ISABELLE FARRINGTON SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
 
Dr. Edward Hendricks
Dr. Hendricks, Clinical Assistant Professor, successfully defended his dissertation, and on January 31, 2010 was conferred  the degree of Ph.D. in Education with a Specialization in Postsecondary and Adult Education from Capella University in Minnesota. Dr. Hendricks' dissertation was titled: Teaching Teachers, A Study of Teacher Educators' Perceptions of The Effect of Meeting Mandated NCATE Standards. 

Dr. Hendricks will be presenting his findings during two presentations at the 2nd International Conference on Education, Economy and Society to be held in Paris, France in July 2010. The first presentation is "The Effect Of Mandated Standards On Teacher Education And Development" and the second is " Using Adragogy to Teach Pedagogy: Preparing Adults to Become Teachers." 

Dr. Kelleher, Assistant Professor, joined the Isabelle Farrington School of Education in January 2010 bringing an extensive background in teacher training, special education, and research-based interventions for children and youth with disabilities. Nationally recognized for her expertise in assessment and evaluation, Jacqui has spoken for national and international organizations in these areas. In February 2010, Dr. Kelleher spoke at the Opening Ceremony for Connecticut's Autism Research and Training Center at Southern Connecticut State University after being named to the Advisory Board where she will consult on the Center's growth and development. She was interviewed and featured on Connecticut's Newschannel 8 about her ideas on what this Center will provide to the families of Connecticut. Also in February, Dr. Kelleher was invited by Autism Speaks to serve on a panel moderated by US Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro where she discussed issues concerning special education and autism alongside Senator Joe Crisco, Healthcare Advocate, Kevin Lembo, and others. Portions of Dr. Kelleher's guidance provided at this session were featured on NBC30 and in the New Haven Register.

In addition to teaching courses in special education and educational psychology in the Isabelle Farrington College of Education, Dr. Kelleher continues her research and outreach with Connecticut schools and her service to state tasks forces including the Division on Autism Services Advisory Council. Speaking engagements on autism, special education, and rights afforded under IDEA 2004 were as follows:

1. March 20th State Panel on Autism with the Connecticut Autism Advocacy Coalition in Torrington.
2. March 23rd State Panel on Autism with the Connecticut Autism Advocacy Coalition in Norwich.
3. March 25th Guidelines for Educating Children and Youth with Autism at the Autism Spectrum Resource Center.
4. March 25th Autism, Advocacy and Special Education with the Hartford Special Education Parent Teacher Alliance.

Dr. Kelleher's professional journey has afforded her opportunities to work with hundreds of districts, private schools, and government agencies to improve outcomes for children across the nation. While her coursework and research has laid the foundation, Jacqui credits her real expertise in autism to raising identical twin sons on the spectrum in partnership with her husband and two teenage daughters.

Dr. Susan DeNisco & Dr. Susan Burger
Dr. DeNisco and Dr. Burger each received an award from the National Nursing Center Consortium for their work for the College's Center for Community Health and Wellness and the Southwest Community Health Center. The awards were presented in November, 2009 at the 8th annual National Conference held in Philadelphia, PA.

 

Dr. DeNisco, Associate Professor of Nursing, was awarded the Primary Care Champion Award. Dr. DeNisco has been working in the field of primary care for the past 23 years. She has been a Family Nurse Practitioner since 1986 and has worked predominantly in urban health care settings since her career began. She has worked with a wide variety of indigent populations in Appalachia, in Colorado serving Migrant Mexican Farm workers through the US Department of Public Health’s Migrant Health Service, in the Bronx, New York serving Cambodian refugees and at two federally qualified health centers in the urban areas of Stamford and most recently Bridgeport, Connecticut. For a number of years Dr. DeNisco has been providing a vast array of primary care services at Southwest Community Health Center which is located in Bridgeport, Connecticut in one of the  poorest neighborhoods in the Northeast.

She is tireless in her effort to ensure that each one of her patients receives quality health care. While some primary care providers limit themselves to caring for a particular age group or specialty area, she is flexible and provides homeless populations as well as clinic patients providing pediatric, adult health care, gynecologic services and mental health care to those who need it most.  She never refuses to see a patient and has developed a network of referral sources to be sure that her patients receive specialty services when needed. While Dr. DeNisco could work anywhere she chooses to provide care in this setting because she believes in the mission of providing primary care services to the most vulnerable of populations.

Dr. Burger, an Assistant Professor of Nursing, was awarded the Wellness Champion Award. Dr. Burger has been serving as an interdisciplinary team member of the College's Center for Community Health & Wellness since 2008. As part of the team, Dr. Burger works on the Latino Elderly Access Points Initiative  Program (LEAP). Following the program aims, Dr. Burger provides health screening services for the hard to reach, medically underserved, elderly Latino men and women residing in the neighborhoods of the Eastside, the Hollow, the South end, and the Westside of Bridgeport.  By coordinating with an interdisciplinary team of faculty and students from nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, exercise science, and psychology she is able to  provide an array of comprehensive health promotion and screening services in collaboration with bilingual outreach workers from Optimus Health Center and Southwest Community Health Center which are the 2 federally qualified health centers in Bridgeport. To date, Dr. Burger has screened over 400 clients and referred 43 who were identified as needing  comprehensive medical care. 



Dr. Kathleen Fries
Dr. Fries presented a poster entitled " The Development of an Intensive Field Experience in Guatemala as a Means to Integrate the Three Apprenticeships Critical to Professional Nursing Practice in BSN Students" at the National Nurse Educator Summit, held April 6 - 9, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV.



Dr. Julie Stewart
Dr. Stewart, Assistant Professor, had her doctoral research "Psychological empowerment and structural empowerment among nurse practitioners." published in the January 2010 Issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.