At the end of the spring 2018 semester, six longtime faculty retired: Patricia Bainbridge, EdD, Assistant Professor of Education; Edna Barenbaum, PhD, Professor of Psychology; John Cordes, PhD, Associate Professor of Communication; Raquel Green, PhD, Assistant Professor of Romance Languages; Nicholas Uliano, EdD, Associate Professor of Romance Languages; and Martha Waring-Chaffee, PhD, Professor of Education. Cynthia Halpern, PhD, Professor of Romance Languages, also retired recently, in December 2017, and was granted Professor Emerita status in May.
Before beginning their next chapters, Bainbridge and Waring-Chaffee reflected on their time at Cabrini.
Bainbridge began adjunct teaching at Cabrini in 2007 while she was a principal in the School District of Philadelphia. After she retired from the school district, she became Assistant Professor of Education in the Education, Policy, and Leadership Department at Cabrini. She worked to revamp the PreK–12 Administrative Certificate program and maintained compliance with the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and Middle States Accreditation Committee.
“I attended many conferences to keep abreast of the current trends in PDE to enable our students to be prepared to step into leadership roles,” Bainbridge said. “One of the most beneficial learnings came from attending the Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership Seminars (PILS), a requisite training for untenured principals in the state, which assured me that our agenda was grounded in research.”
After the Certificate program was revised to include hybrid and online courses in 2016, Bainbridge became Coordinator of the program, developing a new handbook and adding a Special Education course.
She also served on various committees, including the Faculty Development subcommittee; the Faculty, Grants, Initiatives, and Sabbaticals committee; and the committee for Cabrini Day.
“These memberships have provided an outlet for leadership and service,” she said. “Planning for speakers, assisting in training, advocating for full inclusion of the graduate students and faculty have been causes that I have championed while at Cabrini University.
“I have learned to become a scholarly practitioner. It has been a very satisfying experience to cultivate teachers who want to become administrators. It is a gift to interact with colleagues, both faculty and staff, and become immersed in the world of academia.”
In her retirement, Bainbridge plans to travel domestically and internationally, focus on hobbies such as swimming and music, and catch up with friends and family.
Waring-Chaffee started adjunct teaching at Cabrini in 1983, in the inaugural semester of the Master of Education program. Six years later, she became the program’s first full-time faculty member.
“I created the University’s Reading Specialist, K–12 program, shepherded it through its initial program review with the PDE, then gradually crafted the substantial documents required to recommend candidates to the PDE as Reading Specialists,” Waring-Chaffee said.
In 2007, Cabrini offered its initial two off-campus locations for the Reading Specialist program.
“As the number of off-site locations expanded to 13 locations, I hired a stellar faculty whose contributions both provided exemplary instruction for literacy interns as well as supported up to 400+ advisees, all of whom were at different places within their program of study,” she said.
Waring-Chaffee also assumed the role as one of Cabrini’s Certification Officers, whose responsibilities include reviewing students’ applications.
She held many leadership roles in major governance bodies on campus, including Chair of the Faculty Development Subcommittee of Faculty Senate, Chair of the Promotion and Tenure Committee, Chair of the Faculty Mentoring Committee, Chair of Faculty Senate, Co-Chair of the Middle States’ Self-Study Work Group on Faculty, and Co-Chair and member of the Graduate Council.
For the past three years, Waring-Chaffee served as Chair of the Education Specialist Department, which houses Cabrini’s English as a Second Language programs, Special Education programs in PreK–8 and 7–12 programs, and Autism Spectrum Disorder Endorsement in addition to its program in Reading.
“I will miss Cabrini’s people, many of whom have become lifelong friends, and who supported me throughout the inevitable twists and turns that come with growing across the professional lifespan,” she said. “My colleagues were invaluable to me as I sorted through my thinking regarding where the field of literacy was headed, and where/how the Reading program might evolve to meet with greater clarity the needs of its students and our surroundings. My colleagues provided the space where I might grow, and the wisdom to help me view anew, when needed.”
While Waring-Chaffee’s retirement is still a blank canvas, she knows that she would like to travel, spend more time with family, and give back by spending time with members of her and her husband’s faith community.