Seizing Opportunities: An Addiction Studies Grad Brings Her Skills to State Government

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — May 21, 2025) Kassiana Parris believes in making the most of opportunities, especially when it comes to her career. 

That’s why the longtime human services professional, who holds a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in public affairs and administration, pursued certification as a Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC). It’s also what motivated Parris to earn her B.S. in addiction studies at Empire State University, where she received a scholarship through the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). 

“If something comes across my desk and it’s a [chance] to better myself so I can help my community and this world, I’m going to do it,” she says. 

From Jamaica, Queens but currently residing in Albany, Parris began her studies at SUNY Empire in January 2024. Now, the New Yorker—who was able to transfer numerous credits from her previously earned bachelor’s degree—has just completed her addiction studies program this May. Looking back on her time at the university, she says that her interactions with other members of the SUNY Empire community are what she found most rewarding about her experience.  

“Even if it was virtually, I was able to connect with diverse individuals coming from different walks of life…[and] understand how cultural humility plays an important role in my interactions with someone to better understand their perspectives, to not become defensive, to be able to see what resonates with me and what I may need clarified for me,” Parris says. “That allowed me to think critically, and that’s what school does; it allows you to think and to be able to work with others.” 

With this latest degree under her belt, Parris says she hopes to channel the new skills she’s obtained into her professional life. While attending SUNY Empire, the soon-to-be-alum has maintained a full-time job at the New York State Department of Health as part of the selective Empire State Fellows Program. There, Parris—who focuses on policy work within the Office of Health Equity and Human Rights and the Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—has contributed to developing the New York State Master Plan for Aging as well as the state’s first Health Equity Plan. She says she aims to continue her service in state government after graduation. 

“I hope to bring a lot of my experience that I’ve received in the field and the information I’ve received in the classroom to help support our communities that are dealing with high crime, not enough resources, and substance use. It’s an epidemic that doesn’t seem to end,” she says, noting that she strives to keep shaping policies around these issues. “All of it ties into me not just having the education and the experience, but being able to leverage my skills and best support as much as I can.”

Empire State University Graduates First Cohort in New Sonography Program

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(NEW HYDE PARK, NY — May 20, 2025) — Empire State University and Northwell Health graduated their first class of students in the diagnostic medical sonography program this month.

The twelve students celebrated with a graduation ceremony on Long Island. The graduates are eligible to take the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography’s (ARDMS) Sonography Physics and Instrumentation (SPI) examination and at least one specialty examination, as well as the specialty examinations corresponding to their respective track of study. Many of the graduates have already begun their employment as sonographers at Northwell Health.

The 20-month, full-time program prepares students to become entry-level diagnostic medical sonographers. Students took prerequisite courses online through SUNY Empire, with sonography classroom courses and clinical placements held at Northwell Health facilities. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for diagnostic medical sonographers in 2024 was $82,570.

Students have the option of one of two tracks—abdominal extended sonography and obstetrics and gynecology sonography or adult cardiac sonography and vascular sonography.

Maureen Kroning, interim dean of the School of Nursing and Allied Health, spoke at the ceremony. “We are proud to partner with the Sonography School and with Northwell Health, whose trust in Empire State University as an educational partner speaks to our shared commitment to building a resilient and skilled healthcare workforce,” she said. “Together, we are working to close critical gaps in healthcare access and training across the state.” 

“This milestone proves the power of strategic partnerships to meet real workforce needs,” said Kelly Mollica, senior director of Partnerships and Workforce Development for SUNY Empire. “By aligning academic pathways with clinical experience, Empire State University and Northwell Health are creating direct pipelines to meaningful careers in healthcare. We are proud to support students as they transition from education to employment, and we look forward to expanding access to this high-impact program in the years ahead.”

The program is being offered through Northwell’s Center for Learning and Innovation (CLI). For more information about the program, visit the CLI.

ODEI Celebrates Military Spouse Appreciation Day with New Reason & Respect Format

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — May 19, 2025) Reason & Respect: Unplugged is a pilot initiative introducing a new format to the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’s Reason & Respect series. Designed for greater flexibility, this format offers a platform for asynchronous participation and allows us to continue the conversation throughout the month.  

This month’s topic is Military Spouse Appreciation Day. Celebrated each May on the Friday before Mother’s Day, it is a time to recognize contributions and sacrifices made by military spouses. In honor of this occasion, we’ve asked Empire State University staff and students to share their experiences as military spouses. 

We invite you to explore the Q&A below and engage in the conversation on our discussion board via the link provided. 

About the Interviewees:  

Sasha Garcia is a recent graduate of Empire State University whose spouse is in the Army. 

Anne Sweet is the associate director of the Veteran and Military Resource Center at Empire State University. Her spouse is in the Air Force. 

Bill Yaeger is the military outreach coordinator at Empire State University and an Air Force veteran. His spouse is also an Air Force veteran. 

Teresa Henning is the military advisor at Empire State University. Her spouse is in the Army. 

Cathy Coffinger is a technical support specialist in IT at Empire State University. Cathy is also a student at the university and the spouse of a Navy veteran. 

Yvonne Pearson is a student at Empire State University whose spouse served in the Air Force. 

Barbara Fitzpatrick is a student at Empire State University whose spouse served in the Army. 

Melissa Hughes is a student at Empire State University whose spouse served in the Army. 

 
In what ways do your personal experiences with relocation, deployment, or military culture shape how you approach inclusion in your work? 

Sasha: Military culture emphasizes structure, hierarchy, and teamwork. This can shape how you approach inclusion by prioritizing clear communication, defined roles, and systematic efforts to ensure everyone is included and valued. Therefore, my personal experiences have truly made a great impact on my approach in all I do, including my daily life tasks, studies, and responsibilities as a full-time worker in corporate America. 

Anne: Moving all over the country and overseas gave me an opportunity to experience many different cultures over the years. Having even a little bit of familiarity with different customs and approaches makes a big difference in connecting with students. Military life is a whole culture in and of itself. I’m glad that I can be someone that students don’t have to translate their acronyms and lingo for, who won’t be surprised by their changes in plans, and understands the difficult decisions that have to be made with each deployment or relocation. 

Teresa: Since 2003 I have worked with, gone to school with, lived with, and became friends with people from all over the world and the U.S. Inclusion comes naturally to me because of this. I see people and what I can learn from them or teach them. 

What types of support from the military, SUNY Empire, or community have been most helpful to you in your academic and/or professional journey? 

Bill: Tuition Assistance (TA) from the military was key to me joining the USAF. I was able to complete all my degrees (associate, bachelor’s, and master’s) using TA while I [served]. My spouse is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. For professional development and various assignments, the USAF funded both her graduate programs. 

Cathy: I like the student groups such as the book club, where we talk mainly about something other than school but support each other during class struggles. 

How does Empire State University make education more accessible to military spouses and families? 

Anne: SUNY Empire was designed to meet the needs of students who don’t have a traditional or predictable educational journey. Military family members may have started and stopped college multiple times and even changed their goals along the way; [the university’s] individualized degree options, credit for prior learning, a lot of room for transfer credit, and the flexibility of online courses make it possible for them to stay with us and finish their degree no matter where they have to move. 

Bill: The online aspect. Regardless of assignment (even overseas), they can continue their studies, which is markedly different from attending a brick-and-mortar school. Of course, the My Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) Scholarship Program is also helpful to SUNY Empire spouses. We promote and advocate MyCAA for military spouses, but not all take advantage of it. Even though it’s only a $4,000 scholarship, it is helpful, especially for spouses of junior enlisted members. 

How has your identity as a military spouse shaped your experiences in academic spaces, and how do those experiences intersect with other parts of your identity? 

Barbara: My identity as a military spouse shaped my experience in academic spaces by giving me a unique status as part of a family of those who understand the subtleties of being in the service. It is a tacit acceptance and welcoming that is truly appreciated. The experiences, from attending workshops to being able to speak at them, resonate with the value of kinship I seek. This helps to validate my identity as a military spouse and my role as a civilian spouse. A military spouse is at a higher level of service, not just to my husband but to my country as well. 

Melissa: I feel honored to be the spouse of a veteran and am most shaped by the conversations with other students who have military family or are military spouses or veterans themselves. So much can be learned by listening to others, and they have impacted me the most. 

What barriers have you faced in accessing education, and how are those tied to your role as a military spouse? How has SUNY Empire made your education more accessible? 

Cathy: Cost and time have always been the biggest barriers to education for me. SUNY (specifically the union) has made it much more affordable, and now that my children have left home, I have more time. 

Yvonne: The only concerns are financial. The school is helpful in pointing me in the right direction to seek additional funding for my education. 

Barbara: Barriers I have faced in accessing education were due to family obligations, time, and cost. I worked while [my spouse] Barry was in the service and beyond to help support our family. SUNY Empire has made my education more accessible by my ability to use Chapter 35 benefits of which I was previously unaware. 

Anything else you’d like to share about being a military spouse? 

Teresa: Being a military spouse makes it very hard to have a steady career and to progress in a career once you are stable. We [offer] a wealth of experience and knowledge that is more often than not overlooked or forgotten. 

We encourage you to join the conversation on our discussion board as we celebrate our military spouses. This is a space to connect with the university community—share your thoughts, ask questions, and tell your stories. We look forward to hearing your responses and questions! 

Empire State University’s New VP of HR Works to Uplift Employees

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – MAY 15, 2025) As a human resources professional, Sharon Butler abides by a simple philosophy. 

“I’m built on a foundation of believing in people and their intended purpose to do great work,” she says, adding that she’s most interested in “enabling people to rise to the best version of themselves.”  

It’s an ethos Butler brings to Empire State University as the new vice president of HR—a role she began in late March. Joining the SUNY Empire team is a bit of homecoming for the Albany native, who earned her bachelor’s degree at the university in 2005 before later completing a master’s at Sage Graduate School and now pursuing her Doctor of Business Administration. Returning to SUNY Empire in a leadership position is “incredibly humbling and an honor,” she says. 

“I feel like my education gave me keys to a really cool vehicle to take me on an incredible life journey, and now it brings me to a place where I could potentially add value and serve the organization back,” says Butler, who most recently worked as the senior vice president of HR at Magellan Rx Management. “It’s a great feeling.” 

As she settles into her new role, Butler’s list of goals for SUNY Empire has started to take shape. For one, she hopes to implement initiatives around employee learning and development, efforts which the seasoned pro connects to her deep interest in talent management. Butler envisions “an HR service model where it’s possible to meet people where they are—whether that’s geographically, physically, emotionally, or intellectually—and empower innovative and creative solutions in their work while navigating the complex challenges of a technology-enabled university that strives to be accessible to all,” she says. “Everyone should have access to their own set of keys to launch their own amazing journeys.”  

“HR is a microcosm of an organization, so the team is charged with setting the tone on professionalism, experimentation with technology, resiliency, and persistence to continually rise to challenges,” she continues. 

To that end, Butler says it’s important to note that she approaches her role from the perspective of restorative HR practices, which she defines as strategies and approaches that emphasize relationship-building, accountability, and inclusive decision-making. These techniques create more equitable, respectful, and collaborative work environments by focusing on correcting problems, but also restore trust and community after each instance of conflict or harm, she says. 

“It is natural in complex human systems for challenges, conflicts, and misunderstanding to exist. We should embrace these moments and make them matter,” she says. “We must ensure issues are respectfully resolved and that individuals are acknowledged so [they are] restored and poised to excel at putting our students first and at ensuring access to education is available at the exact moment a student knows they are ready.”  

Right now, though, Butler says she is “laser-focused” on getting to know the university and the “great team that’s here.”   

“I’m so eager to engage and positively impact this institution, and I’ll have to really lean on my nature as a curious learner to understand the inner workings of higher education from an institutional perspective in order to do just that,” she says.  

Five Empire State University Employees Receive Prestigious SUNY Chancellor’s Awards

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – MAY 13, 2025) Five Empire State University employees have been selected as recipients of this year’s SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence. The awards celebrate superior professional achievements of employees across the SUNY system and are divided into five categories: Faculty Service, Librarianship, Professional Service, Scholarship and Creative Activities, and Teaching. Michelle Campbell, Susan Fox, and Emilie Masiello were recognized for Professional Service; Ann Becker was recognized for Teaching; and Alice Lai was recognized for Scholarship and Creative Activities. President Lisa Vollendorf presented the awards during a private ceremony on May 12.  

“I am incredibly proud of our dedicated faculty and staff who were honored with SUNY Chancellor’s Awards,” President Vollendorf said. “Their achievements reflect their commitment to serving our students and advancing Empire State University’s mission of access and opportunity for all.” 

Ahead, this year’s honorees share in their own words what winning this award means to them. 

Meet the Honorees: 

Ann Becker, professor 

“Being chosen for this prestigious award was an honor. I am very grateful to my dean, Nicola Allain, and my department chair, Paul Miller, for nominating me, and I am honored to have been selected as the recipient. I am pleased to know that my colleagues and students appreciate my dedication to teaching and mentoring at Empire State University.” 

Michelle Campbell, director of Financial Aid 

“I’m incredibly honored to be recognized with this SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service.  Every day I have the privilege of working alongside people I truly respect and admire, so to be nominated for this award by my esteemed colleagues is something I hold dear.  This recognition affirms my belief that professional service is not just a job — it’s a commitment to the mission of higher education, to the students, and to the staff who make that mission come to life every day. I want to thank my colleagues and team members who inspire me with their dedication and resilience. And to SUNY — thank you for seeing value in service that often happens quietly, but meaningfully, every day.  This award renews my commitment to continue serving with purpose. Thank you again for this incredible honor.” 

Susan Fox, operations coordinator for the School of Arts and Humanities 

“Winning the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Professional Service is an incredible honor and reminds me of how fortunate I am to work alongside such talented, generous, and committed colleagues. This recognition feels less like an individual achievement and more like a celebration of the teams I’ve been lucky to be part of and the professional community that inspires and supports me.” 

Alice Lai, professor 

“Receiving the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities is deeply meaningful to me. It affirms the significance of the scholarly topics and activities I have pursued through my academic journey. I have dedicated my teaching, research, writing, and creative endeavors to advancing the value of the arts, humanities, and higher education through a critical and engaged method. To have these efforts recognized by my colleagues and SUNY in this special way is incredibly heartwarming. This recognition validates the intellectual commitments that have shaped my work and motivates me to continue creating scholarly work contributing to the broader academic community. I am truly grateful for this honor.”   

Emilie Masiello, director of Academic Review for the School of Business

“I am honored to receive the SUNY Chancellor’s award. It is incredibly meaningful to have my work recognized, and I am grateful to be part of a school where colleagues value dedication and collaboration. This acknowledgement is both inspiring and humbling.” 

“New Inspiration”: A Transfer Student Finds Her Footing at Empire State University

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – May 9, 2025) When Samantha Paige crosses the stage at Empire State University’s Albany commencement ceremony, she won’t just be marking the completion of her bachelor’s degree; she’ll be celebrating a milestone she once doubted was possible. 

For Paige—who has been working toward a B.S. in interdisciplinary studies with concentrations in hospitality, tourism, the arts, and management—the road to graduation began at SUNY Potsdam, where she enrolled as an early childhood education major in 2017. Her time in the program was short-lived though, thanks to a 2018 internship at Disney that convinced her to pursue other career options. She soon switched her major to “undecided,” eventually finding herself in the institution’s then-recently introduced arts management track.  

“At that time, it was the closest thing to hospitality that my school offered,” Paige explains. But the classes, which focused on subjects like set building, weren’t exactly what the Saratoga Springs native had in mind. “It ended up being super theater- and museum-based, which wasn’t really what I wanted,” she says. 

And then, the pandemic hit. Challenged by the notion of completing “hands-on classes” virtually and starting to lose motivation, she says, Paige decided to “take a break” from school and “wait for COVID to die out.” 

But, as luck would have it, re-enrolling in classes the following year wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be.  

“I still felt like my motivation wasn’t there, like I was checked out,” Paige says. “I was not in a good place to be in school.” 

Opting to take more time off, she concentrated on landing a full-time job instead. And though Paige did secure a well-paying position as a special education aide in an elementary school, the urge to complete her degree never quite went away. She just wasn’t sure how to move forward.  

“I thought, I don’t have time to get an education in person. I need to figure out an alternative route,” Paige recalls. 

Determined to earn her bachelor’s, she ultimately forged a new path at SUNY Empire, where she’s spent the past year. She credits her mother, Christine Paige—an Empire State alum and the university’s executive director of Empire Online—with encouraging her to consider the institution. Paige’s mentor at the university, associate professor Lisa D’Adamo-Weinstein, also proved influential to her journey. She recalls a particularly impactful meeting with D’Adamo-Weinstein, who—after speaking with Paige about her interests and career goals—created a program for the student and “handed it to me on a silver platter,” Paige says. 

“I had never experienced anything like that within my education. [Before SUNY Empire] I just felt like a lot of my wants were overlooked and that my advisors weren’t really hearing what I was saying,” she adds. “When I met with [D’Adamo-Weinstein] and she did all this for me, it was like a new inspiration. It just felt like, finally, someone was hearing what I wanted out of my education.” 

With renewed drive, Paige dove back into her studies, wrapping up her remaining coursework while also relocating to her family’s new home base in Florida and maintaining a full-time job.  The icing on the cake? She’s now graduating with honors, which is “something I’m really proud of,” she says. 

Naturally, it’s also a proud moment for her mother, Christine, who says that watching Paige take the stage at commencement “will be an incredibly emotional moment.” 

“As a parent, you always want your children to succeed—but when that success comes after real-life detours and determination, it carries an even greater weight,” she says, noting that—like Paige—she too began her education at SUNY Potsdam before ultimately earning her degree at SUNY Empire. “[At commencement] I’ll be thinking not just about [Samantha’s] academic accomplishments, but about the strength and courage it took for her to come back and finish what she started. In that moment, I’ll be celebrating her graduation [and] the full-circle moment it represents for both of us—two generations, one shared legacy, and a deep gratitude for an institution that helped us both reach our goals.”

Empire State University Graduates its First Ed.D. Cohort 

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – May 8, 2025) Empire State University launched its inaugural Doctor of Education degree program in the fall of 2021. Now, four academic years later, it graduates its first cohort of Ed.D. students on Friday, May 9.  

Developed with a focus on “opportunities and practice,” says assistant professor and program coordinator Lisa Unangst, Ph.D., the program caters to “working professionals [that] have deep expertise in the field but maybe wouldn’t have pursued a terminal degree in another situation,” she explains, noting that students in this first graduating class currently hold positions ranging from academic advisor to residence life director to university librarian. It also takes into consideration the challenges of earning a doctorate degree, employing a cohort model—complete with an in-person residency in Saratoga Springs each year—as a way of ensuring students have the peer support they need.  

“A doctorate degree is challenging, and it can be a little isolating—especially once you get past your classes into your ‘sitting by myself with my laptop, writing my dissertation’ work,” Unangst says.  “The decision was made to set up a cohort model so that we would just be accepting folks in the fall because the literature says that students are such an incredible support for one another.” 

Since its inception, the program—which candidates have as many as eight years to complete—has also expanded to meet students’ needs in other ways. It now includes electives, as well as three different dissertation options. There’s also a student club—the Higher Education Leadership Association—and a writing group. Other additions may be on the horizon, too. 

“We’re continuing to think about the future, so we’re applying for grants to see if we can get tuition remission and research assistantship money for folks in the Ed.D. program,” Unangst says. “We’ll continue to grow and evolve based on the feedback we hear from students.” 

This week, though, the focus is on celebrating the program’s first graduating cohort, which Unangst describes as “a cohesive, dynamic team that’s incredibly supportive” of one another, she says. 

“I think it’s obvious from how they attended each other’s [dissertation] defenses, the celebrations they’re planning for commencement, and how they want to be involved as alumni that they really have a strong bond as a group and with SUNY Empire,” Unangst says. 

Read on to learn more about the program’s 11 spring 2025 graduates, who—in their own words—share what they found most rewarding about their experience. 

Meet the Cohort: 

Sarah Blood 
Hometown: Richmondville, N.Y. 

“One of the most rewarding parts of my experience with the Ed.D. program has been the opportunity to deeply engage with research that directly informs and improves my professional practice. Conducting a case study on teacher autonomy and social justice within the Empire State University Master of Arts in teaching program allowed me to amplify the voices of teacher educators and critically examine how policies, coursework, and institutional structures shape pre-service teacher preparation. This process not only sharpened my qualitative research skills but also empowered me to become a more reflective and equity-driven leader. Additionally, building lasting relationships with faculty mentors and peers who are equally passionate about transforming education has created a powerful professional learning community that will continue to guide my work long after graduation.” 

Lexie Bonitatibus  
Hometown: Saratoga Springs, N.Y. 

“The most rewarding part of the Ed.D. program was the Wednesday night meetings for four years with my classmates and our professors where we built an online Cohort 1 Ed.D. community, shared resources and ideas for our coursework and dissertation topics, and became a SUNY Empire doctoral family.” 

Stephen Cook 
Hometown: Macedon, N.Y. 

“[The most rewarding part of the program was] the relationship building with my cohort and bonding with a set of colleagues that I will forever be able to go for advice as well as share our adventures moving forward.” 

Jason Fishner  
Hometown: Delhi, N.Y. 

“During my admissions interview, I discussed wanting to form a student organization for the new Ed.D. program to get students together in person. After doing the legwork during our first semester, the Higher Education Leadership Association was recognized during the program’s second semester. We have hosted socials throughout the state, and have worked to get together a speaker series. Getting to be part of a new program and see where it has come over the last four years has been exciting to watch. My wife is in the second cohort of the Ed.D. program so we have been able to see some of the changes that were made from year one to year two.” 

Zeco Krcic 
Hometown: New York, N.Y.  

“Empire State University’s doctoral program provided the rigorous scholar-practitioner training I was hoping for. The program’s cohort model is a very effective concept, as our class was able to support and learn from one another throughout the journey.  The program’s faculty were present, caring, and dedicated to our success from day one.” 

Kathleen Lieblich  
Hometown: New York’s Hudson Valley region 

“As a higher education leader, the most rewarding part of this program has been seeing how it impacted my professional growth. This program, especially the dissertation process, has transformed the way I think, engage, and lead. I gained a significantly deeper understanding of how institutions function and strengthened my leadership skills so that I can drive lasting change in the field and, most importantly, advance student success.”  

Lavie Margolin 
Hometown: Bronx, N.Y.  

“[The most rewarding part of the program was] engaging in a community of scholars. Everyone affiliated with the program (from colleagues in Cohort 1 to staff and administration) have all been so helpful. It feels like we have all had our eyes on the same thing since day one: being the founding cohort of a doctoral program at Empire State University.” 

Tanya Maurer 
Hometown: Huntington Station, N.Y. 

“The most rewarding experience throughout my Ed.D. program has been working with my cohort members. I am so fortunate to have had this opportunity and to have been paired with some of the most wonderful people that higher education has ever had. This inaugural cohort has helped to shape me as a professional and as a person. My classmates are what made this experience so defining and impactful.” 

Brian Murphy 
Hometown: Buffalo, N.Y. 

“I graduate with gratitude for the excellent faculty teaching, presentations, and assistance, and for the counsel of my fellow doctoral candidates, which was critical to our collective success (specifically the use of WhatsApp to communicate any time we wanted). Congratulations to my cohort members for their camaraderie and academic and emotional support that kept us on track as SUNY Empire’s inaugural class of 2025 Ed. D graduates. Weekly Teams sessions with our professors were key to working together, discussing the work, and succeeding. I want to thank the Empire State faculty—Dr. Meg Benke and Dr. Lisa Unangst, who formed my dissertation committee, and Dr. Ali Ait Si Mhamed—for their invaluable support, the knowledge I gained from their courses, and their insights into my research for this dissertation in the Educational Doctorate in Leadership and Change.” 
 
Note: Edwin Aponte and Navieta Ramasami, not pictured, are also members of this first graduating cohort. All photos above are courtesy of the students.  

Alka Merlin ’08: Helping Others Find Their Way After Finding Her Own

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — May 5, 2025) Twelve years after Alka Merlin ’08 first arrived in Canada and nearly two years after she became a citizen, the native Croatian received the King Charles III Coronation Medal for her contributions to her new country.

Merlin was shocked when a member of the Canadian Parliament called her last March. “I was very confused,” she recalls. “I said ‘Really? Me?’ But we had a conversation, and he told me, ‘You really fought tooth and nail to get people the type of support they need to settle and build their lives here.’”

Merlin’s award-winning work, which she graciously insists was collaborative, took place during her time as the director of communications and external relations for Immigrant Services Calgary (ISC), a nonprofit that helps immigrants settle in Calgary, in the province of Alberta. Her tenure at the ISC, which ended in September 2024, coincided with the war in Ukraine and the large influx of Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Canada.

Her Own Resettlement

Merlin knows firsthand how hard it was to settle in Canada. Her passion for working with refugees grew out of her own experience as a newcomer to The Great White North in 2013.

 “Canada is a wonderful country, and it provides a lot of opportunity for a lot of people but it’s not as easy to build your life here as one might think,” she says. “I didn’t know anything about life in Canada. I had to piece the information together for myself.”

Living in a different country was nothing new for Merlin, who was born in Croatia, grew up in Libya, and attended the University of New York in Prague, where she got a degree in communications and mass media from Empire State University in 2008. As a child, she spoke Croatian at home, English at school, and went on to learn Arabic and French.  

After college, she returned to Croatia, where the unemployment rate was climbing. Merlin managed to find an administrative job working for a real estate developer but knew she wanted something more.

One night, she saw a news segment about young Croatians moving to Canada on a one-year work and travel permit. Merlin was immediately intrigued and began doing research.

“I decided at 2 a.m. that I’m going to apply and began the application process,” she says.

Four months later, Merlin received a working holiday visa, which gave her a year to live and work in Canada. She sold everything she owned and boarded a plane to Calgary, where a childhood friend had encouraged her to live.

“I didn’t think Croatia could give me what I deserved,” Merlin says. “This was my chance to build the life I had envisioned for myself.”

A Difficult Start

Getting a job in Calgary, however, wasn’t so easy either. People were nice and polite, she says, but she sensed their judgment of her as an outsider.

“The minute I opened my mouth, and I have an accent, they would look at me differently,” Merlin says. “Is she smart enough? Is she capable enough? Oh, she wants to be a communications professional. Is her English good enough? It was a continuous battle to convince people you are worth something, that you have expertise, and a skill set, and they should hire you.”

Once in Canada, Merlin knew she needed an employer that would sponsor a work visa for her.  She found that job at a liquor store, first as a cashier, then as an assistant manager

Determined to resume her career in communications, Merlin continued applying for jobs but could not get an interview.  She asked two friends — a recruiter and an HR professional — to review her resume and tell her what she was doing wrong. Both said her resume was fine. One offered to buy her beer.

“She said your name is a problem because it’s not English sounding and it’s not Anglican,” Merlin says. “What is Alka?  Your last name is kind of an international name but what is Alka?”

Merlin finally got her break when a friend told her about an opening for a communications assistant at the United Way of Calgary and Area. The friend put in a good word, and Merlin got an interview, then the job. “That was one of the happiest days of my life,” she says.

After two months, the vice president called her in and told her she was clearly not an assistant. Merlin thought she was getting fired. Instead, she was promoted to corporate writer, eventually rising to become the head of external communications.

Helping Others Settle in Calgary

Merlin’s experience primed her perfectly for her next role as director of communications at the ISC. When Russia’s war against Ukraine began in 2022, the Canadian government started a temporary residence program for Ukranians that expedited their work and residency visas. The goal was to give Ukrainian refugees a safe place to live until they could return home.

The government offered settlement programs that helped the new arrivals learn English, navigate the Canadian job market, and access healthcare, childcare, and housing. Merlin’s job was to help them tap into those resources. She oversaw an outreach team that greeted refugees at the airport, traveled around Calgary doing presentations, and worked with government officials to make sure the supports and services were adequate and culturally appropriate.

It was while she was helping Ukrainian refugees that Merlin herself became a Canadian citizen on June 5, 2023, 10 years and one day after her arrival in Calgary. Today, she is married and working as the director of communications for Vibrant Communities Calgary, where she helps to alleviate poverty.

Merlin still remembers the exact moment when she knew she was going to stay in Canada. She had been in Calgary for five months and was walking home from work at 4:30 p.m., in the early darkness and frigid cold.

“It was minus 40 degrees Celsius (-40 Fahrenheit), when your eyelashes freeze,” she says. “Everything was frozen. I was all bundled up, and I had a 15-minute walk home. In some ways it was one of the most unsettled times of my life. But I realized for the first time in my life that it was easier to breathe. I felt like I had found my place, and I just smiled to myself and said, ‘Yeah, I want to stay.’”

SUNY Empire Spotlight: April 2025

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — April 29, 2025) The latest news on research efforts, awards, grants, and media appearances from Empire State University faculty, staff, and leadership. 

Frances Boyce, lecturer in the School of Business; John Lawless, professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences; and Dianne Ramdeholl, professor in the School for Graduate Studies, collaborated with Mike Klein from the University of St. Thomas on “Decentering Whiteness: Democratizing Adult Education to Transform Academia.” The article was published in the spring 2025 issue of Dialogues in Social Justice.  

Michael R. DiNicola, graduate academic advisor, recently appeared on the NACADA Presents podcast, where he spoke about his work and SUNY Empire’s programs for students.  

Daniel Fogarty, assistant vice president for the Office of Enrollment Management and Marketing, was quoted in a Business Wire release about cybersecurity education and SUNY Empire’s participation in IBM’s Cyber Campus initiative.  

Janay Jackson, administrative assistant for the Center for Teaching and Learning, attended Lens & Light: 2025 New England Photography Summit: Knowledge & Networking for Photographers in late February. 

MaryBeth Litz, business analyst; Ashley Mason, executive director of New Student Experience & Persistence Initiatives; Michelle Paine, director of Enterprise Architecture and Applications; and Van White, CRM Advise systems administrator, attended Ellucian’s E-Live conference in Orlando, Florida. There, Mason and White presented “Leveraging CRM Advise for Effective Engagement and Student Success.” 

Alan Mandell, professor emeritus, published a book review, “Critical Faith: What It Is, What It Isn’t & Why It Matters,” in the spring 2025 issue of Dialogues in Social Justice.  

Aley O’Mara, CAARES program associate and training coordinator, was quoted in a WNYT article about SUNY Empire’s work to support neurodivergent students.  

Ian Reifowitz, distinguished professor, has collaborated with Brookyln College adjunct assistant professor Anastacia Kurylo a new book, “Riling Up the Base: Examining Trump’s Use of Stereotypes through an Interdisciplinary Lens,” which is due out in July. He recently also received SUNY Empire’s Scholars Across the University Award. 

Shaun Richman, program director for the School of Arts & Humanities, published a new book titled “We Always Had a Union: The New York Hotel Workers’ Union, 1912-1953” on April 8. 

Jason Russell, professor, spoke about the trade conflict between the U.S. and Canada on Talk of the Town. He was also featured in an episode of Look This Week by Look Media Resource. 
 
Jeff Schuhrke, assistant professor, received an International Labor History Association Honorable Mention award for his 2024 book, “Blue Collar Empire.” 

Gayle Stever, professor, was quoted in an article by The Sydney Morning Herald about celebrities sending personalized videos to fans. 

Noor Syed, assistant professor and the founding director of CAARES, participated in a United Nations roundtable discussion about the impact of technology on people with Autism.  

President Lisa Vollendorf was featured in two Presidents Forum podcasts, where she spoke about emerging technologies in personalized learning and expanding Pell Grant access. She also appeared on an episode of the Chat with Pat podcast titled “Federal Impacts on Veteran Students, Students with Disabilities, and Diversity.” 

Melissa Wells, assistant professor and director of teaching, learning, and faculty development, had her article, “A National Universal Design for Learning Curriculum: Advancing Access and Equity for Students with Disabilities,” accepted for publication in the May 30, 2025, edition of NASET’s The Practical Teacher. She recently also received SUNY Empire’s Scholars Across the University Award. 

Rachel Zielinski, adjunct instructor, presented “SEL Detectives: Unpacking Social-Emotional Literacy through Play, Exploration, & Observation” during SUNY Empire’s annual early childhood residency at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester. Twenty-one students and faculty—including lecturer Kim Avery, professor Tracy Galuski, assistant professor Lynn Lubecki, and assistant professor Terri Ward—attended the residency, held on March 29. 
 

Empire’s Zeeva Bukai Explores Identity, Displacement, and Compassion in Debut Novel

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(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — April 28, 2025) Writing has long been a part of Zeeva Bukai’s life. As a teenager, the author—who immigrated from Israel to New York around the age of four—began penning the short stories and poems she’d continue to create both during and after her graduate studies in fiction writing. Now, Bukai, assistant director of academic support at Empire State University, adds a new artform to her literary repertoire: a novel, published by Delphinium Books in January. Her debut work “The Anatomy of Exile” tells the story of Tamar Abadi, the matriarch of a Jewish Israeli family dealing with the fallout of a tragic romance between her sister-in-law and a Palestinian man amidst the 1967 Six Day War. In mourning, Tamar and her family leave their home behind to build a new life in the U.S., where—much to the protagonist’s dismay—Tamar’s daughter soon falls in love with a Palestinian neighbor. Over the course of 312 pages, readers follow along as Tamar tries to protect her child—and struggles with identity, displacement, and learning to embrace those who are different in the process.

What inspired you to tell this story, and what was your writing process like?
ZB: Basically, I wanted to write a story that dealt with a young Israeli girl who falls in love with a Palestinian boy. So, it began with that “Romeo and Juliet” trope. I wanted to see what that would be like for the parents and to base it here in the United States, not in Israel. [The idea was to] keep it away from the conflict zone and see whether that conflict translates into another land. I started there, and then I felt that the daughter’s point of view was too narrow somehow. So I began writing alternate chapters between the mother and the daughter. Finally, a friend said to me that she found the mother much more compelling and thought that it was the mother’s story—not the daughter’s. At first I [thought], no, I don’t want to do that because I’d written so much from the daughter’s point of view. But that part of the story informed the rest of the story, and nothing really goes to waste. So at that point, I really began going strong with Tamar’s point of view.

How long did you work on this story before it was published?
ZB: It took me 10 years to write the book because I was learning how to write a novel. I have an MFA in fiction writing, but up until then I’d been writing short stories. I had never written anything longer, but I really wanted a story that was going to propel forward. It took me time to learn how to do it. There were things that I had to move around, and I did a lot of cutting, a lot of editing, and a lot of tightening all the way up until the very end before we submitted the book for print. But I love the editing process—that’s my favorite. That first draft is murder because you’re trying to figure things out. That’s the part that takes me the longest. Also, I edit as I go, which is another reason why it takes so long.

Do you write every day?
ZB: I try to. I’m not writing as much as I would like, but I really try to get to what I’m working on every single day. Even if it’s just for 15 minutes, I feel like I need to touch base with it so I’m still in the mindset of the story. I don’t feel well when I don’t write. I feel out of sorts and not connected to myself. Writing is how I process the world.

Cover photo courtesy Delphinium Books

You’ve said in other interviews that this book is not meant to be autobiographical, but there are some elements that stem from things you have personal experience with, like being an immigrant. How has writing the book impacted how you think about or relate to your own history?
ZB: That’s a really good question. I think it has made me look at my own history in a different way. After writing the book, I realized how many things from my family history were actually in the book—not the characters or what happened to them necessarily, although aspects of what happened to my father, who was born in the Jewish quarter of Damascus, Syria, [were adapted]. Those things came into the novel kind of unconsciously.

When you started writing the book a decade ago, you didn’t know that a new conflict between Israel and Palestine would be playing out when the book finally hit shelves. Has this story taken on new meaning for you given what’s going on in the world right now?
ZB: Absolutely. I set out to write a story about a woman who can change, who is frightened at the beginning of the novel when she sees her daughter fall in love with a Palestinian boy. She’s terrified that history is going to repeat itself. But she learns to accept, to look at things with compassion, and to change her views. It takes a while to get there, and there’s a lot that happens in between that. But I am hopeful that readers come away feeling that there’s a possibility for change and that not everything is this rigid hatred on all sides—that compassion can change the world.

The book has been out now for a few months. How have readers responded so far?
ZB: Overall, the response has been positive, but I’m not sure that the readership is wide enough yet. I think there are people who are fatigued by what’s happening in the Middle East and might look at my book and say, “I don’t want to read about that.” But Kirkus Reviews said that it was “a book to read right now” because it gives us a different perspective. I’m hoping that all readers feel that way. A segment of the Jewish world has embraced it, but there is also a part of that world that feels like I didn’t write about Jewish victimhood enough. Then there are others who feel I didn’t write about Palestinian victimhood enough. But I didn’t want to make anybody a victim, and I didn’t want to make anybody a hero. There are enough victims on both sides and, I imagine, enough heroes on both sides. I tried my best to write a balanced story—a human story about a woman who’s struggling with her own identity and her place in the world.

Has your wish for what a reader will take from the story changed at all since you first imagined it?
ZB: No, I don’t think so. Even 10 years ago as I was writing the book, I kept thinking, “You are insane. Why are you writing about this subject?” And yet it was a book that I felt compelled to write because I wanted to understand it. I wanted to understand how the acrimony, the brutality, the tribalism could be different. That was my big question to myself. I’m hoping that my book lets people know that as long as we can imagine it, it isn’t a dream; as long as we think there’s another way to be then there’s hope.

Let’s talk about what’s next for you. What are you working on now?
ZB: I’m working on a collection of short stories, and I have another book—a novella—coming out with Delphinium next February. The kinds of stories that I’m telling now all have to do with second generation trauma and children who go through war. I’m also still dealing with things like identity loss and grief. Those are universal topics, and they always seem to find their way into my work