The Gerontology Field Placement

Rona J. Karasik, PhD, FAGHE, FGSA, is a professor and director of the Gerontology Program at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, MN, where she works with a broad range of community partners and supervises undergraduate and graduate gerontology interns. With over thirty years of teaching and research experience, Dr. Karasik is the author of numerous publications and presentations on gerontology internships, service-learning, classroom- and community-based activities, and incorporating anti-racist pedagogy into the gerontological curriculum. Dr. Karasik holds fellow status in both the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) and the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and is the recipient of local and national teaching awards, including AGHE’s “Distinguished Faculty” award. Currently, Dr. Karasik is the editor-in-chief of Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, the official journal of the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education.

Laura K.M. Donorfio, PhD, FAGHE, is an associate professor and holds fellow status in both the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Connecticut. Since 2004, Dr. Donorfio has served as an undergraduate and graduate internship supervisor for UCONN’s Human Development and Family Sciences Department, working with a wide range of community partners (both profit and nonprofit) and educational settings. She has been honored both nationally and locally for her many teaching accomplishments, including AGHE’s “Distinguished Faculty” award and UCONN’s Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching award. Dr. Donorfio has over twenty-five years of teaching and research experience. She has given over sixty scholarly presentations, nationally and internationally, related to student reflection, innovative andragogy and geragogy teaching platforms, intergenerational and lifelong experiential learning approaches, and what impacts success from both the students’ and community partners’ perspectives. In 2021, Dr. Donorfio marked ten years as director of the AGHE Teaching Institute.

Phyllis A. Greenberg, PhD, MPA, FAGHE, former president of the Minnesota Gerontological Society (MGS) and Minnesota’s 2011 “Gerontologist of the Year,” coordinates the gerontology graduate program at St. Cloud State University. Dr. Greenberg has developed many unique classroom experiences related to aging, such as hands-on experience with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). Dr. Greenberg has also been recognized through her teaching, scholarly presentations, and webinars as an expert in the areas of policy and ageism. She is a recipient of the AGHE’s “Distinguished Faculty” award. In addition, Dr. Greenberg brings a practitioner’s perspective through her years of experience as a case manager, director of an Adult Day Center and a planner/evaluator and policy developer with an Area Agency on Aging. As a practitioner, she has trained and supervised interns from a variety of disciplines.