Faculty
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![Louis Guardiola](/hhs/socialwork/images/Guardiola_Louis.jpg)
Louis Guardiola, Jr., M.S.W.
Associate Lecturer and MSW Field Director
Department of Human Services
Office: HH 2622
419.530.4663
louis.guardiola2@utoledo.edu
he/him/his
Mr. Louis Guardiola, Jr. earned his MSW from Cleveland State University, Cleveland
Ohio in 1998. He joined the social work program at 兔子先生传媒文化作品 as field
director in 2014. He has over 20 years in the practice of behavioral health care and
hold professional licenses in social work and chemical dependency. His primary research/practice
interests include cross-cultural communications, Latino/Hispanic mental health/health
issues and macro social work practice. Recent research projects include 鈥淐omparing
Coping Strategies and Resiliencies among Korean War and OIF/OEF Veterans鈥, 鈥淩ecognizing
and Overcoming Barriers to Cross-Cultural Communication鈥, and 鈥淐ross-Cultural Examination
of Utilization of Hospice Care in the Northwest Area.鈥 He teaches advanced field experience
and research courses.
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听
![Arvin Natarajan](/hhs/socialwork/images/natarajanaravindwebsite.jpg)
aravindhan natarajan, ph.d.
Associate Professor
Department of Human Services
Office: HH 2616
419.530.4657
aravindhan.natarajan@utoledo.edu
he/him/his
Aravindhan has taught across the curriculum in both BSW and MSW levels.听听 His teaching interests are: Arts based engagement in social work, Human behavior and the social environment, oppression and social justice, social work practice, community mental health, social research methods, psychopathology and mental health, medical and psychiatric social work, substance abuse treatment, family therapy and child welfare.听 He won the John A. Yankey award for outstanding teaching at Case Western Reserve University, Ohio.
Aravindhan鈥檚 professional interests involve the use of the Arts in social work practice and research.听 In social work practice, the Arts can be cathartic for clients and can facilitate better client-worker interaction.听 The Arts can also play a great role in research by facilitating knowledge building and then disseminating that information to the public.听 He uses photography, painting, sketching and other art forms to explore issues of social and economic justice.
Aravindhan鈥檚 other research interests are in the areas of Mental Health and substance
abuse treatment.听 He studied alcohol consumption and related problems among sanitary
workers in Chennai (Madras), India, and group processes in groups for alcohol dependence
at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS).听 His doctoral
work involved studying stages of change and mandated substance abuse treatment under
the criminal justice system.听 As a psychiatric social worker, he has practiced family
systems therapy, cognitive-behavior therapy and group therapy.听 He has worked with
clients diagnosed with substance abuse, depression, schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive
disorder.
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![Mamta Ojha](/hhs/socialwork/images/Ojha_Mamta.jpg)
mamta ojha, ph.d., m.S.W.
Associate Professor
Department of Human Services
Office: HH 2626
419.530.4664
mamta.ojha@utoledo.edu
she/her/hers
Mamta Ojha is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Justice, Social Work Program. She completed her MSW and Ph.D. from University of Kentucky. She is currently teaching social welfare policy, macro practice, micro research, and introduction to social work classes across the curriculum at BSW and MSW levels. Her other teaching interests are human behavior and the social environment, oppression and social justice, research methods, and international social work. She was nominated for Faculty Excellence in Service Learning and Civic Engagement award and her class projects received Excellence in Service Learning and Civic Engagement award twice at Bowling Green State University.
Her research and scholarship addresses work-family issues among low-wage and immigrant
workers, social work education in macro practice, re-entry in suburban and rural context,
intimate partner violence and work, and homelessness. Her work has been published
in various journals and she has presented at numerous national and regional conferences.听She
has served as a reviewer for CSWE conference and Journal for International Students.听She
is also engaged in various community initiatives.
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![Megan Petra](/hhs/socialwork/images/Petra_Megan.jpg)
megan petra, ph.d., m.S.W.
Associate Professor and MSW Program Director
Department of Human Services
Office: HH 2620
419.530.5338
megan.petra@utoledo.edu
she/her/hers
Dr. Megan Petra is an Assistant Professor in the social work program. She teaches
in both the Bachelor of Social Work & Master of Social Work programs, and conducts
research about addictions and family violence. Dr. Petra is especially interested
in how families of people with addictive disorders cope with the situation, given
complicating factors such as intimate partner violence or membership in diversity
groups such as the LGBT community. She uses both quantitative and qualitative methods
in her research. Dr. Petra鈥檚 social work practice experience includes work with women
at a domestic violence shelter and on college campuses, facilitating support groups
for members of the LGBT community, case work with older adults, community organizing
around women鈥檚 issues, and working with community groups to evaluate prevention programs
targeting adolescent substance use.
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![Michael Prior](/hhs/socialwork/images/Prior_Michael.jpg)
michael prior, ph.d., m.S.W.
Associate Professor
Department of Human Services
Office: HH 2614
419.530.5187
michael.prior@utoledo.edu
he/him/his
Dr. Michael Prior, Assistant Professor, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Eastern Michigan University and both Master鈥檚 and Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington.听
Dr. Prior is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, the Council on
Social Work Education, and the Society for Spirituality and Social Work.听 Dr. Prior
has over sixteen years of direct practice and administrative experience in the mental
health field.听 His main area of practice has been with adolescents and families, especially
those with chemical dependency issues.听 His areas of study and personal interest center
on spirituality, treatment of the effects of child abuse, and fighting racial inequality.
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![Meredith Rinna](/hhs/socialwork/images/Rinna%20Meredith.jpg)
Meredith rinna, M.S.S.A., lISW-S/LMSW
Associate Lecturer and BSW Program Director
Department of Human Services
Office: HH 2624
419.530.4397
meredith.rinna@utoledo.edu
she/her/hers
Meredith earned her Master's degree in Social Work from Case Western Reserve University.
She is a Licensed Independent Social Worker, Supervisor specification within the State
of Ohio and a Licensed Master's Social Worker within the State of Michigan. She has
experience working over 20 years in the Social Work field at the micro, mezzo and
macro level. Her areas of interest听includes working with individuals within the criminal
justice system, policy development, and听clinical intervention for anxiety, depression,
personality disorders and PTSD.听She is an Assistant Lecturer at The University of
Toledo in their social work program.
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![Heather Sloane](/hhs/socialwork/images/Sloane_Heather.jpg)
heather Sloane cleary, ph.d., m.S.W.
Associate Professor
Department of Human Services
Office: HH 2612
419.530.5188
heather.sloane@utoledo.edu
she/her/hers
Dr. Sloane received her Bachelor of Science degree from William and Mary and her Master of Social Work degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she specialized in healthcare social work where she completed internships working with the homeless in Richmond, Virginia and in the Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit. Dr. Sloane teaches across the curriculum with a focus on macro practice and policy. She blends her education and experience in healthcare social work with cultural studies and critical theory. As a former healthcare social work in intensive care and rehabilitation, Heather is a long-term member of the interprofessional faculty steering committee and investigates the culture of professional education and interdisciplinary collaboration through the lens of decreasing medical error and health disparities caused by implicit bias. Dr. Sloane created an interprofessional creative writing mentoring program with Toledo Public high schools called Fearless Writers.听听
Her dissertation research involved interviewing physicians about their understanding of poverty, as well as analyzing the novel听The House of God. As is typical for cultural studies research, Dr. Sloane also used cultural history method to look at conversations within the Association of American Medical Colleges about poverty from 1910 to 2010. As a result of this early research, Dr. Sloane has focused on the importance of empathy to cultural humility. Dr. Sloane also writes about wellness and the right to pleasure.
For a summary of Dr. Sloane鈥檚 research, the following link is her Future of Higher Education talk:听听
![Sherry Tripepi](/hhs/socialwork/images/Tripepi_Sherry.jpg)
Sherry tripepi, M.S.W., LISW-S
Senior Lecturer听
Distinguished University Lecturer
Department of Human Services
Office: HH 2618
419.530.4746
sherry.tripepi@utoledo.edu
she/her/hers
Sherry Tripepi teaches primarily field classes in the BSW Program.听 Her passion it to assist students with implementation of their classroom knowledge into their field internship and grow into competent social workers. She also developed an elective course titled 鈥淚nterpersonal Practice with LGBTQ+ Individuals鈥, which is typically offered at Utoledo annually during the fall semester; while a social work elective course, it is open to all majors.听听
Sherry鈥檚 clinical social work expertise spans over 35 years in the area of mental
health in the Toledo area. Her areas of interest include working with the lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities, women鈥檚 issues, physical and sexual
abuse treatment, domestic violence treatment, body image and advocacy to work towards
equality and social justice for marginalize and oppressed groups of people.
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![William Weaver](/hhs/socialwork/images/Weaver%20William.jpg)
William Weaver, M.S.W., LISW-S, LICDC-CS
Assistant Lecturer and BSW Field Director
Department of Human Services
Office: HH 2607
419.530.4185
william.weaver@utoledo.edu
he/him/his
William (Bill) Weaver is an Assistant Lecturer and BSW Field Director, starting in
this听role in August 2021.听 He has taught part time with the Criminal Justice program听since 2018听and continues to teach the Applied Psychology听for Criminal Justice Personnel听course.听听Bill has worked in听community corrections, substance use,听and mental health for over 20 years, specializing in the intersection of听these areas in a person鈥檚 life.听听He took听over 300 interns听during his former career and believes听in the importance of field education听in overall learning.听Bill鈥檚听philosophy on treatment and education is holistic, believing that we have to treat听the body, mind, and spirit to get human beings well.
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![Kristen Williams](/hhs/facultystaff/images/williams-kristen.jpg)
Kristen Williams, M.S.W.
Coordinator, Title IV-E University Partnership Program (UPP)
Department of Human Services
Office: HH 2605
419.530.4197
she/her/hers
Kristen Williams graduated from 兔子先生传媒文化作品 in 2012 with her B.S.W. and
from Eastern Michigan University in 2017 with her M.S.W.听听While at The University
of Toledo, Kristen participated in the University's Child Welfare Partnership Program
during her senior field year.听听After graduation Kristen became employed at Lucas County
Children Services, where she worked for 9 years before entering into the field of
Mental Health in 2021. Kristen officially became the Title IV-E University Partnership
Program Coordinator at the University of Toledo in September 2022.听
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![Celia Williamson](/hhs/socialwork/images/Williamson_Celia.jpg)
celia williamson, ph.d.
Distinguished University Professor听
Director, Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute
Department of Human Services
Office: HH 2638C
419.530.4084
celia.williamson@utoledo.edu
she/her/hers
Dr. Williamson's research focus is human trafficking with particular attention to
domestic minor sex trafficking. She has published numerous articles on the subject,
has delivered over 200 presentations, and been the keynote speaker at more than 20
conferences. She also studies prostitution, vulnerable women, and drug abuse. She
teaches social work practice courses and a human trafficking course.听She founded the
first anti-trafficking program in Ohio in 1993. Dr. Williamson completed numerous
studies, articles, and reports, and edited 2 books on sex trafficking and her memoir.
She directs UT's Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute and built a variety
of funding streams and global connections used to serve the mission of the Institute.
Additional accomplishments include: founding the oldest and largest annual International
Human Trafficking and Social Justice Conference; founding the Lucas County Human Trafficking
Coalition; founding the Global Association of Human Trafficking Scholars, and participation
on the Research & Analysis Subcommittee for the Ohio Attorney General's Human Trafficking
Commission and the international Journal of Human Trafficking.
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![Amada Esquivel](/hhs/criminaljustice/images/amada-esquivel.jpg)
amada esquivel, m.ed.
Secretary II
Department of Human Services
Office: HH 2630
419.530.2142