Human Development & Family Science News
Best for Babies named NAPPA Silver Award winner
Best for Babies, written by professor emerita of child and family studies, Alice Sterling Honig, was recently named a Silver Award Winner by the National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA). Her areas of research and scholarship include child development, parenting, cross-cultural study of children and families, language and cognitive development, quality care-giving with infants and toddlers, observation and measurement techniques with children, pro-social and moral development, models and exemplary intervention programs for enriching children’s lives; teaching kids to conserve environments and ‘go green’; the importance of play for young children; assessments for enhancing teacher effectiveness; promoting emergent literacy and bilingualism in children; therapeutic techniques for decreasing stress as well as bullying in the lives of children and adults. She was recently highlighted in Women of Distinction Magazine.
Falk College honors faculty for excellence in teaching, research, service
Faculty members from Falk College’s Department of Child and Family Studies and School of Social Work will be honored for excellence in teaching, research and service with 2015 Falk College Faculty of the Year Awards. The honorees, who are nominated by their peers for outstanding performance and contributions to students, the Falk College, Syracuse University and beyond, will be recognized during the Falk College’s Convocation for the Class of 2015 on May 9, with awards presented in April. The name of each recipient, the award received, and excerpts from the letters of nomination are noted below.
Dr. Keith A. Alford, Associate Professor, School of Social Work
Excellence in Service
Professor Alford has a consistently strong record of service to Syracuse University, its School of Social Work and Falk College, as well as the social work profession and community. He has served on numerous departmental and university committees, including the Bachelor of Professional Studies Curriculum Committee, the Faculty Oversight Committee of Athletics, the Senior Vice President’s Council on Diversity and Inclusion, and the Operational Excellence Steering and Executive Committees. He is a community advocate with leadership service to organizations that include board membership with the Onondaga County Public Library and AccessCNY (formerly Enable/TLS), which provides support for children and adults with disabilities. He facilitates the Community-Wide Dialogues on Race sponsored by InterFaith Works of Central New York and sits on the board of directors. He is also involved with Big Brothers/Big Sisters School-based mentoring. In recognition of his on-going community service and advocacy, he received the 2015 Harriet Tubman Spirit Award from the Bethany Baptist Church. In Social Work Degree Guide’s listing of its “30 Most Influential Social Workers Alive Today” Professor Alford was listed in the top ten of this compilation that includes educators, activists, authors, and public servants.
Dr. Eric R. Kingson, Professor, School of Social Work
Excellence in Research
Along with co-author Nancy Altman earlier this year, Professor Kingson released the book, “Social Security Works! Why Social Security Isn’t Going Broke and How Expanding It Will Help Us All.” Altman and Kingson founded Social Security Works in 2010, a Washington, DC-based organization focused on safeguarding the economic security of families and individuals by maintaining and improving Social Security’s insurance against wages lost in retirement, disability or death. A co-chair of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition made up of more than 300 national and state organizations representing over 50 million Americans, Kingson was a staff advisor to the 1982 National Commission on Social Security Reform and was a founding board member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. His award nominators noted, “Professor Kingson’s accomplishment is worthy of recognition not only because of the scholarship represented by the book, but because of its impact on our national policy. Through the book and active public speaking about it, Professor Kingson seeks to educate the public, making a substantive contribution to the important policy decisions that lie ahead.”
Dr. Rachel Razza, Assistant Professor, Department of Child & Family Studies
Excellence in Teaching
Professor Razza’s courses emphasize activity and engagement as a way to convey important concepts. She has been increasingly interested in the use of contemplative pedagogy in higher education as a mechanism to enhance student learning and wellbeing by stimulating first-person inquiry. She received the Innovative Summer Program Development Fund to support the creation of a new course, Mindfulness in Children and Youth. The course exposes students to the emerging field of contemplative practices and serves as the cornerstone for CFS’s latest undergraduate minor, Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies. Thanks to Rachel’s leadership, the minor is a key component of the ongoing initiative to develop a campus-wide Center for Contemplative Studies.
Professor Razza’s teaching extends beyond the classroom to support the scholarly activities of her students, and she has been successful in mentoring a substantial number of student conference presentations and journal publications. She has been elected to serve as a member of the prestigious Society for Research in Child Development’s Teaching Committee. Professor Razza was also a recipient of the 2014 Teaching Recognition Award from the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professorship Program.
View photos of the awards ceremony (courtesy of Professor Alejandro Garcia)
CFS majors inducted into Kappa Omicron Nu honor society
The Department of Child and Family Studies (CFS) recently announced eight high-achieving students were inducted into Kappa Omicron Nu, Omicron Alpha Iota chapter honor society for CFS majors at Syracuse University, including:
Emily Chase
Elizabeth Fahey
Kasey Leeds
Anita Robinson
Fatima Saunders
Allison Schwartz
Brady Tannehill
Allie Weiss
The mission of Kappa Omicron Nu is to develop empowered leaders who use an integrative approach to enhance quality of living through excellence in scholarship, leadership, and research. Students were selected on the basis of academic excellence in the major. The honor society’s purpose is to recognize and support academic excellence while promoting the ideals of service and leadership. Matthew Mulvaney, associate professor of child and family studies, is the Kappa Omicron Nu advisor.
CFS students share theory to practice experiences
On April 16 the Department of Child and Family Studies hosted its internship poster session for students taking CFS 494 where they share their experiences of putting theory into practice via their trifold presentations. Many participating students have had two separate experiences while others stayed at the same placement for both courses, each producing a rich and informative practicum experience.
CFS majors honored for excellence
On April 16, child and family studies majors were honored for excellence during a special ceremony. Each award presented is unique and recognizes students for academic success as well as promise and potential in the program of study or future professional goals. This year’s honorees include:
Name, Award Title
Shinichi Hirata, Bernice M. Wright Memorial Award
Ju-Ting Cheng, Outstanding Freshman Award
Ivy Liu, Outstanding Sophomore Award
Wednesday Shedd, Shannon Davis Memorial Award
Rebecca Rothstein, Elizabeth Manwell Memorial Award
Blake Slater, Ruth Tolley Award
Sara Mileski, Selleck Award
Abigail Hard, Florence B. Potter Memorial Award
April is Child Abuse Awareness Month
As they’ve done in previous years, Falk students and their peers on campus, working with faculty and staff, have partnered with McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center to bring attention to the issue in a visual way: by planting pinwheels on campus. Earlier this month, 720 pinwheels were installed on the lawn between the Schine Student Center and Newhouse buildings, with each pinwheel signifying a safe and healthy childhood.“It’s a very striking visual for a very important cause,” according to Brooke Tyszka, academic counselor for Falk College student services.
Students in Kappa Omicron Nu, the national honor society program for Child and Family Studies majors, along with students in the Society for Public Health Education in the Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition at Falk College, and the Orange Pulse Dance troupe raised funds through Pinwheels for Prevention. Money raised will to go McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center. McMahon/Ryan is a nationally accredited Child Advocacy Center and nonrofit organization dedicated to ending child abuse in Central New York through intervention and prevention education.
On April 24, the Student Council on Family Relations, and the Department of Child and Family Studies, will present “Pitfalls in the Diagnosis of Abuse,” with special guest, Dr. Ann Botash, McMahon/Ryan Child Abuse Referral and Evaluation Program (CARE) Director and Child Abuse Pediatrician. The event will take place at 1:00 p.m., 175 White Hall.
Read more about Pinwheels for Prevention
View April 24th event flier
Utilizing Technology to Enhance Child Life Practice
March is the professional recognition month for Child Life Specialists. The Department of Child and Family Studies is hosting a lunch lecture with Lou Riccio titled “Utilizing Technology to Enhance Child Life Practice” on Wednesday, March 18th at 11:30 am in Room 111, Peck Hall Room, 601 E Genesee St, Syracuse, NY. The Child Life Department from Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital will be in attendance, so this will be an excellent opportunity to learn about technology in Child Life, as well as network with pediatric specialists.
Riccio will review current trends in the use of technology to support the psychosocial needs of children facing illness, injury and hospitalization, as well as address aspects of therapeutic play that can be enhanced through technology and gamification. Join us for an interdisciplinary discussion to address the intersection of technology, therapeutic play, and software development that promotes wellness and coping for children in medical settings.
CFS students help raise $84,013 for Golisano Children's Hospital
Falk College child and family studies students took part in the OttoTHON dance marathon on the Syracuse University campus Saturday, February 28. A CFS student in the Child Life Specialist track, Lucero Andujar, was a key organizer for this event [she serves on the Executive Board]. She has a career goal of becoming a pediatric surgeon. SUNY Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital was the recipient of funds raised. Lucero has been working closely with Toni Gary and Children’s Miracle Network. Another CFS major, Nicole Autuno, in the Child Life Specialist track, also assisted with the event. Beth Nelsen, an alumna of Falk College’s nutrition science graduate program, represented the Department of Pediatrics/Golisano Children’s Hospital. The students’ efforts raised $84,013 for the Children’s Hospital.
Read more about the event
Purposeful pairing of music education majors, BMW preschoolers creates beautiful music and more
“Early experiences with music provide the foundation upon which future music learning and appreciation are built,” says Daria Webber, director of the Bernice M. Wright (BMW) Child Development Laboratory School in Falk College’s Department of Child & Family Studies.
Music is a natural and important part of a young child’s growth and development. Consequently, developmentally appropriate programs in early childhood settings that incorporate singing, moving, listening, creating, and playing instruments offer an important individual form of self-expression. An ongoing creative collaboration involving BMW teachers and music education faculty members in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ (VPA) Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music, in conjunction with Syracuse University’s School of Education, recently connected college-aged and preschool students for a unique and valuable learning experience.
During the Fall 2014 semester, Juliet Hess, Ph.D., assistant professor of music education, working with Webber, brought sophomore students enrolled in the Foundations of Music Education class to South Campus to enhance an already existing music program provided in BMW classrooms. “While sophomore students have the opportunity to observe classes in school settings, the collaboration with Bernice Wright afforded them their first formal opportunity to teach,” notes Hess.
Syracuse University music students spent time with the preschool-aged children on Friday mornings, alternating between small-group activities in individual classrooms, and whole-group presentations to all of the children gathered together. Some of the activities included songs and finger plays, creative movement, and instrument demonstrations and experiences. The program concluded with an “All School Sing,” which featured the work of the BMW and VPA students.
“Musical experiences in early childhood classrooms need to be play based, as is true in all areas of our curriculum,” says Webber. The VPA students varied the types of learning opportunities, such as one-on-one, free choice, large group and small group, which provided many varied and valuable learning experiences for all students of all ages. This relationship has continued into the Spring 2015 semester, with students in the general music methods course collaborating with BMW teachers. “It is vital for music education students to have teaching opportunities with a range of ages in supportive and collaborative environments. Over the weeks of the program, students become more confident, and adapt and refine their teaching pedagogy to speak to young children. They experience team teaching and have many opportunities to interact with students in groups and individually,” says Hess. “The music education students point to this experience as one of their most significant formative experiences in music education thus far.” “We are thrilled to take advantage of being part of a University community that allows us to collaborate across disciplines. We have been fortunate to have several families enrolled here at BMW over the years who are musicians and music educators, who assist us in making these connections, namely Dr. Elisa Dekaney, associate professor of music in the Setnor School. It was in 2010 when we first started this collaboration, and we are looking forward to continuing this relationship for years to come,” says Webber. The Bernice M. Wright (BMW) Child Development Laboratory School in Falk College’s Department of Child and Family Studies was founded in 1970 and offers a high-quality, developmentally appropriate inclusive early childhood education program. It is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Falk College Community Meet-and-Greet with Dean Murphy
Dear Falk Undergraduate and Grad. Students,
Please join Falk College Dean, Diane Lyden Murphy, and your classmates for a Falk Student Community Meet-and-Greet. A date will be scheduled after Spring Break. Dean Murphy is interested in hearing your ideas about student needs in our new building. What would you like to see in the student lounge? What makes your study space ideal? Hear about renovations in-the-works, including space for student services, food services, and collaborative learning.
Pizza, salad and soda will be served!
Share your suggestions via email.
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