Dolphin Awards 2015
Outstanding Teaching by a Member of the Full-Time Faculty: Sondra Brandler, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work
You joined the Social Work faculty at the College as a Part-Time Adjunct Assistant Professor in 1999, and you rose to the rank of Associate Professor in 2001. You earned an AB in Sociology with honors from Hunter College/CUNY, an MA in English Literature from Bucknell University, an MSW from Hunter College, and a DSW from Adelphia University. You are known as “Sunny” to your colleagues and students, which is a reflection of your pleasant demeanor and your dedication to treating everyone with dignity and respect. You extend that attitude to your approach to the field of social work and your teaching. A former colleague referred to you as “the best type of social work educator,” noting that you bring years of social work practice into the classroom to make the subject matter come alive for your students, reaching their hearts and souls. You are also considered to be the “mother of CSI’s Bachelor’s and Master’s of Social Work programs because you sustained the program for years with often limited resources, and you have taught every course in the undergraduate curriculum with the same passion. As a result, your students consistently give you high evaluation scores. Once they leave your classroom, you continue to nurture your students, guiding them through graduate school, supporting them as they transition into becoming field educators for our programs, and celebrating their many successes along their career paths.
You exemplify CSI’s ideal of a teacher who empowers students to succeed.
