Meet Southeastern’s
ON CAMPUS
NEW DEANS DR. ERICA SIRRINE Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences Dr. Erica Sirrine started at Southeastern in 2014. Prior to joining SEU, Dr. Sirrine was the Social Work Program Director at Warner University where she led the program through accreditation with the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and was recognized as the 2011 professor of the year. Dr. Sirrine brings over 14 years of clinical social work experience and has intervened with clients experiencing a variety of complex conditions including HIV/AIDS, terminal illness, fetal demise, pediatric death, child abuse/neglect, and grief. She was selected as the 2013 social worker of the year by the Heartland Unit of the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Dr. Sirrine specializes in providing group and individual therapy to bereaved children, adolescents, adults and families. Prior to entering academia, she worked as the clinical manager of the Bethany Center of Good Shepherd Hospice. She now volunteers at the center as a grief support group facilitator and serves as a cabin leader at Camp Brave Heart, an annual weekend retreat for grieving children. Dr. Sirrine is passionate about educating mental health practitioners on childhood bereavement and was recently selected to provide one-day workshops of this kind throughout the United States. This year, she trained practitioners in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Maryland and Virginia and is scheduled to speak in Pennsylvania this fall.
DR. AMY BRATTEN
Interim Dean of the College of Education Dr. Bratten began her teaching career in the Polk County School District (PCSD) in 2000 and has taught language arts, intensive reading, and ESOL classes. Alongside her teaching in secondary schools, Dr. Bratten has also had experience in post-secondary education, teaching adult ESOL classes at Valencia Community College and education classes at the University of South Florida. She has also conducted guest lectures on ESOL at Florida Southern College and Walt Disney World, where she worked with employees whose native language is not English. Dr. Bratten’s research interests are the efficacy of ESOL teacher training programs, specifically Florida’s ESOL teacher training module, and best practices of effective professional development.In addition to her work as a classroom teacher, Dr. Bratten has served as a dance team coach, cheerleading coach, department chair, teacher trainer, cooperative learning trainer, and ESOL coordinator at four schools in PCSD. She has also served as a teacher resource specialist trainer at the District Office ESOL Department.
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