MEET YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

Susan Kinsella

Hello to all of Pi Gamma Mu and a big welcome to our newest members. I am Susan Kinsella, the newly elected chancellor of the Southeast Region. I’m eager to meet many of our  chapter officers and sponsors in this region. I know that we have many schools that have had active Pi Gamma Mu chapters for years, and several chapters have been chartered or reactivated recently, too.

A little bit about me: My educational background is in social work, I earned degrees from Pennsylvania State University  and Marywood University in Scranton, Penn., and a Ph.D. degree from Fordham University in New York. I have taught in graduate schools of social work in Pennsylvania, undergraduate schools of social work in Florida, and human-services programs in Florida and Georgia. I have been in higher education for 28 years and am currently department chair for the Human Services Program at Saint Leo University in Savannah, Ga. Saint Leo is a private, Catholic college whose main campus is located north of Tampa, Fla. Founded by the Benedictine Order of Monks, Saint Leo has offered higher education for over 120 years to areas of the South. Today we offer traditional coursework on Saint Leo’s Florida campus and off-campus educational coursework for nontraditional students in centers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and California. We specialize in working with the military, so my work as a department chair for human services takes me to several facilities in many different states. I enjoy teaching traditional classes as well as using technology to link our rural and military students to courses. We offer online, blended, VTT, and eluminate courses.

I have been active in the National Organization for Human Services as well as the Southern Organization for Human Services for many years, so I am aware of the needs and challenges of our residents in the South. I try to educate my students to develop the knowledge, values, and skills they need to work with diverse populations dealing with issues of poverty, substance abuse, aging, mental health, and divorce to name just a few.

I work on our Savannah campus and have lived in this area for 15 years. It’s a nice change to live in a mild climate after growing up in the Northeast. My husband and I live on an island off the coast of Georgia where we can fish, boat, ride bikes and spend time outdoors for much of the year. We have two grown sons, one who graduated from Florida State University in social work and one who is a biology major at the University of Georgia. So we have our pick of Seminole or Bulldog athletic events! We do a lot of cooking and eating at our house, so we are usually trying out a new recipe or creating one. In my spare time, I like to read and write and am currently working on a textbook entitled Introduction to Human Services for Pearson Educational Publishing.

I think that it is so important for our students to get involved in their courses, complete internships, work with a mentor, and learn about their major through hands-on activities. My involvement with Pi Gamma Mu over the years has allowed me to enrich the lives of our students through service-learning projects, research seminars, and beautiful induction ceremonies for the students and their families and friends. I would like for every student to have the kinds of opportunities that Pi Gamma Mu offers to students. I will work to spread the news about our honor society in the Southeast Region. If anyone has any questions or would like information about Pi Gamma Mu for her friends at other schools, please let me know and I will be glad to share the good news about our organization.