DECEMBER 2007—Volume Two, Issue TEN     |    Penn Matters Archive

Message from the Dean

Happy Holidays!

Around campus, the winter holiday season is in full swing. Once again, the starry lights have been hung in the trees on Locust Walk, the Bookstore’s holiday sale is underway, and two weeks ago we saw the first accumulating snowfall of the year. The holiday season accentuates the acts of giving that alumni, students, faculty, and staff engage in on a daily basis.

For the second consecutive year, the Doctoral Student Steering Committee and the school’s Student Council are conducting a winter essentials drive, collecting coats, blankets, and toiletries for New Visions day shelter in Camden. At the same time, the Class Gift Committee is gearing up for the 2008 Campaign’s second semester kickoff. Current students have benefited from the previous three class gifts (two renovated classrooms and a new student lounge), and the Class of 2008 is preparing to “pay it forward.” Their class gift will upgrade the basement hallway to a welcoming and modern gateway to Caster’s classrooms. And after the New Year, 10 students will be traveling to Hancock County, Mississippi to spend 10 days of their winter break supporting and aiding Katrina victims who are still struggling to return to pre-hurricane normalcy.

Alumni and friends have been giving as well. One hundred and thirty seven alumni and friends have already supported the annual fund this year (there’s still time to make a gift before the end of the calendar year). Marjorie Gordon Schaye, CW’75 and a member of the SP2 Board of Overseers, is serving as the matching donor for this year’s Class Gift Campaign. And Paula Nickey, MSW’76 generously supported the renovation of the third floor Caster conference room earlier this fall.

As we reflect back on the year behind us and look forward to the year ahead, keep an eye out for the SP2 Review—the School’s annual publication—which will be arriving in mailboxes shortly. The publication highlights all that the School has accomplished in the last year. If you want to get a head start on making 2008 the year in which you learn more, explore a new area of practice, or just accumulate your CE credits, check out the spring Continuing Education and Professional Development schedule. As always, our gift to alumni is a $10 discount on any SP2 CE course.  

Best wishes to you and yours for a warm and joyous holiday season.

Richard J. Gelles
Dean

Feature Article

Gift from Paula A. Nickey, MSW’76 Supports Conference Room Renovation
On October 19, 2007, Caster's conference room became the building’s prized meeting space when it re-opened after a month-long renovation. Made possible by the generosity of Ms. Paula A. Nickey, MSW'76, the renovation transformed the room from floor to ceiling. Ms. Nickey’s gift was made in honor of her friend and colleague, Ms. Bettie B. Roundtree, MSW'56, and is commemorated on a new plaque at the center of the room.
[read complete article]

School News

High Marks for New York Cocktail Reception
Alumni and friends gathered at the Penn Club in Midtown Manhattan on Friday evening, November 16 for an SP2 cocktail reception. The first of many such receptions in the upcoming year, the New York event previewed the School’s upcoming Centennial celebration and highlighted the newest degree program, the Clinical Doctorate in Social Work. The event, hosted by Dean Gelles and the School’s Board of Overseers, also gave alumni the opportunity to network with School administrators and each other: alumni representation included graduates from the 1970s through 2006! Stay tuned to learn more about a reception near you.

Promising Practices in Out-of-School Time Professional Development
On December 6, the Out-of-School Time Resource Center convened an Institute entitled “Promising Practices in Out-of-School Time (OST) Professional Development.” Part of a 3–year grant to enhance regional OST professional development (PD) efforts, the Institute hosted administrative staff from Philadelphia Safe and Sound, the School District of Philadelphia, Public/Private Ventures, the Center for Youth Development at the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Department of Human Services, the Philadelphia Youth Network, EducationWorks, the Starfinder Foundation, Mazzoni Center, and Communities in Schools.

New Staff at SP2
Click here to meet our six new staff members.

Social Work History Course Publishes Op-Ed piece
In November, Mark Stern and the members of his SWRK 601 (History and Philosophy of Social Work and Social Welfare) course authored an Op-Ed piece on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that Congress expanded and Bush vetoed. The piece, which was the collaborative effort of the twenty five students (see list of students) in the class, appeared in the Tallahassee Democrat on November 13, 2007.
[read more]

Fidelity Promotes Student Philanthropy
December 13, 2007 | Boston Globe
Katherina Rosqueta of the Center for High Impact Philanthropy discusses Fidelity's new initiative that seeks to promote student philanthropy.
[link to article]

Faculty Notes

Our full- and part-time faculty are leaders in research and practice. They are experts in fields such as gerontology, child welfare, family violence, international social work, homelessness, mental health and health. This section of our newsletter will keep you up to date on the most recent research accomplishments of the School of Social Policy & Practice faculty.

Dennis Culhane, Ph.D., was cited for his research and policy impact on homelessness in an October 17 article in The Economist, entitled “Not Always What They Seem.” Click here to read the full article.

Joan Davitt, Ph.D., received the James C. Zimmer New Investigator Award for 2007 from the American Public Health Association's Gerontological Health Section for her manuscript entitled "Racial Disparities in Access to Medicare Home Health Care: The Disparate Impact of Policy.” The award was presented at the annual meeting in Washington, D.C. on Monday, November 5.

Roberta Iversen, Ph.D., was a guest on WHYY’s “Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane” on November 26, and discussed African-American upward mobility in America and was cited for her book, “Jobs Aren’t Enough.” To listen to the show, click here.

Future Leaders

Two Members of the Class of 2007 Receive the Mary Montague Award
Announcement from the Pennsylvania Society for Clinical Social Work (PSCSW)

Every year, the Pennsylvania Society for Clinical Social Work (PSCSW) recognizes students who have written papers which exemplify the highest standards of clinical work and scholarship. The awards program is currently open to students at Bryn Mawr College, Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, and Widener University. The University of Pennsylvania winners from the Class of 2007 were honored of the PSCSW Annual Meeting/Dinner at Yang Ming restaurant in Bryn Mawr on Friday, November 2, 2007.
 
Tara Jean Sununu
Tara’s paper, “Case Study: Client MK and the Loss of Functioning in Serious Mental Illness,” reflects her experience at an outpatient psychiatric clinical at a large, urban, teaching hospital.  Tara’s work with a young woman, with severe mental illness and grieving the loss of her former high level of functioning, integrated cognitive behavioral and psychodynamic theories and treatment approaches.

Michael Papano (Honorable Mention)
Michael interned at an outpatient psychiatry department at a community hospital.  His paper, “Integrating Theory and Practice: Application of Ego Psychology Theory, A Case Study,” demonstrated his understanding and application of ego psychological interventions and concepts in working with a woman with severe mental illness and a trauma history.

Click here to read more about the Mary Montague Award

Alumni News

Graduates of the School of Social Work and the School of Social Policy & Practice are leaders in the field, doing extraordinary things everyday as they fight for social justice and advocate for others. This section enables alumni to share their professional updates with their classmates and other alumni.

Alumni wishing to share professional accomplishments or announcements in the Alumni News section of Penn Matters can email submissions in paragraph format to alumnirelations@sp2.upenn.edu.

Robert T. Constable, DSW'70, is working on the 7th edition of his book, School Social Work: Practice, Policy & Research. The book has been widely used, and has been adopted by 150 universities in the U.S. alone. He continues to practice clinically and publishes journal articles on practice theory, school social work, and values and ethics.

Geoffrey L. Greif, DSW, MSW'74, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work, was named Social Work Educator of the year by the Maryland Chapter of NASW. His book, Men and their Male Friendships, will be published by Oxford University Press in 2008.

Gretchen Morgan, MSW'97 and Mary Pat McGeehin, MSW'93, co-founders of Lighthouse Counseling and Wellness Center, Inc., are sponsoring a conference for Betta de Boer-van der Kolk entitled: "The Power of Touch, Talk and Play" on April 5-6, 2008. This two day conference will explore the integration of touch, play and traditional psychotherapy, with a special focus on Rubenfeld Synergy Method, EMDR, Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Internal Family Systems. Please visit www.lcwcnj.com for more information.

Richard R. Spencer, DSW'91, has been awarded Fellow status in the American Psychotherapy Association (APA). Fellow status is reserved for those individuals who are able to meet the stringent requirements of the APA in the areas of knowledge, skill, education, training, and experience in the therapeutic process. Dr. Spencer is an adjunct professor at Delaware County Community College.

Upcoming Events

Save the Date! Alumni Weekend and Reunion 2008
May 16- 17
Registration will open in March. Alumni who will need hotel accommodations are encouraged to make reservations as soon as possible, as hotels fill up quickly during Alumni Weekend.

Editor's Note

We are always seeking to better serve our alumni and offer a more convenient way to share news with the Social Policy & Practice community. Penn Matters Online offers a way to highlight happenings and information in a timely manner. It acts as a supplement to the printed Penn Matters , which will still be mailed to you every September. We welcome your feedback and suggestions about Penn Matters and Penn Matters Online. Please email Alumni Relations with questions, comments, feedback, and suggestions. 

Penn Matters Online is created using Cascading Style Sheets according to W3C web standards for compliance and accessibility. It is accessible for Braille, aural, and handheld readers, and the layout is fully resizable through your Internet browser preferences. For your convenience when printing, all images will be omitted and the text will be set to a 12 point Arial font. Please contact Lizza Robb with any questions or suggestions.

Emily M. Brueckner, MSW’05
Editor, Penn Matters

Social Policy & Practice Hompage   |   Penn Homepage    |   Contact Alumni Relations

© The University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice