Assistant Professor
New York Institute of Technology, New York TechBullying, bullying at school or online, Bullying Awareness, bullying prevention, Career Development, cultural diversity, Mental Health, Mental Health and Classrooms, Mental Health Care, school bullying, School Counseling, School Counselors
Cameka Hazel specializes in the supervision and training of professional mental health and school counselors. As a counselor educator, she is an advocate for holistic training for future counselor educators to be effectively prepared to meet the social, emotional and educational needs of the diverse K–12 student population. Her research includes multicultural counseling competence training in counselor education, mental health care for children and families of refugee status and trauma in children. Hazel has presented at local and national conferences on subjects such as helping new school counselors thrive, reducing preventive and risk factors for school counselor burnout and Caribbean national migration experiences to the U.S., and acculturation stressors during the transition process. Her current research focuses on school counselors' perception of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' academic, social, and emotional development.
During her role as a practicing school counselor, Hazel has worked at various grade levels—from elementary to high school, in the Jamaican school system, and also specialized in trauma and crisis counseling in volatile school zones. Hazel also served in a Child and Adolescence Outpatient clinic providing mental health care for children and families. Hazel earned a bachelor's degree in Guidance and Counseling at the Mico University (Jamaica), a master's degree in the counseling and psychology program at Boston College, a master's degree in the educational leadership program at Boston College, and a Doctorate in Counselor Education at the University of Rochester. Hazel is currently the faculty advisor for the New York Tech Chi Sigma Iota counseling honor society chapter and is chairperson for the New York State chapter of the American Counseling Association (2022-2023).
cell phone bans, cellphone addiction, Mental Health and Classrooms, mental health and college students, smartphone addiction, smartphones and health
Melissa DiMartino is an associate professor of psychology in the Department of Behavioral Sciences. She received her M.A. from City College of New York and her Ph.D. from Florida Atlantic University.
DiMartino's research interests are twofold. The first area focuses on parenting and the impact that it has on children’s mental health. Her second area focuses on the psychological impact that technology and the smartphone have on young adults.
Both in and out of the classroom, DiMartino has leveraged current events, such as the January 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, as teachable moments on the importance of critical thinking. Following the events at the Capitol, she joined a multidisciplinary panel of New York Tech faculty and staff to discuss causes for the nation’s polarization, the role of social media in spreading misinformation, and conflict resolution skills needed to bridge the ideological divide.