire company, with thousands of people, put together—that was really cool,” he says. Beyond the game, his time working with the host committee has prepared him for his professional life in many ways.
“I’m a very list, detail-oriented person, but the organization took me to a whole other level of project management and showed me how it touched all these departments,” Kozar says.
After he graduates in May, Kozar wants to work within marketing and sponsorship in the sport industry. “This experience and the experiences I’ve had at Syracuse will lead me in the right direction soon.”
Public health internship leads to advocacy for organ, eye, tissue donation
by Jennifer Ziobro ’14
During the Fall 2013 semester, I had the incredible opportunity to intern at the Central New York Eye and Tissue Bank (C.N.Y.E.T.B.) as a public health major in the Falk College. C.N.Y.E.T.B.’s mission of saving and enhancing lives through eye and tissue donation while maintaining respect for those who give the gift of life is at the heart of this non-profit organization.
After my internship with C.N.Y.E.T.B., I became extremely interested in the awareness and education aspects of eye, organ, and tissue donation. Through my four years of coursework and the support of Falk College faculty and staff, I felt prepared to put my public health theory into practice.
I have created a program, “Orange Unite Donate Life” to raise campus awareness about the importance of organ, eye, and tissue donation and to encourage donation registrations. Currently, there are more than 119,000 people in the United States on the waiting list for a life-saving organ transplant. On average, 18 people die every day from the lack of available transplant organs. However, one eye donor can help up to six people, one tissue donor can enhance or save the lives of more than 50 people, and one organ donor can save up to eight people.
These astounding statistics serve as the foundation of the Orange Unite Donate Life’s mission. Our goal is to bring positive awareness surrounding this life-saving topic through presentations, social media campaigns, and marketing to educate our campus community on the urgent need for organ and tissue donation and transplantation. By understanding what organ and tissues can be donated and who can benefit, it allows people to make well-informed decisions.
Educational and awareness efforts of Orange Unite Donate Life address questions and misperceptions regarding organ and tissue donation. Nearly every major religion supports organ and tissue donation seeing it as a gift. Organ, eye, and tissue recovery takes place only after all efforts to save an individual’s life have been exhausted and death has been legally declared. Medical staff providing treatment at a hospital work separate from the donor procurement programs and transplant teams. All costs associated with donation procedures are covered by the donor program. There are no hospital charges billed to the donor’s insurance or their family.
One of the most important factors of becoming a registered donor, is developing a personal plan of decision-making regarding donation to be shared with your family. Orange Unite Donate Life has a team of 15 students constantly looking for ways to expand and better this program. Be informed about organ, eye, and tissue donation and create a personal plan for decision making on giving the gift of life! For more information, contact donatelifeSU@gmail.com.
Trying on success
by Chyna A. Fox ’14
During the Fall 2013 semester, I completed my Child and Family Studies practicum course at W.C.N.Y. Debbie Stack, director of education and community engagement at the public broadcasting station, was my internship supervisor. During my internship, I was able to combine experience with fashion and interactive education to develop an innovative workshop. “Trying on Success” was an hour-long workshop aimed at providing teens with valuable appearance-related information about how to dress for job and college interviews as well as on-the-job. The workshop was first offered at the George Fowler High School on December 4, 2013 with an audience of 36 high school students. “Trying on Success” created an interactive experience with a team building activity in collaboration with Syracuse University’s Fashion’s Conscience student organization. Students were given a series of scenarios for which they needed to style the most appropriate business outfit with clothing provided by 3fifteen Boutique Thrift Shop and donated garments from Falk College. The students displayed their outfits on hangers, presenting to the class their reasons for their selections. Students were also able to take part in a business photo shoot to obtain photographs for future reference on how to dress for success. Throughout the workshop, the teens were extremely engaged, giving the workshop rave reviews on the evaluation forms we created. The 3fifteen Boutique Thrift Shop, an entrepreneurial business of Syracuse’s Rescue Mission, also donated a $50 gift card for use in a raffle for attending students. I was granted the opportunity to return to W.C.N.Y. as an intern for the Spring 2014 semester to generate a second “Trying on Success” workshop.
Faculty
New faculty join Falk College
During the 2013-14 academic year, the Falk College was pleased to welcome the following new faculty members:
Colleen Baish Cameron, M.Ed., CCLS, Professor of Practice, Department of Child & Family Studies
Colleen Baish Cameron joined the Falk College in 2008 as an internship coordinator and adjunct faculty member. A Certified Child Life Specialist, she earned her M.Ed. in special education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She holds a bachelor of science in psychology/child life from Syracuse University. Areas of specialization: Pediatric medical traumatic stress, pediatric procedural pain, influence of adult behaviors on child pain behaviors, pediatric palliative and end-of-life care, play programming in hospitals, family-centered policy design in pediatric healthcare.
David Larsen, Ph.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor Public Health Department of Public Health, Food Studies & Nutrition
David Larsen holds a Ph.D. and M.P.H. from Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He earned a B.S. in psychology from Brigham Young University with concentrations in child and adolescent development. His research projects include finding and clearing pockets of malaria transmission in elimination settings and generating novel interventions to combat dengue. Areas of specialization: Global health, child survival, infectious disease, epidemiology, and malaria.
Kendra DeLoach McCutcheon, Ph.D., L.M.S.W., Assistant Professor School of Social Work
Kendra DeLoach McCutcheon joined the Falk College from the University of South Carolina, where she most recently was a post-doctoral research fellow in the Department of Psychology, as well as an adjunct faculty member and field instructor in its College of Social Work. Her teaching interests include social work research methods, social work practice with older adults, and social justice with diverse populations. She holds a Ph.D. in social work and M.S.W. from the University of South Carolina. She earned a bachelor of science in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Areas of specialization: School mental health; mental health disparities among women of color; intersectionality (race, class, and sex); and family development and functioning.
Yvonne Smith, Ph.D., Assistant Professor School of Social Work
Yvonne Smith earned her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration where she also earned a master of arts degree. Her dissertation was entitled, “Understanding clinical agency: An ethnographic study of evidence, expertise, and decision-making in a residential treatment center for children.” She graduated summa cum laude from Ohio Wesleyan University with a B.A. in English and a minor in environmental studies. Areas of specialization: Mental health services for children and adolescents, clinical decision-making, development of professional expertise, ethnographic approaches to the study of social work practice.
Matthew C. Spitzmueller, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., Assistant Professor School of Social Work
Matthew Spitzmueller earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration where he earned his master of social work with a concentration in clinical practice. His dissertation title was, “The making of community mental health policy in everyday street-level practice: An organizational ethnography.” He earned his M.A. from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, with a concentration in the history of religions. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in psychology from Carleton College. Areas of specialization: Clinical social work practice, community mental health policy, Medicaid reform, street-level organizations.
Gump, Veley named Falk Endowed Professors
In 2011, Syracuse University alumni David B. and Rhonda S. Falk committed $15 million to SU—one of the largest-ever single gifts to the University. As part of their visionary and purposeful commitment to academics as a path to success, which created the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, the Falks also established a series of endowed professorships. These professorships allow the Falk College to support internationally recognized faculty to enhance the research, academic, and experiential components of its programs to advance its mission rich in teaching, research, scholarship, practice, and service. Earlier this academic year, Brooks B. Gump, Ph.D., M.P.H., was named the Falk Family Endowed Professor of Public Health, and Michael D. Veley, M.P.S., was named the Rhonda S. Falk Endowed Professor of Sport Management.
Gump joined the Falk College faculty in 2010 and is currently a professor in the Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition, where he also serves as the graduate program director for public health.
Recognized internationally for his research on cardiovascular disease risk in children, Gump was awarded an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health’s (N.I.H.) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences earlier this year for the project, “Environmental Toxicants, Race and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Children.”
In addition to his ongoing N.I.H.-supported research with children, Gump is currently principal investigator for a grant from the National Science Foundation Research Education for Undergraduate (R.E.U.) program, entitled, “Training Veterans to Conduct Trauma Research with Fellow Veterans.” Through this grant, Gump and a team from SUNY Oswego and SUNY Upstate Medical train undergraduates who are military veterans to conduct research with other veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.). The recipient of numerous research awards for his work, Gump was honored most recently with the Falk College’s Faculty of the Year in Research for 2012-13.
With an array of research and publications, his specialties include psychosocial factors and their overall effect on health, and more recently, the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage, race, and environmental toxicants (e.g., lead and mercury) on children and adolescents’ health. He serves on the editorial board of two prominent journals in his field, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Health Psychology, and serves as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous other journals, including the American Journal of Epidemiology, Pediatrics, Stroke, and American Journal of Psychiatry. He is currently serving a four-year term as a member of the National Institute of Child Health and Development’s (N.I.C.H.D.’s) Health, Behavior, and Context Subcommittee.
Veley is the founding director of S.U.’s sport management program. He joined the Falk College in 2005 and was named department chair and professor of practice that following year. Veley has fostered experiential learning and social responsibility as signature aspects of the sport management program, which have contributed to its reputation for excellence and best practices in sport management education across the country.
Veley’s leadership and deep connections in the sports and event industries have created unique, on-going experiential learning and faculty-student research partnerships with organizations such as the New York Yankees, A.E.G. Worldwide, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and the National Basketball Association Development League among others. He has helped create an internationally regarded “Who’s Who in Sports” advisory board that consists of 26 members, including 14 company presidents, founders and C.E.O.s.
Veley created the Sport Management (S.P.M.) Club at Syracuse University and currently serves as its co-advisor. His leadership was instrumental in establishing the first collegiate chapter in the country for Women in Sports and Events (WISE) at Syracuse University.
In addition to his role in the Falk College, Veley was named Syracuse University’s “Voice of the Carrier Dome” in 2006 and is the public address announcer for S.U. football, men’s and women’s basketball games. In the past year, he was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Syracuse Sports Corporation and the Center for Sports Business and Research at Penn State University. In May, he was honored with the 2013 Falk College Faculty of the Year Award for excellence in professional service. In 2006, he received the “Founder’s Award” from Ithaca College.
Veley spent nearly two decades working as a Division I athletic administrator at Cornell and Syracuse, including 10 years at Syracuse University. He is a three-time National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (N.A.C.M.A.) award winner.
Blending passions for playing, studying sports
by George S. Bain G’96
In the 1990s, many economists disdained sports economics as a field for specialization. But, as someone who had played and watched sports his whole life, Rodney Paul went against that advice he heard in graduate school.
Paul had an extensive sports C.V.: playing basketball and baseball in high school; basketball and tennis in college; playing street hockey growing up; starting a club hockey team in graduate school, and; coaching basketball.
While finishing his dissertation—a time-series analysis of savings rates across countries—and working as an adjunct professor, he followed an instinct and began studying on the effects of fighting on attendance at professional hockey games. The American Journal of Economics and Sociology published that paper in 2003.
Today, sports topics dominate the publications listed on Paul’s C.V., a professor in the Department of Sport Management, including:
TV ratings for Monday Night Football
Forecasting fan interest in National Football League games
Effects of fireworks promotions on minor league baseball attendance
Wagering preferences of N.F.L. bettors
American Hockey League attendance
Impact of atmospheric conditions on baseball’s total market.
Sports have “been a lifelong passion,” says Paul, who joined the Falk College faculty in 2011. “I just was lucky enough to be able to apply that to my Ph.D. in economics in a unique way.” A mathematics and economics double major at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania, Paul received his Ph.D. in applied economics from Clemson University in 2000.
That paper on hockey attendance, “Variations in N.H.L. Attendance: The Effect of Violence, Scoring, and Regional Rivalries,” found that violence, especially fighting, attracted fans in large numbers across the United States and Canada, as did a recent change to more games against regional rivals. And it was that publication that piqued his interest in specializing in sports. He began to research the economics of sports gambling markets.
“I found what I perceived to be some considerable gaps in the current literature as to the understandings of the workings of the market and began to heavily pursue that angle,” says Paul. “The field kind of took off and became more generally accepted in the sphere of economics and finance as I was working on those topics.” By 2017, the North American sports market will total $67.7 billion, according to Pw.C.’s Sports Outlook of November 2013.
His research focuses on two main areas. He uses sports betting market data to test the efficient markets theory, and he develops models for attendance and TV ratings. Simply put, Paul says, “the betting market provides a forecast of game outcome—the point spread, or odds—and scoring by both teams—the total of the over/under. These factors have been shown in my, and others’, research to impact how many people watch a game on TV or attend a game.”
“Many people enjoy participating in the sport by wagering on who they think is going to win or on their favorite team, and they become invested in the team monetarily on a game-by-game basis.”
His classes focus on sport finance and research methodology. Modeling of attendance and TV ratings is important for both revenue and understanding how leagues and teams schedule games, he says. Students use the efficient markets hypothesis to understand the pricing of assets, he continues, “and many students can under-stand this in a context of point spreads easier than they can in terms of stock prices.” Paul’s influence is felt on a new generation of sport managers. One of his students recently had the findings of an independent study project published.
The standard economist rankings done by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis rank Paul among the top 10 percent in citations for economists. “Given that I have been in the field for a little over a decade, I’m happy with where I am,” he says. Forbes.com and C.F.O. Magazine have cited his research. He’s been interviewed on National Public Radio about N.F.L. labor issues and T.V. rights for the Olympics.
With a head for numbers and a heritage of sports, Paul is glad to say, “I hit the market at the right time and was able to ride the wave of interest in the topic.”
His grandfather pitched in the Detroit Tigers organization. His parents and uncle nurtured his interest in sports, “through taking me to games, watching games, coming to my games.” And so he has blended a passion for playing sports with a passion for studying sports:
“As a friend of mine joked once, I went from being a macroeconomist that did sports (question mark) to a sports economist that did macroeconomics (exclamation point).”
Exploring character development, life skills through sports
How do sports, including the natural socialization that takes place by being involved in them, contribute to a young person’s motivation, resiliency, and self-esteem? C.F.S. 300—Sport and Human Development, which debuted during the Fall 2013 semester, explores the role sports play in positive and healthy youth development. Designed and taught by instructor Terry MacDonald, Ph.D., the course’s objectives are multifaceted to help students learn about the impact of sport-related initiatives, from the history of competitive sports for children and youth to the essential components of sport-based youth development pro-grams, taking into account national and global perspectives.
C.F.S. 300 class readings span topics such as parental and peer influences on children’s psychosocial development through sport, the development of life skills and values in high school sports and sport as a vehicle for social change, among many others.
A critical element of the course is a sport for development project every student presents either individually or as part of a two-student team. Each student-proposed initiative integrates a sport component, such as a volleyball camp, a targeted child or youth group, and a developmental need, such as building self esteem. Students then research the characteristics of their target group, select and justify the sport component, and research and describe the developmental need or social problem that exists.
In the course’s first semester, project topics were diverse, practical, and thoughtful. According to MacDonald, many students recognized the influence of sport on child and youth development from what they heard or experienced. “They came to the class with some preconceived notions and were often surprised by findings of relevant research and readings. Most had not considered the wide net of opportunity that sport could provide nor had they considered sport outside of its entertainment value. Once they started working on their sport for development projects, they connected the benefits and the challenges as outlined in the course content,” she notes.
In one sport for development project entitled, “Ball for Life,” students Whitney Ann Henry and Rachel Benedict combined sports like kickball, volleyball and basketball with educational resources on healthy living and mental stability as part of an educational suicide prevention program to benefit Native Americans. According to the Aspen Institute Center for Native American Health, Native teens experience the highest rate of suicide of any population group in the United States. Because both students experienced suicides on their reservations, the project had a shared deep personal meaning.
The students explained that “Ball for Life’s” accessibility destined the program for success. “It is affordable because all you need are sneakers and a ball to play. In addition to providing suicide awareness, the program teaches teamwork, communications, leadership, and sportsmanship,” they note. “It teaches life skills.”
“For their final project, I wanted them to create a sport-based program that was personal: an issue, an unmet need, and developmental perspective in which they were particularly interested or had experience,” explains MacDonald. “The feedback I received was that the sport for development project/presentation as the culminating assignment helped them connect the course topics, challenged them to be creative, and helped them recognize the relevance of sport to their interests and future professions.”
Rachel Razza recognized with 2014 Syracuse University Teaching Award
Rachel Razza, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Child & Family Studies in the Falk College, received a Syracuse University 2014 Teaching Recognition Award as part of the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professorship Program. This honor recognizes excellence in teaching innovation, effectiveness in communicating with students and the lasting value of courses. She was honored at a ceremony on April 21.
A member of the Falk College since 2007, the primary focus of Dr. Razza’s scholarly work is children’s self-regulation, a multifaceted construct that encompasses a variety of skills underlying children’s ability to monitor cognitive strategies and adapt behavior to fit situational demands. Her work explores associations among different facets of self-regulation, contextual predictors of self-regulation, and implications of various self-regulatory skills for children’s school readiness and later school success. She is particularly interested in specifying these pathways among at-risk children, as these children are particularly at-risk for self-regulatory deficits.
Her recent work examines mindful yoga as a potential intervention strategy to enhance self-regulation among young children. This May, she debuted a new course she created entitled, Mindfulness in Children and Youth, designed for undergrads and graduate students as well as practitioners and teachers. The course included online and classroom components and provided students a foundation in mindfulness practice among children and youth. The content focused on the role of mindfulness in child and youth development and its specific benefits.
Research and Scholarship
Faculty receive grant awards exceeding $700,000
Seven grants, for a total of more than $700,000, were awarded to the follow-ing faculty members:
Dessa Bergen-Cico, assistant professor, Public Health; Jeffrey Pauline, associate professor, Sport Management; with Gretchen Lopez, assistant professor, School of Education – From Self to Civic: Promoting Student Well-Being through Communities of Engaged Learning – Association of American Colleges and Universities (A.A.C.&U.) Bringing Theory to Practice Project - $10,000.
Maria Brown, assistant research professor, School of Social Work - Age-Specific Prevalence of Specific Psychiatric Disorders: Evidence from the H.R.S. Medicare Restricted Access Data – N.I.H./.D.H.H.S. - $22,448.
Kenneth Corvo, associate professor, School of Social Work – The Role of Executive Function Deficits in Domes tic Violence Perpetration – F.H.L. Foundation - $15,000.
Brooks Gump, Falk Family Endowed Professor of Public Health and Luvenia Cowart, professor of practice, Public Health – Environmental Toxicants, Race, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Children – N.I.H./D.H.H.S. - $415,604.
Katherine McDonald, associate professor, Public Health – Stakeholder Views on Intellectual Disability Research Ethics-Falk College – N.I.C.H.H.D./N.I.C./ D.H.H.S. - $227,629.
Matthew Mulvaney, associate professor, and Rachel Razza, assistant professor, Child and Family Studies, and Keith Alford, associate professor, Nancy Mudrick, professor, and Carrie Smith, director and associate professor, School of Social Work, – Mental Health Services and Crossover to Justice System Involvement: Evaluation of Procedures to Link Data across Systems – Onondaga County Department of Mental Health - $12,072.
Carrie Smith – Dean’s Consortium of Schools of Social Work Evidence-based Practice in Mental Health – New York State Office of Mental Health - $6,200.
“Brown Bag” series highlights faculty research
The Research Center sponsors Research Brown Bag luncheon seminars each semester where faculty highlight research and scholarship in their areas of expertise. Community members and collaborative partners are often guest speakers. This year to date, Research Brown Bag seminars were conducted by Falk Faculty on the following topics:
Dessa Bergen-Cico, assistant professor, Public Health & Rachel Razza, assistant professor, Child and Family Studies – Enhancing At-Risk Children’s Self-Regulation via Mindfulness and Yoga: A Pilot Study.
, multiple selections available,