Focus on:
Terry Fisher


Some of the most hauntingly beautiful poetry that I've ever been exposed to ushered forth from this issue's featured colleague. In fact, of the one hundred or so finished poems (and another hundred in varying stages of completion), fifteen have been published in ten different journals. This is quite an accomplishment for someone who teaches students how to work effectively with alcoholics and other drug addicts.

But then, Terry Fisher is no ordinary academic. A number of years ago, while he was in the middle of completing his Masters degree, he was restless, so he decided to immerse himself in Ancient Greek literature—works by Homer and Virgil, among others. It wasn't enough, though, simply to read the English translations. So he taught himself the Ancient Greek language in which these works were originally written. Similarly, he taught himself French, so that he could read Les Misérables by Victor Hugo in the original. At various times, he has also taught himself Latin and German.

After completing a B.A. in history, Terry earned both his Masters (1982) and Ph.D. (1987) degrees in social work (along with social research at the doctoral level) from Bryn Mawr College. The MSW gave him the opportunity to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), a status which has allowed him to see clients privately and receive reimbursement from health insurance providers. Along the way, Terry also obtained certification in alcohol and drug counseling (CADC), in both Delaware and his native Pennsylvania. In addition to his private practice—which he maintained throughout his doctoral work—Terry has also been the assistant director of SODAT (an outpatient drug and alcohol treatment program located two blocks up on Orange Street), and the clinical director for Net Counseling.

Terry joined the Human Services department in 1992 to coordinate the Drug and Alcohol Counseling degree program. When asked what most inspired him to become an educator, he replied: "A few teachers in grad school really made education a fun experience; their influence made me think about teaching." In addition, nine years in private practice, working with clients one-on-one, had made him feel isolated. "I felt the need to be around people more, in my area of expertise. So it seemed like teaching might be a way of sharing what I knew, and doing it on a larger scale than just one-to-one." He adds: "I'm a ham, anyway"—something his immediate colleagues and his students can readily confirm.

Terry cites his expertise in psychological theory and theories of addiction, as well as his practical experience as a clinician, his ability to communicate effectively, his love of students, and his sense of humor as his main strengths in his work with students. Moreover, he says, "I've learned a lot from them—especially the ones from other cultures." As an example, he points to how he has greatly deepened his understanding of African American culture, something that, as a product of the predominantly white Philadelphia suburbs, had largely eluded him prior to coming to Delaware Tech.

Since he began teaching, there have been two major challenges that Terry has had to overcome: an excessive need to be liked, and a tendency to fall into the trap of using testing and grading approaches which, while convenient, may not adequately assess how well students are learning the material. To address the first challenge, he has sought to inject more structure and discipline into his courses, to make them "a little tougher." This has led him to stick more consistently to his expectations and demands of his students, and to not always try to accommodate everyone's needs when it comes to, for example, scheduling make-up exams.

Among Terry's many assets, his skillfulness in facilitating and working with groups is considerable. (Groups are frequently utilized in the therapeutic approaches taken in the field of drug and alcohol counseling.) These skills are of potentially great value for educators in other subjects who organize students into work groups to accomplish specific tasks, or who would like to explore the possibility of doing so. Perhaps he can be persuaded to share his expertise with us.