Happy Holidays SPO Family!
In this season of warmth and joy, I find myself reflecting on the importance of staying connected with those who hold a special place in our hearts. I invite you to join me in making the holidays truly meaningful by sharing precious moments with your friends and family. Take time to strengthen family bonds, create lasting memories, and appreciate the wisdom and experiences of the older adults in your life.
Engaging in activities like listening to stories, cooking together, or simply sharing quiet moments reinforces the value of intergenerational relationships. These moments not only bring joy and laughter but also serve as a bridge between generations, fostering understanding and a sense of continuity.
In our fast-paced world, it is easy to get caught up in our to-do lists and the festivities of the season. But the gift of time is most precious. I hope we can all slow down and prioritize the older adults in our lives in meaningful ways. Let us be present and attentive listeners, offer a helping hand, and express gratitude for the love and guidance they’ve provided us throughout the years.
I wish you and your loved ones a holiday season filled with love, connection, and cherished moments.
As we look ahead to 2024, I want to call your attention to our next conference collaboration:
The 2024 Southern Gerontological Society conference will be held April 2-6 at the Hyatt Regency in Greenville, S.C.
Abstract Submissions
Your abstracts for presentations are due at 11:59PM on Monday, January 8th! Apply here: https://southerngerontologicalsociety.org/meeting-abstracts.html
Conference Registration
Registration is open, with an early bird discount in effect through February 24. SPO members receive SGS member rates. SPO students receive the SGS student rate. Check out more conference-specific information, including the conference domains which are timely and relevant, on the conference page here: https://southerngerontologicalsociety.org/meeting.html
Other questions
Questions about the conference? Please call or email Amanda James at
866.920.4660 or admin@southerngerontologicalsociety.org
Awards
Both SPO and SGS have a variety of awards. The nominations deadlines extend into the new year. Learn about the SPO awards here: https://sigmaphiomega.org/awards/
Diane Martin, PhD
March 2022
Hello SPO students, faculty, professionals, and emeriti,
It is a reflective time as I write my farewell musing. When I think back to April 2020 when I became president and review the two years that have passed, I doubt any of us could have imagined what would happen across the globe. I hope that you and your loved ones are safe, and that you’ll continue protecting yourselves and others. Now we find ourselves at the beginning of a different humanitarian crisis, and I hope for peace and safety for those affected.
Please know that it has been a great privilege to serve you. I am incredibly grateful for our executive board – their willingness, insights, hard work, and mentorship. We have made some great strides, and there is much left to do. I leave this in the capable hands of Dr. Diane Martin, who is our incoming president and has many wonderful plans in store.
Most importantly, as I leave this role, I want to let you know that I celebrate you! I celebrate your excellence, your resilience, your persistence, and your continued desire, even in the face of a years-long global pandemic, to serve. Please carry on! Keep doing wonderful things in your chapters. Celebrate one another. Recognize the excellence of others. I urge you please take care of yourselves and each other. You make a difference in the lives of those around you, and you make a difference in the field of gerontology. Thank you for you!
Katarina Friberg Felsted, PhD
Outgoing President, Sigma Phi Omega
December 2021
Hello SPO Family,
Welcome to the end of the semester!
As we prepare for various holidays over the next 6 weeks, I wish for each of you a time of joy and peace, filled with your loved ones.
As we look ahead to 2022, we want to call your attention to our next conference collaboration:
The 2022 Southern Gerontological Society conference will be held April 5-9 at the Sheraton Panama City Beach Golf and Spa Resort in Panama City, Florida.
A few highlights below:
Abstract submissions
Your abstracts for presentations are due Tuesday, December 7th! Apply here: https://southerngerontologicalsociety.org/meeting-abstracts.html
Registration and travel accommodations
Registration is open, with an early bird discount in effect. Airline discounts are also available. Check out more conference specific information, including the conference domains which are timely and relevant, on the conference page here: https://southerngerontologicalsociety.org/meeting.html
Other questions
Questions about the conference? Please call or email Amanda James
866.920.4660 or admin@southerngerontologicalsociety.org
Awards
Both SPO and SGS have a variety of awards. The nominations deadlines extend into the new year. Once you submit your abstracts, please take a look at our awards! More to come later.
Please take good care of yourselves and each other this holiday season.
See you next year!
Best regards,
Katarina Friberg Felsted, PhD
President, Sigma Phi Omega
September 2021
Hello SPOers!
I hope this finds you enjoying the new month. Our university is back in person sessions and it is both nerve-racking and wonderful. I encourage each of you to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The start of the academic year is a lovely time to “script” the next eight months or so. Where do we see ourselves next May (2022!)? Are we on the path that gets us there? Even the smallest course corrections will land us in a very different place by the time we arrive.
Our SPO Executive Board met over the summer. I am always amazed with the excellence of faculty, researchers, and professionals who serve on our Board. You are in good hands! We will meet again in October. If you have anything you’d like us to consider, please reach out to me at spopresident@gmail.com
Our SPO chapter, Alpha Chi, has welcomed a new student President and a new student Secretary. We are excited for the SPO events ahead. Please remember that all of us love to hear from you – what is your chapter doing? What is your chapter planning? Please submit your goings-on so we all can learn and enjoy at this URL: https://sigmaphiomega.org/chapter-news-submissions/
Wishing you all a safe, healthy semester full of learning, growing, and enjoying!
Best regards,
Katarina Friberg Felsted
President, Sigma Phi Omega
April 2021
Hello SPOers,
I hope Spring has sprung where you live! In Utah we are oscillating between 75 & sunny and 35 & snowing. A few things to share:
1. I also hope that each of you has registered for the Southern Gerontological Society conference, happening virtually this year, next week from April 20-23rd
2. Our annual SPO Business and Awards Meeting happens at SGS. This meeting is open to anyone who wants to attend. You do not have to be registered for the SGS conference to attend our the SPO Business and Awards Meeting. Please join us via this link:
Topic: SPO Business Meeting and Awards
Time: Apr 22, 2021 6:15 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/94302625556?pwd=TzRia3ZnbE1WbXFZTE80cktwWjNwZz09
Meeting ID: 943 0262 5556
Passcode: 863778
3. We also have two other meetings, which you are welcome to attend (and we’d love to see you!) if you are registered for the SGS conference.
An SPO sponsored Networking Hour
Happiness is Calling
April 22, 2021 11:30 AM Eastern
Please see conference schedule for Ex Ordo link to join
The SPO Symposium
Sigma Phi Omega: International Academic Honor and Professional Society in Gerontology
Apr 21, 2021 11:00 AM Eastern
Please see conference schedule for Ex Ordo link to join
4. Chapter advisors should have received the email to vote for our new board members. We will be welcoming our new board members at that time. Deepest thanks to our outgoing board members, Colleen Bennett (Treasurer)and Dr. Cynthia Hancock (Past-President), for their incredible service to our international society.
5. If you are a chapter advisor or a chapter executive officer, is time to fill out your chapter reports! These are due on April 30th, and filing them earns your chapter a $5 rebate per active SPO member in your chapter. Please see our website for the form: https://sigmaphiomega.org/advisor-reports/.
6. It is the time of year when we have commencements and convocations. If you are a graduate, please accept my heartiest congratulations! It is no small feat to earn a degree, and to do it during a world pandemic is quite something. Three cheers for all faculty who have worked long hours with intense efforts to help our gerontology students across the world successfully complete the college chapter of their lives!
I wish you a fully vaccinated summer with lots of fun in the sun and time with those you love most. Please take care of yourselves and each other.
Best,
Katarina Friberg Felsted, PhD
President, Sigma Phi Omega
December 2020
Dear SPO Members,
It is a privilege to have a few moments with each of you as I write this President’s Message. For most of us, the Fall academic semester is wrapping up, many of us are preparing to celebrate seasonal holidays, and I imagine all of us are coping with the effects of a global pandemic.
In each of these instances, I encourage us to be kind to ourselves and others. The setting of academia has morphed considerably since this time last year, and we have made adjustments. Take a moment and congratulate yourself on still being here, still studying, still working. I invite you to think of someone who has been a source of strength or comfort for you. Feel your feelings around this person and their words and actions that have helped you. Then, consider that someone else sees you this way as well.
The holidays will look different for most of us this year. I know most of us have already made modifications as we define how celebrations can be safely carried out. I urge each of us to reach out to those we know may feel lonely during this time.
I worry about how many of us have been touched by the pandemic’s reach. I wish I could reach out to each one of you individually. As our calendar year turns to 2021, I hope that we will see progress in the treatment of COVID-19 and that we may once again celebrate face to face. Until then, I know that in the most important of ways, we can be “here” for each other. Thank you for all you do. May you feel peace and joy ahead.
March 2020
Dear SPO Friends,
I’m happy to share the latest Sigma Phi Omega news! First, some welcomes and farewells followed by social media and induction updates. Our Board Members will officially change-over on May 1st since we are unable to meet at SGS due to the COVID-19 situation.
The Welcomes:
We have just elected and appointed some new board members. We are so thrilled to have Mary Ann Erickson (Associate Professor of Gerontology at Ithaca College) move from her Member-at-Large position into our newly created Treasurer-Elect position. After one year she will step into the Treasurer Position for another two years.
We are happy to appoint Kara Dassel (Associate Professor of Gerontology in the College of Nursing at University of Utah) to our Secretary position. Kara will serve here two years and is replacing Brittany Kearney, who has been hired to be our Administrative Support Associate (more about that below).
Candace Brown (Assistant Professor of Gerontology in the Department of Public Health Sciences at UNC Charlotte) has been elected to serve a three year appointment as a Member-at-Large to our board. Welcome Dace!!
We are also happy to appoint Monica Gonzalez (USC Master of Aging Service Management Student and Senior Care Assistant) as Member-at-Large to replace Mary Ann Erickson as she moves to Treasurer-Elect. Welcome aboard Monica!
We are thrilled to welcome Brittany Kearney to our Administrative Support Associate position. Brittany has an MA in Gerontology and an MBA with a concentration in Healthcare Management. She has held multiple administrative positions in aging services and is currently the Director of Outreach and Enrollment at P.A.C.E. of the Southern Piedmont. She is a Certified Dementia Practitioner and professionally affiliates with FOCUS, SPO, and the Southern Gerontological Society.
I personally want to welcome Katarina Friberg Felsted to the President’s position as I rotate into Past-President. She has been by my side as President-Elect this year and I’m confident is ready to take the reins!
The Farewells:
We share our heartfelt thanks to those who have served SPO over the last few years. Lori Yancura has served for three years as Member-at-large. We thank her for her many contributions to the Society. Amy Plant has served an appointment as our International and Virtual Representative. We thank her as well. Finally, Michelle Stanley was hired as our Membership Coordinator and was promoted to Administrative Support Associate. It is really impossible to thank her for her tireless efforts on behalf of the Society. She has been head trouble-shooter, master product distributor, and lead communicator for the Society and she will be missed. We wish her well as she continues her educational and professional pursuits!!
Social Media Updates:
We are increasing and changing our social media presence. We are moving our FaceBook Group to a FaceBook Page. We hope you will “like” us and follow along. We have also created an Instagram and Twitter feed. Likewise, please like, share, and follow along.
Induction season is in full swing:
Michelle has been filling orders like crazy!! We are thrilled that this represents the excellent work your students have completed in their gerontological studies. There is nothing better than a bright medallion, shiny pin, and dazzling cords on graduation day. Please let us know if you have questions about the process of inducting new members. The script to do so can be found by clicking here and scrolling down to “Chapter Induction Script.”
Finally, we are sorry to miss you all at the Southern Gerontological Society meetings. We will keep you up-to-date via our website, email, and social media outlets. Please like and follow along.
Be well and take care,
Cynthia Hancock
SPO President 2018-2020
