Dr. Velmarie Albertini
Associate Professor of Social Work
Email Professor Albertini
Curriculum Vitae

BA in psychology, College of New Rochelle
MSW in social work, Florida International University
MA in comparative sociology, Florida International University
PhD in sociology, Florida International University
Additional studies, Reformed Theological Seminary

Biography
Dr. Velmarie Albertini brings diverse academic and life experience to Southeastern University's social work program, spanning the fields of social work, sociology, anthropology, and Christian ministries and covering a wide range of church and clinical social work practice. Before coming to Southeastern, Dr. Albertini served as both a professor in and the department chairperson of the Christian social ministry program at Palm Beach Atlantic University. She has also taught at Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University in undergraduate and graduate social work degree programs. Dr. Albertini is an active member of the North American Association for Christians in Social Work.

Dr. Albertini has also served as the principal investigator for a project funded by the Federal Ryan White CARE Act, Title I grant, that addressed the extension of CARE to men and women living with HIV/AIDS in South Florida. She has published several related refereed articles and abstracts in social science journals and websites, and she has presented numerous research papers at national and international conferences, including at the North American Association of Christians In Social Work Annual Conference, the 6th Biennial Conference of Caribbean and International Social Workers, and the 129th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association.

Dr. Albertini served for fourteen years in various areas of ministry at Christian Life Center, an Assemblies of God Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Further broadening her academic portfolio, she has also completed additional studies at Reformed Theological Seminary. Dr. Albertini is excited to be teaching at Southeastern because...and she hopes to impact her students in these ways... "Everything I do in academia" she says, "tends to lead back to Matthew 25 and Micah 6:8."

Dr. Albertini teaches the following classes at Southeastern: Introduction to Social Work, Introduction to Sociology, Field Observation in Human Services, Human Behavior & the Social Environment, History of Social Welfare in America, Understanding Human Diversity, Social Welfare Policy, Social Work Practice II, and Research Methods. Her research interests include the intersection of church social work and the adjustment experiences of immigrants in South Florida and how ethnographic explorations of help-seeking behaviors of adults living with HIV/AIDS connect with culturally sensitive health care services.

Brief Highlights

• Published book, Synergistic Collaborations: Pastoral Care and Church Social Work, with J. Grenz. University Press of America. 2010.
• Published "Social Networks and Community Support: Sustaining Women in Need of Community Based Adult Education Programs" in book Social Capital and Women's Support Systems: Networking, Learning, and Surviving, edited by C. Nanton, and M. Alfred. New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education, no. 122, Summer. Adult Learning Journal: New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education Sourcebook. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
• With A.E. Barsky, published "Facilitators and barriers to care for Haitian Americans with HIV or AIDS" in Journal of HIV/AIDS and Social Services, Vol. 5 (3/4), 2006.
• Published "Mistrust among immigrant minority students" in Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, Vol. 21, No 4 (August 2004).
• Presented "The discourse on justice as a value in social work" at Returning to Our Roots: Social Work, Faith-Based & Community Services, and Beyond, the North American Association of Christian In Social Work Annual Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 26-29, 2006.
• Presented "Access to health care for the Haitian Americans with HIV or AIDS: Empowering Haitian social work student to do ethno-cultural research within in their ethno cultural community" at the 6th Biennial Conference of Caribbean and International Social Workers, Barbados West Indies. July 28-August 1, 2003.
• With M. Del La Rosa, presented "Profiling risk and protective factors among Haitian youths in Miami. Health Services Research Among Hard to Reach Populations" at Key Largo, Florida, October 30-November 1, 2002.