Social Work Faculty
Dr.
Carmen Aponte has designed and implemented a course on cultural diversity
and, as a researcher, is working on assessment tools for cultural competency
in the area of human services. She is very involved in training and
state policy implementation on cultural competency, standards and guidelines.
She also does presentations on issues pertinent to Hispanic culture.
Aponte earned her bachelor's and master's in social work from the University
of Puerto Rico; and a doctoral degree from Ohio State University. She
has served as an active member of the NYS Office of Mental Health (NYSOMH)
Multicultural Advisory Committee for the Commissioner, and the Cultural
and Linguistic Competence Standards Workgroup/Managed Care for NYSOMH.
She just completed serving as a consultant to the NYSOMH's federal project
entitled "Cultural Competence Performance Measures for Behavioral
Health-care Programs" (project supported by Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, MD). Currently she
is the main investigator for the Western NY Office of Mental Health
"Self-Assessment Cultural Competence" research project and
a consultant to the St. John Fisher College Cultural Audit.
Dr. Jason Dauenhauer, assistant professor, holds a BSW from the State University of New York College at Brockport, an MSW/Specialist in Aging certificate from the University of Michigan, and a doctoral degree in Human Development from the University of Rochester. Prior to teaching at SUNY Brockport he was project coordinator of the Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center at the University of Rochester. In this position Dr. Dauenhauer was responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of continuing geriatric education programming for health care professionals.
His primary areas of research include family caregiving in long-term care settings, elder abuse, and program evaluation. Dr. Dauenhauer teaches a variety of courses including Research Methods in the undergraduate and graduate social work program, Human Behavior and the Social Environment II, Issues of Aging in America, and Field Instruction.
Diane
Dwyer has been teaching social work for more than 20 years. She received
her MSW from SUNY Buffalo's School of Social Work where she is also pursuing
her PhD. After teaching at SUNY College at Buffalo and D'Youville College,
she joined the SUNY Brockport faculty in 1981. Diane Dwyer has taught
across the generalist social work curriculum, but most recently has focused
upon social work practice and HBSE. Her research interests center around
partner violence and juvenile justice. Her work has resulted in many publications
and numerous presentations at national conferences. She frequently involves
student assistants in her research. Dwyer currently serves as chair of
the Department of Social Work. In that capacity, she strives to listen
to the concerns of students and faculty and insure that these concerns
have a voice in the larger university.
Ken Herrmann, Jr. is an associate professor and the senior faculty member of the Department of Social Work. He received his MSW from SUNY Buffalo. He joined the faculty in 1978 after a number of years teaching junior high school, youth work in Colombia, casework and supervision in various child welfare agencies, civil affairs work with the US Army in Vietnam, and administration in a public child welfare agency. He has been the president of a US branch of an international children’s rights organization, a consultant for a variety of news organizations and international human rights organizations, and a guest on hundreds of news and media programs around the world. He has completed commissioned studies for UNICEF and the Hague Conference on Private International Law and has published three books, dozens of articles, book chapters, and many book reviews. His work has been extensively quoted in the literature and news reports. He has served as a member of the NYS Board for Social Work, with the World Federation of Mental Health, and as the director of a veterans’ counseling center. He has presented at a variety of local, state, and international conferences and professional meetings and has guest lectured at numerous universities across America and abroad. He serves in a variety of service roles, including directing an NGO that serves the poor in Vietnam (The Danang/Quang Nam Fund, Inc.) and the only study abroad program of its kind in Vietnam (The SUNY Brockport Vietnam Program) that places American students in Vietnam for a blend of study and service. He is a consultant and the US representative for Duc Tri College in Vietnam and a consultant for the Danang Department of Foreign Affairs. He also provides consultation for numerous other international organizations and advocacy efforts. He teaches courses in international social work, methods, and social justice.
Barbra
Kasper holds a BA in Social Welfare, from Antioch College, 1974; MA in
Social Welfare, from Goddard College, 1977; and an MSW from Syracuse University,
1984. Her major areas of practice and research feminist practice and women's
studies, community organization. She also is a community activist in the
area of welfare rights and violence against women. She Teaches field instruction;
HBSE I, Social Work Methods III, and an elective, Women's Lives. An advisor
and advisory board member for the SUNY Brockport Women's Center, she is
co-founder of a grassroots social action group called WAVE (Women Against
a Violent Environment) and member of the National Steering Committee of
the Bertha Capen Reynolds Society, an organization of progressive human
service workers.
Margery Saunders, with a B.Ph. from Thomas Jefferson College at Grand Valley State University, and a M.S.W. from the University of Albany, is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at SUNY Brockport. Margery has over 30 years of experience in community organizing, crisis and family counseling, advocacy and public policy work at the local and state level, and teaching at the graduate and undergraduate level. She is a Ph.D. candidate at the University at Albany School of Social Welfare. Her dissertation topic is focused on empowerment and advocacy activities in nonprofit organizations. As Director of Policy Education at the University’s Center for Women in Government in Civil Society, she oversaw the Fellowship on Women and Public Policy, as well as other educational programs in nonprofit management and leadership. She has served on the board of directors of several advocacy and human service organizations, and currently is on the board of the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Margery has taught courses in nonprofit advocacy and lobbying, public policy and human service systems, and is currently teaching the social policy courses in the social work department at Brockport.
Mary Jo Schlecht joined the department
of Social Work in 1999 as field placement coordinator. She received
her BS in Psychology from the University of Iowa. After moving to
New York, she worked as an activities therapist at the University of Rochester,
Department of Psychiatry. She attended Syracuse University where
she received her MSW. While working at the University of Rochester
Family and Marriage Clinic, she completed a three-year post-graduate training
program in marriage and family therapy. She moved into larger system
work as a school social worker, where she integrated her family systems
work into the school setting. She has maintained a private clinical
practice for the past nine years. She brings to her teaching an
expertise in systems work and a love of working with children and families.
Social Work Staff
