Sakinah Salahu-Din, PhD
Director & Professor, Division of Social Work

Dr. Sakinah N. Salahu-Din has been with Florida Gulf Coast University, Division of Social Work since fall 2001. Professor Salahu-Din received her doctorate from Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas; MSW from Barry University, Miami, Florida; and her bachelor’s degree from Knoxville College, Knoxville Tennessee. She taught in the baccalaureate social work program at Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, Connecticut for ten years before coming to FGCU, and prior to that was an administrator, supervisor and first line social worker in children and adult programs in the public welfare system for a total of twenty years in Kansas and Florida.

Professor Salahu-Din’s research interests are in research, child welfare, and the grieving process and she has published in these areas. Her most recent publication is the book, Social Work Research: An Applied Approach, published in 2003. Dr. Salahu-Din is now writing a child welfare book. Professor Salahu-Din’s teaching interests are in research, human diversity and oppression, community organization, and individuals and families. She has presented at many national, regional and local conferences and has presented with students at national conferences. Dr. Salahu-Din was a visiting professor at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica. She participated, for two summers, in the Child Welfare Fellows Program at the University of California at Berkeley, sponsored by the University and the U. S. Children's Bureau.

Contact Information:
AB 3, Room 134A
E-mail: ssalahud@fgcu.edu

Patricia A. Washington, PhD

Dr. Washington obtained a Masters in Counseling from the University of Northern Iowa, MSW and Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh.  She is the recipient of 4 postdoctoral fellowships (National Institute of Mental Health – University of Wisconsin Department of Psychiatry and University of Michigan ICPSR, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Gerontological Society of America). Dr. Washington has more than 20 years experience in scholarly research that ranges from program evaluation (Community Mental Health, Self Help Groups with Women Offenders, Needs Assessment/Community Mapping and Elementary School Substance Abuse Prevention Programs) to Hip Hop and Minorities, Mental Health and the Police.  Additionally, she has more than 25 years experience in higher education administration with more than 15 years in Social Work.  During her tenure in higher education she has: served as a site visitor for CSWE; a consultant to Social Work programs seeking accreditation/stand alone status; published in refereed journals, book chapters, monographs; and presented scholarly papers before professional audiences locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Her current scholarship focuses on women rappers and mentally ill offenders. Dr. Washington has served as the founding Director of the Division of Social Work at Florida Gulf Coast University and Indiana University – South Bend Campus.

Contact Information:
AB 3, Room 148
E-mail: pwashing@fgcu.edu

Myra Marcus, DSW, LCSW
Associate Professor

Dr. Marcus received her MSW and DSW from Columbia University School of Social Work in New York City. She has worked extensively in the field of Gerontology in long-term-care and community settings. Dr. Marcus is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who was in private practice for many years in New Jersey, specializing in marriage and family counseling. Her research interests include women and aging, caregivers of Alzheimer’s Disease patients, promoting social work student interest in working with older persons. She also serves as a consultant and provides in-service training for area nursing home facilities.

Contact Information:
AB 3, Room 138
239.590.7839
E-mail: mmarcus@fgcu.edu

Daysi Mejia, DSW
BSW Program Coordinator & Associate Professor

Dr. Mejia obtained her MSW degree from St. Louis University in 1971. Prior to continuing her doctoral program, she worked in the field of Child Welfare in New York at Little Flower Children’s Services, also as a clinical social worker at North Shore Child Guidance Center in Westbury, New York. In 1985 obtained her DSW degree from Hunter College of the City University of New York. She has participated in a variety of fields, eventually entering the academic world. Dr. Mejia is also a Certified Addiction Specialist and has been a consultant in the development of Employee Assistance Programs, AIDS educational training and Drugs and Alcohol Counseling . Dr. Mejia is coming to Florida Gulf Coast University from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico where she was an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Social Work Program.

Contact Information:
AB 3, Room
239.590.7839
E-mail: dmejia@fgcu.edu

Amanda Evans, EdD, MSW
Assistant Professor

Dr. Evans earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Florida Southern College and her MSW from the University of South Florida, and her doctorate in Educational Leadership from University of Central Florida. She has 25 years of experience in health, mental health and management. As a medical social worker for the first 15 years of her career, Dr. Evans practiced in trauma, emergency and cardiac settings. She was formerly the Director of Social Work at Lee Memorial Health System. Dr. Evans is a certified mediator and serves as a consultant on issues related to organizational behavior and conflict. Her research agenda includes organizational culture and values, death anxiety, and family violence. Dr. Evans was instrumental in creating a trauma center for victims of rape in 1994 and has many years of experience developing community partnerships. As a professional speaker, she has trained thousands of professionals on topics related to violence, human relations, and organizational development. Dr. Evans has been a member of the social work faculty at FGCU for 6 years.

Contact Information:
AB 3, Room 137
239.590.7829
E-mail: aevans@fgcu.edu

Carmen G. Perez, PhD
MSW Field Coordinator & Assistant Professor

MSW Field Coordinator and Assistant Professor.  Dr. Pérez obtained both MSW and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois Jane Adams School of Social Work in  Chicago.  She was awarded a Minority Fellowship by the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE) while completing her doctoral studies.  Additionally, Dr. Perez was selected for receipt of a National Institute on Aging fellowship for Mental Health Research at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  She is also a certified as a Diversity Consultant by the Workforce Diversity Institute at Northeastern Illinois University.  Her teaching experiences includes positions at Northeastern Illinois University,  Wayne State University’s School of Social Work  in Detroit, Michigan and more recently St. Augustine University in Chicago, Illinois.  Dr. Perez has more than a decade of experience in the fields of gerontology and medical social work with scholarly interests in gerontology and culturally competent social work practice.

Contact Information:
AB 3, Room 
E-mail: cperez@fgcu.edu

Harvey Heckes, MSW, LCSW
BSW Field Coordinator & Visiting Instructor

Harvey Heckes earned his MSW degree in 1969 from Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. His social work career began in New York City. He worked in Child Welfare and Mental health. He came to Florida in 1984 where he continued to work in Mental Health. In addition to his Clinical Social Work License, he is a Certified Practitioner in Psychodrama. Harvey has presented Psychodrama Workshops at national and state conferences. He is active in the NASW and was Unit Chair from 1997-1999, and 2002-2003. He was named Social Worker of the Year in 1999. Currently he is the Pace representative. Professor Heckes has more than 30 years post MSW experience in inpatient and outpatient mental health settings.

Contact Information:
AB 3, Room 145
E-mail: hheckes@fgcu.edu

Patricia Coccoma, LCSW
Visiting Instructor

Patricia Coccoma earned her MSW degree in 1983 from Adelphi University in Long Island, New York.  Her social work career began in upstate New York where she worked for a large child caring agency in multiple positions from a staff social worker to Assistant Executive Director. Besides child welfare experience, Professor Coccoma has provided mental health services and program development addressing the mental health needs of children, families and adults. Since relocating to this area she maintains a private clinical social work practice providing psychotherapy to children, adolescents, adults and families. She has been active member in the local chapter of NASW and was CONLI chair from 1998 -2002. She currently is completing the requirements for her Ed.D from Argosy University in Counseling Psychology. Her interests are adolescents, mental health, and adoption.

Contact Information:
AB 3, Room 144
E-mail: pcoccoma@fgcu.edu

STAFF

Christina Jordan Executive Secretary cjordan@fgcu.edu	Sandy Visco Secretary svisco@fgcu.edu
Jill Cross Graduate Assistant	DeAnna Velasquez Student Assistant