Angie Cooksy: 0:10

Hello and welcome to the Bradley University Podcast. I am one of your hosts, Angie Cooksy.

Ben Jedd: 0:15

And I am Ben Jedd.

Angie Cooksy: 0:17

I serve as the Vice President for Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications.

Ben Jedd: 0:20

And I'm the Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Communications.

Angie Cooksy: 0:23

And one of the things that we get to do in these roles is dream up ideas and then put them into action. And that is how the Bradley University Podcast started. And so we record live in the Hilltop Studios, which is in the lower level of University Hall. If you've never had a chance to come down here, um, consider this your invitation to come on the podcast. You can see the space, uh, be on the show. And really what the show is, is a space to tell the stories of Bradley University. And one of my favorite parts of this work is getting to hear and learn about the people that are here. So we're going to jump right in with our guest today. Uh, Patricia Saleeby is the director of our social work program. And we have quite a bio for you. So I want to make sure I read it correctly so I don't miss anything because it's very exciting, all of the things that you're doing. She is the leading expert on disability and social work, recognized internationally for her work promoting the international classification of functioning disability and health, ICF for short, because we love an acronym in higher ed, right? In social work and the application of capability approach as an alternative framework for better situating disability. Um, you are currently a collaborating member of the World Health Organization Education and Implementation Committee, which I think we definitely need to talk about for international classifications and who functioning in disability reference group. So with that, let's get started and learn a little bit more about how you got to all of those things and your seat here at Bradley today.

Patricia Saleeby: 1:48

Sure. I don't know where you want me to begin. Um I have had an interest long-term in the area of disability and health. I have a sister who has Down syndrome, and that really inspired me to go into that work. However, um, I was on the pre-med track when I was at Oberlin College and then made a shift to move away from the medical school goal to actually go into social services. And in part that was actually because I was diagnosed at the time with a disabling condition and a heart condition. And so it made sense to look for alternative pathways. However, what I have found after getting my master's at Case Western and a PhD in social work at Washington University, which is what brought me really closer to Illinois. Um, that you know, your coursework and your experiences really help impact what you're doing. And I have now sat around the table for close to 25 years with physicians and psychiatrists, psychologists, allied health professionals at the WHO, and I've been able to utilize my undergraduate curriculum, whether it be the liberal arts education that I received at Oberlin, um, as well as the biology courses to better understand health and disability. So it has all worked out for sure.

Angie Cooksy: 3:06

I think it's kind of magical sometimes where you think that there's a plan. And certainly I see this so much with the, you know, 17 and 18-year-olds that I work with in admissions, they're like, this is what I'm gonna do. But when you give space for a left turn or something different, you end up on a path that you didn't even maybe dream of. And it sounds like it's gone perfectly the way that it should.

Patricia Saleeby: 3:26

Yeah, I think so. I've been very happy. Students often ask me, do you regret not making that decision to go to medical school? And I absolutely tell them no, because I think this is where I should have been and where I should be. When I was receiving my PhD as part of the requirements, I had to complete two research practicum. At the time, even at a school like Washington University, there wasn't a disability faculty member to guide me. So my advisor at the time, um, Michael Sheradin, mentioned to go to the medical school, right? Because they're gonna have projects related to disability and health. So I was able to find a researcher. They are named David Gray in the program in occupational therapy. One of the projects he had was with the WHO. And they were updating an outdated classification called the ICIDH. This later became what's known as the ICF. Angie, you mentioned the very long, very long title. But it's a classification that focuses on functioning and it works with something else known as the ICD, which classifies diseases. And this has been my life passion to emphasize that we need to move toward a path of a focus on functioning. That every person, you know, you have a single ICD code perhaps that will describe whatever health condition or mental health condition you might have. But what does that really mean? It tells us very little about our life experiences. So focusing on function really expands what we're about, our identities, our capacities or capabilities, and so forth. So as a PhD student, I was had the opportunity to run the field trials for the United States. It was my first meeting in 1998 in Tokyo, Japan. And I had created, I think it was about 150 pages for the report for the United States, did a pretty good job because I was asked to present it at the my first WHO meeting. And since then, I've attended, you know, meetings year after year in countries all around the world. I certainly am so happy that this was really an opportunity. I didn't see it at the time. And I think that's also something that students don't necessarily see these opportunities at the time, but then later on they realize how valuable they really are in our lives.

Ben Jedd: 5:31

This is such um a unique uh experience that you have. How do you how do you share that with students? And how do you how do you tell them about, especially um in in the field of social work? I I don't think a lot of students when they're going into this field think this is the direction they're gonna go. So how do you share that with them?

Patricia Saleeby: 5:50

I I share a lot with my students. No, that's great. If you're in my classes, they know I do a lot in terms of example after example, and we joke because sometimes it's professional examples and sometimes it's common examples. Like in my policy class, one of the assignments I I have them do is go to a grocery store and I have them look around because policy affects everything in our lives, including what's on grocery shelves, what is labeled accordingly, whether it's organic or not organic, and things like that, you know, what's what's snap approved, for example, in food assistance programs. So I like to do a lot of combinations in terms of providing stories, and I think that's what my students really enjoy. They like to hear the stories that reflect, you know, decisions and things that have influenced those those decisions. And that's part of being a good social worker is being able to listen to your clients and meet them where they where they want to be. Um, and so I I think that's very helpful, just the process and what I bring to the classroom experience.

Ben Jedd: 6:51

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Angie Cooksy: 6:53

I I know you spent a little bit of time talking about what you're doing with the WHO. I would love to learn more about what your role is at Bradley and what you um love about that that position.

Patricia Saleeby: 7:04

So not only am I the program director for social work, but I am the department chair for the entire department of criminology, sociology, and social work. And we also have an anthropology minor as well. So as a department chair, I've uh brought in my responsibilities to include those four, you know, majors slash minors. Um, and I'm become an ambassador, if you will, for the department. So I really try to answer questions for students who are currently in our programs, but also students who are thinking, right, about perhaps picking up another major or switching a major or adding a minor into our department. So serving as a resource for those students. But because I'm a social work professional, I definitely want to help, right? So I have students sometimes that will just, you know, come to me because they're having an issue in another class in another department. So being in supportive to helping them navigate that process of how to advocate for themselves if it is something that is not happening the way they want it to happen in the classroom, um, but also trying to find you know a better, a better mode of perhaps communication with an instructor. So I find myself doing a lot of that as well as the non-academic things that are so important, right, to our students, where they want to, you know, be supported in other areas. So helping them make sure they have the resources that they need outside of the classroom to be successful in the classroom. What's your favorite class to teach? That's a great question.

Angie Cooksy: 8:28

Um so I selfishly ask this because every time we've asked somebody, then I'm like, wait, can I take that?

Ben Jedd: 8:34

Can we can we join that class?

Angie Cooksy: 8:36

I I don't think I have.

Patricia Saleeby: 8:38

It's like asking me who's your favorite kid. Um I don't really have a favorite class, I guess, but I would say there are two classes that I really enjoy teaching. The first class is what I created here at Bradley. It's a fundraising class. Oh, interesting. Interesting. Yeah, it has an EL tag associated with so something that complements the grant writing class that we have in the nonprofit management master's program. And it focuses on how to basically create a fundraising strategic plan with a nonprofit organization and then a new and innovative and sustainable fundraiser. So students work often with nonprofits in the local area, it might be a school or a local community organization, and they actually do this work as part of the as part of the course. So it's really been um helpful in terms of those community university partnerships and to actually make a difference in the community. And as a social worker, our student um, so you know, our students are learning a very valuable skill that will help them later on as they go into employment. The other course that I really enjoy teaching is the environmental sociology class. And so this course has been great because it builds on the work that I do for WHO, where we look at health as a continuum in terms of the environmental influences that affect someone's health status. And so it's an opportunity where we're able to look at how various aspects of the environment, let's say climate change, for example, affects someone's health and what this means for people who are in different communities, um, different population groups, because it can affect someone very differently, right? Um, so that's been a fun class, and one of the projects that we like to do is the students work in small groups, they identify an environmental issue that affects key stakeholders on campus, and then they try to identify a sustainable solution for that issue. So they've been able to develop infographics and presentations, and they've um they've done it in terms of the climate, you know, climate change week that we have here in terms of climate justice, and then we also have sent those infographics and presentations to members in the administration to try to actually make change on Bradley's campus. So it's been very, very exciting to see students come alive and thinking that and knowing that they possibly could be part of that change process here at our institution. That's amazing.

Ben Jedd: 10:49

That's awesome. So can you tell us a student story, like an experience here at Bradley of an exceptional student experience that you've had?

Patricia Saleeby: 11:00

Sure. Well, first I want to say that there are some exceptional students here at Bradley. I have been really impressed after working at several different institutions, not only in our state, but outside of our state. I have been just um pleasantly just, I don't want to say surprise, um, but pleasantly surprised of just the high-quality students that we have here at Bradley. One story, perhaps that I like to share, um, is this student, and I I don't want to say her name. That's fine. But she um, so many of our departments at Bradley have something called an independent or individual study. So if a student wants to learn a little bit more about a particular subject, they're able to do this in um consultation with a faculty member. So our department, of course, we have it for each one of our programs. Then a student came to me because she really wanted to do something different to showcase her interest in adoption, specifically, you know, um inter-c, you know, kind of intra-country adoption, uh, cross-country adoption situations, because she herself was a um an individual who was adopted um from a country outside of the United States by parents in the local central Illinois area. And so we started talking, like I do often with students, to try to think about how we can frame this project. And I tell my students what one thing that I uh would recommend is to do something that's not a paper because they do so many papers and they take so many tests and classes. So I want them to do something different and and look at it as an opportunity to do so. So she shared with me that she really liked her art classes here at Bradley, but she hadn't, you know, hadn't had a chance as a transfer student to do too many. So we decided to utilize that art medium as a mechanism for her to do the project. And what she created was a series of poems and short stories around key aspects of adoption. And it was they're just amazing pieces of of art that she was able to um share with me as part of the project. But also we're looking at ways that we can share it with a larger community as well. So she was able to capture through that free expression, if you will, through poetry and other types of prose what it means to be someone who is adopted by parents that are not necessarily identified with your um your you know, your culture of origin. So there's just a neat story of what we're able to do through our coursework in a maybe perhaps non-traditional way to enhance the learning experience of our students.

Ben Jedd: 13:37

That's such a cool opportunity for students. I actually I took a uh independent study. Uh my professor was a film professor. They didn't teach film necessarily, but uh I took an independent study when I was a student about uh silent films. And it was one of the coolest courses I've ever taken. And so I I think that's such a great unique experience for students.

Patricia Saleeby: 13:58

Yeah, we do a lot of this on our campus, not just the independent study work where you can dive deeper into a particular topic or select something that perhaps we don't have a course on, right, here at Bradley, but we also do a lot in terms of interdisciplinary work, which is fabulous. So I'm I'm really happy because it does bridge what I do in my particular, you know, my specific research and scholarship.

Angie Cooksy: 14:20

So I think that kind of tailors while you I never share our questions beforehand. So if you're listening, they nobody ever knows what we're gonna ask next. Sometimes not even us. Um but I was curious, you know, you just mentioned sort of your role in your work and what you do with the WHO. What is something that maybe people don't know about you and your work here at Bradley?

Patricia Saleeby: 14:41

Okay, so most people know about my main research and scholarship, which you have mentioned around disability and health, and certainly, you know, speaking at the United Nations or doing my my work as a co-chair of the functioning disability reference group for WHO. Another area of interest, and this is a passion of mine, is helping um helping students with um pursuing STEM opportunities. So as a student growing up, I participated in the science fair. There's a lot of science fairs going on right now throughout the United States, and um it was actually a mechanism to generate a lot of scholarship money for me to fund my college. Um, and so it is something that I'm very familiar with and I am, let's say, indebted to. And so I try to help students across the country, especially students from underserved communities, become more competitive in this process. So I do things like, of course, judge our local science fairs both here in Illinois and in and in um St. Louis, Missouri. I'm also a judge, a grand award judge for the International Science and Engineering Fair. So that's the the big guns. That's where we give out eight to ten million dollars a year for the best students. So I just actually found out yesterday that I am um co-chairing. Last year I co-chaired behavioral social sciences, but um they are moving me to plant sciences. So now I get to go back to my biology rooms.

Ben Jedd: 16:05

That's awesome.

Patricia Saleeby: 16:06

And uh remember all that content as I um supervise all the Grant Award judges in that category in Columbus next month. So it's something that I'm just very, you know, been very excited. I I am I haven't told anybody at Riley yet, but I have been asked to join the board of the National Youth Science Academy, which I've accepted and I'm gonna join the league. Thank you. So it's gonna be able to give me more of a national platform to make a difference and perhaps change some policy when I love policy, but change policy around how do we increase the STEM opportunities for our students. So certainly I'm gonna start with Peoria in the greater central Illinois area to help make this happen.

Ben Jedd: 16:41

That's so exciting.

Angie Cooksy: 16:43

That's that's like sort of like fangirling and in awe right now. Like this is like you're a celebrity in the science, and like I don't even know all the words. Like it's just so cool to be able to know that the work that you're doing day in and day out not only has an impact here locally with our students and in our community, but what you're doing has a global impact and that that's amazing.

Ben Jedd: 17:05

Yeah. Yeah.

Angie Cooksy: 17:06

Like I don't, I'm speechless. I have no words, which doesn't happen very often. Um, thank you. You know, we talk a lot about what makes Bradley special, and it's it's definitely the people. And it's people like you who put their heart and their soul into what they do every day and show up for the students and show up for the work. And um I always like to turn the spotlight around because inevitably, whenever we have somebody on the show, they talk about all of the student stories and all of the things that are happening in the classroom. Um, but want to shine it a little bit on you. And so our question for you as we wrap up is what are you unapologetically exceptional at? And that's the response everybody gives when they ask that question.

Patricia Saleeby: 17:45

Okay, I didn't expect this question. Well, I'll say two things, maybe one that's more professional. I'm very good at networking and finding those resources, which I think has helped me professionally, um, regardless of the institution or the board that I'm serving on or working with the community organization. It's been very instrumental to me. The non-professional thing that I'm good at is baking.

Ben Jedd: 18:09

Awesome.

Patricia Saleeby: 18:10

So my I have more questions now. I love, I mean, it's actually kind of funny because it's there's a science behind baking. For sure. So I I I love it. And it's it's not just, you know, uh whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. It's you know, making, I think we've we've made all kinds of homemade stuff, like homemade cream puffs, for example, or baklava or something like that.

Ben Jedd: 18:32

So we're gonna have you on the show again. And we're just gonna taste that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Patricia Saleeby: 18:36

I think that's a great plan. But it's also a way for me to like decompress. I can sit there and do a little perhaps a little more complicated recipe and try something out, and then of course have a very positive outcome or hopefully a positive outcome that I can share with family and friends. And my kids, my children actually have picked this up and they I have now developed a love for baking. So I really don't have to do it anymore because you can sit back and be the recipient of it. Um, but what we've done, of course, in the social work kind of role is um we find homes for our baked goods. So we give them to like first responders, for example, or we drop them off to persons at um, you know, homeless shelters, and we just do all that kind of fun stuff because it's become a family experience.

Angie Cooksy: 19:16

That's super cool.

Ben Jedd: 19:17

Yeah, that's that's wonderful.

Angie Cooksy: 19:19

Well, and I think there's something kind of so magical. I know for so many people, especially people that are really involved and really engaged in really high achieving, that to do something like baking where there is a clear like beginning and an end, and you can complete that whole process, there's something like very satisfying about that as well. It is, especially when the recipe is so good.

Ben Jedd: 19:40

Patricia, thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate you taking the time.

Angie Cooksy: 19:45

Thank you both. It's been wonderful. Well, as we wrap up our our la our episode um with Dr. Salebi, this is again a reminder if you would like to come on the show and share your story, that is what the point of this platform is. Um, so uh Ben and I say goodbye. By today from Hilltop Studios. Thank you, everybody. Go Bradley.