Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Dr. Denise Travis began her teaching career at Indiana University South Bend as an Adjunct Professor in 1992 when that campus began to offer the Master of Social Work ( MSW ) degree. Two years later, Travis was recruited by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs office to teach the MSW pilot class offered on the IU Northwest campus. Travis joined the IU Northwest Social Work faculty full-time in 1998, after receiving her PhD in Social Work from Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois Chicago.

According to Travis, her philosophy of teaching is built on the importance of sharing knowledge with others who in turn are able to internalize it, "a significant responsibility of my teaching role is to supply real life case studies and bridge the dynamics of the case back to theory. In doing this, the student increases the likelihood of internalizing the specific social work process, as they prepare for their field practice and subsequently their employment following graduation." On the clinical level, Travis believes it is important to provide the tools for the social work student to understand the clinical dynamics of human distress, develop plans to promote growth, and facilitate the process for the entity being served. On a social policy or administrative level, it is equally important that the social work student be equipped to evaluate policy deficiencies and formulate/implement changes that will increase growth, efficiency, and a better standard of living. To accomplish these tasks, Travis employs a series of methods, including Socratic lecture, videotapes, small group discussion, case studies, role playing and guest speakers. Dr. Travis has developed two courses for the Social Work Curriculum that are now required for graduation and licensure - Social Work Practice with Groups and Social Work Practice with the DSM IV which has evolved into Assessment in Mental Health and Addictions. Mentoring is also a critical piece of her work at Indiana University Northwest on several levels. Mindful of the importance of mentoring from her own experience, and keenly aware of the detriments of not having a mentor, Travis did not hesitate to volunteer to Chair Outcome 4 of Chancellor Bergland's Strategic Plan. A major cornerstone of this outcome is faculty and staff mentoring. Together with committee faculty and staff were surveyed on the importance of mentoring and whether mentoring had been provided in their current job positions. According to the results of the survey, the process of mentoring was valued by the vast majority of the respondents, however, few of them had been assigned a mentor.

Dr. Travis' additional role is to work with the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning to select workshop topics and to give an overview of the IU Northwest mentoring process at the new faculty orientation. On the division level, Travis has mentored new faculty members. This mentorship not only consisted of assisting them with their acclimation to the university but to also introduce them to key stakeholders and community resources in their areas of research and practice interests. Part of the result has been exposure to the regions we serve, community collaboration in a variety of areas and linkages for future research and scholarly production. On the student level, Travis attempts to mentor at every contact. Beyond the classroom and advising, she has been involved with several student projects that have resulted in student presentations on local and state levels. In 2001, she worked with five M.S.W. students whose proposal Adoption and Safe Families Act: A Legislative Analysis was presented at the Indiana Association of Foster Care and Adoption. During the 2005-2006 academic year, Travis received a grant from the Center for Sustaining Regional Vitality to work with two M.S.W. students on the project: Service- Learning with Vulnerable Populations. Their findings were presented at the First Annual Conference for the Center for Regional Excellence in April 2006. Dr. Travis has been a member of the Steering and Advisory committees for the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning since its inception. In 2006 she became a member of the Faculty Colloquium of Excellence in Teaching (FACET).