CTEI Announces First Learn At Lunch Oct. 13

CTEI is pleased to announce the first in a series of Fall Learn@Lunch seminars on Wednesday, Oct.13, from 12:45 to 2 p.m.. Please click this link to register for the virtual Learn@Lunch session. Once you complete the registration, a link to the Zoom meeting will be sent to you.

Learn@Lunch Seminar: Am I Empathizing or Enabling?

Over the past year, students and faculty have been faced with unprecedented challenges, obstacles, and stress. This ongoing crisis required many faculty to re-think and re-evaluate our expectations for our students. Faculty were, and still are, frequently asked for: extensions on assignments or to allow late submission of work, extra time outside of office or student hours to assist with student issues, and help with time management and test anxiety. While we want all our students succeed in their classes, when are we bending our expectations to the point we are lowering our academic standards? When do we move from empathizing with a student to enabling a behavior we deem undesirable? This seminar will discuss these ideas and present examples of faculty responses to student issues frequently encountered at UHart. 

Co-Presenters:

Laura Enzor came to UHart in 2019 after earning her PhD at the University of South Carolina and working as a post-doctoral fellow with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology, the course-coordinator for BIO122, Introductory Biology I, and her research explores the physiological response of aquatic organisms to factors of Global Climate Change.

Kenna Grant, MS serves as Executive Director for Student Health and Wellbeing at the University of Hartford. Her specialty areas include, working with students at risk, public health and wellness prevention intervention strategies on a college campus. Education: University of Connecticut and University of Hartford. 

Suzanne McNeil, serves as the Assistant Vice President for Student Success.  Suzanne oversees Access-Ability Services, Student Health and Wellness, and Health Services and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Dean of Students Office.  Suzanne works closely with all the schools/colleges on academic and outside of the classroom concerns.  Education: B.S., Psychology (Springfield College); M.Ed/C.A.G.S, Marriage and Family Therapy (Springfield College).

Laura Pence, Professor of Chemistry and winner of the Larsen Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2006, has been teaching first year students in chemistry for more than 25 years at the University.  Her dual interests in the environment and science policy inform her advanced courses and honors seminar, and she currently co-chairs the University’s 10-year accreditation process.

Anne Pidano earned her PhD in clinical psychology from the University at Albany after completing an internship at the University of Virginia Hospitals, and is licensed as a psychologist in Connecticut. She came to UHart in 2005 and is currently a Professor of Psychology and Coordinator of the Graduate Institute of Professional Psychology’s Child and Adolescent Proficiency Track.

Paola Sacchetti, Associate Professor in the Department of Biology and Director of the Master’s Program in Neuroscience, is a neuroscientist who has been teaching introductory biology courses for 10 years. Her interest in the biological causes of behavior motivated her to develop a class on the effects of stress and trauma on the brain.