HERE - School of Social Work - New Mexico State University

School of Social Work Newsletter
socialwork.nmsu.edu
Fall 2015
Director’s Letter—September 2015
The 2015-16 academic year is already
* We are continuing our dialogue on the
proving to be an exciting one for the School integrative health care movement and its
of Social Work!
impact on our curriculum.
* We are in the second year of a large SBIRT
training grant (Screening, Brief Intervention
and Referral to Treatment) from the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration and are making inroads into many community agencies with
our SBIRT training programs.
* We continue to provide vital support and
training to CYFD workers and foster and
adoptive parents across the state through
our large Title IV training grants.
* We have made adjustments in our MSW
curriculum to make content on behavioral
health a required course. In addition, the
faculty is working on an initiative to put our
MSW curriculum online with a blended
format for courses, requiring some face to
face contact and interactions with and
between students. This is a three year
project primarily intended for the
Albuquerque program. The end result is
that we will be able to offer an online
curriculum alternative that will be approved
through the university’s Quality Matters
certification process.
* I am happy to announce that we have
added a new faculty member this fall, Dr.
Meghan Morris. Dr. Morris received her
PhD in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley.
Dr. Morris is primarily teaching in the BSW
program. Her research is in the area of
violence against women in developing
countries torn by war and civil unrest. We
are fortunate to be able to add this
international perspective to the research
interest of our faculty.
* Dr. Gail Leedy retired at the end of spring
semester 2015. Dr. Leedy served on our
Albuquerque faculty and she will be missed!
We are conducting a search to fill her
position for the fall of 2016.
* Our school has a new Dean, Donna
Wagner, who is very supportive of our
school and our mission.
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Director’s Letter (cont.)
* I especially wish to express my appreciation to our hardworking faculty who are so
dedicated to our students and whose involvement is so critical to maintaining our high
quality educational programs.
* I also wish to acknowledge members of the Advisory Council for their guidance and
support of our programs.
Marco Cervantes
José Frietze
Doreen Gallegos
Kasandra Gandara
Gary Lowe
Jolene Martinez
Suzan Martinez de Gonzales
Jerry Ortiz y Pino
Patrick Tyrrell
* Finally, I wish to reach out to our alumni and invite you to attend our alumni event at the
annual meeting of the New Mexico chapter of NASW (February 24-26) at the Sandia Casino
and Resort in Albuquerque. We hope to touch base with many of you there!
Given all of these developments, I am sure that the 2015-16 academic year will be a very
successful one and we look forward to seeing our school continue to advance!
Warm regards,
Dr. Tina Hancock
Director of the School of Social Work
New Mexico State University
Health Professions Career Fair
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
Corbett Center Student Union, 3rd Floor
This inaugural event is co-sponsored by Career Services and the College of Health and Social
Services to provide students, alumni, and community members an opportunity to meet with
representatives from hospitals and social service agencies seeking to hire in health related
professions from College of ACES: Human Nutrition & Dietetic Science, Family and
Consumer Science; College of Education: Counseling and Ed Psy, Kinesiology, Special Ed and
Communication Disorders; and College of Health and Social Services: Nursing, Public Health
Sciences, and Social Work
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Student Organizations
Phi Alpha Kappa Omega — Phi Alpha Honor Society focuses on maintaining strong
bonds among students of Social Work, recognizing the academic excellence of members,
and committing itself to humanitarian goals through community service, both on and off
campus. Their recent volunteer work was at Loaves and Fishes, a free food distribution
program. Participants prepared over 300 commodity boxes to distribute to those in
need. Their current event is a costume drive for children at La Casa in preparation for
Halloween. This project is ongoing from September 15 to October 15, 2015. There is a
box on the second floor of the HSS building for any Halloween costume donations. They
also plan to participate in Aggie Family Weekend. This semester, Phi Alpha's aim is to
encourage academic excellence for students in the BSW and MSW program. Creating
this bond will also help students recognize the positive effects they have on their
community by participating in local service projects.
Graduate Student Social Work Association — A tailgate party was held September 19 for
the I-10 rivalry football game. A bake sale fundraiser was held on September 28 . GSSWA
is also planning to participate in the city-wide Toss No Mas event on October 17 at Mesilla
Valley Christian School from 8am-12 noon. Meetings are held the last Wednesday of the
month at 5 PM in Room 218 (HSS building). Check the bulletin board for events!
Student Social Work Association
Jennifer Kitcey at jkitcey@nmsu.edu
Want to get involved and
give back to your
community? Contact your
student association!
Graduate Student Social Work
Association
Darlene Ortiz at dcortiz@nmsu.edu
Phi Alpha Kappa Omega Honor Society
Jacklyn Quezada at jacklynv@nmsu.edu
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Student Spotlight—Lori Derr
MSW student Lori Derr, will receive a national award in Denver this October at the
Conference for Social Work Education.
Her award is for Student Leadership through the Phi Alpha Honor Society. Ms. Derr
established a Food Recovery Network at NMSU, a student -led group that recovers usable
food from the campus cafeteria to donate to agencies that serve meals to insecure
populations in the community. Ms. Derr, with the help of other social work students, led
the establishment of the very first Food Recovery Network in the state of New Mexico!
She first gained a firm understanding of regulations and policies necessary to make the
effort a success. This involved many details including checking
food temperature upon delivery and weighing the amount of food
recovered. She has worked closely with Taos Restaurant on
campus (owned by Sodexo). Food is being distributed to El Caldito
Soup Kitchen in Las Cruces almost every week.
The School of Social Work is very proud to see her recognized!
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Highlights from the Field
Students in the BSW and MSW programs
are required to complete a social work
internship to augment their course work
and practice social work skills. Professors
Maria Ortiz (BSW Field Coordinator), Olga
Cabada (MSW Field Director-Las Cruces),
and Susan Burns (MSW Field CoordinatorAlbuquerque) work to create diverse
internship opportunities in the community
for students.
Students work with diverse populations
including children, adolescents, adults,
families, the elderly, veterans, immigrants,
children and adults with developmental
delays, and formerly incarcerated persons.
Social work students in the field come in
contact with the many social justice issues
prevalent in their own communities such as
homelessness, mental health needs,
domestic violence, incarceration, economic
justice, LGBTQ issues, substance abuse,
transportation issues, immigrant rights, and
poverty.
The School of Social Work has over 180
BSW and MSW students completing their
service learning and internships this year!
Students are serving in the Albuquerque
area as well as 11 different locations in
southern New Mexico and Alaska! Sites
include Las Cruces, Ruidoso, Hatch,
Alamogordo, Chaparral, Deming, T or C,
Anthony, Sunland Park, Santa Teresa and El
Paso, TX.
The communities served are varied: public
schools, probate court, hospitals, child and
adult welfare, early intervention programs,
mental health clinics, community organizing
agencies, halfway houses, homeless
shelters, prisons, legal settings, criminal
justice settings, and Veterans Affairs.
The field practicum experience offers an
enormous learning opportunity for
students, members of the community, and
the university. Each year placement sites
are different as the internship field staff
seek to meet the learning needs of the
students and the needs of partner agencies.
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The School of Social Work Alumni Awards Reception is held every spring to recognize
outstanding NMSU alumni. Last spring’s reception was held on March 6, 2015 and the
following alumni were honored:
Kasandra Gandara…………...Distinguished Social Work Alumna of the Year
Leticia Duarte-Benavidez…………...Outstanding BSW Alumna
Maribel Tellez…………...Outstanding MSW Alumna
Lori Derr…………...Outstanding BSW Graduate
Cassandra Cowman…………...Outstanding MSW Graduate
Virginia Yribia…………...Outstanding Adjunct Faculty of the Year
Picture 1: Kasandra Gandara
Picture 2: Leticia Duarte-Benavidez
Picture 3: Maribel Tellez
Picture 4: Virginia Yribia
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Fall 2015 Student Scholarship Awardees
Betty Jean & Thomas Shinas Jr. Endowed Scholarship……….Anna Martin
Celebrate Health & Social Services……….Asilee Ferris
Fred & Nobuku Christensen Endowed Scholarship……….Jacklyn Quezada
FYI Inc. Graduate Social Work Endowed Scholarship……….Crystal Contreras
Kimberly Ming Endowed Scholarship……….Julie Cheatham
Lowery H. & Doris Davis Endowed Scholarship……….Amanda Villa
Lucille Allen Social Work Endowed Scholarship……….Tamara Espinoza
McCowen Behavioral Health Leadership Endowed Scholarship..Keenon Sherrell
McCowen Behavioral Health Leadership Endowed Scholarship……….Lori Derr
Robert & Evelyn McKee Health Science Scholarship……….Tina Parnes
Rose H. Praisner Memorial Endowed Scholarship……….Megan Finn
Rose H. Praisner Memorial Endowed Scholarship……….Jennifer Kitcey
Social Work Alumni chapter Endowed Scholarship……….Ada Salazar
Social Work Scholarship……….Michael Delgado
United Blood Services “Find the Hero in You”……….Angel Yanez
Recipient Anna Martin
Recipient Lori Derr
Recipient Keenon Sherrell
and Family
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Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Frances Nedjat-Haiem, Associate Professor, is
conducting research that centers on the
intersection between health and behavioral
health, specifically for vulnerable individuals and
their families experiencing serious, chronic illness
and barriers to care that trigger psychological
distress.
As a licensed clinical social worker specializing in
the medical field, Frances has 14 years of
experience working in hospitals and out-patient
clinical settings, which has informed her research
and helped to build a strong knowledge base for
evidence-based practices for patients and health
care providers. With a special interest in
improving the quality of care for vulnerable
populations, her research has focused on low
income Latinos, and military veterans and their
families experiencing a health care crisis.
Although these groups are at increased risk for
negative behavioral and health outcomes, there
is a paucity of research that could influence
needed changes in care, in administrative
practices and policies as well as within large
community systems that provide interventions
for these populations.
Dr. Nedjat-Haiem’s research portfolio has focused
on addressing this gap. With funding from the
Mountain West Clinical Translational ResearchInfrastructure Network (2015-2016) to pilot test
the feasibility of an intervention, she will examine
an educational program that intends to improve
advance care planning for older Latinos with
advanced serious illnesses such as cancer
Dr. James Lehman teaches
Social Work Mental Health
Practice this year. His PhD is in
Psychology focused on issues
of attachment and abuse. In
private practice in Las Cruces,
he is also a Permanent
Deacon in the Roman Catholic
Church and an Anglican priest.
He was a founder of Holy
Family American National
Catholic Church in Las Cruces.
He and his husband Charlie
round out their traveling
household with their white
poodle service dog, Gus.
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Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Wanda Whittlesey-Jerome (Albuquerque
campus) was recently appointed to the Board of
Directors for the Equine Assisted Growth and
Learning Association (EAGALA), an international
organization of over 4,500 members worldwide.
EAGALA was formed in 1999 by a licensed clinical
social worker and provides certification for
advanced mental health professionals and equine
specialists to work in Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy
(EAP) and Equine-Assisted Learning (EAL).
Dr. Whittlesey-Jerome is an EAGALA-certified Level
II practitioner, and conducts research studies on the
impact of EAP on marginalized populations - at-risk
youth, survivors of interpersonal violence, and military families. She currently assists
several New Mexico and Utah human service organizations with evaluation of their EAP
programs.
Wanda and Eli, her rescue racehorse
The EAGALA EAP model is a mindful, on-the-ground experiential solution-oriented
approach with horses that incorporates the use of clean language and symbolic modeling –
approaches that focus on a client’s development of symbols and metaphors without the
influence of the therapist’s agenda. The EAGALA EAP model was developed by Executive
Director and founder, Lynn Thomas, (LCSW). EAGALA’s mission is to promote the
therapeutic use of horses in behavioral health treatment and professional development on
an international level.
This fall, Dr. Whittlesey-Jerome also submitted a funded training grant from the American
Quarter Horse Association Foundation to strengthen the fidelity of design and methods for
future NIH and/or DoD-funded clinical trials of the EAP/ERP (embodied re-storying
process) conjoint treatment approach with military families.
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2015-2016 Upcoming Events
October 15
October 17
Phi Alpha Costume Drive ends
GSSWA participates in Toss No Mas
November 23-27
Thanksgiving Break
December 7-11
December 11
December 12
Exam Week
Last Day of Classes
Fall Semester Commencement
January 19
January 20
Spring Convocation
Spring Classes Begin
February 19-21
NASW –NM Conference in ABQ
March 6
March 13
March 14-18
Field Internship Exchange Day
Alumni Awards Reception
Spring Break
May 9-13
May 13
May 14
Exam Week
Last Day of Classes
Spring Semester Commencement
Alumni reception—NASW-NM—2015
Alumni Awards—Spring 2015
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All About Albuquerque!
 The Albuquerque Center enrolled
29 Social Work students in August, including
3 dual degree (MSW/MPH)students.
 Michele Smith, MSW Academic Advisor,
represented NMSU and the Albuquerque
Center at the University of New Mexico
Graduate and Professional School Fair on
Thursday, October 1 to showcase our program.
Update: Family and Child Welfare Training Project
The School of Social Work Family and Child Welfare
Training Project continues its multi-year contract with
New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department
(CYFD). This important work has been delivering on
several significant project fronts through this continued
partnership.
Camille Hancock, Project Director
The redesigned training program for the CYFD
workforce, “Foundations of Practice” has become a
clear success. In partnership with the Academy for
Professional Development & Training, hundreds of
CYFD employees have been trained in the new blended
learning format. This format combines e-learning,
experiential practice and scenario based skill building in
the classroom.
The students visit a simulated apartment for a series of home visits. Inside, actors play the
roles of a family (parents, teenager and infant). The program teaches basic safety,
assessment, and family engagement skills. For example: the students learn how to locate
potential safety threats in the apartment (i.e. weapons, drug paraphernalia, hazards, and
gang related items). The trainees interact with the actors to hone their engagement and
interviewing skills. Coaches, experienced field CYFD managers, give immediate coaching
and feedback on the skill acquisition.
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Update: Family and Child Welfare Training Project (cont.)
The feedback and evaluations for the “Foundations of Practice” course continuously
demonstrates the high value gained by the employees as they compete this renewed
and revitalized training program.
In other updates:
The training project has now successfully completed its 2015 Conference series. In midSeptember, the project produced – in partnership with CYFD - the annual Foster Parent
Conference in Albuquerque, with over 350 participants from throughout the state.
People learned the latest trauma informed care practices, and additional sessions
focused on the new, incoming Prudent Parenting movement, as well as the application
of Mindfulness in foster parenting.
In August the project ran the ILY – Independent Living for Youth Conference in Taos; and
in March the project coordinated the Adoptive Families Conference in Albuquerque with
CYFD.
The Project has also been engaged by CYFD through grants to adapt the “Foundations
of Practice” training program for a number of Provider agencies which contract with
CYFD. These agencies provide services such as In Home Services, Family Support and
Time Limited Reunification. In October, the project will be conducting its second round
of trainings in 2015 for these providers and their management staff.
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THANK YOU!
The School of Social Work would like to extend its gratitude to the Social Work
Advisory Board and the Social Work Alumni Association for their abiding
commitment to providing our students with meaningful education and post
graduation experiences.
Special thanks to the School of Social Work Advisory Board Members:
Marco Cervantes: LMSW, Ben Archer Health Center; José Frietze: CEO, FYI, Inc.;
Doreen Gallegos: Executive Director, Mesilla Valley CASA; Kasandra Gandara:
Regional Manager, Children, Youth and Families Department; Gary Lowe:
Coordinator, Aggies Go Global; Jolene Martinez: Social Worker, Lynn Middle
School; Suzan Martinez de Gonzales: Executive Director, La Clinica de Familia;
Jerry Ortiz y Pino: Senator, New Mexico State Senate; Patrick Tyrrell: Executive
Director, National Association of Social Workers-New Mexico Chapter
Designer/Editor:
School of Social Work
Diane Haugesag
Contact Info:
Graduate Student
Front Desk: 575-646-2143
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socwork@nmsu.edu
www.socialwork.nmsu.edu