Social Work  News

Elder Abuse and Restorative Justice Webinar

Older adults are vulnerable to abuse and financial exploitation, particularly if they are socially isolated, and standard approaches often intensify that isolation by severing family relationships to prevent further abuse. As the population ages and the number of cases of elder abuse continue to rise, service providers search for innovative solutions that can stop abuse and exploitation without further disrupting the older adult’s family and social relationships.

The movement to incorporate restorative solutions to elder abuse has been gaining momentum in recent years. Advocates and service providers who work with older adults, and professionals and students in related fields, were invited to attend the “Syracuse, New York’s ‘Long Game’ for Adopting Restorative Approaches to Elder Abuse” webinar Jan. 26.

In this webinar, Maria Brown, assistant research professor at Syracuse University in both the Falk College School of Social Work and the university’s Aging Studies Institute, and Mary Helen McNeal, professor in the Syracuse University College of Law and director of its Elder and Health Law Clinic, discussed their qualitative and academic research. They shared highlights from their Collaboration for Unprecedented Success and Excellence (CUSE) grant-funded international symposium in elder abuse and restorative justice.

A recording of the webinar and a restorative justice toolkit are now available from the California Elder Justice Coalition (CEJC), which sponsored the webinar.

The discussion also included Brown and McNeal’s work with local Syracuse-area service providers Vera House and the Center for Court Innovation, exploring the potential of restorative practices to intervene in elder-abuse situations, including the current “eCORE Project,” which offers community building and conflict resolution circles to seniors in Christopher Community Housing in Syracuse.

The Jan. 26 webinar is part of the “Exploring Restorative Approaches to Elder Justice” webinar series intended to build awareness about restorative options for older adults and to promote safe, just, equitable and sustainable practices, communities and institutions. To register for the other webinars, visit CEJC’s event registration page.

---

Social Work Students ‘Rise Above’ This Holiday Season

Falk College professor Jennifer Cornish Genovese first met Al-amin Muhammad in March 2018, when Muhammad gave the keynote address at Falk’s annual Dan and Mary Lou Rubenstein Social Justice Awards program.

Muhammad is the founder of We Rise Above the Streets, a Syracuse-based non-profit organization that “encourages residents to live up to their full potential by breaking the cycle of homelessness and crime that many face daily.” Muhammad and The Rescue Mission Alliance of Syracuse were honored at the event with Dan and Mary Lou Rubenstein Social Justice Awards for their commitment to service and social justice in the Syracuse community.

Genovese, an assistant teaching professor in the School of Social Work and director of the Master of Social Work program, contacted Muhammad this past fall and suggested that the School of Social Work host a holiday gift drive for We Rise Above the Streets.

“Al-amin has done tremendous work in our community to support the unhoused and people living in poverty,” Genovese says. “I contacted him to ask what items would be helpful and he agreed that socks, hats, scarves and gloves would be useful as we head into the winter months.”

Graduate students Nathalie Barr and Kiara Lee helped Genovese organize the drive, and other Social Work students generously donated items such as socks, hats, scarves and gloves. Faculty and staff from Falk and other schools and colleges across the Syracuse University campus joined the drive and collected several additional items, including T-shirts, coats, shoes and boots.

As an added feature, donors were allowed to purchase gifts through Amazon and have them sent to the School of Social Work at White Hall.

“Some students even knit and crocheted items for the drive,” Genovese says. “Several graduate students helped by setting up the collection boxes and sorting the items after they arrived.”

Genovese expressed deep gratitude to all from Falk College and the University community who participated in the drive.

“This effort exemplifies the mission of Social Work and reflects our profession’s core values: service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, and the importance of human relationships,” she says.

Genovese delivered the items Dec. 17 to Muhammad, who says they will be distributed to the women, men and children of Syracuse who are unhoused or living in poverty. Since its inception in 2015, We Rise Above the Streets has focused its work on providing physical resources, such as food and clothing, to help those in need.

Visit the We Rise Above the Streets website to learn more about the organization and its help page for information on how to donate or participate in fund-raising events.

---

Earning four degrees with six children and working full-time

When Shirley Trendowski ’05, ’07 (C.A.S.) G’08 was raising her family, everyday life took very careful planning.

Trendowski and her husband, Ray, are the parents of six children. In 1995, after being a stay-at-home mom for 15 years, Shirley came to work for Food Services at Syracuse University with the goal of earning a college degree. She took advantage of the University’s dependent tuition benefit and began taking courses that interested her, two classes per semester. Her youngest child was 2 years old at the time.

A lifelong learner and lover of education, Trendowski didn’t stop there. She went to the University’s Career Services and took a test to determine what career would be best for her. She took that first step and never looked back. Over the next 12 years, she went on to earn an associate degree (2001), a bachelor (2005), and a master (2008) degree in social work from Falk College and a certificate of advanced studies in women’s and gender studies (2007) from the College of Arts and Sciences. She also completed social work internships at Rosewood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and the Syracuse Veterans Administration Hospital. And she did it all while working full-time—she has worked in every dining hall and snack bar operation at the University over the past 26 years—and raising six very active, involved children. For many years, Shirley and Ray (who coached baseball and basketball) worked opposite shifts to make it all work.

Trendowski overcame many obstacles over the years—working multiple jobs in food service and changing her shifts five different times—to complete her degree. “I was not going to be deterred from my goal,” she says. She was a pioneer and believes she was the first person in Food Services to receive a master degree after starting from scratch with no college credits.

“I planned out what classes I was going to take each year and how I was going to fit them into my schedule,” Trendowski says. “I would have a calendar on my wall to indicate when assignments were due.” Not a moment was ever wasted during the day. Trendowski took her textbooks to her kids’ sporting events and to study during the 30-minute wait time after the administration of allergy shots. “I also made sure never to miss work,” she says.

Impacting the Whole Family

All six of her children earned a bachelor degree through Syracuse University, all while watching their mom make so many sacrifices to earn her own degrees. “I offered my kids $50 for any semester they could beat my grade point average, and I gladly only paid twice,” she says. Her son, Joseph, skipped his own graduation for his bachelor degree so he could attend his mother’s graduation in Syracuse.

Trendowski is every bit the proud mom when she talks about her children and their chosen life journeys—she is particularly proud that all have gravitated toward education and service to others, calling it the “mind, body, soul connection.” They have even co-authored papers together across different disciplines.

Her oldest son, Edward, earned a bachelor degree in French from Hartwick College. He earned a master degree in religion from St. Joseph’s College and a Ph.D. in theology and religious studies from Catholic University (completing it after 10 years and six children). He is the director of faith formation for the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, and teaches part-time at St. Joseph’s College.

Her second son, Joseph, earned a bachelor degree in business and an MBA at Alfred University, and a Ph.D. in business management and international business at Old Dominion University. He currently teaches at DePaul University in Chicago.

Michael, her third son, earned a bachelor degree in chemistry from Alfred University and a master degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland. He is a high school chemistry and physics teacher and track coach who has led his athletes to state and regional championships (even during the COVID pandemic). He is married to Newhouse alumna and Emmy Award-winning reporter Isabel Sanchez G’17, a reporter at Channel 10 in Philadelphia (the No. 4 media market in the nation).

Trendowski’s daughter, Andrea, tripled majored in communications, psychology and business at Clarkson University. She is a stay-at-home mom of three children, and until recently was a local leader in MOPS International, an organization for stay-at-home mothers.

Her fifth child, son Thomas, earned a bachelor degree in physical education and health from Syracuse in 2012, in the first year of the combined major. He went on to earn a master degree and Ph.D. in kinesiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Thomas played football at tight end for the Orange, was on the Big East All-Academic Team several times and was a member of the 2011 Pinstripe Bowl winning team. Thomas’ affiliation with Syracuse began early—in second grade, he took part in research in remedial reading led by Professor Benita Blachman in the School of Education and participated in a follow-up study 10 years later.

Her youngest child, Matt, earned a bachelor degree in biology from the College of Arts and Sciences in 2014 in three years, earning the Donald G. Lundgren Memorial Award, the biology department’s highest honor. He received his master degree and Ph.D. in cancer biology at the University of Chicago, where he has also earned awards for his research and for volunteering. He is a second-year medical student at Wayne State University. He started his body of research as an undergraduate at Syracuse, presented abroad as an undergraduate and has 31 publications in medical journals on his research.

Trendowski says that she and her husband consistently emphasized the importance of education to their children. “Your education is something that no one can ever take from you,” she told them. They also underscored the importance of understanding that actions have consequences, and it’s your actions and choices that affect your future. “My kids are not smarter than anyone else’s—it’s just that they work hard. Tom came home after a long day of teaching at SUNY Cortland and was also finishing his Ph.D. and looked at my husband and said, ‘It’s your fault I have this work ethic.’ What a great compliment.”

A Strong Work Ethic

Her oldest son, Edward, says his mother instilled values, a strong work ethic and a strong faith in him and his siblings. “When she decided to pursue further education, she did so while still having many young children at home, on top of her hard work at Syracuse University and her domestic responsibilities,” he says. “Through her work, studies and other obligations, she continued to be present to us children and care for us, and others, exhibiting the virtue of charity. Now, with six children of my own, I look to my mother for guidance and wisdom. I certainly drew inspiration from her as I pursued my own studies. But the greatest gift my mom handed onto me was the gift of faith, something that lasts even when fame and fortune vanish.”

Her youngest son, Matt, says his mom is perhaps the hardest worker he knows.

“Whenever my mom went to one of our sporting events, she would watch us when we were playing in the game, and then study for the rest of the time. It is truly amazing how devoted she was in continuing her education while working a grueling and sometimes erratic schedule as a food service employee,” he says. “She always emphasized the importance of an education, and how it could ensure a bright future. The example that she provided to my siblings was truly inspiring and is reflected in the career paths we chose.

“As a fellow alumnus of SU, I am grateful my mom’s sacrifices gave me the opportunity to pursue an education, and it is without question that her guidance and wisdom enabled me to reach the level of success I have attained,” he says.

Trendowski’s maternal nature has extended over the years to the students she comes in contact with through her job and to the student-athletes she tutored in the past. “Three of the football players I tutored were in the National Football League and one has a Super Bowl ring,” she proudly says.

Trendowski and her husband now have 10 grandchildren, ages newborn to 13, to whom they extend the same hopes and dreams they had for their own children.

“Syracuse University has been a great place to work and has offered myself and my children many opportunities,” she says. “My education has broadened my sense of self and community. My life has been intertwined with Syracuse University on many levels, whether I was doing initial personal patient intakes at the VA Hospital, working on a dementia floor with patients at Rosewood, tutoring and mentoring Syracuse University students, or just greeting my customers, I am the same person and treat everyone with a smile.”

Her advice to others? “If you can dream it, you can do it. If this mom can do it, you can too.”

Adapted from a Syracuse University News story by Kelly Homan Rodoski originally published on Tuesday, October 12, 2021.

---

October 28 event features alumni in disability advocacy

Falk College Career Services will host the “Falk College Alumni Speaker Series: Improving Access for People with Disabilities” on October 28, 2021, from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. in Grant Auditorium, followed by a networking reception with refreshments from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The panel discussion will focus on current issues surrounding accessibility in a range of environments, and will be of particular interest to students seeking internships or careers in healthcare, mental health, education, policy and advocacy, and sport and recreation.

This is the fourth event in a series of Falk College alumni panels, which bring alumni back to campus to discuss current industry trends of interest to Falk students and share valuable career experiences and insights. Previous alumni panels have focused on topics such as community health and wellness; promoting exercise and nutrition as natural approaches to health, and; sport, health and social activism.

“For students, this is an exceptional opportunity to learn more about how they can be an advocate in whatever field they pursue,” says David Sly, director of Falk College Career Services. “In addition to learning about the specific careers of our panelists, students, faculty, and staff can leave this event with ideas for better serving people with a range of disabilities in any setting.”

The “Improving Access for People with Disabilities” panel will include four Falk College alumni:

Scott Ebner, MSW ’97
Scott Ebner is the Executive Director at CIRCARE, a local agency that supports people with behavioral health disabilities, including family and employment support. He has also worked with Provisions Bakery in Armory Square, a work transition site for people with mental illness.
Jeremy French-Lawyer, BS Public Health ’14
Jeremy French-Lawyer is the Assistant Director of Evaluation, Assessment and Research at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Jeremy also has previous experience as a Disability Integration Fellow with SUNY Upstate, integrating disability-relevant information into medical school and continuing medical education curriculum. Other previous roles include working with children and at-risk parents in education and healthcare settings. Jeremy holds a master of public health (MPH) degree jointly awarded from Syracuse University and SUNY Upstate Medical University.
Ocesa Keaton, MSW ’15
Ocesa Keaton is the Central New York Regional Director for New York Civil Liberties Union and has previously served as the ADA Coordinator for the City of Syracuse. Ocesa has extensive experience in youth and advocacy programs, with a focus on at-risk pregnant and parenting teens, youth violence prevention, and poverty.
Eileen May-West, BS Sport Management ’10
Eileen May-West is the Program Director at Wasatch Adaptive Sports and leads outdoor adaptive recreation operations for over 500 individuals with disabilities each year. Eileen holds a master’s degree in therapeutic recreation from the University of New Hampshire.
For Syracuse University students, registration is appreciated, though not required, through Handshake. For faculty, staff and community attendees, please RSVP to falkcareers@syr.edu. CART and ASL services will be provided. To request other accommodations, please contact Falk Career Services at falkcareers@syr.edu or 315.443.3144. For event information, visit the event page.

---

Falk College welcomes new faculty and staff

Syracuse University’s Falk College is pleased to welcome four new staff members who have joined Falk College in the past academic year: Stephen Bonomo, Director of Information Technology; Deborah Golia, Director of Admissions; Kailyn Jennings, Sport Management Internship Placement Coordinator; Danielle Jones, Social Work Internship Placement Coordinator; Donna Sparkes, Budget Associate, and; Emily Williams, Human Development and Family Science Internship Placement Coordinator.

In addition, Falk College is pleased to announce the appointment of six new faculty members, Lastenia-Francis, Catherine García, Esteli Jimenez, Kevin McNeill, Joey Merrin, and Fei Pei.

Lastenia Francis

Assistant Teaching Professor (Online), Department of Marriage and Family Therapy

Lastenia Francis (she/her/hers) joins the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics as an Assistant Teaching Professor (Online) in fall 2021. She will teach courses on family systems theories and practice.

Francis is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a certified trauma therapist. She has been practicing since 2014 with an attention to helping minority populations. Francis has provided clinical services in an outpatient clinic in the South Bronx working with low-income communities and communities of color, an intensive preventative program, at the Veterans Affairs as a Readjustment Counselor, and built a private practice that focuses on building strong families in communities of color. Francis previously taught at Mercy College in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program and continues to act as a mentor to developing Marriage and Family Therapists as an American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) Approved Supervisor.

Francis continues to have an insatiable appetite for helping people of color maximize their potential in how they relate to themselves, their spouse, and their family and demonstrates that in her research interest. Dr. Francis was drawn to academia through her passion for training more social justice clinicians to help strengthen families especially those in minority and underserved communities. Her dissertation research focused on the reintegration experiences of Black veterans and their families.

Francis is the Founder of Meaningful E-Motion Private Practice, Assistant Editor of the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA) blog, and a member of the AAMFT and the AFTA.

Francis Earned a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Northcentral University in 2021, a M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Mercy College in 2015, and a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from Stonybrook University in 2013.

Catherine García

Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science/Aging Studies Institute

Catherine García (she/her/hers) joins the Department of Human Development and Family Science in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics as an Assistant Professor in fall 2021. At Syracuse University she will teach classes in Midlife Development and Gerontology.

Prior to joining Syracuse University, García was an Assistant Professor of Sociology and core faculty member of the Minority Health Disparities Initiative (MHDI) at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln where she taught quantitative methods and served as a faculty mentor for the MHDI Summer Research Program.

García’s research focuses on Latina/o/x aging and health in the United States and Puerto Rico, applying multidisciplinary approaches to understand how the interaction of biological, environmental, and social factors influence the disease process among older Latina/o/x adults. Her research work has led to 15 peer-reviewed publications and two book chapters, including multiple manuscripts in The Gerontologist and The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.

Her research has been supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including an R36 Aging Research Dissertation Award to Increase Diversity from 2018-2020 and an R01 Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research from 2021-2023. Her research has led to several awards, including the Emerging Scholars and Professional Organization (ESPO) Interdisciplinary Paper Award, the ESPO Poster Award, and the Minority Issues in Gerontology Poster Award from the Gerontological Society of America.

Currently, she serves as a steering committee member for the Network for Data-Intensive Research on Aging (NDIRA) at the University of Minnesota and is a committee member of the Minority Issues in Gerontology Advisory Panel (MIGAP) of the Gerontological Society of America. In addition, she will serve on the editorial board for the Journal of Health and Social Behavior beginning in January 2022.

She earned a Ph.D. in Gerontology in 2020 from the University of Southern California, an M.S. in Sociology from Florida State University in 2014, and a B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Human Complex Systems from the University of California – Los Angeles (with college and departmental honors) in 2010.

Estelí Jimenez-Soto

Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition and Food Studies

Estelí Jimenez-Soto (she/hers) joins the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics as a tenure-track assistant professor of food studies in fall 2021. At Syracuse University, she will teach classes in Agriculture and the Environment, including Agroecology, and Climate Change and the Food System. She joins the Syracuse Cluster Initiative in Energy and Environment.

Prior to joining Syracuse University, Jimenez-Soto was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California Santa Cruz in the Department of Community Studies from 2020-2021, and in the Department of Environmental Studies from 2019-2020, where she taught principles of sustainable agriculture and worked on socioeconomic barriers and opportunities to adopt sustainable practices in strawberry production.

Her research uses interdisciplinary engagements, bridging the fields of agroecology and political ecology to examine environmental problems at the nexus of food, agriculture and the environment in both the U.S. and Latin American contexts. She has published in journals including Ecology and Evolution, Bioscience, and Journal of Peasant Studies and her work has been highlighted in publications such as The Economist.

Her research has been supported by UC-MEXUS, El Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT), the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) and P.E.O International. In 2020 she was a recipient of a Peter Ashton Award by Biotropica, a Gentry Student Award by the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation in 2017, and a Mildred Mathias Award for best dissertation proposal by the UC-MEXUS in 2015.

She is an active member of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), the American Association of Geographers (AAG), the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), New World Agriculture and Ecology Group (NWAEG) and The Alliance for Women in Agroecology (AMA-AWA).

Jimenez-Soto earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and a M.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2018 and 2014 respectively; and an B.S. with honors in Agroecology in 2012 from Universidad Autonoma Chapingo in Mexico. She is originally from San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, México.

Kevin McNeill

Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Sport Management

Kevin McNeill has been a member of the Department of Sport Management since 2019 in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and will serve as assistant teaching professor beginning in the fall 2021. At Syracuse University, McNeill will teach classes in Sport Technology and Technologies in Game Day Operations.

McNeill previously served as an Internship Placement Coordinator in Sport Management and provided advising for undergraduate students in academics and career exploration. He assisted students through the senior Capstone process and taught classes in Professional Development in Sport Management.

Previously, McNeill worked at Le Moyne College as Associate Athletic Director in the Department of Athletics for 12 years as well as served Syracuse University Athletics as the Marketing Coordinator from 2004 to 2007.

While at Le Moyne, McNeill oversaw the marketing and communications for the Division II athletic program. In that role, he led programming in brand development, revenue generation, digital media, video production, corporate sponsorship, and game day management. In addition to serving on the athletic department leadership team, he co-chaired the College’s strategic plan marketing committee, participated in the College’s integrated marketing committee, and instructed in the Madden School of Business.

Serving as the Marketing Coordinator at Syracuse University Athletics, McNeill supported the department’s broad-based marketing initiatives with a focus on game day promotions, marketing campaigns, ticket sales, advertising, and graphic design.

McNeill earned a Master of Science, Sports Administration and Master of Business Administration from Ohio University in 2004 and a Bachelor of Science, Business Administration from Le Moyne College in 2002.

Joey Merrin

Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science

Gabriel “Joey” Merrin (he/him/his) joins the Department of Human Development and Family Science in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics in fall 2021. At Syracuse University, Merrin will teach courses in Child and Adolescent Development and Advanced Statistical Methods.

Merrin was most recently an assistant professor in Human Development and Family Sciences at Texas Tech University from 2019-2021 and taught graduate-level statistic courses where he focused on reproducible research, programmatic programming, and transparent designs using open science frameworks and guidelines. Before Texas Tech University, he held two post-doctoral fellowships, one in the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and the other in the Department of Health Management and Informatics at the University of Central Florida.

Trained as a developmental psychologist and applied methodologist, Merrin’s research seeks to clarify developmental processes through which adolescents’ experiences with their families, peers, teachers, and communities influence development of problem behaviors and experiences with identity-based harassment and victimization throughout adolescence and in the transition to young adulthood. He is particularly interested in the development of these behaviors among various minoritized and oppressed groups. His work focuses on translating and mobilizing knowledge to inform intervention and prevention efforts to improve the school experience for young people by using applied research designs, leveraging practical implications, and intentional school and community engagement.

His research has been supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institute of Health, and most recently, Merrin and his colleagues at Boston University launched a three-year National Institute of Justice funded study to examine bias-based harassment among adolescents to identify risk and protective factors across multiple levels of the social ecology.

Merrin was recently awarded the 2020-2021 New Faculty Award at Texas Tech University and selected into the Society of Prevention Research Early Career Prevention Scientists Training Program. Merrin currently serves on the editorial board for Prevention Science and Psychology of Violence.

Merrin earned a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology in 2017, an Ed.M. in Human Resource Development in 2011, and a B.A. in Sociology in 2009, all from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Fei Pei

Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Fei Pei (she/her/hers) joins the School of Social Work in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics as a tenure-track assistant professor of social work in fall 2021. At Syracuse University, Fei will teach Social Welfare Policy and Services.

Prior to joining Syracuse University, Fei was a Ph.D. candidate at the Ohio State University College of Social Work where she also served as a graduate instructor and research assistant, teaching research methods, lifespan development, and social welfare.

The overarching goal of Fei’s research is to promote healthy development among vulnerable children, including maltreated and immigrant youths by identifying neighborhood disparities. In particular, her research focuses on community health and child development. She published over 20 peer-reviewed papers in rigorous academic journals including Child Abuse & Neglect, Children and Youth Services Review, Family & Community Health, Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Trauma, Violence & Abuse.

Fei was trained in all aspects of grant-funded and investigator-initiated research projects, ranging from university-funded projects to federal-funded studies (e.g., NIH funded and UNICEF funded projects). Her research has been acknowledged and funded by various institutions and scholarships such as the 2021 Merriss Cornell Distinguished Researcher Award, 2019 Kempe Interdisciplinary Summer Research Institute, 2018 International Peace Scholarship, Seed Funding for 2016 Clinton Global Initiative University, and 2015 New Brunswick Chancellor’s Scholarship.

Fei actively participated in professional and community services. She was a volunteered social worker for the local agency, Asian American Community Services in Columbus, OH and the president of the College of Social Work’s Doctoral Student Organization. She also serves as an ad hoc peer reviewer for multiple academic journals.

Fei earned a Ph.D. in 2021 from The Ohio State University, College of Social Work, a MSW in 2016 from Rutgers University – New Brunswick, and a LL.B. and a B.S. (double degree) in 2014 from Shanghai University and East China Normal University.

---

Collaboration enhances services for CNY children and families

The stigma of mental health issues, combined with long waits to see psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors and social workers, often means that families don’t seek help until they face a significant crisis.

That’s why the School of Social Work at Falk College, the School of Education’s Department of Counseling and Human Services, the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Upstate University’s Psychiatry Faculty Practice have joined forces to create a collaborative training program to serve high-need and high-demand populations in urban and rural areas in the Central New York region.

The project is funded by a grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HRSA’s mission is improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable. The grant will provide more than $408,000 in the first year and an anticipated $1.24 million over four years to fund the effort.

Carrie J. Smith, professor and interim chair of the School of Social Work, says the collaborative participation of social work, counseling and human services, psychology and Upstate Medical University’s department of psychiatry is a distinctive model for increasing the capacity and availability of mental health services in Central New York, including a partnership with the Onondaga Nation.

Through scholarships for trainees, enhanced field placement opportunities, a focus on improving services for people in high-need and high-demand areas, interprofessional collaboration and scholarly research, the project seeks to improve the availability and quality of mental health services for children, adolescents and families.

“This project is working at several different levels,” Smith says. “At the system level, we’re trying to break down silos between professionals in different mental health disciplines. We hope to build collaboration between the agencies serving local children and families and our own training programs at Syracuse and Upstate.

“At the workforce development level, we know that often trainees stay in the local area. Whether they are licensed counselors, psychologists, social workers or psychiatrists, if they stay in Central New York, they’ll have a built-in network of colleagues and an understanding of how to work together,” Smith adds. “And, of course, we want to improve the availability and quality of mental health care for children and families in our region.”

The project will also focus on early identification of behavioral health services in the context of primary care. The project leaders stress that mental health, like physical health, is improved by proactive screening and preventative care. Early intervention seeks to identify ways to support children and families before concerns become a crisis.

Derek X. Seward, associate professor and chair of counseling and human services in the School of Education, is excited about the opportunities for students.

“I think it will be a wonderful opportunity for our clinical mental health counseling students whose training is very focused,” Seward says. “This project will provide more richness and training around working in interdisciplinary teams, which they normally don’t get until they begin their field experiences. Most licensed counselors practice in interdisciplinary settings so this early exposure to other mental health professionals will serve our students well.”

Melissa Luke, Dean’s Professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Services, stresses the benefit for professionals working at the training sites where students complete their field experiences.

“We are planning to provide ongoing training to site supervisors and other licensed practitioners who may be interested in expanding their skills in areas such as interprofessional collaboration, helping patients and families find accessible services and specific topics like trauma-informed care and cultural understanding,” Luke says. The project team believes that this kind of capacity-building can help facilitate greater access to support services, counseling and mental health care in all kinds of settings.

Nayla Khoury, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Upstate Medical University, believes that interprofessional training benefits all mental health professionals.

“We have a dire shortage of child and adolescent providers here in Central New York. The pandemic has increased need for mental health services, and we will be seeing its effects well into the future,” Khoury says. “Interprofessional education for medical students and psychiatry residents reflects how community-based care really works and prepares them to more effectively support children and families in a way that is cognizant of cultural and socioeconomic differences.”

As part of the project, Khoury will be collaborating with the Onondaga Nation to enhance behavioral health services.

Tracy Walker, director of field relations in the School of Social Work, will be working to find interprofessional field placements for all students involved in the project, regardless of academic discipline. She is excited about the potential opportunities.

“I am always trying to find the win-win between what a field experience site needs and what students are interested in,” Walker says. “This project opens up opportunities for students to gain broader experience in the field that they will take into their practice after graduation. It also offers new ways for Syracuse University and Upstate to partner with supervisors and practitioners at our field sites.”

A Syracuse University News story by Ellen de Graffenreid originally published on Tuesday, August 10, 2021.

---

Welcome Class of 2025!

Falk College welcomes the Class of 2025, a talented group from 37 states and 33 global countries. The Class of 2025 includes 373 first-year students, 13 transfer students, 163 new graduate students, and 156 new online graduate students. Fall 2021 Syracuse Welcome is scheduled for Aug. 26-29, 2021, with new student move-in beginning Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. The entire welcome week schedule for new students can be found by visiting the Syracuse Welcome website.

Falk College Syracuse Welcome Events:

---

Olympian and Social Work Graduate

As the greatest distance runner in Syracuse University cross country and track and field program history, Justyn Knight realizes the enormous hard work, dedication, training, and tactical skills required to compete and win.

That work ethic held true for Knight in the classroom, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from Falk College. On choosing his major, Knight says, “Social work is one of those majors where various options are open to you—guidance counselor was one of them for me; you could also use those skills to become a teacher or a coach. It opens various windows and I am considering all those options when my athletic career is over.”

He believes he benefited from juggling his academic and athletic responsibilities and became a more balanced individual. “From an academic standpoint, they push you to be the best student and the best person you can be,” he says. “It was really stressful at times, but at the end of the day, Syracuse is just preparing us for life.” He wants to help others on their life journeys as well and enjoys offering advice to young athletes and being a positive influence. “That’s something I love to do,” he says. “I’ve had many people mentor me and help me become a great person, so I feel like I owe it to society to help others.”

For now, Knight is focused on his professional running career, and these 2021 Olympics.

Justyn Knight ’18: Ready to Roll in the 5,000 Meters

Justyn Knight is primed for the Tokyo Olympics. Earlier this year, the Team Canada distance runner turned in personal bests—and qualifying Olympic standard times—in both the 1,500 meters and the 5,000 meters. In May, at the USA Track & Field Golden Games in Walnut, California, he finished second in the 1,500, posting a blistering 3:33.41. In June, he placed fifth in the 5,000 at a professional Diamond League meet in Florence, Italy, finishing in 12:51.93. Canadian teammate Moh Ahmed crossed the line in third (12:50.12). Their times elevated them to the two fastest North Americans in history at that distance.

“In Italy, I made it known that I’m going to stay with the lead pack, and I was in a top five position the entire race,” Knight says from Charlottesville, Virginia, where he trains with the Reebok Boston Track Club under the guidance of his former Orange coach, Chris Fox. “That was a really big deal for me, because it showed how much I’ve grown and how much stronger and faster I’ve gotten. For my first 5K in two years, it wasn’t bad to start off on that note, and hopefully we can improve on that.”

Knight, who will run the 5,000 in Tokyo, is considered Syracuse University’s all-time greatest distance runner. As a senior, he won the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championship and the 2018 NCAA 5,000-meter indoor title. He also helped lead the Orange to the 2015 NCAA cross country crown, placing fourth as a sophomore. During his Syracuse career, the Toronto native also collected 11 individual ACC titles and earned All-America honors 10 times.

Knight first represented Canada at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships, placing eighth in the 5,000 meters. He followed that up by clinching the 2015 Pan Am Games Junior Cross Country title. In the 5,000 at the 2017 and 2019 IAAF World Championships, he crossed the line in ninth and 10th, respectively.

For several months during the pandemic, Knight trained solo and worked on building his mileage base. He even got creative during some of his runs to hit the optimum pace he was after. “Sometimes my shadow would be slightly in front of me, and I’d pretend that shadow was a person and I was chasing it,” he says. “It sounds really weird, but when you’re desperate, you’re desperate, and I had to come up with all these little ideas just to give myself some extra motivation.”

That motivation enabled Knight to hold a faster pace for a longer period of time, and he says he’s grown a lot mentally and physically over the past year and a half. When he steps up to the line in Tokyo, his right wrist will be wrapped in two handcrafted bead bracelets given to him by a friend from Kenya. One is red and white with the Canadian maple leaf and says Knight on it. The other is blue with Syracuse written in orange. He says it shows that no matter where he goes, he has his Canadian and Syracuse families with him. “I hold them very dear to my heart,” he says. “It’s really nice to be able to showcase them on the world stage.”

The first round of the 5,000 meters is August 3, with the final scheduled for August 6.

Read about other Orange Olympians.

---

Center for Disability Resources Honors Falk College Faculty

Every year, the Syracuse University Center for Disability Resources (CDR) recognizes faculty and staff members who are nominated for their work in advocating for students and supporting the center in its mission to empower students, enhance equity and provide a platform for innovation and inclusion.

In a year of a pandemic that created challenges for access, nominations were at an all-time high for faculty and staff who went above and beyond to ensure the success of students needing accommodations. This year the center received 67 nominations—the highest ever—from students who wanted to acknowledge the faculty or staff member who made a difference in their academic lives.

These campus community members exemplify what it means to create a sense of community and inclusivity—especially in a time when everyone was stressed and had to be flexible in the time of COVID, says Paula Possenti-Perez, director of the Center for Disability Resources.

“This is a way of highlighting practices of inclusivity and diversity around disability. By elevating that recognition, it has meaning not only to the individual being recognized and the student but also to their department and the University about what’s important,” says Possenti-Perez.

The center, which began the recognition awards in 2015, typically hosts an annual in-person event but was unable to hold the event in 2020 and again this year. But the important work being done is always a reason to recognize those exemplary faculty and staff.

Kala Rounds and Christina Papaleo, both access coordinators with CDR, organize the annual recognition celebration and select the recipients from the nominees.

“When we review the nominations, we look for community members who support the mission and vision of our office and our focus on the social justice model—and emulate those values in their classroom or in their offices,” says Papaleo. “The center’s staff advocate for students on a day-to-day basis, but these campus members go above and beyond their regular duties, carrying the mission throughout campus.”

For example, some students mentioned in their nominations how a faculty or staff member checked in on them and followed up. Others who were nominated checked in with CDR staff to ask about the accommodation process to learn what the office does.

“Many students shared that faculty and staff really practiced empathy, and they took the time with students, recognizing this year in particular was really traumatic in many ways for students,” Papaleo says.

Many of the nominations had recurring themes: faculty and staff nominees were flexible during such a stressful time, were understanding and went above and beyond expectations to be accommodative, Rounds says.

“When I was reading through these nominations, I was really proud that the students were able to share their voices and proud of the faculty and staff as they are open to engaging and working with the student,” Rounds says. “That says a lot about the campus culture change on campus.”

The CDR staff hopes the awards are affirming and motivational to the rest of the community—and expand on the understanding that accessibility is the responsibility of the entire campus and goes beyond compliance.

“This event is helping to share that framework,” Rounds says. “This is our community, and we are all collaborators in this work.”

Falk College faculty and staff members being recognized this year are:

For more information, visit CDR’s 7th Annual Faculty and Staff Recognition page.

---

Falk College honors faculty excellence in teaching, research, service

Three faculty members from Falk College’s Departments of Nutrition and Food Studies and Public Health and the School of Social Work were honored for excellence in teaching, research, and service with 2021 Falk College Faculty of the Year Awards. The honorees, who are nominated by their peers for outstanding teaching, scholarship, and internal and professional service contributions, were recognized by the Falk Faculty Council with awards at the end of the Spring 2021 semester.