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Szabi Ishtai-Zee, Ph.D.

ishtai zeeSzabi Ishtai-Zee is a professor of human services and Faculty Coordinator of Lincoln University's Master of Human Services Program.  He has served as a guest lecturer and a visiting professor at many universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, Penn State University, Temple University, LaSalle University, Philadelphia University, Howard Community College, West Chester State University, and the University of Maryland. Dr. Ishtai-Zee is the Chairman of the Advisory Board of Temple University's Multicultural Training and Research Institute, with an appointment as associate faculty in the Temple University School of Social Administration.  He has functioned as a member of many non-profit organization boards including The Multicultural Resource Center, The Good Shepherd Mediation Center, the Sunrise Community Development Corporation, the Imani Charter School, and the Delaware Valley Chapter of the National Conference.  His professional affiliations include Pi Gamma Mu, a social science honor society; the Association for Sociological Practice; the Society for Applied Anthropology; the Association for Adult Education; the National Institute for Dispute Resolution; the American Psychological Association; the American Association for Educational Research; and the Pennsylvania Council of Mediators. Dr. Ishtai-Zee has been engaged as a consultant by many profit-making corporations as well as non-profit organizations such as AMTRAK, the School District of Philadelphia, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Digital Equipment Corporation, Philadelphia County Department of Corrections, Philadelphia Department of Human Services, Philadelphia Corporation on Aging, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, New Jersey Human Resources Development Institute, and the Delaware State Department of Mental Health. Numerous research and theoretical publications and paper presentations have been prepared and delivered by Dr. Ishtai-Zee at professional conferences, seminars and workshops. His areas of competence and expertise encompass intercultural communication and diversity management, conflict management, educational research, curriculum design, adult education, program evaluation, organizational development and strategic planning, participatory action research, and qualitative approaches to research (depth interviewing, narrative inquiry, and ethnography.

Violet Plantz, MSW, Ph.D.

Violet Plantz has over 40 years of Human Services background. She has been a Child Welfare director, a program specialist in the Office of Aging, and Executive Director of the Dauphin County Executive Commission on Drugs & Alcohol , overseeing a multi- million dollar treatment program from intake to impatient services to detox services to outpatient programs. She directed a planning project in addiction treatment and an 18-month research project on Special Issues of Women in Treatment in Mental Health and Addiction Programs. Dr. Plantz has been a board member of the National Drug Congress Coalition of National Minority Groups and Native American Substance Abuse Workers, Black Substance Abuse Workers, Pacific Asian Substance Abuse Workers, Chicano Substance Abuse Workers, Puerto Rican Addiction Workers, and Women and Gay/Lesbian Substance Abuse Groups. She was the program director of the National Drug and Alcohol Conference in 1979 and again in 1980. She has acted as a clinical consultant, including facilitating a death/dying/AIDS group, an eating disorder group, and a feelings group with woman offenders in a pre-release halfway house. Dr. Plantz was involved in the initial planning of the Lincoln University Master of Human Services Program, and began teaching field seminar classes in Harrisburg in 1978. Since 1980, she has been teaching Ethics in the MHS Program. In 1988 she wrote one of the texts used in the Ethics dimension, Sentient Psychology, an Afrocentric and feminist view of physiology.

Vivian Price, Ph.D.

v priceVivian D. Price earned her B.A. degree from Hope College, MI, and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in School Psychology from Temple University, PA. Her educational emphasis is diagnosing and developing interventions for students who learn differently or have disabilities. Program development for alternative educational learning environments designed to meet the needs of troubled or troubling youth has been one of her most rewarding professional achievements. In addition, her major interagency systemic collaboration with the Department of Human Services, Juvenile Justice facilities, the School District of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Family Court, the Public Defenders Association, mental health agencies, and the Office of the District Attorney has advanced a comprehensive and coordinated seamless system for service delivery to alienated youth. She recently took early retirement from the School District of Philadelphia to become a full-time faculty member of Lincoln University, after serving 22 years as an adjunct faculty member in the Master of Human Services program. Dr. Price’s research interest targets ethnic minority youth and relevant educational concerns; she has chaired a committee on Ethnic Minority Concerns for the American Psychological Association.

Virginia J. Smith, Ph.D. ACSW, LSW

smithVirginia J. Smith is an associate professor and chairperson of the Master of Human Services Program at Lincoln University, where she teaches social science research and planning. Her research interests are intergenerational health issues, with particular focus on gerontology. She is also interested in health disparities among minorities. Dr. Smith has over 25 years of experience in the field of human services. Her work has included direct social work services to individuals and families; education and training; research; program planning and evaluation; and administration.  These experiences include over 10 years with the University of Pennsylvania in various positions such as Director of Training in a center devoted to studying disability and rehabilitation among older adults; Director of Research at Mercy-Douglass Corporation, a community based health, housing and human services organization providing an array of services to older adults in the West Philadelphia area; and Assistant Director of the Planning Department at the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging. Dr. Smith has a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania (1990). Her area of concentration during her doctoral studies was social analysis and planning for the older population. She also holds a Master of Social Work Degree from the University of Pennsylvania (1972). She is a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers of the National Association of Social Workers and a Licensed Social Worker in the State of Pennsylvania. Dr. Smith completed her undergraduate work at Temple University, receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree (1968).

Linda J. Stine, Ph.D.

stineLinda J. Stine is a professor in the Master of Human Services Program at Lincoln University (PA), where she has taught writing to adult students since 1979. Her main interest is teaching with technology; she has presented frequently at national conferences sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), and has published several articles on computer-mediated writing instruction, the most recent being "The Best of Both Worlds: Teaching Basic Writers in Class and Online," which appeared in Journal of Basic Writing, fall 2004, and "Just What Is ‘Basic’?: Computer-enhanced Basic Writing for a Nontraditional Graduate Program," to be published by Hampton Press in 2007 in Basic Writing in America, Eds. Nicole Greene and Patricia McAllister. She has also authored the instructor’s manuals for two basic writing textbooks published by Bedford/St. Martin’s, Writing First and Foundations First. Since 1987, Dr. Stine has taught all her basic writing classes in a computer lab, adding a semi-online Web-CT-based version of the course in 2002. Her current research interest is developing an on-line academic support services website and a system of e-tutors for use by Lincoln’s graduate students.

Frank P. Worts, MSW

worts Frank P. Worts has over 35 years experience in the aging, health, and social service fields.  As a consultant, Mr. Worts has provided consultation and training on case management, aging related issues, mental health, housing, quality assurance, management and technology on the local regional and national levels.  Mr. Worts presently is a full time lecturer at Lincoln University in the Master of Human Services Program.  Mr. Worts has also taught at Temple University in the School of Social Administration, the University of Pennsylvania in the Masters of Social Gerontology Program, and Arcadia University, Glenside PA.  Mr. Worts was the Coordinator of Continuing Education for the Multidisciplinary Center on Aging at Lincoln University where, in conjunction with the Center on Aging at the University of Pennsylvania, he participated in the development and implementation of computer training for over 650 older persons and professionals working in fields of health and human services.  Presently Mr. Worts is pursuing a Ph.D. in Education with a specialty in technology from Walden University, and is scheduled to graduate in 2008.

 

Lincoln University of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Center for Graduate and Continuing Education Programs
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