Since joining the college in 2012, Assistant Professor Debra Kram-Fernandez has become known as SUNY Empire’s “go-to person for internships” in Manhattan. She mentors approximately 60 students in the Human Services Division of the Child and Family Studies Department and teaches a number of clinical study groups, including “Counseling Children,” “Children and Trauma,” “Cognitive Behavioral Strategies with Children and Adults,” “Creative Arts Therapy” and more. She has brought the World Café movement to the college community and is introducing a new study group, “Powerful Questions,” to build on the success of programs that engage students in an open forum.

Tell us about your students.

Adult learners come to us with life history. Our students know about paying bills, maintaining employment, nurturing families, coping with trauma, maintaining recovery, caring for children and adults with special needs, etc. They may know firsthand the difficulties of learning with a disability or with a history of incarceration. The stakes are high and they are keenly aware of that. They see the full repercussions of taking out a student loan, letting a supervisor know they are returning to college, or helping a child cope with the fact that Mom or Dad will be less accessible as they pursue their degree.

More so than traditional college students, a great deal of life is unfolding during the college journey – losses, promotions, marriages, children’s graduations… the list goes on. This leads to a level of focus, energy and enthusiasm for learning among our students that is unparalleled. Although most students are working demanding full-time jobs… and/or raising families… and/or taking care of older parents… and/or working on personal recovery paths… they find ways to juggle finishing their degree and participating in college activities that supplement their education, such as a residency program, the student retreat, or group study – and they contribute thoughtfully and fully.

Not every student can do that all the time, but the motivation to engage exhibited by our student body overall is highly impressive. I rarely see passive learners at SUNY Empire.

How does this translate into college and career success?

Some of the ways I see this translate into college and career success are the connections students make with one another, the subsequent expansion in their view of possible future paths, the pride in the eyes of their children and parents and other family members who cheer them on at graduation, and the excitement for many of them moving on to graduate school in a helping profession.

In Human Services, I generally see three types of students. First, there are students who have 30 or more years of experience in the field providing direct services to clients. However, they have a reached a point in their career where an associate or bachelor’s degree is required to move up. They are often savvy, hard workers who have been promoted up the ranks and now urgently need the letters after their name in order to maintain their positions or advance.

Another common group of students is those seeking a career change; sometimes they are younger students who have no human service experience but feel called to make a positive difference in the lives of others. And finally, within both of these groups, there are many who either know from the start or decide along the way that continuing on for a master’s degree is the next step for them.

SUNY Empire students have unique life histories that drive their ambitions and set the stage for rich, layered discussions of both clinical material and social justice issues. As they learn about human development or multicultural counseling, for example, they apply what they learn in a myriad of ways. Students learn a tremendous amount from applying their classroom learning in the field and through group study; meeting regularly with a mentor who can provide a structure for discussing what they are learning is invaluable. It’s also a chance to challenge stigmas and assumptions and celebrate new understanding of diverse populations.

Tell us about World Café.

When I began my position at SUNY Empire in 2012, my office was catty-cornered with Dr. Rosalind October-Edun. In sharing our mentoring experiences, we found many students had a desire to connect with their peers outside the classroom. I had prior experience hosting World Café, so we gave it a shot. There was tremendous energy around the tables from the start, and students asked that we offer the sessions regularly.

The World Café movement recognizes the importance of people engaging in meaningful conversations. It’s structured in a way that enables large groups (sometimes more than 100 individuals) to engage in discussions that feel as productive and constructive as small group conversations. It can be a great method for tapping the creative abilities of a committed group of people in order to solve problems – a powerful tool for organizational change initiatives, community and global change initiatives and any kind of group problem-solving.

This year, Rosalind and I are bringing the program to the Institute for Social Inclusion (INSINC) conference, which is exciting because it is the first café we will host for the express reason of identifying solutions to issues of social justice and promoting social inclusion. In addition, I have a proposal accepted at IASWG for the June 2018 Symposium in South Africa. (Note: For more information about World Café, contact Kram-Fernandez directly).

What is the SUNY Empire difference?

SUNY Empire has a unique understanding of the faculty mentor role and offers the flexibility necessary for student success. Many of my students get across the commencement stage simply because I know to get out of their way. They know exactly what they need to study and they make it happen. Other students, for a myriad of reasons, almost fall off the grid as they get close to the finish line. For them, I know to reach out and help them troubleshoot.

The SUNY Empire difference is reflected in the decades of expertise about the needs and strengths of adult learners in our institution with permeable walls, and the passion that senior faculty have for sharing that expertise with newer faculty. This unique element of mentoring, and the attention many of us pay to continuously redefining and understanding it, makes a big difference, not just for us, but for every student we serve.