Campus Feature
Cipra said of her time so far at Siena, “The students are really great. I love
the small class sizes.” The class sizes she taught at Indiana University were
much larger than any of her classes here. The change from a large university
to a small one has been an adjustment.
“It’s a different atmosphere. I’m not quite used to it yet, but I’m enjoying it
so far. The students seem to be pretty engaged,” Cipra said.
Another difference noticed by Cipra is the relationship with her colleagues. “I really enjoy my colleagues,” she said. “At my previous teaching
institute I knew maybe 10 percent of my departmental colleagues. That
was just in psychology.”
Her experience at Siena has been different. Here, she has been able to get
to know colleagues in other departments such as philosophy and art, an
experience she did not get to have at the larger university.
While she said she holds teaching as the highest priority, Cipra believes
research is an important part of psychology. She states, “If you’re not staying current with research, you fall behind.” She believes an addition of
research in the psychology program would help students transition to
graduate programs. “I think that the more pointed we get with research
as a secondary study field or to even bring it into the classroom, the more
attractive we’ll be to prospective students,” said Cipra.
Cipra presented her own research in May on parenting quality, infant
temperament and mother’s personality in Washington, D.C. “Most of
my research deals with child development in the mother-child context.
It’s looking at the interaction of the child’s temperament with the mom’s
personality to see how that influenced parent quality at different age
points,” she explained.
As a teacher, Cipra’s focus is on the future of her students.
“I think my responsibilities are to prepare students for their future outside
the school,” she said.”And, as a faculty member here, I think that that is
more the focus than at some other schools. It’s not just focused on trying
to get students to perform well in a class, because if that class doesn’t apply to their real life, then it’s not going to matter. To be at a University like
Siena Heights that focuses on teaching means that it’s my responsibility to
prepare these kids for the real world and to help them apply principles of
psychology to whatever they are going to do for the rest of their lives.”
According to Siena Heights Professor of Psychology Jeffrey Lindstrom,
Siena Heights sought an additional psychology professor because “our
psychology program has been growing and we also had a retirement from
the faculty in the program.”
SHU faculty member and Division Chair Danielle Teunion-Smith ’89 said
she thinks highly of Cipra’s addition to the psychology department, and
that Cipra’s time in the service is a great asset.
“She is young, charismatic, educated, a veteran and is motivated to take
the psychology department to a higher level,” said Teunion-Smith, also a
veteran.”She is full of energy and motivation. I am excited to see what she
will do for psychology and Siena. Alli is a veteran of the Armed Forces.
She will bring a certain level of discipline that all students need. It is not
necessarily a stern lesson, but a position on responsibility and attention
to detail that is needed.”
Lindstrom believes Cipra will have a positive effect on the psychology
program. “When you teach at or attend a small school like Siena, one faculty member can make a huge difference – for both good or ill. We have
to be very careful about who we hire. Based on our search experience, it
was very clear that Alli had the background, energy and commitment to
students that we wanted in our program. We are happy to have her here
and look forward to working with her,” Lindstrom said. u
New Full-Time Faculty for 2011–12:
College of Arts and Sciences:
yy Karin Barbee—Assistant Professor of English
and Writing Center Coordinator
yy Alli Cipra—Instructor of Psychology
yy Lori Dowell—Instructor of Nursing
yy Jeffrey Engelhardt—Assistant Professor of Philosophy
yy Eric Kos—Assistant Professor of Political Science
yy Rita Maranowski—Instructor of Education
yy Lisa McConnell—Instructor of Nursing
yy Michael Miron ‘81—Instructor of Mathematics
yy Rebecca Scott—Assistant Professor of Nursing
yy Elizabeth Tibbs—Associate Professor of Music
yy Alexander Weinstein—Assistant Professor of English
yy Eleanor Wollett ‘76/MA—Assistant Professor of Education
College for Professional Studies:
yy Mary Antonaros—Assistant Professor of
Professional Communications
yy Kevin O’Connor—Assistant Professor of Theological Studies
Graduate College:
yy Brett Crawford—Instructor of Leadership
yy David Lucas—Assistant Professor of Leadership
yy Linda Sandel-Pettit—Assistant Professor of Counselor Education
Reflections Winter ’12
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