Educational Studies and Teacher Preparation (ESTP):

• Nicole Fletcher, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of educational studies and teacher preparation participated in the Quantitative Research Methods for STEM Education Scholars Program Winter Training Institute at the University of Maryland, College Park, in January 2024. Dr. Fletcher was competitively selected for the program, funded by the National Science Foundation, as part of the 2023-2024 cohort and is developing her project, “Bringing Ethnomathematics to the Early Elementary Classroom Through Symmetry Learning,” throughout her scholar year. 
• “Reimagining Possibilities for Mathematics Education Through Storytelling,” a research project conducted by Dr. Fletcher and colleagues at the University of Toronto, Loyola Marymount University, and Columbia University, was presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Francisco, CA in January 2024.
• Bryan Ripley Crandall, PhD, CWP-Fairfield director, and professor, in collaboration with Fairfield faculty and staff from across the University, partnered with community partners, alumni, guest authors, and current SEHD students, hosted more than 100 students from local schools in Bridgeport, New Haven, Westport, and Greenwich for a full day of CWP-Fairfield Writing Our Lives workshops.  

Master of Social Work (MSW):

• Jay Taylor, DSW, clinical director of the social work program and instructor of the practice of social work provided a keynote speech at the 5th annual 'Speaking with Men' event hosted by the Center for Family Justice. The event is part of larger community efforts to engage men in dialogue about the role of men in ending sexual and domestic violence against women, girls, and the LGBTQ community. The Center for Family Justice is the largest non-profit domestic violence shelter and violence prevention organization in the state of CT. In attendance were over 100 community members, ranging from high school students, athletic teams, fraternities, college-aged men from Sacred Heart University and Fairfield University, to community partners and professionals.
• Last month Julie Berrett-Abebe, PhD, LICSW, project director of Fairfield University Collaborates for a Healthier Connecticut (FCHC) Scholars Program and assistant professor of social work, Jocelyn Novella, PhD, LICSW, assistant professor of counselor education, and Michelle Pagnotta, MA, LPC adjunct faculty, counselor education, celebrated the third cohort of 26 FCHC Scholars. During the group’s final meeting, the students shared learnings from the projects they conducted during their training year. Many students reported that their projects contributed to positive, tangible culture shifts at their internship sites. The FCHC-Scholars Program is grant-funded by a Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program (BHWET) through HRSA which provides $10,000 stipends for students to participate in the program as well as interprofessional training in culturally sensitive, team-based care. Students pursuing degrees in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy, Social Work, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, School Counseling, and School Psychology are eligible to apply for the FCHC-Scholars Program
• Julie Berrett-Abebe, PhD, assistant professor of social work and Joe DeLuca, PhD, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences published an article in I2! (Internal Fairfield University publication focused on research) about FCHC Scholars training for interdisciplinary behavioral health students (early-stage psychosis) The corresponding event was held on Dec 4, 2023.
• As a CAE Liaison for Fall 2023, Dr. Berrett-Abebe provided training on January 8, 2024 to faculty on Trauma-informed Educational Spaces. Dr. Berrett-Abebe was asked to reprise this training for Core-Writing Faculty in CAS on July 30, 2024, with co-presenter, Michelle Pagnotta, LPC, adjunct faculty member in counselor education
• This article (first publication from the HRSA grant) was published in Dec 2023 and co-authored by 2 Counseling faculty:
  • Berrett-Abebe, J., Novella, J., & Perera, D. (2023). Shared and unique competencies in interprofessional behavioral health: Implications for Counselor Education. Journal of Counselor Preparation & Supervision, 17(5).
• Dr. Berrett-Abebe presented this work at a national social work conference in January 2024. She also serves as the co-chair for the health cluster (responsible for facilitating the peer review process and organizing conference sessions in this area.
  • Berrett-Abebe, J. & Reed, S.C. (2024, January) Social Work's Role in Addressing Food Insecurity: Exploring the Relationship between Food Insecurity and Chronic Health and Mental Health Conditions in the U.S. Poster Presentation. Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Annual Conference, Washington, D.C. 

Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT):

• Michele Parker, PhD, LMFT, program director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program has been awarded a federal grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) titled, Autism Complexity and Parental Wellbeing: The Effects of Care Coordination in Promoting Health Equity. Using the largest available sample of children with autism, the project will integrate two distinct, often separate areas of autism research: child/family outcomes of ASD and national/regional trends in healthcare. This project significantly expands her preliminary research by integrating federally monitored, community-level data with a large, nationally representative sample to provide specific recommendations about how, for whom, and under what conditions autism healthcare coordination is beneficial. Dr. Parker’s success in obtaining this highly competitive grant will bring national recognition to the Fairfield Marriage and Family Therapy Program and improve the likelihood of ongoing externally funded research at Fairfield. 

Counselor Education:

• Dilani Perera, PhD, department chair of clinical mental health counseling and professor of counselor education, was recognized as the Graduate Teacher of the Year by the Fairfield University chapter of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit honor society. Each year the chapter recognizes one undergraduate and one graduate teacher for their support of students and dedication to the teaching profession. Dr. Perera was commended for her determined commitment to her students, her reverence for the field of clinical mental health counseling, and her dedication to preparing the highest caliber of mental health clinicians.