Faculty/Staff Accomplishments and News

Check out papers, presentations, and partnerships by NYIT faculty and staff members from spring 2015 to the present.

School of Education faculty members and students teamed with members of the NYIT community to plan and implement the spring 2015 Kids 2 College program at the Manhattan campus. Nearly 400 7th graders from three New York middle schools participated in four days of learning exercises, including activities about science, technology, engineering, and math. The interdisciplinary event was also supported by the:

• College of Arts and Sciences
• Higher Education Opportunity Program
• Office of Career Services
• School of Engineering and Computing Sciences

School of Health Professions graduate programs received top 2015 rankings:

• The Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition was ranked as a top 10 master's degree in online nutrition programs by BestColleges.com. It is led by Mindy Haar, Ph.D. (mhaar@nyit.edu), director of program development and interdisciplinary health sciences, and Lorraine Mongiello, D.P.H. (lmongiel@nyit.edu), assistant professor of clinical nutrition and interdisciplinary health sciences.
• The Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies was ranked No. 40 nationally and No. 3 in New York by U.S. News & World Report.

Tobi Abramson, Ph.D. (tabramso@nyit.edu), assistant professor of counseling, received the American Society on Aging's Mental Health and Aging Award at the Aging in America Conference in Chicago, Ill. The award recognizes individuals who make significant contributions to the mental health of older adults. Abramson also gave presentations on "Sex in the Head: Aging, Sexuality, and Emotional Well-Being" and "The Use of Expressive Arts in Psychotherapy with Older Adults," and participated in a symposium on "The Creative Age: Creativity in America."

Christine Alter (calter@nyit.edu), social counselor for NYIT's Vocational Independence Program, published the article "Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: An Effective Approach for Schools to Prevent and Manage Challenging Behaviors" in the spring 2015 issue of Autism Spectrum News (PDF).

Geoffrey Bell (gbell01@nyit.edu), associate professor of communication arts at NYIT-Nanjing, created artwork for his exhibit, "Liminal Frames: A Haptic Blending of Light and Perception," in China.

Beverly Butcher (bbutch02@nyit.edu), associate professor of English and director of the Center for Humanities and Culture at NYIT-Nanjing, became a member of the editorial board of History and Perspective Journal, the peer-reviewed publication of the Chinese Historical Society of America.

Paul Cavanagh, Ph.D. (pcavanag@nyit.edu), assistant dean of NYIT's Vocational Independence Program (VIP), and Ernst VanBergeijk, Ph.D. (evanberg@nyit.edu), associate dean and executive director of NYIT VIP, co-published the article "The Ever-Changing Landscape of Higher Education: An Opportunity for Students on the Autism Spectrum" in the summer 2015 edition of Autism Spectrum News.

Patricia Chute, Ed.D. (pchute@nyit.edu), dean of the School of Health Professions, hosted a lecture on "End of Life: Cultural and Religious Perspectives" at NYIT's Old Westbury campus. The lecture was part of her Dean's Speaker Series and convened expert speakers on Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam.

Carol Dahir, Ed.D. (cdahir@nyit.edu), professor and chair of the Department of School Counseling, and Youjeong Kim, Ph.D. (ykim71@nyit.edu), assistant professor of communication arts, received an Outstanding Research Presentation Award at the 3rd Biennial D.C. Health Communication Conference in Fairfax, Va. The award honored their interactive project "Let's Kinect: The Effect of Avatar Kinect Role Playing to Combat School Bullying."

Dahir also led NYIT's Chi Sigma Iota Honor Society for school counseling students to partner with the New York State School Counselor Association on a workshop for guidance directors, school counselors, and administrators on April 29 at the Old Westbury campus. School of Education faculty members and third-year honor society students taught participants how to develop and improve their school district guidance plans as per New York City Department of Education guidelines.

Anthony DiMatteo, Ph.D. (dimatteo@nyit.edu), professor of English, published the poem "Citizens of the Universe" in the journal One.

Rosemary Gallagher, D.P.T. (rgalla01@nyit.edu), assistant professor of physical therapy, presented results from her dissertation, "The Influence of Cueing, Feedback, and Directed Attention in a Virtual Environment: Healthy Older Adults and Persons with Parkinson's Disease," at the International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation in Valencia, Spain. Her corresponding conference paper won honorable mention in the award category for Best Student Paper.

Jonathan Goldman, Ph.D. (jgoldm03@nyit.edu), associate professor of English, published a review of Robert Shoo's "Without Copyrights: Piracy, Publishing, and the Public Domain" in the James Joyce Broadsheet and the essay "Winter Is Coming: How HBO's 'Game of Thrones' Is Going off Book and Breaking All the Rules" in the online literary journal The Millions.

John Hanc (jhanc@nyit.edu), associate professor of communication arts, published three articles in The New York Times:

• "Reformation Museum in Geneva Blends Humor and Wonder"
• "Training the Mind to Ward off Falls"
• "25 Minutes of Silence in the City of Angels"

Hanc was also a panelist at the following spring 2015 conferences:

• "A Guide to Effective Freelancing for Newbies and Veterans," hosted by the Society of Professional Journalists
• "Achieving Healthcare Leadership and Impact through Writing, Publishing, and Social Media," hosted by Harvard Medical School

Hui-Yin Hsu, Ph.D. (hhsu02@nyit.edu), associate professor and chair of the Department of Teacher Education, presented the workshop "Gaming as a Literacy" with student-teacher candidate Melissa Slater at the 14th Hudson Valley New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education Conference.

David Jackson, D.H.Sc. (djacks01@nyit.edu), associate professor of physician assistant studies and government affairs chair of New York State Society of Physician Assistants (NYSSPA), teamed with NYSSPA Principal Lobbyist Stephen Hanse to successfully persuade New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo to amend Department of Motor Vehicles forms to clearly say that physician assistants have clinical authority to certify medical conditions of motor vehicle operators in New York.

Helene Schorr, M.S. (hschorr@nyit.edu), social counselor and instructor for the NYIT Vocational Independence Program (VIP), and Erin Vlasak (evlasak@nyit.edu), director of VIP Student Services, published the article "How Team Sports Benefit Students With Special Needs" in the June 2015 issue of EP Magazine.

Shiang-Kwei Wang, Ph.D., associate dean of the School of Education, was interviewed for an article in the International Journal of Academic Research in Education about her digital natives research project conducted with Hui-Yin Hsu, Ph.D. (hhsu02@nyit.edu), chair of the Department of Teacher Education. Read more.

Wang and Hsu co-presented the following papers at the 2015 American Educational Research Association Conference in Chicago:

• "The Impact of Professional Development on Teachers' Enactment of New Literacy Practices on Middle School Students' Reading and Science Content Learning Outcomes"
• "Reformed-Based Science Instruction: The Impact of Professional Development on Teacher Self-Efficacy and Classroom Practice and Student Motivation and Achievement"
• "Professional Development to Enhance Teachers' Practices in Using Information and Communications Technologies as Cognitive Tools: Lessons Learned From a Design-Based Research Study"

Wang and Hsu were also interviewed at the conference by Education Week about providing professional development training for teachers.

Ernst VanBergeijk, Ph.D. (evanberg@nyit.edu), associate dean and executive director for NYIT Vocational Independence Program (VIP), published articles, gave lectures, and provided expertise for fellow academics' scholarly work:

Publications in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders:

• "Kascia Hanska: Hamburger Syndrome: A Story of Adult Autism"
• "Dave Kot and Angela Kot: Face Value Comics, No. 1"

Citations and Quotes:

• Cited for his research in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders article "Vocational Rehabilitation Service Patterns and Outcomes for Individuals with Autism of Different Ages"
• Quoted in the article "Empowering Students with Autism-Spectrum Disorder" published by Insight into Diversity

Lectures:

• "Transitional College Programs: The Emergence of Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary Programs" at Yale University
• "Should Massachusetts Adopt CTP Model?" at the Asperger/Autism Society of New England's headquarters in Boston, Mass.

Erin Vlasak (evlasak@nyit.edu), director of student services for the NYIT Vocational Independence Program (VIP), and Ernst VanBergeijk, Ph.D. (evanberg@nyit.edu), associate dean and executive director of NYIT VIP, were interviewed for the article, "Special Needs Kids Reach New Heights," published by Riverhead News Review and The Suffolk Times.