Networking Works!

How I Found My Job in San Francisco
I just graduated in May 2013 with the Advanced Standing Cohort as an Advanced Clinical Practice and Health, Mental Health, Disabilities student. As graduation day approached and the job hunt loomed on the horizon, I opted for a 2 month trip to South America post-graduation instead of the standard job hunt. Not only did I decide to wait on the job hunt until I returned to the United States in mid-July, but I also decided to relocate to an entirely new city, San Francisco, California. Coincidentally, and lucky for me, the CSSW Alumni Association had a San Francisco Happy Hour event planned my second week in the city. It was at this event that I met two incredible CSSW alumni and without them I would not be in my current position. Not only did these two women support me and send me countless job postings, but they went out of their way to have coffee with me and ease my stress about interviews and rejections.

About four weeks into my job hunt I received an email from my fellow alumna who had forwarded me information on the position I now hold, Family Care Specialist for the Alzheimer’s Association. She knew the woman hiring and thought I would be a perfect fit for the job without even knowing I had experience working with dementia patients in the past; it was fate! Shortly after applying for the position I got a call for an interview and not long after my first interview, a call for a second. Just a few hours after my second interview, I received the call that I got the job and would be starting one week later; “funemployment” as I liked to call it, was over and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

I am now a Family Care Specialist at the Alzheimer’s Association working in conjunction with the Brain Health Center at California Pacific Medical Center. This means that I work four days a week at an outpatient clinic, the Brain Health Center, working directly with patients and their families and one day a week at the association. I’m responsible for running support groups for patients and caregivers, putting on educational classes about dementia and brain health, and have my own caseload who I assist throughout the entire trajectory of the disease. I’m getting a diverse mix of clinical and administrative work; it is the best of both worlds. It’s been almost two months at my job and I am absolutely loving every moment, not to mention that I have begun working on my hours and supervision for my LCSW. All of this would have taken more time and energy without the encouragement and guidance of CUSSW alumni, and I may not have been able to find such a perfect fitting job. --- Mandi Thomas '13

GIVING DAY 2013 A SUCCESS!

We are immensely proud of the exceptional participation and spirit from CSSW. Donations came from all areas of the CSSW community: alumni, students, parents, faculty, and staff. Individuals spread the word and the enthusiasm in numerous ways. Donors provided testimonials to inspire others. Alums and students actively posted on social media throughout the day.

Thanks to all who made Giving Day a success for CSSW by Showing the Love!

Fun Facts
*CSSW raised just over $25,000 for financial aid.
*Participation increased by 44 percent over last year.
*Cities from all over the world include: Beijing, Seoul, and St. Thomas
*Donors covered a wide spread of demographics. Graduates who made a gift represented a spread from Classes of 1947 through 2014. CSSW has many fans: faculty, students, staff and friends made gifts.

We Have Just One Thing to Say
Click here for a video message from the students and faculty that Giving Day donors so generously supported:

Giving Day Ambassadors and Volunteers
University-wide there were 83 alumni, students and friends who volunteered as Columbia Giving Day Ambassadors to share content and generate traffic to build enthusiasm and momentum around Giving Day. Collectively, Ambassadors had a large reach of nearly 70,000 people within their social networks. Out of the 83 Ambassadors, 18 represented CSSW. We'd like to extend special thanks to: Karissa Austin, Jennifer Bornemann '00, Lakeya Cherry '07, Lacey Conley, Emily Ball Jabbour '06, Michael Kwon '12, Jenny Jenish Kyzy, Rich Lombino '11, Susan Nayowith '84, Donna Rosenthal '67, and Estelle O. Winkleman. The CSSW Giving Day co-chairs for this year were Marc Silverman '03 and Keyon Smith '09.

Shout-out to Student Giving Day Ambassadors!
In a friendly competition, Ambassadors earned points for posting and when people took action like sharing links. Safiatou Coulibaly MS '14 brought glory and visibility to CSSW by scrambling up to and holding 2nd place with 9,175 points! CSSW's Student Giving Day Ambassadors who rallied the CSSW community include Marrisa Colangelo, Kacy Yoo, Riham Ramadan, Morgan Hill, Katie Porter, Safiatou Coulibaly.

Why I Give
What does it mean to support social work education? Seven CSSW alums and one staff member answer the question, "Why do you give?" More

Why do YOU Give?
As Giving Day unfolded, we were moved by the messages donors included with their gifts. Mr. Patten Jackson '13SW had this to say:
"An Inspirational program where I learned so much from Inspirational professors and students. A small gift now for such a large, rewarding gift to me. Thanks."
Do you have a donor story you'd like to share? If you are interested in sharing your story email [email protected].

Miss your opportunity to give on Giving Day?
You can still Change Lives that Change the World. Make a gift online to support CSSW today. GIVE NOW

 

Online Course Available to alumni in january

A limited number of spaces will be available to alumni in the online section of T7125: Financial Management through the Office of Professional Excellence. All alumni are eligible and will be admitted on a first come, first served basis in early January, 2014. Course fees will apply.

The course runs live online sessions, Tuesdays from 7-8:30pm EST, from January 21, 2014- April 29, 2014 (except for March 18th), and introduces students to the theory and practice of financial management in nonprofit organizations. Students will develop a beginning working knowledge of the elements, concepts,systems, tools and techniques of financial management. Included are such concepts as accounting, budgeting, resource allocation, problems of fiscal control, fiscal record keeping and reporting, cost analysis, continuation budgeting, and activity‐based costing. The course uses financial management software, case examples, a required text, lectures, discussions, and journal articles to assist student learning. Students are expected to use microcomputer‐based spreadsheet and word processing software to complete several budget exercises.

About the online platform
*Online courses are interactive and dynamic.
*Enrolled participants will be expected to complete readings and assignments prior to the live sessions and to participate in the live sessions as they would in a traditional classroom environment.
*Enrolled participants can attend courses from anywhere they have a strong internet connection-- any state, country, or time zone!
*CSSW provides each student with an Ethernet cable and headset.

If you are interested, please email the Office of Professional Excellence at [email protected].

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Class notes

Sharmeen Ahmed '06 was recently promoted to student life manager in the Vice President's Office for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Hunter College and is also serving as a field instructor to an SEA program CSSW intern.

Audrey Ashendorf '79, LCSW is a psychotherapist in private practice offering service to individuals and couples.  She is available for private supervision as well.  In addition to being the chairperson of admissions at the Object Relations Institute Audrey is working as a consultant for the New York City Police Department.  She can be reached at 212-684-2097.

Since July, Heather R. Benjamin '12 has been working as a program officer with Open Society Foundation's Public Health Program, where she previously served as a consultant, and before that, as a CSSW intern. Heather works in the Global Health Financing Initiative, where she advocates for increased resources for the health and human rights of marginalized and criminalized groups, promotes the development of new and sustainable funding streams for health and rights, and supports grassroots participation in health financing and policymaking. 

Benaifer Bhadha '08 is now a lead storytelling trainer at Narativ, Inc. Narativ envisions a world connected by listening and telling personal stories. Workshops are offered to social workers including a 2-day intensive workshop specifically designed for helping professionals whose practice involves listening. Please consult Narativ’s website for more information on the company’s history, accomplishments and method.

Julie Rose Blank '13 was hired at The Renfrew Center of New York and is working as a primary intensive outpatient therapist with patient's struggling with eating disorders and co-occurring mood disorders.

Sarah Bowman '11, MSW is assistant director for student activities, Student Affairs, NYU School of Law at New York University

Jesse Burne '11 works for Minds Matter of NYC which helps low-income, high-achieving students attend top-tier colleges. This past year Jesse was promoted from director of NYC programs to executive director.

Lakeya Cherry '07 is executive director of Network for Social Work Management.

Stephanie Cinque '03 is founder and executive director of Resiliency Center of Newtown. After leaving CSSW Stehpanie stayed in NYC and then moved to CT working in forensic social work in the prison system. Her family lives in Sandy Hook, CT so after December 14, 2012 their lives changed forever as did so many. As a social worker she was very concerned about the lasting impact this event would have on the community and the children who lost their innocence on that day. After some conversation with Tuesday's Children and looking at their model Stephanie opened the Resiliency Center of Newtown which provides free and confidential services to anyone impacted by the tragedy.

Sara Clore '12 is a middle school social worker at Community Partnership Charter School in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn.

Dr. Elaine Congress '69, Professor and Associate Dean at Fordham Graduate School of Social Service, presented on October 10th at the New York State Social Work Education Association in Saratoga, on "Re-tooling Field Education: Learning for MSW Students from Public Child Welfare" and "What do Immigrants Think About Immigration Reform." In November Dr. Congress presented at the CSWE APM in Dallas on "Writing a Book 101" and "Continuing Education: Transforming the Local Into Global". She also presented at the American Public Health Asociation (APHA) on "Engaging Social Work Students to Think Globally and Act Locally."

Ada Deer '61 received the 2013 State Superintendent’s Distinguished Public School Alumna Award on October 8th in Madison, WI. The award was presented during the reception for Wisconsin Title I Schools of Recognition prior to the noon awards ceremony at the State Capitol.

Bria Dejean '12 is now functional family therapist at The Children's Village.

Kate Farrington '13 recently started working as a vocational rehabilitation transition counselor for the State of Vermont, Department of Aging and Independent Living.

Deborah Liss Fins '79 married and moved to Worcester, Massachusetts after graduation from CSSW. She worked for 16 years at Jewish Family Service as social worker and then asssistant executive director. She started the first corporate elder guardianship program in the state and published an article about medical decision making for incapacitated elders and a manual for guardianship programs. In 1995, she left JFS to start my own geriatric care management practice, Deborah Fins Associates, PC (www.finseldercare.com). In addition to being a licensed independent clinical social worker, she is a certified care manager and achieved the level of Fellow in the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. Deborah regularly speaks to professional and lay groups about caring for elders, guardianship and related issues, end-of-life planning and more. She is currently the president of the New England Chapter of Geriatric Care Managers (part of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers) and also serves as a member of the National Standards Committee. Deborah is the co-chair of the Worcester Alzheimer's Partnership, a member of the Worcester Area Geriatric Social Workers and Worcester Elder Networking Group, and a member of the Massachusetts Guardianship Association. She is a community member of the ethics committee of the Jewish Healthcare Center of Worcester.

Kelly Fischietto '13 is S-BIRT case manager at Treatment Alternatives for Safer Communities where she works on screenings and referrals for eligible people for the Misdemeanor Deferred Prosecution Program for the Cook County Court in Chicago.

Renée Gerard '58 attended Columbia as a Fullbright scholar. After her international career with the UN, she remained interested in International Affairs and European Space and got involved in women's issues and environmental issues in France and in the world. Shes remains active in different NGOs. Every year in New York I attend the UNCSW as a delegate (in March 2013 she was part of the national French delegation.) In Strasburg Renée belongs to the INGO Conference and work as representative of an INGO with the Parliamentary Committee for Equality Between Women and Men and Against Discrimination, and in a working group on Climate Change and another one on Religions and Human Rights. Renée has been honored by the French government for her work on women's rights with two decorations: Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite National in 2003 and Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 2009. The European Association University Women of Europe gave Renée the Ians Gremmee Award in 2009. Her archives have been deposited to Centre des Archives Féminines University of ANGERS (France).

Lindsay Girden '13 is at Mount Sinai Medical Center as a development associate.

Cherie Golant '96 and Ron Gutierrez '96 live with their 2 daughters, Rosie (age 9) and Ava (age 6) in San Francisco, CA.  Ron is celebrating 17 years with Legal Services for Children and currently serves as their clinical director.  Cherie is director of home care & care management with Institute on Aging.

Kathleen O'C. Hoekstra '90PhD has a "second" career in portrait and still life painting. She exhibited some recent work at the Belle Levine Gallery, in Mahopac, NY. Her work is also on line at www.kathleen-hoekstra.artistwebsites.com.

Emily Ball Jabbour '06 was recently elected as a member of Columbia Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Nan Jiang '13 recently published a paper in the Fall 2013 student and alumni e-journal, Generativity: Advances Social Work Leadership in Aging. Generativity is an annual online, national, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the publication of the Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education (HPPAE) student and alumni papers and posters. The purpose of the journal is to foster and reward scholarly efforts of HPPAE graduates, provide a valuable learning experience, and create a vehicle to contribute knowledge for advancing social work leadership in aging.

Mary Larounis (nee Efthymiatou) '57 has never forgotten her 2 years in graduate school. After her graduation, she and her husband lived in Paris for 33 years where she practiced social work and obtained a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Paris. She has been living in Greece for the last 20 years where she continues to work as a therapist, supervising and teaching. Mary was honored as a Social Work Pioneer in 1988 and would be happy to have news from others.

Dorcas Miller Lehman '78 earned a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree from Eastern Mennonite Seminary in April, 2013.

Rich Lombino '11, Esq, LCSW, CCDP-D, is senior social worker for Medical Home Without Walls at Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, DE.

Francis Lora ’09 LCSW left his previous job at the New York State Psychiatric Institute’s Washington Heights Community Service Inpatient Unit and has started to work at Inwood Community Services, Inc.’s Get Centered Mental Health Clinic. He also has started working independently, traveling across NYC to people’s homes and offices to provide his services as "The Traveling Therapist." As a therapist, life-coach, writer and speaker, his aim is to improve everyone's quality of life through teaching, writing, workshops, and media communications. Francis helps people find, identify, and realize their mission. In addition due to his new schedule, he has been better able to balance his own work and personal life, recently enjoying his 5 year wedding anniversary with his wife, Jennifer Guerrero as well as the 2nd birthday of his son, Alejandro Miguel Lora.

Sylvia Mendel '76 is a former senior consultant at the NYC Department of Mental Health. She presented to mental health professionals at that time and especially after 9/11. She also began to work on training programs funded by Project Liberty.  Sylvia is an artist who now works in her studio and at the Art Students League.  Her work begins with and embodies memories and experiences. This is an article that includes images of her work and an account of her experience in World War II.

Professor Terry Mizrahi '66 has been appointed a co-chair of the Special Commission to Advance Macro Practice in Social Work as of spring 2014.  Its purpose is to promote and extend macro standards, curriculum and visibility within our social work community.  She also was the invited key note presenter at two conferences in Israel: in June 2013 at Hebrew University and the College of Management in Rishon LeZion. Topics, respectively, "Community Practice: Principles and Trends,"  and "Family Policy-USA Style."

Ashika Pohoomul '06 was appointed a trustee of Apne Aap Womens Collective, a Mumbai based non profit that works to help women forced into prostitution a more dignified life, and works with their daughters to prevents second generation sex work.

Jina Sang '04 earned her PhD degree in social work from University of Southern California in 2012. Starting this semester, she is working as an assistant professor at the University of Akron, School of Social Work.

Sherry Saturno '00 is working on a documentary short film about social workers and their roles with clients who are seriously ill or dying. She is trying to connect with any social workers- students and/or experienced professionals- who would like to participate and be interviewed for the film. She has a production company on board and filming will begin in 2014. Participants from all states are welcome, but depending on their geographic location some participants may be asked to travel to NY for filming. If you are interested in participating, please contact Sherry at [email protected].

C. Mae Smith '13 is senior program manager, Association to Benefit Children where she works on program development and evaluation. She is also a consultant for International Rescue Committee designing a curriculum for a girls' empowerment program in Liberia, and is membership director, United Nations Association Young Professionals for the Southern New York District.

Elizabeth Steinmeyer '13, LMSW has been employed with The Renfrew Center of New York since May. In her role, Elizabeth is responsible for all clinical outreach to professionals and organizations in the New York area. If you are interested in professional development in the field of eating disorders or would like more information about the programs and services Renfrew offers, please contact Elizabeth at [email protected] or (212) 685-6856 ext. 5323.

Cynthia Stuen '87PhD was awarded the Walter M. Beattie, Jr Award at The State Society on Aging of New York (SSA) 41st annual conference, Aging in New York: Building Capacity and Empowering Communities. The conference was held on October 23-25, 2013 at the Gideon Putnam Conference Center in Saratoga Springs, NY. The purpose of the Walter M. Beattie Jr. award is to honor a distinguished member of SSA for outstanding contributions to the work of SSA and for commitment to the goals of the State Society.

Wendi Svoboda '01, LCSW, recently opened her psychotherapy practice in Burbank, CA. She is a compassionate and results-oriented therapist who will help you along the way toward your personal and professional goals. Wendi offers a free, in-office consultation to discuss what you would like to achieve in psychotherapy. Contact her anytime at 818-288-6711 or [email protected]. Visit her website at www.wsvobodalcsw.com.

Mandi Thomas '13 is a family care specialist at the Alzheimer's Association in Mountain View, California. The Alzheimer's Association teamed up with the Brain Health Center located at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. Mandi will be working 3 days a week at the hospital in the outpatient brain health center and twice a week at the association. Mandi will have direct client contact with patients diagnosed with dementia, run support groups for caregivers, provide educational workshops, attend conferences, and conduct advocacy work.

Dexter R. Voisin '99 was promoted to full professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration effective July 1, 2013.

 

Publications

Cheryl Franks '82 '01PhD, Jeanne Bertrand Finch '00DSW, and Carmen Ortiz Hendricks, (2013), Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn: A Guide for Social Work Field Education (2nd Edition), Council on Social Work Education.

This second edition of a primary resource lays out, step-by-step, how to achieve a quality field education experience by making the field instructorstudent relationship central to achieving learning goals and objectives. The updated text weaves human rights and social and economic justice themes throughout the chapters, incorporates the 10 core competencies of the 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, and gives special attention to the implicit curriculum and its place in field education.

 

 

Michael Friedman, Jay Neugeboren, and Lloyd Sederer, (2013), Diagnostic Manual of Mishegas, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

This book focuses on you – the person behind the title – and how to make yourself more purposely influential in every area of your life. Think of it as Self-Help 101 for the professional helper – a transformational lesson on how the very best and most balanced social workers straddle the thin line between their well being and their clients’. Once you become truly aware of the things that hinder your process, you’ll be amazed to find how easy it is to bust through those road blocks and not only enhance your skills, but help a lot more people in the process.

 

 

Julie Rosenshein '93 (2013), Parenting the Highly Sensitive Child, BalboaPress.

A hands-on approach for helping you and your highly sensitive child. In Parenting the Highly Sensitive Child you will find solutions that work and are easy to apply to home life, school life and your child’s emotional world. You will also learn: What a highly sensitive child is and how it ties into ADHD, the 4 types of sensitive children, and tips & tools for helping your sensitive child make it in a less than sensitive world.

 

 

in memoriam

We acknowledge with great sadness the passing of the following alumni and faculty. They will be missed for the pride that they brought to the school for their work.

John J. Allen '57 Frances R. Dichter '46

Stanley Goldstein '66 Sylvia Rosenfield '43

Barbara B. Seymour '46 Shirley G. Wallace '73