Alumna Receives Doctoral Fellowship and Presents in Vienna, Austria

Alumna Ketty Fernandez ’14 has been awarded the Delores A. Auzenne Fellowship at the University of Central Florida where she is working on her Ph.D. in sociology. This fall she became the managing editor of the journal Homicide Studies.

This summer Fernandez presented research with her colleagues in Vienna, Austria at the International Police Executive Symposium at the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. The symposium brings police researchers and practitioners together to facilitate cross-cultural, international and interdisciplinary exchanges for the enrichment of the policing profession.  Fernandez’s group presented its paper on collaborative work being done to combat human trafficking, particularly in central Florida.

No matter where she is, Caldwell University is always in her heart and mind. She has good memories of her time as an undergraduate student studying psychology. She comes back annually for the spring Educational Opportunity Fund banquet. “Caldwell is my foundation in every sense … EOF was and has been my support system since I started my journey in higher education.”

During her master’s studies at UCF, Fernandez engaged in research projects and presented at a number of conferences on topics such as sexual abuse in the foster care system and differences in serial murder victims based on region. She received her master’s in applied sociology.

Fernandez has been an adjunct at Valencia College and is now a graduate teaching associate at UCF.

As a Hispanic woman, she wants to be a role model for other minority students.  “I think it is really important to keep in contact with the (EOF) program and the students so they know that if they put in their time, effort and hard work, it truly pays off.”

She has set her sights on higher education as a career.  “There are not a lot of ethnic minorities in higher education that students can look up to, and personally it’s something I wish I had more of to this day.” That is why she will always be grateful to the staff in Caldwell’s EOF program.   As she says, “It’s home.”