Community Day 2017: “Transitions: Politics and the Profession”

Community Day is an annual event organized by a coalition of caucuses at CSSW with support from the Office of Student Services. The goal of the day is to bring together students, faculty, staff and community members for a day to explore special topics that impact our work. This year’s theme is “Transitions: Politics and the Profession.” REGISTER HERE.

COMMUNITY DAY SCHEDULE:

9:00–9:30 a.m. | CSSW lobby and 3rd floor hallway Check-in and light breakfast

9:30–10:45 a.m. | Rm. 311/312: Featured presentation: “Politics & Poverty: How the Proposed Trump Administration’s Budget Could Impact America’s Poor,” a discussion with Interim Dean Irv Garfinkel and Chris Wimer, Center for Poverty and Social Policy
Irwin Garfinkel is CSSW’s Interim Dean, the Mitchell I. Ginsberg Professor of Contemporary Urban Problems and co-director of the Center on Policy and Social Policy (CPSP). CPSP produces cutting-edge research to advance our understanding of poverty and the role of social policy in reducing poverty and promoting opportunity, economic security, and individual and family wellbeing. The center’s work focuses on poverty and social policy issues in New York City, the 50 states, and the United States. Prof. Garfinkel conducts research on the costs and benefits of welfare state programs. Much of this work has focused on the economic insecurity of single mothers and their children and policies designed to increase their security.

Christopher Wimer is co-director of the Center on Poverty and Social Policy (CPSP) and is a research scientist at the Columbia Population Research Center (CPRC). He conducts research on the measurement of poverty and disadvantage in both local and national contexts, as well as historical trends in poverty and the impacts of social policies on the poverty rate. He is the Project Director on the Robin Hood Poverty Tracker, and also manages and participates in the research on many of the Center’s poverty-related research projects. In addition to Wimer’s research on measuring poverty and disadvantage, he also focuses on how families cope with poverty and economic insecurity, with a particular focus on how families manage food insecurity and other forms of material hardship.

11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | Rm. 311/312: “Process This,” a performance by the Social Work Arts Group (SWAG)
“Process This” is a series of vignettes about students’ experiences at CSSW, written and performed by members of SWAG.

12:30–1:30 p.m. Lunch

WORKSHOPS AND ACTIVITIES
1:50-3:10 p.m. | Rm. 305: “Gender Pay Equity and Salary Negotiation”
Facilitator(s): Grace Protos, Regional Administrator at the U.S. Department of Labor,
Women’s Bureau; and Matthea Marquart, Director, CSSW’s Online Campus
Cosponsor: Social Work Administrative and Management Caucus (SWAM)
This workshop discusses issues of gender pay equity and implicit biases in the workplace. Students will learn about the issues of salary negotiation, which will be followed by a brief workshop-style lesson for students to practice role-playing salary negotiation scenarios.

1:50-3:10 p.m. | Rm. 301: “Military Cultural Competency”
Facilitator: Dean David Keefe, Columbia School of General Studies
Cosponsor: Military Social Work Caucus
This workshop will provide a multicultural competence approach to providing effective services for Veterans and their families. Students will become aware of their own personal beliefs and attitudes towards Veterans and their families that may challenge the services they provide, and become knowledgeable of the world-view (i.e., values, traditions, and culture) of veterans and their family members, as well as military-specific issues that affect veterans.

1:50-3:10 p.m. | Rm. 304: “Activism Across the Board: Why Social Workers of Every Concentration Should Engage”
Facilitator: Taryn Dwyer and Yaya Yuan
This workshop will begin with a sort of “crash course” in activism using real-life case studies from at least one student in each method area (Clinical, AGPP, SEA and Policy) on how they engage in activism. Participants will discuss their impressions of how activism is defined, what it looks like and how they choose (or hope to choose) to
engage.

1:50 – 3:10 p.m. | Rm. C03: “Anti-Racist Organizing as Social Workers: Being Intentional & Intersectional”
Facilitators: Toni Wilson and Amy Wald
Join the Undoing Racism Internship Project (URIP) for a workshop on anti-racist organizing and how to show up for each other to fight against racism.

MORE WORKSHOPS AND ACTIVITIES
3:20-4:40 p.m. | Rm. 305: “What Can We Do: How Social Workers Can Advocate for Our Profession and Those We Serve in This Time of Political Change”
Facilitator: Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)Caucus
Attendees will learn strategies and tools they can use to begin grass roots advocating, as well as information about current advocacy projects.

3:20-4:40 p.m. | Rm. 304: “White People Talking to White People about White Supremacy”
Facilitators: Caleb Dansky, Cate Graney
An interactive art installation that highlights the systematic discrimination within multiple social-political systems: Education, Housing, Voting, Jobs, Policy/Legal, Police, Food, Healthcare. The instructors will be present in order to continue the conversation, answer questions, or process emotions that might come up for the participant.

3:20-4:40 p.m. | Rm. 301: “Virtual Reality and Mental Health: Anxiety, Mindfulness”
Facilitator: Dr. Robert Reiner, PhD, BCB, BCN, Executive Director
Dr. Robert Reiner, Executive Director of Behavioral Associates, discusses his work using Virtual Reality Therapy to treat anxiety, facilitate mindfulness and induce relaxation. The presentation will provide an overview of VRT, heart rate variability biofeedback and case examples of applications. There also will be equipment to demonstrate VR scenarios.

3:20-4:40 p.m. | Rm. C05: “As We Were Welcomed: CSSW Students Reflect on Peace Corps Service in the Face of Uncertainty”
Facilitators: Erin Mills and Indira Martinez
Cosponsor: Transnational/International Caucus
CSSW students and returned Peace Corps volunteers discuss how their experiences abroad influenced their decisions to become social workers. They will share their experiences and provide insight into how serving in the Peace Corps can jump start a career in international social work, particularly in the current political climate.

3:20-4:40 p.m. | Rm. C03: “Practicing Social Work in an Authoritarian Environment: Panel of Practitioners from Countries with Authoritarian
Governments”
Moderator: Mashura Akilova, Lecturer and Alumna, Columbia School of Social Work
Panelists: Ruting Chen, CSSW alumnus, working on union development in China;
Edward Lemon, Columbia University Harriman Institute post-doctoral fellow, has worked in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan and currently researches authoritarianism in Central Asia;
Yamile Marti, CSSW full-time lecturer and alumna, with firsthand experience of praticing social work in Cuba;
Tanzilya Oren, CSSW adjunct faculty and an alumna from Uzbekistan working on issues of violence against women in Uzbekistan;
Rong Zhao, CSSW doctoral student, working on women’s issues in China
Current students, a post-doctoral fellow and alumni share their experiences working in countries with authoritarian governments and address the rising authoritarianism in the United States.

3:20-4:40 p.m. | Rm. 311/312: “NASW-NYC: Priorities, Initiatives and Support for Social Workers”
Facilitator: Joe Barker, Program Manager for Membership and Fund Development, National Association for Social Workers-NYC
Join Joe Barker and other NASW-NYC as he discusses the benefits of the National Association for Social Workers and how to get involved. Joe, a CSSW alumnus, will share the NYC chapters priorities, initiatives and various tools for engaging with and supporting social workers in our current political climate.

EVENING EVENT:
5:00–7:00 p.m. | Rm. 311/312: “Unpacking Oppression Mini-Series—Unpacking Sexuality,” Professional Development and Self Awareness (PDSA)
“Unpacking Sexuality” is intended to further discussion around many different sexual identities, and how sexual identities can affect people in many communities. The PDSA team hopes for the Columbia community to understand why it is important for people in communities to be able to own their sexuality, and the dangers that are presented when people are marginalized because of their sexuality. Lastly, they hope to foster a conversation that challenges heteronormative ideals around sexuality, and how we can challenge those ideals in our everyday lives.

Have questions about CSSW Community Day Registration 2017? Contact the Office of Student Services.